[wizardgmb]

George,

I'm obviously not going to get into the issue of which module and/or frequency should be used as I'm in the UK, and I *think* the subject has now been comprehensively covered anyway.

I thought I'd just jump in to welcome you to the "WeatherDuino family" and ask if you'd tell us a bit more about your own WeatherDuino project, for example the various sensors and modules (apart from rf obviously) you're planning on using - or maybe *are* already using!!


Allan.

Yes Allan, the subject has been fully thrashed. You don't have to drag me off the topic...

I am currently using an old Davis Vantage in a less than optimal location. The US Army withdrew non-military access to the only known accessible scientific grade weather station in Caroline County where I live, so much for the good neighbor policy. It's up to private individuals and a couple of WeatherBug sites at a school & the county EOC to provide weather information for use by NWS and the local media. It's time for me to step up my game!

I have a 5+ meter length of 51 mm pipe with arms at the top that is going into a previously cast cement foundation, if spring ever comes to the USA east coast. Once in place, there will be a 60 x 60 X 24 cm watertight steel enclosure mounted at working level to house instrumentation, radio gear and battery backed power. Conduits for AC power and data have been run from the pole location to underneath my house. There is also a poly tubing loop buried with the conduit that if needed, can be used for geothermal maintenance of the cabinet interior temperature using gamer PC water cooling devices.

All of the commercial/scientific grade instruments are on hand save for CO2 detection and will include:

2 ea   Vaisala HMP233 temperature and humidity monitors, one with a radiation shield
1 pair MetOne cup anemometer and direction indicator
1 ea   Vaisala Ultrasonic wind speed & direction sensor
1 ea   Vaisala barometric pressure sensor with Campbell wind shield
1 ea   Campbell Scientific tipping bucket rain gauge
1 ea   Campbell Scientific solar radiation sensor
1 ea   Personally built moisture sensor
1 ea   Personally built lightning detector
1 ea   TBD CO2 sensor
1 ea   Network attached 720P video camera aimed at a snow measurement platform
1 ea   Network attached 720P video camera aimed at the adjacent vegetable garden

At this point in the plan, there will be a Wyse 5010 Thin Client in the cabinet running either Cumulus or WeatherView with the necessary interfacing, backup battery and solar charge controller. The thin client has a fiber optic Ethernet connection that will feed into the house to avoid noise and lighting impulse transfer. Additional fiber pairs will be used for a KVM remote control of the thin client and a separate USB 2.0 link for SDR units receiving ADS, weather satellites and hopefully a few passing weather balloons. The thin client will also feed amateur 2M & 70 cm cigarette pack APRS transceivers. There will be a last chance cellular SMS communications system. From the outside, the whole assembly is going to look like a radio mast on a modern warship. If space remains, it will house irrigation controls for my wife's vegetable garden.

So where does WeatherDuino fit into the "plan"? While pretty austere by PC standards, the 20 watt quiescent power requirement of the thin client is a substantial drain on solar batteries if grid and onsite emergency backup power is lost. Relocating Cumulus to a shared thin client indoors, doing measurement only with a WeatherDuino and using a second Arduino for housekeeping chores considerably reduces the solar power consumption. Having Davis Vantage emulation is a big plus when it comes to connecting to APRS and other devices.

I'm also evaluating the establishment of an amateur radio emergency preparedness network of preinstalled radios and antennas at strategic locations. Having a cost effective basic weather station that could be installed with the radios would provide a data source for periodic test communications and a remote data display could be an enticement to the building owner/occupant to let us use the building.

At this point, I'm trying to evaluate the WeatherDuino's transmitter and receiver boards to see if I can substitute a fiber optic driver and receiver for the RF devices (I avoid polluting the radio spectrum whenever possible). Given the schematics aren't available until after the purchase of boards, working from parts lists and photographs is slow going. So far, it appears the data lines from and to the respective Arduinos can be connected to logic level interfaced fiber devices. I haven't looked at the CO2 sensor board yet.

You asked...

Regards,
George