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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Project --> MaxiMite Weather Station
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| DuinoMiteMegaAn Senior Member  Joined: 17/11/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 231 |
Project --> Custom Made MaxiMite / MMBasic Weather Station With the MaxiMite / MMBasic 3.1 functions for I2C, 1-Wire, with GPIO Freq. In, Count In, Period In, Analog In, then it would somewhat easy to interface to a raw weather station sensor assembly. A person could make his/her own custom weather station. The only safety concern is lightning / fire protection. 
Vendor short list: Argent Data Systems Weather Sensor Assembly p/n 80422 Sparkfun #SEN-08942 $69.00 With Anemometer - wind speed - (MMBasic frequency in) With Wind vane wind direction - (MMBasic analog in) (My previous project had a LED clock face that could be used for a fancy wind direction indicator) With Rain Guage - self emptying tipping bucket - (MMBasic counter in) Sparkfun I2C Barometer pressure sensor - BMP085 breakout Sparkfun 1-Wire waterproof temperature sensor (DS18B20) #SEN_11050 Adafruit I2C TSL2561 digital luminosity / lux / light sensor Adafruit I2C BMP085 Barometric Pressure/Temperature/Altitude Sensor. Vendor x I2C LCD for sensor indications. I believe I can make a better weather station than most commercial units due to the flexibility of the MaxiMite / MMBasic functions and unique interface hardware. When was the last time you saw a SD logging card on a commercial weather station? Any comments for my next MaxiMite / MMBasic project? |
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BobDevries Senior Member Joined: 08/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 266 |
I'd be very interested in a weather station project. I believe that there's quite a bit of information online (but I need to research it again), even with details of construction of the various parts. Bring it on!! Regards, Bob Devries Dalby, QLD, Australia |
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centrex Guru  Joined: 13/11/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 320 |
I would be most interested in home brew station, perhaps a wireless link would overcome any lightning problems. The clock looks very good do you have any hardware details. Did you complete your 8year data logging/security project from previous postings. regards Cliff Cliff |
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TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6098 |
My offering is similar. I use mainly analog sensors because that's what I was using with an old system that used a parallel port ADC module. Temp sensors for hothouses, instrument case and ambient are LM335 I have a HIH-4030 humidity sensor from Ocean Controls (Analog output) Argent data wind and rain. I get a lot of spiders stopping the rain gauge from working. I will put it into a larger cabinet with a big funnel to improve the sensitivity and have room to screen the spiders out (I hope). Using am 8 inch funnel will bring the resolution from 0.3mm to well under 0.1mm I have 2 water flow meters for bore pump and garden water flows. With the 2 other counter inputs used for rain and wind speed, I have run out of counters. Serial output is going to go to an XPORT serial to Ethernet module so I don't have to have a PC in the shed. There is an output to switch the bore pump on/off and another one will be for watering the hothouses. Yet another output is for load-shedding. If the backup battery gets low, the security cameras and some other equipment gets switched off. When I go walkabout, I want the system to be able to survive long power outages. By the time you add battery voltage monitoring and a voltage reference, I have run out of inputs. I might have to switch over to a UBW32. I use a laptop to interrogate the Maximite and do the main data-logging. It then emails me with the daily readings for when I am not at home. The laptop also keeps the time correct on the Maximite which gains about 1 second a day. The 'normal' PC draws the pretty graphs. 
Today was not a good day for showing of the weather! Jim VK7JH MMedit  MMBasic Help |
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| DuinoMiteMegaAn Senior Member Joined: 17/11/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 231 |
The clock looks very good do you have any hardware details.
The packaging of the Outback Dot Clock is on-going and very last project step is the paperwork eg bill of materials, schematic and PCB files. A quick summary. The Dot clock has a MCP9700A temp sensor, HIH-5030 humidity sensor, a AMBI (sharp) light sensor, 5 2N3904 LED drivers,a DS3231M I2C RTC and two tac switch inputs. The clock face has 38 LEDs. BTW This topic should be posted on the other link. Did you complete your 8 year data logging/security project from previous postings?
The Outback Dot Clock was the evolution from the "special contract" 8 year data logging/security project. So the obvious answer is yes. I would be most interested in home brew station, perhaps a wireless link would overcome any lightning problems.
