Mauro Lando Jun 1, 2017:

Epilogue: it was just bad English! Like so many other puzzles posted here, this one was unsolvable because the English was bad! The correct noun in this case should be BARRIER, not fence! THe guy who wrote it most probably was not a native speaker.

Matheus Chaud Jun 1, 2017:

Curious Thank you for clarifying that, Grace!

That's pretty interesting - a very peculiar use of the term "fence". Like a "barrier" to prevent the effects of humidity on the signal.

Well, you started with quite a challenge to us
;)

Thank you for your participation and we hope to see you around more often!

GraceT (asker) Jun 1, 2017:

Whoops, I do apologise. I'm still fairly new here.

I simply translated it as "O sinal do terceiro eletrodo" as this made the most sense in the context of the equipment. 'Fence' is a company specific term to describe this technology, so that's why we had some confusion here.

Mario Freitas Jun 1, 2017:

@ Grace, Here in ProZ, we usually tell the colleagues that helped what is the correct translation. It's OK to find it elsewhere, but it would be nice to tell those who helped and those who eventually search for this term in the future. Thank you.

GraceT (asker) Jun 1, 2017:

Hello everyone who replied. I discussed this with the product manufacturer and they have cleared up the phrase for me. It is a specific electrode that negates the effects of humidity. Thank you for all your help.

GraceT (asker) May 30, 2017:

The phrase is just that, it's in a table of things that can be called from the Modbus.

Otavio Banffy May 29, 2017:

That's very true, Mario. Though typically, I've heard of these structures as "fields" or "grids", never fences. From what Grace tells us, though, the focus of this device seems to be the measurement of properties, possibly even composition, instead of movement. Let's see if we can get some more info.

Mario Freitas May 29, 2017:

Fence A fence does not have to be a physical structure. When you have sensors that generate beams do detect movements, you have a virtual 'fence' (or screen or curtain). "Sinal de cerca" does not imply a physical structure either, but you can add "sinal de cerca virtual" if you prefer.

Otavio Banffy May 29, 2017:

Grace, If you would be so kind as to share a small phrase where the expression shows up, I believe we will be more accurate on our interpretation to help you out. You've already told us it is not a physical fence, which makes most of our suggestions incorrect. Was Matheus' insight more along the lines of your device?

GraceT (asker) May 29, 2017:

This is definitely a gas detector, one used for measuring a specific kind of gas in the atmosphere. It definitely has no physical fence, just an inlet probe that takes in sample readings using an internal PID which are then read using a Modbus.

This phrase has come up in the context of using the Modbus to recall a kind of data.

Mauro Lando May 29, 2017:

hipótese Pessoal, what if ... a ordem certa for: sinal do sensor o qual está localizado na cerca. Ai faria sentido que um vazamento de gás ao chegar a uma cerca de segurança ativasse um sensor

Otavio Banffy May 29, 2017:

Hi Grace, I don't know about gas detectors, but sensor fence is a system for detecting intruders on, well, fences, as far as I heard of it. It's meant to sense vibrations, so I'm uncertain on how this would fit with gas detection.

The signal to which it refers sounds like simply the output coming from the sensor itself. You'd have it along the lines of "Sinal da Cerca Sensora", meaning the signal coming from the Sensor Fence. But I don't know if this is the name chosen for that system.

Either way, the only way I see this fitting with gas detection is in the case of gas leaks, where the pressure from a leak could cause a vibration in a sensor fence, but it really sounds like an unlikely scenario. Are you sure this is in the context of gas detection?

Also, I believe this would be more fitting under the technological category, rather than the science category. Just a thought.