Weather Station Hardware > Remote Weather Monitoring

remote APRS WX station project

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RonVE8RT:
This is helpful.  250 AH battery or two might keep it from being blown over or some curious person trying to cart it away :-)

I was given, unexpectedly, a salvaged HOBO battery powered weather logging station (ran on a set of AA cells).  An amateur radio friend in Norman Wells saved it from being scrapped and put it on the C46 back haul, I didn't know about it until they unloaded the plane.  It has a wind speed (no direction) sensor, temperature, humidity, rain, and ground temperature sensor, pyranometer but not barometric pressure.  Somewhere I downloaded Onset HOBO information a few years back.  At the time I wanted to replace the data logging, or keep it and use the real time output so it would interface to a modem & radio for APRS.  I got hung up on the interfacing part and the project stalled.  It is well constructed and had been in use, maybe for years.

The project as you've described would be the ultimate goal, especially if it was taken up as a school project and could get some financing.  I'm interested in working as a volunteer post retirement (should be retired already) with schools and communities if I can be of service.

I'm taking the recommendations of assembling a higher end station seriously, although what I thought I wanted was a lightweight inexpensive hobbyist weather station.  The hobby version would serve me well maybe as an educational platform that stayed close to home.  For the long run though, anything funded and expected to perform, the higher budget more robust station will be the goal.  I'll be looking into costs and availability of the system components you've suggested.

havtrail:
I have seen pictures of HOBO stations being used in Antarctica, so if you have that many components already it may be worth exploring. Lately though, Onset, makers of HOBO, have been downplaying weather monitoring and focusing on water and environmental research monitoring.

Rich K.

RonVE8RT:
If I had some guidance / help to add onto the HOBO system (pressure and wind direction) I'd dig out the datasheets.  They're not on my work computer or I could list off the component model or part numbers.  This would be the quickest and most affordable way forward initially and give me a backyard test platform for cold weather evaluation of a data through to RF system and power management.
The challenging part for me and what stalled the project earlier is sorting out how to access the live data output and interface it to the APRS modem.
What an opportunity, to take the HOBO which has been supporting a bird feeder for years, and get data from it  :grin:  FWIW I've been delighted to have it as a bird feeder stand if nothing better, this year we've been thrilled to have boreal chickadees show up.

RonVE8RT:
Maybe a useful FYI wrt to HOBO sensor wiring.  Our local squirrels easily chew through the sensor wiring as I found out on the air speed sensor.  They chew on RG58 coax too, but I have found that they leave things alone if I don't disturb them when they eat the bird food.  Contrary to the expectation that the number of squirrels would increase if they're fed it looks like the population has dropped significantly, maybe because of the foxes living in town (habitat loss from the fires last year?) and other predators.  The wind speed sensor wire will be replaced with mil spec wire and the undamaged wires I'll see if spiral wrap will protect them.  Anyone else having rodent or other wildlife damage issues?

RonVE8RT:
Having found my HOBO files I remember why I shelved attempting to adapt it for use with APRS.
The sensors are described as being "smart sensors" but I did not find out what that term means or if it changes from sensor to sensor.  The sensors that are on the system include:
Logger H21-001
TMA-M006 8 bit temperature (grass level) temperature sensor (-40 to +100 C)
THA-1 temperature and humidity sensor
WSA-M003 wind sensor
RGx-M002 rain sensor
LIA-M003 light sensor

The manual for the logger mentions optional sensor inputs for third party sensors but gives no details.
I did find documentation for a VIA-CM14 0-5 volt adapter, the interconnect diagram suggests it adapts 1 wire sensors to the logger but that is not stated.
I have a copy of the now public domain Windows software to download and configure the logger and the now public domain Box Car Pro activation key.

I'm hung up not able to move forward, I don't know what of this WX logger I can use.

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