I am looking into CAN with isolators for lightning protection. Sparkfun has their weather board, which is $124 plus a wireless module that fits the Argent. I believe this cost is excessive and using MMBasic hardware and software would be much better and cheaper. |
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| DuinoMiteMegaAn Senior Member Joined: 17/11/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 231 |
So to summarize what should be measured in a generic custom made weather station Basic: Barometric pressure (weather prediction) Ambient temperature Ambient light Ambient humidity Rain accumulation (rain guage) Wind speed (Wind vane) Wind direction (Anemometer) Extras: Lightning sensor Moisture sensor (Transpiration) UV monitoring Solar radiation You could easily buy a commercial "closed data" weather station but I believe by designing a custom weather station you could add many software features that the expensive commercial units cannot touch. More research on-going ... |
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herbnz Senior Member Joined: 18/02/2007 Location: New ZealandPosts: 258 |
Will watch topic with interest. My La Crosse ws2300 has stopped displaying info on the lcd screen, still downloads to computer. Have tried fault finding but without ccts very difficult. Many of the pins to the screen have signals but no where can I find a supply voltage. After reading this topic it may be possible to break into the existing blocks and down load to a maximite. All the blocks seem to be separate on the board ie temp, humitity, wireless, etc . Also have noticed other faulty units being sold on our trademe so there could be more broken units out there Herb |
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Wombat Regular Member  Joined: 27/05/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 72 |
I have put buying a weather station for some time now and will follow this project with interest. A very useful project for a Maximite. 
Regards Russ.  |
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| DuinoMiteMegaAn Senior Member Joined: 17/11/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 231 |
Weather station design notes: Some weather station design gotchas. Having the MaxiMite board "out in the elements" requires moisture and corrosion protection. Most industrial outside enclosures incorporate a strip heater to rid the box of moisture and corrosion. This takes AC mains power. Another way, is to conformal coat the board for outside use even though it is installed in an enclosure. This could be easily done but the SD connector cannot be coated! Note: New conformal coatings can be removed from the board with a chemical stripper. Another way is to run cabling inside but this would risk of lightning strike or fire. This would require signal isolation in electronics but it is very hard to isolate analog signals and this is very costly. Most commercial weather stations, now days, incorporate a wireless link to isolate the electronics from lightning. Still another way is to network the custom weather station via CAN. Having an isolated CAN interface allows great flexibility in allowing additional other user design applications to exist. |
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BobD Guru Joined: 07/12/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 935 |
Just noticed this one from Jaycar XC0348. 
Touch Screen Wireless Weather Station with USB
A highly advanced weather station with an unbeatable range of features to keep you fully updated on current and future atmospheric activity. The outdoor sensors are simple to install and will wirelessly transmit data to the base station which interprets and displays the data on the touch screen panel. You can also connect the base station to your PC through USB and upload all recorded weather data for more in-depth analysis. Now supplied with a solar panel with rechargeable batteries, it can be installed remotely and never worry about battery replacement. The sensors will read indoor/outdoor temperature, wind speed, wind chill, wind direction, dew point, humidity, rainfall and barometric pressure and is solar powered so you don't have to think about batteries. The weather tendency indicator will inform you of changing conditions based on fluctuating barometric pressure and there are programmable alarm modes for all of the recordable weather conditions so you will know if a storm is coming or if winds are too gusty for your Sunday picnic. All minimum and maximum weather values are recorded with the time and date of recording and are stored on the base station for your reference. Display unit requires 3 x AA batteries. Temperature range: Indoor 0° C to 50°C, outdoor -40°C to 65°C Humidity Range: 10%RH- 99%RH Features: • Touch screen LCD panel • Wind speed • Wind direction • Wind chill • Dew Point • Rain gauge: 0 to 9999mm • Weather forecast tendency arrow • Weather alarm modes for: temperature, humidity, wind chill, dew point, rainfall, wind speed, air pressure, storm warning • Time display hours, minutes, date • 100 year calendar display • Weather symbols and barometer tendency display • Perpetual calendar • LED backlight • Transmission range: 50m • Display unit dimensions: 230(W) x 145(H) x 35(D)mm XC0348 Instruction Manual |
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| aargee Senior Member Joined: 21/08/2008 Location: AustraliaPosts: 255 |
What about this one from ebay? Looks almost identical to the hardware offered by Sparkfun. 
