Author Topic: Old School Weather Station  (Read 4811 times)

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Offline WDoug

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Old School Weather Station
« on: December 11, 2015, 06:39:18 AM »
Hi All,

I found a link for a guy who built a weather station using all analog meters.
The completed project looks great.    Looks like all the wx data is pulled from the net.
A little over my head, but thought you might want to at least see what his project looks like.

http://hackaday.com/2015/12/07/old-school-analog-meters-tell-you-the-weather/
or
http://imgur.com/a/jqEh2

Offline Jáchym

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Re: Old School Weather Station
« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2015, 06:43:44 AM »
Very nice :-) It is always interesting to see something new :-) (although the word "new" is a bit of a paradox in this particular case :D)

Offline miraculon

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Re: Old School Weather Station
« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2015, 09:08:24 AM »
It reminds me of this Wicked Devices Angular Clock.



Some of the resident wizards here will probably find a way to feed their own data to this analog readout weather station instead of whatever lives in the "cloud" like the application currently does.

Greg H.


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Offline SLOweather

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Re: Old School Weather Station
« Reply #3 on: December 11, 2015, 06:24:32 PM »
This follows right along with a project I've been thinking about, a steampunk weather station interface for the copper weather vane/anemometer I built.

I scored a trove of used Rugid Computers RUG9 controllers off Ebay a while back. One of those would make a fine interface. I could use the LCD display for it, but connecting some antique meters would be way cooler.  Something like this:



only in 0-5 volt.

The other thought was to use some old numeric displays. I have a Nixie tube clock already, but Nixies are getting expensive and they use high voltage.

I think I used to have some rear projection displays similar to this:

 

Those would be cool...

 

Offline miraculon

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Re: Old School Weather Station
« Reply #4 on: December 12, 2015, 08:19:18 AM »
I think that old meters would be ideal for the "steampunk" weather station readout. If you could find some nice antique-looking paper for the custom scales it would look very cool. Slightly yellowed of course.

Maybe integrated a "Galileo" thermometer and a "stormglass" barometer.

Some copper pipes might be in order along with maybe some colored water bubbling through illuminated clear sight glasses (also antique) might add a nice touch.

Maybe there should be a "Steampunk" area on the WxForum...
Retro-futuristic 1940s-1950s could also be cool, I guess that it is a sub-genre of Steampunk.

Greg H.


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Offline Aardvark

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Re: Old School Weather Station
« Reply #5 on: December 12, 2015, 10:02:52 AM »
In defense of "Old School", in teaching that meant when kids went  to class every day and left with homework. Parents were involved, students  were held accountable for not learning, praise came scarcely and when it did it was not for something expected to be done.   Today in teaching , I was put on report for teaching old school methods.  Not that the kids were not learning, not because their test scores were too high, it was just it was cheaper to force out experienced teachers and hire gullible younger at a lower cost.

New school, seems to be the root of the problem.

That being my rant, I actually drooled at what you printed here.  I have a temperature/humidity station, if you would call it that, that my Dad got maybe 50 years ago when he got 4 tires. the tire company sent it as a bonus  and it hung on our wall at home. We would use it to "predict" the weather.   It now is in my computer room.   It is accurate and I can read it to one decimal place, maybe .    Still it has no batteries and just keeps on hanging on the wall.    I like the concept of new meets old, and sometimes old is better (as long as it doesn't fall off the wall.)

