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Weather Station Hardware => What Weather Station Should I Buy? => Topic started by: mikeg on May 01, 2018, 11:51:19 AM
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I am working on a project to restore a circa 1930s wind indicator (outdoor wind direction shown on a dial inside the building) in a historic property north of Boston, MA. Our plan is to extract the wind direction from a modern weather station and translate that (on a single board computer) to electrical signals that can drive the original hardware. What I need is a weather station with an available API (Application Programming Interface) so that I can extract the wind direction data directly from the station. Does anyone have experience with the various station manufacturers to know who are candidates? Thanks in advance....
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If all you really want is the wind direction, why not use just an anemometer/wind direction combo like the Davis unit, whose output is (I believe - I haven't researched it) well described, as the input device for your custom hardware. If you want (for its other purposes) a weather station you can 'talk to', a complete Davis system should certainly be considered.
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I am working on a project to restore a circa 1930s wind indicator (outdoor wind direction shown on a dial inside the building) in a historic property north of Boston, MA. Our plan is to extract the wind direction from a modern weather station and translate that (on a single board computer) to electrical signals that can drive the original hardware. What I need is a weather station with an available API (Application Programming Interface) so that I can extract the wind direction data directly from the station. Does anyone have experience with the various station manufacturers to know who are candidates? Thanks in advance....
I would go with something like this (with a Davis anemometer):
https://www.scaledinstruments.com/shop/ocean-controls/ocean-controls-kta-250-ax-12v-anemometer-interface/
You can connect it directly to your single board computer via RS-485. RS-485 shields/capes/hats/whatever should be available for most all single board platforms.
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This? https://www.adafruit.com/product/1733
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I need wind direction, not speed.
I neglected to mention that wiring penetrations (outdoors to indoors) are somewhat of an issue at this site due to concerns about water entry, so some of the wireless (outdoors to indoors) PWS are attractive. That said, simplicity is usually the correct solution.
Thanks.
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Ah.... direction. If you handle wired, these guys make some of the best, most reasonably priced wind things: https://www.inspeed.com/wind_speed_direction/e-Vane_2.asp But I can see why you want wireless. Like this: http://www.navis-anemometers.com/wind_direction_sensors.php
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You could use the WeatherFlow station. It is wireless and has both an API where you can access the your data via the internet and uses UDP packets where you can access your data directly on the local network (no internet access required). Windspeed / direction is updated every 3 seconds. I helped beta test the unit and wind speed and direction is very good. Wind speeds detected below 1MPH, wind direction in 1 degree increments.
website - http://weatherflow.com/
forum - https://community.weatherflow.com/
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Eh, if a wired solution isn't feasible then I would at least go with something that recharges the batteries with a solar panel. I've gone three years without having to touch a vantage Vue before. That said, an ultrasonic anemometer would be ideal.
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Since you are already having to engineer an electrical interface for the 1930's "IoT" device, my suggestion is to look at the simple Arduino or Raspberry Pi wind sensor options and build a one-off from scratch. Cheap, flexible, and can be packaged really small.....