Author Topic: DIY Wunder Weather Station -- WiFi -- Rapid Fire -- Standalone  (Read 16251 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline GaryStofer

  • Moderator
  • Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 48
  • Mt Shasta on clouds
    • DIY WunderWeatherStation
DIY Wunder Weather Station -- WiFi -- Rapid Fire -- Standalone
« on: September 27, 2013, 08:37:07 PM »
I have been working on this WiFi based weather station project with direct reporting to Weather Underground. The system connects to the internet through your home WiFi and reports to Wunderground without the need for a PC or additional software. It uses less then 2 Watts and can be powered by a solar panel with a 6V battery or a tiny USB charger.

Together with my solid state, high resolution wind sensors the system can report at intervals of 2 seconds without missing a peak gust. The local station interface is HTML/SVG based and provides instant readout at a sub second rate. The anemometer has an 8-fold increased resolution over other commercial products, the Vane has a resolution of  ~1 degree with no dead band.

You can read about the project here http://wunderweatherstation.wordpress.com/  
The local interface of my stations is here http://kcaconco18.us.to/  

I have been in beta test with a few units since December 2012 and have kits on hand ready to be shipped now.

Contact me directly if you are interested, or order on line at http://wunderweatherstation.wordpress.com/order

Thanks  Gary


Wind sensors using the Davis Instrument vane and cups.The the main PCB top
 
The the main PCB bottom with WiFi moduleHygrometer and Barometer sensor

« Last Edit: December 19, 2013, 03:22:39 PM by GaryStofer »

Offline drew

  • Senior Member
  • **
  • Posts: 77
    • Shoals Weather
Re: Re: Wunder Weather Station HW-- DIY -- WiFi -- Rapid Fire -- Standalone
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2013, 10:42:10 PM »
Let me know if you need any more beta testers. I would love to put a unit here in the deep south (northwest Alabama) to track our wild weather.

I am excited to purchase a kit whenever production begins! I am wanting to expand my current network of wx stations across the area, and this is exactly what I need! Thanks for the updated time frame on this project.
-Drew Richards

Offline ctccbc

  • Senior Contributor
  • ****
  • Posts: 276
  • Acurite 01035, Weather Display
    • Chris Collins Morehead City, NC Weather
Re: Wunder Weather Station HW-- DIY -- WiFi -- Rapid Fire -- Standalone
« Reply #2 on: September 28, 2013, 02:38:59 AM »
I'd love to test here on the windy Outer Banks of North Carolina as well.

Offline Bushman

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 7549
    • Eagle Bay Weather
Re: Wunder Weather Station HW-- DIY -- WiFi -- Rapid Fire -- Standalone
« Reply #3 on: September 28, 2013, 10:14:25 AM »
Ditto on the offer of being a beta tester - got a nice snowy spot in the Monashees to test it.
Need low cost IP monitoring?  http://wirelesstag.net/wta.aspx?link=NisJxz6FhUa4V67/cwCRWA or PM me for 50% off Wirelesstags!!

Offline GaryStofer

  • Moderator
  • Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 48
  • Mt Shasta on clouds
    • DIY WunderWeatherStation
Wunder Weather Station HW-- DIY -- WiFi -- Rapid Fire -- Standalone
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2013, 02:09:39 PM »

Offline GaryStofer

  • Moderator
  • Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 48
  • Mt Shasta on clouds
    • DIY WunderWeatherStation
Re: DIY Wunder Weather Station -- WiFi -- Rapid Fire -- Standalone
« Reply #5 on: February 16, 2014, 01:47:41 PM »
Just a quick note on progress:

I added a  metric display option for the local display, so that the folks in Canada and Europe have an easier time.  Also added a Density Altitude readout, handy for aviation related use.

On the firmware side I added the option to upload to CWOP, WX-Bug and PWSweather/WeatherForYou in additiotion to WeatherUnderground. The upload protocols are complete and working, I just need to add a couple more fields to the station GUI for ease of configuration.

On the HW side I switched to the phone/FAX style cable for the Air-data sensor modules. This makes it easier to move the sensor away from the main station controller. The FAX cables are available at Fry's and on E-bay for cheap, I have a couple of default lengths available as well.

