Calling all geeks

[unixronin]

We have a 500-gallon outside propane tank. It's maybe 30 feet from the house.  It has a gauge on top, under an armored cover, but the tank is frequently on the far side of (and frequently covered in) significant amounts of snow.

Does anyone happen to know of, or have any suggestions for, a way I can remotely monitor the level of propane in the tank?  Obviously anything that would involve retrofitting a sensor of some kind inside the tank is pretty much out.

Edited to add:  I need to get data back in a form that can just be logged and charted automatically 24 hours a day, preferably without having to do image recognition on webcam images of the gauge.

Comments

[dafydd.livejournal.com]

Have you talked to Eastern Propane to see if they have any solutions?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Not yet, but I plan on asking them. I don't expect them to have much to offer in the way of help, but they may be willing to let me put a remote sender onto the gauge.