You could either hack it or use it as it is. - Rob. For crying out loud, all I wanted to do was flash this blasted LED. |
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| DuinoMiteMegaAn Senior Member Joined: 17/11/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 231 |
The one on ebay, XC0348 and this one WS-2080 have the same Argent Data Systems Weather Sensors. In fact, they are "almost" (the control receiver and sensors) look the same except for the WS-2080 which is $30-50 USD cheaper. User manual - WS-2080 2012-03-07_121736_ws2080.pdf Links: http://www.ambientweather.com/amws2080.html http://www.amazon.com/Ambient-Weather-WS-2080-Wireless-Stati on/dp/B003OSJ08S The question arises, would it be cheaper to buy this "closed weather system" or to build an "open" weather station? The obvious answer is to buy one BUT since Sparkfun sells the basic weather station sensors for $69 then the only way to have a custom made "open" Maximite weather station is to find this Argent "offshore" supplier and obtain the weather sensors at a very reduced cost. Still searching ... |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
And all for $75 and in warehouse in Melbourne - doesn't look too shabby! Greg |
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| DuinoMiteMegaAn Senior Member Joined: 17/11/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 231 |
Good find but like I said before, Sparkfun charges $69 for the Argent sensors and If we can find that "offshore" supplier and get the weather sensors for 1/2 that cost then the weather project cost could be justified in making a custom Maximite weather station. After all, you have to include the Maximite PIC32 module cost plus the weather sensors and it would have to be cheaper than a commercial weather station to be cost justified. |
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wallablack Senior Member Joined: 10/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 164 |
I have had this exact model now for 2 years and have had nothing but good solid performance from it. The battery in the sensor unit has been the same one from day dot and charged from it's own solar panel. They are still available on ebay at I think under $100. I found the same problem with spiders living in the "rain gauge" which easily pulls apart. Problem is if you are anything like me you would have your weather station/annemometer at the same height as your mill. The software package is not too shabby either with a good readouts etc. I have attached a pic of my recent wind to share with forum members. The green shading is where it was disconnected or out of service. Foolproof systems do not take into account the ingenuity of fools. |
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| iandaus Newbie  Joined: 02/03/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 3 |
Guys My understanding of the SparkFun weather sensor package is that they only provide the rain, wind direction and wind speed for US$69.95 plus an extra $29 for cheapest delivery. The AU$75 plus $10 postage from Melbourne includes these plus temperature, humidity and pressure. And this particular unit (not all of them do) provides a solar panel as well. On this basis if (and a big if) the design of the unit allows direct access to the sensors then this would seem the cheapest way to obtain them. The wireless/processing unit plus the inside display would probably not be usable. However for a fully supportable/maintainable/extensible home brew system this is where you would be anyway if you purchased just the sensors. Perhaps someone with access to one of the units could advise whether accessing the sensors for raw data is feasible? Sounds like fun if possible. Ian |
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| aargee Senior Member Joined: 21/08/2008 Location: AustraliaPosts: 255 |
Wallablack, How has the unit stood up to UV? Is the unit showing any signs of plastic decomposition due to exposure? This is the problem with my current old Jaycar rain gauge, apart from the fact that the electronics in it just upped and failed. No more wireless rainfall data, I think moisture got under the "black blob" IC. - Rob. For crying out loud, all I wanted to do was flash this blasted LED. |
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| MikeO Senior Member Joined: 11/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 275 |
I am interested in this topic and while i have not applied a Maximite directly to the task as weather station controller (I have used Picaxe) I am currently coding a Maximite as a base station to receive data from the weather station as well as other data providers around the house i.e. Electricity Smart meter monitor and Brewing controller (which I believe may also have been mentioned in a recent post). All of these devices are sending the data via RF modules (I am using Xbee) which is currently being collected by a Windows XP laptop running a VB6 application which includes a built in HTTP server. The Maximite project will probably not replace the windows application ( as is will not have the advantage of HTTP server for one thing) however it will be able to provide a more portable data display (3.5 " LCD) around the house, of electricity use, outside temperature and importantly that the "brew" temperature is staying constant. My interest initially was to develop a reliable RF data network for use on the picaxe that allowed data collection and also commands to be sent to picaxe controllers for various tasks but of course there is no reason that the maximite cannot be used at both ends , providing very powerful controllers indeed. The Weather data currently being collected by the picaxe controller is just temperature. The reason for this was that I already have a weather station (Jaycar XE0348) but I found that the temperature was not totally accurate beyond ~23 degrees C and I needed to provide a more stable temperature measurement. The picaxe controller also has a solar PV capability to provide power for the whole installation. For anyone interested , updates will be on my website soon. Mike Codenquilts |
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| DuinoMiteMegaAn Senior Member Joined: 17/11/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 231 |
Perhaps someone with access to one of the units could advise whether accessing the sensors for raw data is feasible? Sounds like fun if possible.
The Argent spec sheet (Sparkfun) on these weather sensors is very simple and could be easily connected to the MaxiMite or other boards. 2012-03-08_130349_Weather_Sensor_Assembly..pdf |
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| wallablack Senior Member Joined: 10/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 164 |
It really has stood the test of time. I thought when I bought this one it wouldn't last but it has exceeded my expectations. As for holding up to UV - I have it up in the air and exposed to all elements and we get some really dry hot windy weather where 40 degrees is not uncommon during summer. Winter is bitterly cold but not snow weather. So, in a nutshell, it handles the elements. Even if the elements were to damage the external plastics, all of the sensors etc are easily accessible for you to remove and house in your own manor. Foolproof systems do not take into account the ingenuity of fools. |
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