And on the Air-data  module I introduced a new Silicon Labs hygrometer chip that has a better filter than the Honeywell part.

Check out the blog pages at http://wws.us.to/blog and sign up for the email or RSS feed.


Gary
   

Offline GaryStofer

  • Moderator
  • Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 48
  • Mt Shasta on clouds
    • DIY WunderWeatherStation
Re: DIY Wunder Weather Station -- WiFi -- Rapid Fire -- Standalone
« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2014, 11:44:53 PM »
In addition to Wunderground options for CWOP/APRS, WX-Bug , PWS/WeatherForYou  and the UK Meteorological Office service WOW  have been added to the firmware now.

G
« Last Edit: July 15, 2014, 11:45:54 AM by GaryStofer »

Offline Naviguesser

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 10
Re: DIY Wunder Weather Station -- WiFi -- Rapid Fire -- Standalone
« Reply #7 on: April 01, 2016, 11:12:03 AM »
Hello Gary,

A lot of rain gauges use reed switches to count incremental amounts of rain fall.  I recently came across a new IC by Honeywell that apparently uses very little power and is triggered by a change in magnetic fields.  The output is in micro Amps.

Here are a couple of links and pieces of data:

Digikey Part#: 48-5908-1-ND
Honeywell Part#: SM351LT
http://sensing.honeywell.com/SM351LT-Magnetoresistive-Sensors

This appears to look like a possible replacement for the trouble some reed switch in tipping bucket rain gauges.  While I have no problems assembling a Heathkit, I'm not Electrical Engineer.  I have a Davis VP1 that I am refurbishing and I thought that this might be a solution to replacing the reed switch.
VP1 (2001->2016).  VP2 soon.

Offline GaryStofer

  • Moderator
  • Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 48
  • Mt Shasta on clouds
    • DIY WunderWeatherStation
Re: DIY Wunder Weather Station -- WiFi -- Rapid Fire -- Standalone
« Reply #8 on: April 01, 2016, 11:46:31 AM »
This chip might work, but there are some complications with it.

These "nano power" hall effect sensor get their minuscule operating current from a very low duty cycle, or in other words from  being asleep for most of the time. For example the device you mentioned is asleep for 0.1 second and then wakes up for a mere 0.000015 second. So if the tipping bucket magnet flies by the sensor when the device is asleep it will not register anything.   

However there are other hall effect sensors/switches that will work just fine in a tipping bucket setup. You would be looking a for a bipolar hall effect switch with an open collector output.  These devices are permanently on and consume between 3 and 5 mA, too much current for battery operation, but just fine as long as you have a power supply. Also the open collector output acts more like a reed relay switch and will not inject 5V into the measuring circuit. Bipolar so that it doesn't matter which magnetic pole triggers the device. These come in transistor housings and are much easier to mount then the tiny SMD ones.
G

Offline Naviguesser

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 10
Re: DIY Wunder Weather Station -- WiFi -- Rapid Fire -- Standalone
« Reply #9 on: April 01, 2016, 04:38:39 PM »
 Hi Gary,

Thanks for the quick reply.  It is much appreciated.

To me, a tenth of a second is not that long.  I measured two quick snaps of my fingers at approximately 1/2 second or 1/5th of the time to produce a tenth of a second.  I suppose we would have to actually measure the "tick-tock" of the bucket mechanism hitting its stops during a heavy downpour to get an idea of actual travel times during fast cycling periods.  Then figure the strength of magnet needed, maybe the position of a couple of sensors, etc.  Looks like a challenge for a rainy day.

I noticed that one of the chips was sensitive to 7 Gauss and the other to 14 Gauss; a tenth or a fifth of a refrigerator magnet (~50 Gauss) which seems to be in the ball park of the magnet Davis uses.

I took a look at the output amperage and thought it was rather small; 5 mA.  I guess the bottom line question is if it could detect a magnetic field swinging by, would the output be enough to trigger a count? or would the signal have to be amplified?  All this is out of my realm and into the realm of at least a tech if not a EE.

I understand the idea of using other devices but at the expense of battery life.  I look at the compasses in cell phone and realize it might not be much longer before these reed switches are replaced with ICs.

Thank you for your time.

Peter
VP1 (2001->2016).  VP2 soon.