Arduino Based Weather Station

[Gina]

The mast-top unit will be just the wind instruments, the light measuring unit can be elsewhere.  The current arrangement has the anemometer on top and the vane underneath but the bracket could be shorter is it was the other way up.  I need to do something about the anemometer anyway as the bearing has come loose and it could blow off in a storm.

Three diagrams -

1. Current orientation
2. Inverted
3. With new bracket on top of hollow mast (aluminium pipe)

Edited June 18, 2018 by Gina

[Gina]

Of course the rain shielding will need changing to suit the new orientation but it needs a new bracket anyway so I have new designs and 3D prints to do.

[Gina]

Been looking at rearranging everything to put the anemometer and wind vane the other way up but ATM I'm concentrating on my All Sky Camera as that is nearly ready and I want to get it in operation again.  I expect to get back to working on the weather station in a day or two but it could be sooner if the weather turns wet.

[Gina]

ASC is now fully operational installed in it's permanent position on the roll-off-roof of my observatory so I expect to get back to looking at the weather station any time now.

[Gina]

The ASC will need a bit of tweaking so not quite finished.

[Gina]

Turns out it needs more than a bit of tweaking - it's gone wrong so it's fault-finding tomorrow

[Gina]

Found and corrected the fault on the ASC but there are also modifications which I've been working on.  Still more to do so won't be working on the weather station for a day or two.

[Gina]

ASC is working well enough and other projects have gone sour so it's here again.  Wirking out 3D printed parts shouldn't be too mind blowing but...

Here are some initial thought on the wind vane.

[Gina]

Too hot to think...

[Gina]

Putting the anemometer directly underneath is more tricky.  Might put the wind vane on top of the mast and the anemometer on an arm a bit lower down.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Stop thinking, Make a Jug of Pimms, go & relax, you've earned it ...

[Gina]

Thank you

[Dr_Ju_ju]

It's what I'm doing, but then again, I've cleared\removed a compost bin at the end of the garden, leaving just enough space for a small Obsy……

Ohhhh more back breaking work.

[Gina]

I'm rather wondering if I'm making things more difficult for myself than needed.  Using the magnetic direction measuring chip is good in some respects - it's accurate but far more accurate than needed and it needs to be on the end of the axle.  Making a co-axial arrangement with the anemometer seems to be difficult.

Having had time to let my brain work on this in the background I've come to the conclusion that this arrangement is not sensible.

There are two possible arrangements that are easier - on each end of a cross-bar or axially with the wind vane below the anemometer with the wind vane on a larger ball bearing and different direction sensing.  I had the latter arrangement before with a bigger wind vane and optical sensing with a Gray encoder.  The commercial weather station I had before I decided to make my own had the wind instruments on the ends of a cross beam.  The latter is the easiest of the two taking what I have already built.

Edited June 28, 2018 by Gina

[Gina]

This is the arrangement I have in mind, requiring a relatively small amount of work.

[Gina]

Here a cross-section diagram of the wind vane mechanism with the various parts shown in different colours for clarity.  All the printed parts are either ABS or ASA, and where wanted, will be solvent welded (glued) with acetone.  This design avoids using support material when 3D printing.

[Gina]

The whole rig would look like this :-

[Gina]

Now designing and printing parts.

[Gina]

Here are the component parts of the wind vane casing.  Not the best prints but probably adequate.  Top, middle and bottom.

[Gina]

Casing assembled.  The underside view shows the magnet in its blue ABS holder - the angle measuring chip on its carrier will be fitted into the groove on the end of the tube.  The hole for the wires can also be seen.

Edited June 28, 2018 by Gina

[Gina]

Bit more progress.  Made boss for damping disc and attached magnet block to bottom of casing.  The motor/gearbox in the second photo was just to support the wind vane shaft - nothing to do with the project.  Placed the vane on the shaft in the third photo but not attached the nut that holds it on as I still need to do more on the casing etc.

[Stub Mandrel]

Have you seen the new 'ironing' feature in Cura? - It smooths the top layer. Seems to work well, but leaves unexpected 'zits' where it stops and starts.

[Gina]

No I haven't but I use Slic3r rather than Cura.

[Gina]

That rough outer surface is due to a known problem with the hardware which I shall remedy in time.  I'm not bothered in this case as the casing will be up on a 5m mast and not very visible.  It's strong, waterproof and UV resistant and that's all that matters.  I could sand it smooth and give it a shine with acetone vapour treatment if I wanted.  For finer results I use my Mini 3D printer instead.

Edited July 20, 2018 by Gina

[Gina]

Been sorting out my main computer and design software which is why this hasn't progressed recently.  Now I plan to get back onto this project.