[engolling]

Hello Werk,
this sounds like great news .
Concerning the new software - since we meet everyday in work (far more often than I would like to  ) I will surly have a chance to have a look on it as soon he got it.

Maybe all different signal sources could some time be concentrated on the data_structs.h. Because t3g reminded me today that I forgot to include soil and leaf data until now.
Moreover there was a bug in my python script. The new version is attached.

If I will have some time in the next days I will start a new thread for the WeatherDuino Logger Add on to keep everything more clear.

engolling

[engolling]

Here's an update of the script including a comparison between sent bytes and actually expected bytes, giving a warning if it does not mach (for example if data_structs have changed)

Edit: New file uploaded since it was a wrong version

[Barrow4491]

Werk,
Is it possible in the next revision of the software to have the screen display “UV Index”  as per accepted international standard of “1to 11+“in lieu of “UV and a pretty meaningless number”, or an option to display either?
In Australia in summer the index is quite high and this would give a more meaningful indication of the danger associated with prolonged exposure
Kind regards
Jim

[werk_ag]

Hi Jim,

What you mean with: " lieu of “UV and a pretty meaningless number” ?
WeatherDuino UV scale is from 0 to 12, however values are show at a 0.1 resolution. I don't know if is this what is bothering you, in affirmative case, please let me explain why we use the decimal point: Cumulus as other weather software plot UV graphics, which look really bad (they seem a ladder) when plotted using just an integer number. Indeed this is the reason why Cumulus uses UV with 0.1 resolution too.

Regards

[Barrow4491]

Hi Jim,

What you mean with: " lieu of “UV and a pretty meaningless number” ?
WeatherDuino UV scale is from 0 to 12, however values are show at a 0.1 resolution. I don't know if is this what is bothering you, in affirmative case, please let me explain why we use the decimal point: Cumulus as other weather software plot UV graphics, which look really bad (they seem a ladder) when plotted using just an integer number. Indeed this is the reason why Cumulus uses UV with 0.1 resolution too.

Regards

Werk,
My apologies, I wasn't being critical of the system but I have obviously had a faulty sensor(UV) as i was getting readings as high as 160.9, which I blamed on the new software. 
I have replaced it and am getting a reading very close to the local met office reading again
Thanks again 
Jim

[engolling]

I just found out that my post has probably been gone due to the host moving of the forum.

I wanted to suggest to add support for a BME 680 Sensor to the RX module. 
This is in principle a BME 280 with the additional feature to read VOC (volatile organic componentes)
https://www.bosch-sensortec.com/bst/prod...cts/bme680

This would allow to calculate an indoor AQI.
Integration should be possible as it as a I2C interface and there are already a lot of libraries available.


Moreover I found this Soil moisture sensor on tindie:
https://www.tindie.com/products/miceuz/i...rod_search
Since it has an I2C interface it would be an easy to support alternative to the supported Vegetronix VH40 sensor.
If I have some time i will order a sample and check how it is working.

Regards,
engolling

[werk_ag]

Hi engolling,

Well, we can add support for almost any kind of sensor we want, specially when its just a matter of adding software support, however in my humble opinion, I think that we should always consider if the readings from the sensors we are adding, conform with any standards.

In my point of view the proposed soil moisture sensor can't be seen as an alternative to the Vegetronix VH400. When I added support for the soil moisture to the WeatherDuino system, I had the opportunity the learn some things (thanks to JT118, for all the info sent to me) about reading soil moisture, that I couldn't even imaginated.

Not entering in details, the soil moisture usually is expressed in volumetric water content or centibar (yes, a pressure unit). The output of the proposed soil moisture sensor indeed changes with the soil moisture, but you don't have any correlation with a standard measurement unit. So, what means when the output voltage is 50% or 75%.

I have more or less the same concerns regarding the BME680: "... Note it will give you one resistance value, with overall VOC content, but it cannot differentiate gasses or alcohols."

What are we really measuring? There are any standard scale for this?

Regards

[engolling]

Hello Werk,

thanks for your feedback to my suggestions. I also understand your concerns to get representative and traceable readings of the environmental conditions (which is mostly expensive).
Since I'm working in a lab doing also environmental tests, I know that a calibration of one measurement device costs often more than 1000 EUR...

Nevertheless I'm always a fan of trying new things to get also reasonable results with a small budget.

Concerning the soil moisture sensor:
I also did a bit of research before posting to find out that the soil moisture is indicated by a (negative) pressure value to quantify how much force the plants roots need to get some water out of the soil.
During research on the Vegetronix system, I was linked to this sensor and in principle i thought this could be useful.
Of course it is necessary to compare both systems and to work out how to calibrate and adjust the proposed sensor to get reliable readings.
That's why I was asking for the principally willingness to integrate new sensors.


From this point on it is in my opinion useful to invest more time and do some research how the sensor could be used or if it is not appropriate after inquiring the behaviour.

Concerning the BME 680 VOC:
This is a bigger problem because the sensor can not differ the different components. At least it is acknowledged that VOCs have an impact of the indoor air quality
https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-i...ir-quality

Bosch has its own algorithm to calculate a AQI out of the sensors data.
https://www.bosch-sensortec.com/bst/prod...ducts/bsec
On the one hand you are right that I don't know on which studies this calculations are based on.
On the other hand it would be an easy chance to gather some information about the indoor air quality, since the hardware would be plug and play.

Best regards,
engolling

[tobyportugal]

Hello,

Do you have a WeatherDuino extension project to use a PT100 3 wires grade A sensor? (with a MAX31865 amplifier?).
Thanks

[werk_ag]

Hi,

Despite the PT100 be considered a high precision temperature sensor, isn't a kind of sensor commonly used on weather stations, being more used on industrial and laboratory environments.
Currently there is no plans to add support for the PT100.

May I ask what for you want to use a PT100?
There are many Arduino breakout boards (using the MAX31865) for the PT100, or PT1000, with 2, 3 or 4 wires.

Rgs.