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building own weatherstation

For discussion of DIY weather equipment - sensors, accessories, improvements to existing kit etc
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CodieRae
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon 09 Dec 2013 5:41 pm
Weather Station: multiple different ones
Operating System: Win7+Raspbian
Location: Tucson AZ

building own weatherstation

Post by CodieRae »

Id like to build a weatherstation, and keep it compatible with cumulus
Unfortunately i dont have a weatherstation handy that your software supports, what is the data format/syntax should i use? which would be easier, just setting up something on an IP, simulated serial link, maybe a lighthttpd with a perl script to output data to cumulus? or something else entirely? - basically going to have a bunch of sensors on a raspberry-pi, along with a webcam and other stuff(snow depth laser sensor, humidity, barometric pressure etc) now id preferbly have cumulus running locally, but due to the Pi being linux, and at max, 1ghz, im doubting it would run, so that leaves me with doing a simulated serial link over the internet or lan, and/or use the vantage pro IP dataloger format, -- any ideas or other thoughts? could you add a weatherstation type of http so it can pull from a script?
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steve
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Re: building own weatherstation

Post by steve »

I would recommend the Davis protocol, as it's the only one of those supported by Cumulus which is fully documented and available from the manufacturer.

It's unlikely that I'll be adding any other types of input to Cumulus in the near future. I am (slowly) working on a version of Cumulus which runs on a Pi - I'm working on the Davis part at the moment.
Steve
CodieRae
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon 09 Dec 2013 5:41 pm
Weather Station: multiple different ones
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Location: Tucson AZ

Re: building own weatherstation

Post by CodieRae »

ok, which parts of the davis serial protocol does cumulus use for grabbing data, so i can reduce the amount of code needed for a prototype
CodieRae
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon 09 Dec 2013 5:41 pm
Weather Station: multiple different ones
Operating System: Win7+Raspbian
Location: Tucson AZ

Re: building own weatherstation

Post by CodieRae »

is it possible to get cumulus to just read a simple csv output on a http server, or serial? would be easier to code for one
for starters im doing temp,humidity,barometric pressure, and lux(IR and visible light seperatly), next will be a laser sensor for snow depth and last will be windspeed/direction
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steve
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Re: building own weatherstation

Post by steve »

I don't know which parts of the Davis serial protocol Cumulus needs, as it doesn't drive it directly, it uses a DLL provided by Davis.

Cumulus can read a file in 'easyweather.dat' format. There's some information in this thread: https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4344
Steve
AllyCat
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Re: building own weatherstation

Post by AllyCat »

Hi,
CodieRae wrote:.... lux(IR and visible light seperatly), next will be a laser sensor for snow depth ....
AFAIK the Easyweather file (as processed by Cumulus) does not include Solar data, and certainly not snow depth. The "Easyweather Plus" file produced by/for Fine Offset solar stations appears to have many of the data records in a different sequence, not just "Lux" and "UV" added at the end (those last two in quotes because I don't believe that either are actually measured by FO stations in the normally recognised units).

Whilst I applaud your decision to separate Visible and IR measurements (and ignore "UV"), it seems that's not what the majority of meteorologists/weather station designers want to do. Also, I question measuring IR in "Lux", but admit that I have seen sensor data sheets that do.

I'm afraid that we probably have to "bite the bullet" and develop code for the Davis protocol, unless we can persuade Instromet or Steve to release their prorocol. :)

Cheers, Alan.
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steve
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Re: building own weatherstation

Post by steve »

The Instromet protocol would certainly be easier to implement than the Davis protocol, but note that it has no solar data. There's no possibility of me being persuaded to release the Instromet protocol, because it's not mine to release.
Steve
sperry russ
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Re: building own weatherstation

Post by sperry russ »

My first and only weather station is a Fine Offset type which I bought about two years ago. Different parts of it are starting to fail now and I can't afford at the moment to buy one of the more professional ones. So I started thinking of building one and using a raspberry pi with it. But, I did not like any of the weather software that I saw running on Linux.

Now I see that Steve is developing a version of Cumulus to run on raspberry pi. I am glad to hear that. I wanted to play around with one of those raspberry pi's but did not want to waste money if ultimately I did not have a real use for it. But now I am going to buy one of them to experiment around with and then ultimately run Cumulus on it.

Does anyone have any info about using one of those Microcontrollers and sensors with a raspbery pi? I have read countless websites about microcontrollers but there are so many and different ways to apparently use them that I don't know where to start.
AllyCat
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Re: building own weatherstation

Post by AllyCat »

Hi,

I gather that the Raspberry Pi doesn't have analogue inputs, which limits its use for some sensor applications. So you might find the first link in this alternative forum thread of particular interest.

Apart from its relatively low cost, the PICAXE micro has advantages that it's very easy to "get started" and power levels which can be fully compatible with wireless/battery/PV-powered sensor applications.

