Topic: RM Young Anemometer Adapter

[doubleohwhatever]

Sorry for the delay. I'm out of town this week.

It's not a standard voltage regulator. It's a pin compatible drop in package that has the caps built-in. Ex for 5V:
https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/traco-power/TSR-1-2450/9383780

The last board revision arrived last week but I've been out of town for the last six days and haven't had a chance to assemble one yet.

[azchrisf]

I figured there's something special.
Thanks for the reply 😊

[giusCB]

what is the input voltage for the board ?

[doubleohwhatever]

Technically 9-36v. However ~12-24v is ideal.

[giusCB]

Technically 9-36v. However ~12-24v is ideal.

thanks 

[giusCB]

hope everything is ok ...!

[doubleohwhatever]

All good. Thanks for checking in!

At the moment I'm just backed up with projects that pay the bills. Hopefully I should have some time soon to finish this project up.

[kobuki]

Regarding your image (in this post): what are the cables going into the RJ connector at the top edge and under the white cover?

[doubleohwhatever]

The green pair is providing 5v to the ISS. The brown pair is providing 2.5V to the shield fan. Basically the adapter board provides all power for the Davis hardware. The adapter board has a wide input range of 9-36v (12-24v nom) which makes it suitable for the entire setup to be powered by a larger 12v or 24v solar system.

[kobuki]

The green pair is providing 5v to the ISS.

I see, thanks. I forgot that the ISS can take 5V power on that socket.

[giusCB]

any update ??

[doubleohwhatever]

Sorry for the delay.

We've run into a firmware issue that took us while to narrow down. We noticed that every ~1.5 months the microcontroller would crash. We added a data logger and dumped info every second to pinpoint the problem. We thought it would turn out to be a memory leak but the first time the crash happened with the logger in place, the memory usage was fine. The second time around we dumped more info and discovered that it was related to millis overflow. Our code handles that just fine but apparently a timer library we're using does not. We've tossed a temporary fix in place (software reset the board once a month) and we're going to look at the library code when we have time.

Btw, this is absolutely a back burner project for us at the moment and will never be an "easily purchased and put to use" product. There are now several ultrasonic anemometers on the market that offer Davis compatibility. So if you need a solution sooner rather than later I would look into one of those. We're looking into the non-solar powered LCJ unit ourselves.

[fkapp]

Hi which lcj model are you looking at?

Thanks
Frank

[doubleohwhatever]

This model:
https://lcjcapteurs.com/en/girouette-anemometres-capteur-vent/sa-dvc-2/

Trying to locate a reseller in the US.

[fkapp]

Thanks. Looks similar specs to the solar powered one Davis sells.

Curious why you thinking of going with the power cabled one?

Ask because the solar powered one is available for sell in the US.

Thanks
Frank

[doubleohwhatever]

Several reasons:

1) The output rate is greater on the wired version. The solar powered version outputs a signal to the Davis ISS once per second. The non-solar powered version provides a continuous output like the standard Davis anemometer.

2) All of our sites are already powered via mains (with backup batteries) or larger solar systems. Dealing with a second (fragile - See #3) battery is not something we're interested in dealing with.

3) The solar powered unit uses a LiFePO4 battery. That battery chemistry CANNOT be charged below the freezing point. We use LiFePO4 batteries in our solar setups but they're BattleBorn self-heating units. The batteries use their own power to keep their internal temperature above freezing.

[twcmaster]

This model:
https://lcjcapteurs.com/en/girouette-anemometres-capteur-vent/sa-dvc-2/

Trying to locate a reseller in the US.

Rainwise used to have this version on their website as well as the solar powered one. I don't see either on there now, so maybe it has something to do with their acquisition by NK, but either way, may be worth reaching out to them.

[doubleohwhatever]

Thanks!

[Tc911]

Any updates on this project? I would like to move from the Davis cups anemometer, and have looked into a Young, or going with a sonic one...but not the Davis model...

Did you find a US source for the LCJ unit?

[giusCB]

LCJ don't works well. We need a RMY !!

[doubleohwhatever]

Did you find a US source for the LCJ unit?

No. However, you can get in touch with LCJ and they can ship you a wired Davis-compatible unit. Apparently the only Davis-compatible version readily available in the US is the solar powered unit. The problem is that they want a good bit more for the wired version than what you can get the solar/battery powered version for. Doesn't make sense to me.

Ultimately it doesn't matter though. We were able to play with a serial output unit and it did not perform well in heavy rain.

Any updates on this project? I would like to move from the Davis cups anemometer, and have looked into a Young, or going with a sonic one...but not the Davis model...

No real updates. We have thirteen stations using the beta boards. Currently we're aware of two problems with the firmware and one problem with the board:
1) millis overflow is not handled well - the problem is in a M0 timer library that we just haven't had time to dig into
2) a wind spike is produced upon powering on the board - we need to disable the output for a few seconds to allow the board to stabilize before sending data to the ISS
3) In a power outage event, 5V DC flows from the ISS to the board draining the ISS - just needs a diode

At the moment we're undecided on whether to create another iteration of the board or just fix the boards we already have. If we do create another iteration of the board we'd likely aim to make it more compact by ditching the analog voltage input and IO RJ45 port.

Whatever we do, it won't be until spring. What we have in place now is technically working and none of us like cold weather.

LCJ don't works well.

I have to agree. I think the appeal of them has to be with the size and ruggedness. The sensors are well shielded as opposed to something like a Vaisala WXT or Young 86000/91000. The transducers on the Young and Vaisala units are delicate.

[johnd]

Did you find a US source for the LCJ unit?

No. However, you can get in touch with LCJ and they can ship you a wired Davis-compatible unit. Apparently the only Davis-compatible version readily available in the US is the solar powered unit. The problem is that they want a good bit more for the wired version than what you can get the solar/battery powered version for. Doesn't make sense to me.

What you're seeing are the standard LCJ list prices. Davis obviously managed to strike a good deal with LCJ for the supply of the 6415 unit, presumably because of the numbers involved. But the special pricing only relates to 6415 and not to any other LCJ models.

[doubleohwhatever]

Ah! I didn't think about Davis making a deal for a lower unit cost due to sales potential.

[giusCB]

is there a way to use https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-pico/ raspberry pico for this project ?

[johnd]

is there a way to use https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-pico/ raspberry pico for this project ?

Almost certainly yes - the Pico has a range of inputs including interrupts, A2D, I2C etc etc and so I'd be pretty sure that it's possible in principle. But I suspect you're asking whether anyone has actually done it and can supply details. That's a different question.