Gina

Thank you Dave 😀

Thank you very much Ray 😀

Wonder what it was and where it came from then!

Yes, I remember it well and it was just into the early hours of the 21st UK time (BST) and it was my birthday. I thought "What a fantastic birthday present!" 😁

Does anyone here have detailed knowledge of which GPIO pins on this board can be used for digital input? Please. Web sites seem to give conflicting information - or more accurately, I'm not sure how to interpret the data. I would like to use 9 or 10 digital inputs and the ADC input and nothing else.

Been Googling (other search engines are available) and it looks iffy - pinout Does anyone on here know exactly which GPIO pins on the ESP8266 NodeMCU V1.0 ESP-12E WiFI Module can be used for digital input?

Might be able to use the ESP8266 NodeMCU V1.0 ESP-12E WiFI Module (which I also have) if I use all digital inputs. It has 10 GPIO digital pins but I don't know if any of these are reserved.

Sorry but that's wrong. There will be two reed switches "on" when the magnet is between the two. A side effect of this is to give 16 detectable directions. It also means that there is no position in which all are "off".

One question about the ESP32 - does it matter which way the antenna points? I'm think I could have it "portrait" style with the antenna at the top.

If I use a separate ESP32 for the wind measurements it can go in the plastic part at the top of the pole/mast with very short wires. In fact I could simply run 9 wires and use 8 digital inputs on the ESP32 with internal pull-up thereby eliminating all the resistors.

I was thinking of using this circuit for the wind direction sensor but with lower value resistors and connected to the ADC inputs of an ESP32. 4 signal wires plus Gnd. The question is though, how far can I run the wires safely without picking up interference. I was thinking that, with the wind instruments mounted on the observatory, I could use one ESP32 for all the weather measurements but due to the size of the observatory this would involve wiring several metres long. Maybe this isn't such a good idea. It's not as if ESP32s are very expensive so maybe a separate one for the wind measurements would be better.

Well done Carole - superb image and under difficult conditions too.

Good idea but better to use non-reversible connectors.

I'm using reed switches for the wind vane arranged in a cylinder with the magnet in a sleeve round it, the latter providing weather protection as well as holding the magnet. The anemometer uses 4 magnets in the disc shaped hub and a Hall device. With the wind sensors mast attached to the observatory I can now use one SBC to collect all the weather data with the wind data connected by wires.

Latest photos and CAD models.

A while back when I was using a Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro mount I found 12v from a PC ATX PSU was not quite sufficient. I've used a 13.8v PSU since and no problem with that or the EQ8 I have now.

As you like Alan but they are advertised as buck converters. I can see your point though - buck means reduce.

Buck converters can be set to any voltage up to a couple of volts below the input voltage. But don't exceed the maximum input voltage (most seem to be 35v). You can get step up buck converters too - useful if you want 24v from a standard 13.8v battery.

Yes, that's what I do.

+1

It should be correct about darkness but the weather is another matter!

Wont work with LED bulbs I guess...

The dome is very thin clear acrylic and has very little focussing effect - it only very slightly changes the focus. Commercial units don't have anything to stop the greenhouse effect on hot summer days. Of course, I know mine doesn't need to be built down to the standard of commercial units. At least it's now waterproof and works pretty well. As I said I may look into adding a cover later. There are other benefits of a cover apart from keeping the sun off - such as insect and bird droppings and general "muck". It would have to be remote controlled. OK not beyond my capabilities probably but a lot of work.

I have taken this on board and thank you for your suggestion. For this and other reasons I have decided to mount the mast for the wind sensors on the SW corner post of the observatory.

Yep! 😀