06-02-2017, 23:07
Mark, that's a very good point about the header socket and more on it in a moment. A bit of background first...
The operational station tx unit is installed in a sealed, weatherproof enclosure and has been working perfectly for 14 months now. The "spare" tx I'm talking about was used for a couple of months last summer and early autumn while I was trying (unsuccessfully, thanks to awful English summer weather!!) to calibrate my own solar sensor. I didn't then have a spare rx, so enabled debugging on the Nano and used a connected netbook computer and the serial monitor. Over the winter and until last week the tx was stored in a dry but unheated garden shed.
This last week, using the new PLUS rx, I've been able to set up a complete second "test station" using the same spare tx, but now with a wifi module installed, one of a few that I ordered a year or more ago for the original project. I didn't check it (with a magnifying glass) before inserting it on the tx board so it is *possible* it was a little defective to start with. The tx board is in a box but open to the air on the bench at the end of the garden. It's winter here of course and although the setup is put in the shed at the end of the day's experiments, the daytime air is very damp at times.
Now, onto the header sockets...
I'm sure there's a potential for connectors in general (on tx boards) to cause difficulties, certainly in damp conditions. Yesterday I connected up my solar sensor again and this was the result...
![[Image: solartest.jpg]](http://www.prescotpages.co.uk/photoalbums/Other/solartest.jpg)
Between around 13:15 and just after 14:30 the UV index continually dropped from around 0.2/0.4 to zero and then recovered. I thought that a bit strange, so shortly after 14:30 I went outside and re-made the connections *on* and *to* the solar pcb. As you can see, the readings subsequently appear normal.
Admittedly this particular tx board has not been very well protected from the elements and it seems likely that connectors *can* be a source of problems in that case. I'll certainly do as you suggest and, after leaving the replacement wifi module in place for the next week or so, try the original again and see what happens and post the results here.
Either way, I think there are two learning points here. 1 - Sockets of any kind have advantages *and* disavantages. 2 - The quality of some wifi modules is certainly marginal at best....
Best regards,
Allan.
The operational station tx unit is installed in a sealed, weatherproof enclosure and has been working perfectly for 14 months now. The "spare" tx I'm talking about was used for a couple of months last summer and early autumn while I was trying (unsuccessfully, thanks to awful English summer weather!!) to calibrate my own solar sensor. I didn't then have a spare rx, so enabled debugging on the Nano and used a connected netbook computer and the serial monitor. Over the winter and until last week the tx was stored in a dry but unheated garden shed.
This last week, using the new PLUS rx, I've been able to set up a complete second "test station" using the same spare tx, but now with a wifi module installed, one of a few that I ordered a year or more ago for the original project. I didn't check it (with a magnifying glass) before inserting it on the tx board so it is *possible* it was a little defective to start with. The tx board is in a box but open to the air on the bench at the end of the garden. It's winter here of course and although the setup is put in the shed at the end of the day's experiments, the daytime air is very damp at times.
Now, onto the header sockets...
I'm sure there's a potential for connectors in general (on tx boards) to cause difficulties, certainly in damp conditions. Yesterday I connected up my solar sensor again and this was the result...Between around 13:15 and just after 14:30 the UV index continually dropped from around 0.2/0.4 to zero and then recovered. I thought that a bit strange, so shortly after 14:30 I went outside and re-made the connections *on* and *to* the solar pcb. As you can see, the readings subsequently appear normal.
Admittedly this particular tx board has not been very well protected from the elements and it seems likely that connectors *can* be a source of problems in that case. I'll certainly do as you suggest and, after leaving the replacement wifi module in place for the next week or so, try the original again and see what happens and post the results here.
Either way, I think there are two learning points here. 1 - Sockets of any kind have advantages *and* disavantages. 2 - The quality of some wifi modules is certainly marginal at best....
Best regards,
Allan.