Offline Jáchym

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Re: Old School Weather Station
« Reply #6 on: December 12, 2015, 10:25:54 AM »
I don't really think education is easier these days. It is just different. In some ways, current students are in an easier position than previously. Much more information is available and more accessible. For example in sciences, in the past, when you needed some paper, you had to send a letter to the author, they would have to spend time replying and actually sending it to you. You would have to wait before it arrives and then ideally reply back saying thank you.
Today you go on the internet, send them an email and within a few minutes you have it in PDF in your mailbox... you don't have to spend time searching words in a dictionary, you just type it and the computer shows it to you. You don't need to spend hours drawing graphs, Excel will do it for you and even much more accurately, there is no need to redraw the entire graph if you realize you made a mistake somewhere in the data.....
But then we have to look at it from the other point of view. Yes we do have much more data and information available, but that also means you have to know how to find what you are looking for, you have to be able to filter out what is and what is not reliable - especially when using the internet. You have to be able to actually use the computer - people are not born with computer skills, being able to type fast, use MS Office.... I also think languages are much more important these days, maybe not so much for the English speakers, but previously, in my country, since most things were done locally, you didn't really need to learn any other language, today if you don't know at least English you cannot apply for basically any job. And in some ways, since you save time by for example not having to send letters and wait for replies, not having to search through books, but simply do a Google search... you save time, but you have to then use that saved time productively and more work done is expected from you.
We are slowly moving to an age where it is not important to memorize information, know it from top of your head, but rather being able to know where to look for it and how to use it. And that is not necessarily easier, since the amount of data and information is much larger.

Offline Aardvark

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Re: Old School Weather Station
« Reply #7 on: December 12, 2015, 11:14:38 AM »
I don't really think education is easier these days. It is just different. In some ways, current students are in an easier position than previously. Much more information is available and more accessible. For example in sciences, in the past, when you needed some paper, you had to send a letter to the author, they would have to spend time replying and actually sending it to you. You would have to wait before it arrives and then ideally reply back saying thank you.
Today you go on the internet, send them an email and within a few minutes you have it in PDF in your mailbox... you don't have to spend time searching words in a dictionary, you just type it and the computer shows it to you. You don't need to spend hours drawing graphs, Excel will do it for you and even much more accurately, there is no need to redraw the entire graph if you realize you made a mistake somewhere in the data.....
But then we have to look at it from the other point of view. Yes we do have much more data and information available, but that also means you have to know how to find what you are looking for, you have to be able to filter out what is and what is not reliable - especially when using the internet. You have to be able to actually use the computer - people are not born with computer skills, being able to type fast, use MS Office.... I also think languages are much more important these days, maybe not so much for the English speakers, but previously, in my country, since most things were done locally, you didn't really need to learn any other language, today if you don't know at least English you cannot apply for basically any job. And in some ways, since you save time by for example not having to send letters and wait for replies, not having to search through books, but simply do a Google search... you save time, but you have to then use that saved time productively and more work done is expected from you.
We are slowly moving to an age where it is not important to memorize information, know it from top of your head, but rather being able to know where to look for it and how to use it. And that is not necessarily easier, since the amount of data and information is much larger.
Everything you say is correct.  However if theoretically we have an electromagnetic pulse, those who survive will probably be those with the stuff memorized in the head.    In the US, many students do not know how to use the internet although they have access to it.  How to do an internet search has always been around how one asks the right question.  We sure see it here on the forum.  questions pop up that there has to be a thread somewhere with the information that person needs, yet they don't do the search and merely ask it again .

In the US, schools are at a crisis. Kids don't have goals, look to the future or have a  realistic inventory of their skills. High schools are urging students to attend college , even though their accomplishments in high school are deplorable.   In the local district there are 58 buildings, 5 are high schools.  Those high schools are on a guided curriculum that every school is at the same place in every subject.  Everyone tests the same test at the same time and then moves on with no reteaching of the lesson to firm it up.

In any case, I am living on borrowed time,  I won't have to worry about it for a lot of years.   

Offline Bushman

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Re: Old School Weather Station
« Reply #8 on: December 12, 2015, 11:22:57 AM »

...  In the US, many students do not know how to use the internet although they have access to it.  How to do an internet search has always been around how one asks the right question.  We sure see it here on the forum.  questions pop up that there has to be a thread somewhere with the information that person needs, yet they don't do the search and merely ask it again ....

BINGO!  One of the best things I got from years of grad school was being forced to take a course called "Research Methods".  One and two.  :)  Taught by librarians! How to use the Dewey decimal system; how to search online (old mainframes!); how to cross-reference etc.  Basically developing search strategies.  I see kids today who have a plethora of resources but don't even know what question to ask let alone how to ask it.
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Offline Aardvark

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Re: Old School Weather Station
« Reply #9 on: December 12, 2015, 11:26:29 AM »
Reminds me of the day I was sitting in on another teacher's class.   The newbie was not understanding why the kids were not taking notes. I said, "they don't know how to take notes.  Most of them do not bring any supplies with them, they are still trying to figure out where to plug in their pencils."  He didn't get it.  I said "back in my day, we started each class by how to take notes in that teachers class, how to pass it and then we were expected to show our notes periodically that we had them."

