Gina

That would seem to be the ideal solution. A genuine Arduino Nano costs around £30 - 4 times the cost of the ESP32. I've found the cheap Chinese Nano clones to be unreliable - I have a large pile of dud ones. No problem with genuine ones except the cost! The ESP32 is a bigger than the Nano but not too big. I shall probably order another ESP32 for the other weather station location viz. the observatory. One in the wind sensor casing will cover wind measurements and can also read light level. The observatory will have temperature and humidity (maybe pressure) in the Stevenson Screen and temperature and humidity in the scope room. Not yet sure where to put the rain gauge but one possibility is on the wind sensors mast. It used to be on a framework on the grass a couple of yards north of the observatory but that wasn't very convenient. My plan is to just take simple readings with the ESPs and collate all the data on my main PC indoors. I shall need to see how I program that. Maybe Python. I may request to "borrow" other members ideas and code. I had lots of displays written in Python and using GnuPlot for graphs, rose and pie charts etc. some years ago but that's long since lost!

ESP32 ordered.

Successfully cancelled the delivery of the ESP8266s and will order an ESP32. Looks a much better bet - everything in one board.

£7.49 on Amazon. I'll order one I think... Just a bit more than 2 of the others.

The ESP8266s are already on their way to me!

WOW!!! That looks good. I'll see how much they cost. I though of using an Arduino and WiFi add-on since I'm very familiar with coding Arduinos.

Yes. I thought the ESP8266 was just a WiFi adapter hadn't thought of it as a microprocessor as well. I will want one digital and 4 analogue inputs or maybe 9 digital inputs depending on how I implement the wind vane sensor. OTOH that encoder chip only needs 3 data lines (SPI or I2C forget which).

Been looking at using the ESP8266 with Arduino Nano. I see it needs programming with things like SSID and WPA password first, which can be done from an Arduino. Then I presume the Nano is connected to the ESP8266 to send data. Haven't quite worked that part out yet. I don't know if the ESP8266 has EEPROM to hold the SSID etc. or whether this needs sending on powering up in the field.

I've ordered some more optical reflective sensors and Hall switches to replace the ones I've lost. Arriving tomorrow. ARCELI 10 Pcs TCRT5000L Tcrt5000 Reflective Optical Sensor Switch 10pcs A3144E 3144 OH3144E Hall SIP Three-Pin Effect Sensor

Looks interesting but... Does it need a faster processor than an Arduino or RPi? What are the ultrasonic sensors - cost and availability? I could manage the hardware. If there was a design with readily available sensors and using either Arduino or RPi with sketch I would be interested but I suspect it't not that simple or there would be lots of them about and rotary wind sensors would die the death.

Rummaging through my box of chips and other components I've found the transmissive opto sensors but not the reflective or the Hall switches which I know I have somewhere.

Thanks Dave. Interesting but a) I don't want to spend that much money and b) prefer to make my own.

I'm now thinking about the angle sensing for the wind vane. Possibilities :- Magnet and read switches - some magnetic force Magnet and Hall switches Reflective optical sensing with Gray code disc Transmissive optical sensing with Gray coded discs Magnetic encoder chip Hall switches instead of reeds avoid the magnetic attraction of reed switches providing freer vane movement but experimentation would be needed to see how well this worked and what overlap occurs. Optical sensing provides analogue output with code needed to clean up and provide Schmitt triggering. This is no problem with the Arduino. The Melexis magnetic encoder chip system has proved less accurate than expected and is difficult to set up. I don't like it! Option 3. is probably the easiest to implement mechanically but relies on getting a good differential reflectivity from the Gray code disc. Some experimentation to get the switching levels right would be needed. Option 4. give better light to dark ratio but is more complicated mechanically. Whichever system I use seems to need experimentation.

Here are some images from the ASC showing cloud and raindrops on the dome. Heavy cloud coming in before the rain. Light rain just started. Moderate to heavy rain. Rain stopped and sunshine but still raindrops on dome. Raindrops gradually drying off. Raindrops now almost gone.

After several hours of rain I think I can say that the ASC is watertight. The pressure equalisation and drain pipe goes into a small jar in the observatory containing a couple of 10g colour changing desiccant (silica gel) grains. These have darkened a bit but still orange and there's no water in the jar. With the desiccant open to the atmosphere through a small hole in the jar top I expect to see a gradual absorption of moisture from the air. Air will be going in and out as the air in the ASC dome cools and warms.

My current wind vane design uses magnetic damping with strong magnets and an aluminium disc but with Consensus Averaging this seems unnecessary and indeed may actually be a disadvantage. I was planning to us Consensus Averaging anyway and have used it before.

Do you have a link, please?

That Argent Data Systems Wind Rain sensor looks exactly like the weather station I bought from Maplins years ago. The anemometers broke up in storms. I had two of them but gave up after the second failed. The Davis WS (No relation AFAIK) was just as an idea for mounting the wind sensors.

Reckoned to be about the best weather station is the Davis Advantage Pro 2 and I can see advantages in the wind sensors in this station. This format is much more compact than my last version. There is very little interference from the support bracket.

The present casing was made with ABS in several parts glued together with acetone (solvent welded) and is bigger than my current 3D printer can accommodate. A new casing would need to be in parts and bolted together since I no longer use ABS. For one thing, it warps! But that's not the only reason. New casing will be white PLA. The present shape is not necessarily the best and I'm looking into other options.

I have a 5m long aluminium tube 1½" OD that I can use for the wind sensors. The casing that I already have has warped badly and won't do so I shall have to produce a new one.

Order placed with Amazon - due to arrive tomorrow.

These? :- IZOKEE 2pcs ESP8266 ESP-01S Serial WIFI Wireless Transceiver Module with 1MB Flash Support LWIP AP+STA for Arduino UNO R3 Mega2560 Nano I would be very interested in how you made your weather station.

IZOKEE 2pcs ESP8266 ESP-01S Serial WIFI Wireless Transceiver Module with 1MB Flash Support LWIP AP+STA for Arduino UNO R3 Mega2560 Nano

This looks interesting - How To Wirelessly Transmit Data on Arduino