[danner]

That is good to hear, thanks.

[danner]

The good news is that it is counting the rain tips!

So does that mean it is a software issue that will be worked out in a future release, or is it something I configured improperly or something else in my build?

The most important thing to a successful assembling is to understanding how the system works...
That value doesn't represent the total rain tips. Based on the current tip rate that value is the estimated rain tips per hour, an it is used to calculate the rainfall rate.

I see that now and understand. Thanks.

[werk_ag]

[quote='danner' pid='6674' dateline='1496713030']
So does that mean it is a software issue that will be worked out in a future release...
[quote]

The core routines of the WeatherDuino Pro2 system does not change since some years, this includes the rain readings. They are working well.

If I was you, having two TX units, even just for doing tests, I would configured one as TX0 and the other as TX1. The total number of rain tips is recorded on eeprom, at  both TX and RX units,. Having two TX units with the same ID, and both with the "Send Rain" enabled may cause problems even if just one is powered at each time.

[danner]

If I was you, having two TX units, even just for doing tests, I would configured one as TX0 and the other as TX1. The total number of rain tips is recorded on eeprom, at  both TX and RX units,. Having two TX units with the same ID, and both with the "Send Rain" enabled may cause problems even if just one is powered at each time.

The only reason there are 2 TX units configured as "TX1" is because the first TX board I tested did not show any rain when I manually tipped the buckets. The debug apparently shows that it was/is measuring rain, but if that's the case then why did it not display rain on the RX when only a single TX board was programmed as TX1? I am not sure I follow you.

Is it required for 2 or more TX boards to be received by the RX before it will display rain data?

[werk_ag]

Is it required for 2 or more TX boards to be received by the RX before it will display rain data?

No.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

If I'm not wrong your intention is to have the wind instruments and the rain gauge connected to one TX unit and the Temperature / Humidity sensor connected to another TX unit.
So let's start to test the system in real conditions and not partially.

- Connect the wind instruments and the rain gauge to one of the TX units, lets say TX unit0
- Program it as TX unit0, check other user settings, and enable these ones:

Code:

// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//   Define which data this unit will send. 0 = Not send this data, 1= Send this data
// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#define ID0  0  // Temp/Hum Data
#define ID1  0   // Not Used
#define ID2  1   // Wind data
#define ID3  1   // Rain data
#define ID4  0   // SolRad / UV data
#define ID5  1   // Hardware Status - System Temp, Battery Voltage etc
#define ID7  0   // Send Soil & Leaf Temperature Data
#define ID9  0   // Send Soil & Leaf Moisture / Wetness Data

After programming it, let it powered!

Now, connect your temp / hum sensor to the other TX unit, define it as TX unit1, check other user settings, and enable these ones:

Code:

// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//   Define which data this unit will send. 0 = Not send this data, 1= Send this data
// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#define ID0  1  // Temp/Hum Data
#define ID1  0   // Not Used
#define ID2  0   // Wind data
#define ID3  0   // Rain data
#define ID4  0   // SolRad / UV data
#define ID5  1   // Hardware Status - System Temp, Battery Voltage etc
#define ID7  0   // Send Soil & Leaf Temperature Data
#define ID9  0   // Send Soil & Leaf Moisture / Wetness Data

After programming it, let it powered!

As you intend to use both in real use, let both powered. The TX units can be close to each other, just don't keep them too close to the receiver unit (a few meters away is good).

Now, lets go to the receiver part.

Open the receiver software in your Arduino IDE, check all other user settings, and put these ones like this:

Code:

// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//   Define the source of your main outside sensors
// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// ---- If you are using just one TX board, the source for all items should be equal to your single TX Unit ID (most likely zero).
// ---- Define the source of your main Temperature / Humidity sensor
#define TH_OutUnit       1   // 0= Temp/Hum sensor connected to TX_Unit 0, 1= Temp/Hum sensor connected to TX_Unit 1, ...
// ---- Define the source of your Main Wind sensor
#define WIND_OutUnit     0   // 0= Wind instruments connected to TX_Unit 0, 1= for TX_Unit 1, ...
// ---- Define the source of your main Rain Gauge
#define RAIN_OutUnit     0   // 0= Rain Gauge connected to TX_Unit 0, 1= for TX_Unit 1, 3 for Auriol RF Rain Gauge
// ---- Define the source of your main Solar / UV sensores
#define SRUV_OutUnit     9   // 0= Solar Rad / UV sensors connected to TX_Unit 0, 1= connected to TX_Unit1, 9 for not used
// ---- Define type of Solar Radiation / UV Sensors
// ---- Support for Solar Radiation sensor type 2 and UV sensor type 4 (it is a PAR sensor not a UV Sensor) still are experimental
#define Solar_Sensor     0   // 0 not used, 1= Solar Cell "Pyranometer", 2= Apogee SP-110 Pyranometer, 3= Reserved, 4= Apogee SQ-110: Photosynthetically Active Radiation Sensor
#define UV_Sensor        0   // 0 not used, 1= UVM-30A, 2= VEML6075, 3= Reserved
#define UV_Transmission 65   // UV Transmission percentage of UV sensor cover material

Disable the test mode

Code:

// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//   Test Mode : Never run a live system in test mode
// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#define TestMode    false    // false= Normal working mode, true= Test mode only (no logger, no usb connection)

- Program the receiver.
- After programming, let it boot, and then press the push button for 5 seconds (normally there is no need to do this procedure, but as I'm suspecting that the receiver hasn't be correctly initialized the first time it was run, its better do it).

After this procedure the receiver should reboot alone. Don't touch in anything, let the system work.
After the reboot you should see a blue screen with a message telling you that the system should auto-reboot in less than 2 minutes.

If the system passes from that blue screen and reboot again itself, that means it is working perfectly.
If the system seems to stay forever on that blue screen, take note of the letters you see on the centre of the screen. Those letters will help you to know which type of data is not being received by the RX unit.

Follow exactly all the steps above and let me know what happened.

[danner]

Sounds good.

I will have to test it later tonight because the adhesive is still drying on the receiver enclosure. The transmitter is in my garage powered by a 12V battery and connected to the solar charge controller (solar panel is not connected to it). I have a regulated 12VDC power supply in my room I will use to connect the other transmitter.

[danner]

I did the above and the receiver is now counting rain bucket tips. Thank you.

I still don't understand what happened though. The only difference was I had the rain/wind as TX1 and the temp/humidity as TX0. Just happy it is working. Now to get everything into their boxes. :-)

Thanks again for your time.

[danner]

[werk_ag]

I'm glad you had your system working as it should. I felt that you was start to doubt about everything. That is bad at the building stage.

I still don't understand what happened though. The only difference was I had the rain/wind as TX1 and the temp/humidity as TX0. Just happy it is working.

The difference was the sequence were things are done. When you be ready to install the system in the real world, surely we will return to this matter
For now, enjoy your assembling, and trust, the system really works!

Thank you for your persistence, and by having described so well your difficulties, without it I could not figured what was happening.
There is a thing that I already said many times. There is no point in trying to test a system without having the minimal set of sensors attached to one or more TX units, and of course, without first having those TX units fully working. Most of the times this attempt only leads to problems.

[danner]

I am very impressed with the range. TX1 was in my garage on the other side of the house. The signal went through at least 8 walls across roughly 90 feet so I don't foresee any communication issues. It will be interesting though to see whether I get interference on 432MHz or vice versa. But I will cross that bridge when I get to it.