Cheers, Alan.
prodata
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Re: building own weatherstation

Post by prodata »

FWIW:

I'd start from the point of view that sensors for future weather stations need to be wireless - it's just too limiting, at least in the general case**, for cables/wires to run into a nearby building where there may be mains power. Therefore the sensors package (plus whatever processing power you co-locate with the sensors - some is essential) needs to be self-powered, most obviously via a solar panel and rechargeable battery.

This scenario seriously limits how much power the sensor package can consume on the assumptions: (i) that you want the sensors to work reliably year-round and in higher latitudes (like Orkney just to take one example at random); (ii) that the solar PSU has to remain modestly-sized, easy to fit into a suitable weather-proof box and relatively affordable.

An RPi (sadly, I agree) consumes substantially too much power to be workable in this application and AFAICS there's little option but to use a microcontroller.

**Edit: Maybe I should just expand a little on this comment: Many private weather stations generate data of limited quality and accuracy because the sensors are not sufficiently well exposed. To some extent this may be unavoidable in many domestic circumstances. But if you mandate that the station be used in a domestic setting AND that cables run from the sensors into the house then you're placing a double constraint on the siting for the sensors, which makes it even more likely that data quality may be far from optimal. And this is without considering the practical inconvenience and hassle of actually running any cable. Hence my strong preference for making the sensors wireless if at all possible.
Last edited by prodata on Sat 11 Jan 2014 8:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
John Dann
Prodata Weather Systems
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http://www.weatherstations.co.uk
sperry russ
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Re: building own weatherstation

Post by sperry russ »

I read that thread on the PICAXE. If the Raspberry Pi does not have enough power and or analogue inputs then how do you get the info from the microcontroller into a computer? I have looked at other mini computer boards also. Some have more power than the Pi. Should I try one of them?

As far as wireless that would be my preference but I have had a lot of problems with my current wireless station because the building I am in has walls and ceilings that are 8 to 12 inches thick made of steel reinforced concrete. Cell phones and other electronics receive very poorly or not at all here. So I wanted to run wired connections in some manner.

Also, the Cumulus software that is going to run on the Pi...will it also run on any arm based computer?

Thanks.
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steve
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Re: building own weatherstation

Post by steve »

sperry russ wrote:Also, the Cumulus software that is going to run on the Pi...will it also run on any arm based computer?
In theory, yes. How that turns out in practice, we will have to see.
Steve
CodieRae
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Joined: Mon 09 Dec 2013 5:41 pm
Weather Station: multiple different ones
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Location: Tucson AZ

Re: building own weatherstation

Post by CodieRae »

I have analog to digital converters(but I don't need them since all my sensors are digital and run on the i2c bus) also the pi is fine powerwise I use mine on solar to upload cam images(plus do timelapse and text overlays) all of which it does even while uploading over cellular internet consuming less power than a similar x86 windows box..all that's left to do is install cumulus or use a Linux alternative and or format the data using Davis' serial protocol's
sperry russ
Posts: 89
Joined: Mon 30 Jan 2012 5:09 pm
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Re: building own weatherstation

Post by sperry russ »

I think I will still use the raspberry pi or similar arm based mini that will run cumulus. Have to see how all that works out after Steve gets finished with his work on the software.

I have scoured countless websites with info about microcontrollers, sensors, wiring and the ways of connecting them to the computers. I am a novice at some of this so it became difficult for me to choose which avenue to take to build my own.

I believe I found the answer to what I was looking for right here on the Cumulus forum. I found this thread: https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/viewtopic.p ... d&start=30.

Charlie developed and built this station with the idea of something between Fine Offset type stations and Davis or similar more expensive stations. It has no display to keep down costs but reports to Cumulus to display on a computer screen and upload to the internet. I have been corresponding with him and I believe I may be buying his solution.

I know that wireless seems to be the current way that most of these stations work but I agree with Charlie that wireless sometimes introduces different kinds of errors or erratic readings. With a direct wire a lot of these problems are eliminated. Especially in my case with the poor/no reception at my location of any wireless type device that is located outside. In my case direct wire is the only real solution.

If I do purchase it and get it going I will report my experience with it.

Thanks,
Sperry
tumutbound
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Re: building own weatherstation

Post by tumutbound »

I took would love to see Cumulus run on the RPi and would give any necessary support Steve needs to do this.

First step I've made is to build a weather cam using a Pi with wifi module and the Pi camera module. All mounted in a metal security camera casing (see attached)

Camera is working, I'm just doing some python code to take the image, resize, add text and upload to my website.
I've also been looking at adding a 433 Mhz receiver module so I can get the raw data from the WH1080 weather station.
I've no idea what I'll do with it once I get it :oops:

Regards
Geoff
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