Author Topic: Crowdsourcing weather station suggestions  (Read 504 times)

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Offline wigi49

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Crowdsourcing weather station suggestions
« on: December 25, 2021, 03:31:55 PM »
Hello everyone. Hope your solstice celebrations are peaceful and wonderful...

I have had a number of weather stations over the years, going back to my childhood (more than 50 years ago... I had a heathkit weather station)... and I have worked professionally in meteorology, though not for a long time.

I currently have two WXShield arduino boxes interfaced with a number of sensors, predominantly OS, but some old acurite sensors, and a few others, too. The WXShields are a dead end, as is the WSDL software I run with them... and now I am having some hardware failures on sensors... and I would rather get something a decade more state-of-the-art. I am in Alaska, and the two locations that I have are challenging, for a number of reasons... including some extreme weather (predominantly wind, but also temperature sometimes).

I have some criteria that are important to me... here's a list... and I would love to hear your comments... thanks!

Must-have:
Robust wireless sensor-to-base connections with operational ranges in excess of 100m.
Solar-powered anemometer with battery backup (will be mounted on a tower and inaccesible in winter).
Accurate temperature sensors to .1 degree C - calibratable sensors a plus. Able to handle minimum temperatures to -40C
Ability to support multiple sensors, particularly temperature, but also anemometer, perhaps.
Web-based or application based station output

Nice-to-have:
Drip counting rain gauge (rather than a tip bucket).
Ability to report PWS data to one or more of the aggregator services.

Do not need or want a console. I only ever want to see the station data (even locally) in an application.

I am quite technical and I am comfortable with the idea of using a homebrew combination of hardware, mix-and-match, etc. I have been running the WXShield/WSDL combination for years, and were it not for the durability of the OS components, I would stick with it... but replacing just one or two sensors makes buying something new make more sense.

I am interested in quality sensors that will survive in exreme conditions - in particular, strong winds and extended sun.

What are your suggestions??

Thanks in advance!

Wigi
Anchorage/Kenai, Alaska.

Offline wigi49

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Re: Crowdsourcing weather station suggestions
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2021, 12:02:05 PM »
I am surprised nobody has any suggestions...

Online johnd

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Re: Crowdsourcing weather station suggestions
« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2021, 05:01:13 PM »
Perhaps the criteria you've set are too challenging. For instance, I'm not aware of any weather station that can deliver ±0.1C in temperature accuracy, especially operational accuracy, ie taking into account screen errors, other than research grade instruments maybe.
Prodata Weather Systems
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Sorry, but I don't usually have time to help with individual issues by email unless you are a Prodata customer. Please post your issue in the relevant forum section here & I will comment there if I have anything useful to add.