Hi all.
One of my hobbies is weather Watching, sad i know, but my barometer has gone u/s, the weather station runs on 433 MHz, can i build a Barometer then link it wireless to my existing consul?
Regards
Ray
Getting a barometric pressure sensor connected to an Arduino is easy enough. But to connect that to your console you'll need to know the exact frequency and protocol used for the connection.
Most of the weather station consoles I know have an internal barometric sensor so don't use a wireless connection for that, just for the other sensors, temperature/wind speed/direction etc . That could be a problem.
Steve
You could make a weather station from scratch, it would take time but it would be better and cheaper than many.
I imagine it to be a very fun project.
Thanks for the response, this changing protocol seems a bit complicated for a mere mechanical engineer, but i like the sound of making one from scratch, have you any suggestions, i wish for am wireless system with Barometer, outside Temperature & humidity Sun UV wind direction and speed, is this asking a lot?
Regards
Ray
gresleyman:
Thanks for the response, this changing protocol seems a bit complicated for a mere mechanical engineer, but i like the sound of making one from scratch, have you any suggestions, i wish for am wireless system with Barometer, outside Temperature & humidity Sun UV wind direction and speed, is this asking a lot?Regards
Ray
Why not approach this incrementally? Implement a wireless thermometer first, then add to it. You can use one of many temperature/humidity sensors, and cheap 433MHz modules driven with the RadioHead library.
If you want a fully fledged weather station with outside temp, humidity, wind speed and direction, rain gauge etc. then your best idea would probably be to build all the sensors into one outside unit (like the Davis/Oregon Scientific units) with an Arduino running them which then communicates via RF to another Arduino-based display console/logger inside. If you particularly want a barometer that could be in either unit.
It sounds like quite a lot of work but it could be fun. You could start with just a simple temp/humidity sensor (DHT22 or similar) outside and sort out the communication then add further sensor and display functions as you go on.
If you Google "Arduino Weather Station" you'll find quite a few examples have already been made.
Steve
Hi All
Many thanks for all your advice, money being a bit tight (I am retired now) i think i will build my own from scratch, i am sure i will need help, especially with sketches & codes, so please look out for my posts.
Regards
Ray
Hi Ray, take a look at my weather station for some inspiration. All the components are inexpensive. It communicates via WiFi, so you need to position the outdoor sensors where they can get a signal from your router.
Paul
Hi Paul
Thanks for allowing me to look at your weather station photos, yes is is exactly what i am looking for.
Am i right in saying that your wind speed and direction unit and your rain collector are OEM's?
I have several good sensors and this is what prompted me to think how can i link these to my Arduino UNO.
I to require, Barometric, Wind speed and direction, Temperature and Humidity and Rainfall sensors, i need to make a LCD display and hopefully have a pc link so that i can upload my weather data to my pc and eventually up load to my web site,
Can you help further?
Regards
Ray
The wind & rain sensors are sold by Maplin on eBay as spares for their weather stations. They are probably the cheapest units you can buy and don't contain any complex electronics, just magnets and reed switches.
My weather station uploads directly to my website, and the readings can be viewed from pc or phone.
Re-using your existing sensors may be possible if they are simple, or you can remove their internal electronics and access the "raw" sensor, or if you can get hold of in-depth technical documents for them. But most off-the-shelf wireless weather stations are not easy to hack. If they were, the manufacturer's rivals would soon be selling cheaper knock-off versions!
What do you need help with?
Hi Paul
I have a basic understanding of the Arduino unit, i need help with the components and putting them all together.
I have a Stevenson Screen so i do not need any enclosures. I understand i can use aDHT for Temperature and Humidity Sensing, you have now mentioned the Rain Gauge, so what do i need for the Barometer, Wind speed and direction, uploading to view current weather on my pc etc, is it just a question of buying components labelled Arduino compatible?
Ray
The Dht sensors are not very good quality. Ok for playing around with, I suppose. I would recommend a bme280 sensor which combines temp, humidity & barometric pressure.
For wind speed & direction, the sensors I mentioned are the cheapest around, but because they are so simple, they need constant monitoring. The drawback of that is that some part of your circuit has to be awake all the time, which is not ideal for battery power. That's why my design has a secondary MCU just to monitor the wind & rain sensors. It is very low power. The main MCU sleeps for 15 mins, then wakes, collects the readings from various sensors (including the low power MCU monitoring the wind & rain sensors), connects to the router over WiFi, sends the data to the web server and goes back to sleep.
Products marketed as Arduino compatible are not always a great choice. But "Arduino" can be a useful search term. Post a link here to anything you want to buy and we can comment on its suitability.
Thanks Paul.
I have been reading about the BME 280 Combined sensor for Temp/Humidity & Pressure, this is the way i will go, in your opinion, which vendor for these products is the best?
Regards
Ray
I normally buy from the far East on eBay or AliExpress, whichever is the cheapest. You have to wait, and you have to accept the small risk that you might end up with a faulty component or nothing. But I've had very few problems and got many bargains.
Hi Paul.
If possible, when you get time, would you kindly run your expert eyes over this weather station @
Arduino Weather Station Project - Overview it's exactly what i am looking for.
Do you see any pitfalls / complications etc;
Regards
Ray
Pitfalls & complications: it's going to cost 10 times what my station costed; it needs a 12V power supply; it needs an ethernet connection.
I thought you said cost was a consideration. Davis equipment is great quality & accurate, but by no means cheap.
Perhaps if you describe what features it has that make it perfect for you, we can discuss other simpler, cheaper ways to achieve the same things.
I came across this at Sparkfun while thinking about a weather application - it is back-ordered at this time - is the $ 76 a good number for someone that does not want to deal with eBay?
Thanks
Hi Paul
No, you got me wrong, cost is essential, i was purely referring to the idea, not the equipment, if i may, i will put together some ideas, it's what do i need to achieve what the system i downloaded does. While i am on the subject of money i guess my budget is around£125.00
Regards
Ray