Offline Jáchym

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Re: Old School Weather Station
« Reply #10 on: December 12, 2015, 11:35:09 AM »
In my country it is now also a bit problematic. Before, during the communist era (which ended when I was 2...) it was not that easy to get to a uni and it was not really about your skills, but more about which party your parents supported...
So in 1989 when it ended, suddenly it was possible to go to a uni, to travel.... the problem is that right now I am that first generation after this and the universities unfortunately get money from the government based on purely the number of students there are.... so you can imagine what happened. I always had very good grades and I took it seriously, but I know some (not all!) of my friends and classmates just more or less did not do anything and somehow got the degree as well.
THe problem with this is that just after you finish uni, you have zero work experience and so there is no way an employee can differentiate between those that really deserve it and those who just "got it". And so the percentage of people with uni degree now is enormous and it means much less and it is difficult to get a job even if you are one of those that deserve it, because unless you already worked and showed what you can do, you are in the same situation.

I was lucky to get a job (unlike many of my classmates who even work at a cashier, despite having a Masters degree...). But that was only because I started looking already while I was in my last yr of uni. It meant I had absolutely no free time because I spent all of it working for free as part of an intership at the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute. And then once the uni was over and I succesfully graduated, they said that they like what and how I work and offered me a job - although again, the problem is that wages are based mostly on work experience and even with uni degree, with 0 or 1 yr experience you are very very close to minimum wage. But at least I have some perspective  - doing what I wanted, getting work experience and in my case liking what I do. But as I said, I was an exception, the school I did was quite time-consuming and so many people did not do any internship and then either had to take some not very perspective job or stay unemployed - which you cannot afford for too long.

It is a paradox because right now, it is completely the other way around. Those who only have the most basic education and do things such as chimney sweeper, gas fitter etc etc. are now quite scarce and they have a wage about three times higher than me...

But again, this is temporary, people now see this and so the number of people going to uni is already decreasing. It was just this temporary "boom" once it was possible to go to uni.

Offline Bushman

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Re: Old School Weather Station
« Reply #11 on: December 12, 2015, 11:40:23 AM »
OT: I had a client in eastern Europe (oil industry) and what boggled my mind is how little the wages were for such highly educated people and how no one wanted to leave.
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Offline Jáchym

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Re: Old School Weather Station
« Reply #12 on: December 12, 2015, 12:12:07 PM »
That is unfortunately true, if you have 0 work experience.... I pay rent, pass for public transport and you are left with about 20% of what you get, out of which additional maybe 15% goes towards absolutely neccessary expenses - most basic food, hygiene etc. Lot of my friends still get support from their parents and it is not the case they would want to "use them" - it is just they just have no other choice given they at least want to go to cinema sometime, buy a new phone or go on holiday.... I don't do that, although I could probably, it is more because I am a workoholic and I feel better working more than not being independent and able to completely support myself. Also related to that is that unless you have parents and grand parents helping you it is absolutely impossible to have a family at my age...
The major problem is that for example wages here are on average 3 times lower than in neighboring Germany, yet the cost of food etc. is the same and for some product (especially imported goods such as electronics etc.) it is even higher. Services are cheaper - so things such as hotels, taxis, theaters etc., that is cheaper here. But food is not and just to put things into perspective... a Davis VP2 is my almost three monthly salaries :D
However! I am ok with it because at least my job has some perspective and you are slowly making some progress... it is then much worse if you are in a position like some of my friends, who remained unemployed and then just could no longer afford it, being sponsored by parents, they got a job, which was absolutely not worth the education they have. And now they have a job with no perspective, not building any working experience, and most importantly - since they work the whole day, they don't even have time to actually look for something else and this is a viscious cycle.

Offline Jáchym

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Re: Old School Weather Station
« Reply #13 on: December 12, 2015, 12:18:48 PM »
anyway, back to weather ;)

 

anything