Purchased new toy....

[seasprout]

Something I've wanted for ages..



Its a fancy pants Weather Station.
I bought it from Maplins last week, but ironically its been too wet to fit the thing.

As I've been typing I've watched the Temperature drop.!

Its this model from maplins... http://http://www.maplin.co.uk/usb-wireless-weather-forecaster-223254

Although it was 50% of the price its showing now.

I don't need it to tell me its snowing though, as its covered in the white stuff.

Going to be interesting to see just exactly how much rain we have from now on.

[polc1410]

I recommend moving the rain gauge off the pole and onto a wooden post 30cm above some flat turf. On the pole any shake in the pole gives false readings, also wind will blow in the drain hole and flip the seassaw inside.

I'm using pywws to put results on a website for a different hobby...

[seasprout]

Thanks for the tip, i'll look into that when I can get though the increasing snowdrifts growing out there.

:-)

[zazen999]

We've got one of those at the community gardens - but it's not plugged in anywhere. How do we connect it to something that will take readings?

[polc1410]

OK So presumably you have the LCD screen showing data?

If so it has a USB port on it. You can plug that into a Windows or Linux based PC (including a RasPi) and then either use EasyWeather (windows only) or PYWWS (windows or linux) to so stuff with the data. PYWWS (search google...) is python code that will let you populate a website.

So next think is do you have tinternet at the community garden? If not can you get it by borrowing someone's WiFi? Failing that a 3G dongle could provide a method but costs will be more than you probably want!

Do you have power?

If you have someone suitably geeky they can install dd-wrt or something simillar on a low power router (or use a RasPi). Assuming you have power the rest should be straightforward...

If you don't have power as a router or RasPi is low power you could probably do something solar panel and leisure battery based...?

[zazen999]

No - the wires are not connected and have never been connected to anything.

[polc1410]

The wires go from the rain sensor (square box) and the wind vane to the temperature sensor. They are far longer than you'd expect.

The temp sensor includes a wireless transmitter that sends the data every 48 seconds to a base unit somewhere. Its only got a range of 300feet or so.

So I'm guessing someone has the base someplace (shed? nearby house etc.)

[zazen999]

Possibly before they were kicked off site. So I'd have to get a base unit and link the two together in order to receive any data. That helps - thanks!

[polc1410]

In theory yes.

BUT there are two different operating frequencies used by WH1080's and you'd need to know (a) what the transmitter is on (it may have a sticker on it) and (b) find someone selling a base unit that knows what frequency its on. They do appear on ebay from time to time as broken up units for parts, but I suspect the screen is about £40 and the whole kit is probably £50 if you wait for the right time for maplin to discount it. (They discount them every 2 or 3 months for 48hours).

If you want to check for a frequency try sliding the behive (Stevenson Screen) upwards there will be a bit the size of a remote control. either a sticker may be on the outside or behind the battery panel.

You could also sell the bits on ebay and cover the cost of a replacement as they do have a habit of breaking one part or another and so people do want specific parts. If you'd got a spare screen I'd have had it if it was on the right frequency as my spare unit's screen is not receiving data :-(

[dogsbody]

I have one of these too and it works just fine. Don't upload data at the moment though.

My sensors are on an aerial pole bolted to the top of my shed.

[Newton]

At half price I want one too......

[Madasafish]

At half price I want one too......

Buy USB Wireless Weather Forecaster from our Weather Stations range - Tesco.com

or cheaper
USB LCD TOUCHSCREEN WIRELESS WEATHER FORECASTER STATION UP TO 60m RANGE | eBay

[seasprout]

Mine can be plugged into my PC via a USB lead, it came with software as well.

[PyreneesPlot]

We have one too - we upload data to Wunderground.

This is our data Weather Forecast Lannemezan, France | Lannemezan Weather | Wunderground

And this is the front page of the site which is a little clunky Weather Station Signup | Weather Underground