Hi, i want to build a weather station that will basicly show me the temperature, humidity, air pressure, and based on the pressure to calculate a probability of raining in a short term period.
Obviously, the sensors will be placed outside and it will need to send the data to an inside controller.
But here come the question:
Should i use ESP8266 as the microcontroller ( i have no experience with it )
Or shoud i use a arduino nano with a 433mhz modules ?
Can someone explain my why ? (considering my project)
Just in case: i'll use BMP280 + DHT11 as the sensors
To use the ESP8266, you need a micro-controller as well. The nano should be more than enough.
I haven't used the ESP8266 but I know functionality wise, (I've used other wi-fi modules) you are going to be getting a lot more since it's wi-fi based. Also there is a lot of support for it around the web.
As for the 433mhz module, I have no clue clue how it works because I've never used it. Though I know if you just want basic transmission, the radio module should work fine.
ieee488:
Arduino with nRF24L01 would be my choice.
Gives you longer distance.
I don't need long distance, i only need to pass my house walls
tadmac:
To use the ESP8266, you need a micro-controller as well. The nano should be more than enough.
I haven't used the ESP8266 but I know functionality wise, (I've used other wi-fi modules) you are going to be getting a lot more since it's wi-fi based. Also there is a lot of support for it around the web.
As for the 433mhz module, I have no clue clue how it works because I've never used it. Though I know if you just want basic transmission, the radio module should work fine.
Hope that helped
There is a module called D1 mini and it's programmable directly from the Arduino IDE
It costs -> this means for Receiver/tranciever
Compared to x2 Arduino Nano + 433mhz module kit -> total
OR x2 nRF24L01 -> total
But, i also wanted to use a display indoor to show those, and in order to use it i need to have enought pins for it. If i use a simple i2c display, any of those should work BUT if i use a big display touchscreen i don't know if any of those would work...
srnet:
You cannot make a general statement like that as it depends entirely on the 433mhz 'modules' used.
Some 433Mhz modules are very long range indeed, capable of hundreds of km.
There is a webpage out there where a guy compared the capabilities of nRF24L01 and 433 MHz modules.
His conclusion was that the former had greater distance capability.
You may want to Google for that comparison.
If the WiFi signal is OK, then the ESP8266 is the best solution, IMHO. Because you can do pretty much everything on a single chip: measuring sensors, saving the data locally, send them to a server/database, host a webpage ...
Here's an example sketch I wrote for the ESP8266: it measures the temperature, saves it to its on-board flash memory (up to 3MB), with a timestamp that's always correct, because it gets the time from the network, and it also serves an interactive webpage that plots the temperature, and allows you to zoom in and out, scroll through time ...
PieterP:
If the WiFi signal is OK, then the ESP8266 is the best solution, IMHO. Because you can do pretty much everything on a single chip: measuring sensors, saving the data locally, send them to a server/database, host a webpage ...
Here's an example sketch I wrote for the ESP8266: it measures the temperature, saves it to its on-board flash memory (up to 3MB), with a timestamp that's always correct, because it gets the time from the network, and it also serves an interactive webpage that plots the temperature, and allows you to zoom in and out, scroll through time ...
Pieter
very nicee !
I ordered my 3 pieces of D1 MINI boards (esp8266) they sould arrive in ~30 days :s .. i'll remember this !
tadmac:
To use the ESP8266, you need a micro-controller as well.
Sorry, but that's total nonsense. The EPS8266 is a microprocessor in itself, and it's actually quite a bit beefier than a typical Arduino: 1 MB flash; 80 or 160 MHz clock; built-in WiFi - can act as web server, WiFi access point and WiFi client all at the same time; operates at 3.3V so most modern sensors can connect without the need for level shifters, most sensors nowadays are 3.3V while Arduino still uses 5V mostly.
For a simple weather station you can hook up everything to the ESP8266, and most of the time it'll be sitting idle. Most convenient for this is probably the NodeMCU board. If you have good ventilation in your enclosure, you may look at the BME280 which also measures humidity. Also check out the DHT22, which can handle >80% humidity and is more accurate than the DHT11.
The ESP can then do your logging (sent it to a web server; store on a connected SD card), and send alerts if the air pressure is dropping too fast. You have some 80 kB worth of RAM for variables so you can do some logging in RAM even for instant access for your calculations.
prologikus:
Everyone is talking about distance when distance is the most not important thing here
Yes, but when statements are made that are incorrect, such as suggesting that nRF24L01 modules have greater range than 433MHz modules it needs to be pointed out.
As for your requirement, whilst you say its not about 'distance' in reality it is.
You say all it needs to do is pass through walls, well the signals from the nRF24L01 (at 2.4Ghz) are in general more severly attenuated (reduced in range) by walls than the signals from lower frequency 433Mhz modules.
There are 433Mhz modules that are very much better at penetrating walls for use in applications in and around buildings than nRF24L01 modules and they are also very much longer distance.
nRF24L01 modules may well work for you, but there are 433Mhz modules that will penetrate walls far better.
It's hard to believe any wireless solution can work for years on a small battery. It also depends on how often measurements have to be taken and sent out.
The ESP is not very different from the Arduino on a software level, it also has excellent power saving options available. Most Arduino libraries work out of the box. If you want to connect over WiFi it's the way to go. If you prefer the 433 MHz modules maybe better to stick to Arduino.