New user with some questions about weather stations

I've just got the weather station kit and love it - so much possibility here!

 

I notice the 'chip temperature' value is 1-2c my usual indoor thermometer - is there an accuracy problem here?

 

I got the kit as I needed to replace my existing weather station but as things stand I can't do that yet..

 

Firstly I need to run it outdoors with a solar or battery source of energy (the weather isn't inside the house after all!). Is a solar or battery bricklet etc. on the way? I noticed a discussion in the Deutsch forum on this matter but wasn't sure...

 

The ambient light bricklet only responds up to 1000 lux which is way below sunlight (ten times that value maybe). Is the colour bricklet more suitable for measuring sunlight hours? Or is maybe a UV detection bricklet on the way?

 

I'd like to add a rain gauge & maybe a wind gauge too. I could do rain measurement with an existing rain gauge using a digital input that generates a signal for every 1mm of rain. For wind that might be more difficult. Anyone else done this?

 

Of course all of this will need to be waterproof too - is something like that being developed or shall I try to build something myself?

Hello Bottesford,

 

nice to hear that you like the weather station kit 

 

I notice the 'chip temperature' value is 1-2c my usual indoor thermometer - is there an accuracy problem here?

That is "normal". The components inside the casing warm up the air.

 

Firstly I need to run it outdoors with a solar or battery source of energy (the weather isn't inside the house after all!). Is a solar or battery bricklet etc. on the way? I noticed a discussion in the Deutsch forum on this matter but wasn't sure...

There is a discussion, that's right. The problem is the power consumption. The components are not very optimized for low power at the moment. So you will need a fairly large solar panel to power them. Maybe a solar power supply will come in the future.

 

The ambient light bricklet only responds up to 1000 lux which is way below sunlight (ten times that value maybe). Is the colour bricklet more suitable for measuring sunlight hours? Or is maybe a UV detection bricklet on the way?

The sensor of the ambient light bricklet is typically used in smartphones to control the display illuminance. It has a sensitivity as the human eye. The color Bricklet is a very new product, it can handle higher lux values (up to 100.000lux).

 

I'd like to add a rain gauge & maybe a wind gauge too. I could do rain measurement with an existing rain gauge using a digital input that generates a signal for every 1mm of rain. For wind that might be more difficult. Anyone else done this?

It is the right way to do this. Good idea. I mean that there are some guys in the german forum who counts the ticks of a wind gauge also with the digital input.

 

Of course all of this will need to be waterproof too - is something like that being developed or shall I try to build something myself?

Sorry something like that is not in development so far. The weather station kit is intended to be used indoor as a starting platform for your own developments.

 

Maybe the website of Sven lindeboom (user "thunderbird" in the forum) is interesting for you. Unfortunately the page is in german, but he has developed a large weather station: link

 

Kind regards,

 

Bastian

Hi Bottesford,

 

I have seen the answer from Bastian. If you have any questions about waterproof casing or rain and wind gauge you can ask me in english too. Thats no problem ;-)

 

But I have a question also. Which raingauge you are using?

 

Regards,

 

Sven

Thank you both for your very helpful replies (and in English - I do live in Berlin but my Deutsch is not yet good enough to discuss this sort of thing!).

 

I have ordered a Raspberry Pi to connect the indoor station to, so for indoor & pressure information I think I'm ok.

 

For the outdoor station I will get:

- Temperature bricklet

- Humidity bricklet

- Colour bricklet (for sunshine hours calculation - although I'm not sure how well this will work)

- IO-4 bricklet for rain/wind sensors.

- Master brick

 

I don't have a rain gauge any more as it failed along with the rest of my old weather station. So I need to get one although I am not sure which one to get. The Davis one is quite expensive - any other recommendations?

Same for the wind gauge...

 

As for connecting the sensors to the indoor station/Pi I can think of two ideas:

- Have the master brick stack inside and run cables out to the sensors. This would mean at least 4 cables to pass through a window from inside to outside which would not be easy. I don't know how long the cables to sensors can be either.

- Have a master brick outside with the sensors connected to it. Then I need to connect this back to the indoor station (or directly to the Pi). Is the RS485 bricklet suitable? It looks good for long range communication I'd still need power outside too and I guess you can't run power via the RS485. I'd like to avoid battery power as I think it would run down too quickly. You say a large solar panel would be needed which still might be an option. It depends how much power the components are likely to need given this setup.

 

Thanks again for your help!

Hi Bottesford,

 

you're right: to pass 4 bricklet-cables through a window is not that easy and you'll have a limited range. Currently all cables have a max. length of 2m (due to technical reasons).

 

Using RS485 is a possibility, you can reach much longer distances and have less wires.

 

A WIFI extension could be a possibility too, but that stack will have a higher power consumption (you probably already thought about this).

Hi Bottesford,

 

yes the Davis sensors are realy expensive but after I have tried some other ones I come back to Davis, they are very accurate.

 

If you want to supply your outside stack over the RS485, you can add a forth wire and than it works fine with 5V. It's working fine for me.

 

Pin assignment

 

1 ---> A

2 ---> B

3 ---> GND

4 ---> + 5V

 

3 and 4 for supply.

 

If you want to supply it with more than 5V you can use the Step-Down Power Supply.

 

The RS485 has only 3 pins thought so where would the +5v line go? Directly to the master brick via the USB connector? This makes sense but just want to be sure.

Hi Bottesford,

 

you are right. It goes directly to the master brick USB connector.