DIY cloud and rain sensor with ascom support?

[t50ufo]

Question re uploading Arduino Code.

I assume I can download  the Onewire and i2cmaster libraries from the web via a search but

the two sketch files: instruction says . . .

"Save the code and put the Command.ino -file in the same folder as the CloudSensorEvoPlus.ino

You can now compile and upload the code to the Arduino"

Can someone clarify - If I put the two files into one folder, do I just load the content from this folder into the uploader

and it will place both on the Nano?

Sorry - just I have not come across having to upload 2 ino files

Thanks

Trev

 

[whipdry]

I've only recently started to automate my observatory & this looked like a good addition, have built this but can't figure out why the IR sensor sky temperature reading steadily decreases over time... has reached minus 193 degrees C tonight (it's been as low as minus 268C when on for a longer period) while pointing at a clear sky, I'm approx. 20M above sea level!

Hope someone with an answer will spot this...

 

Peter

[skybadger]

Very odd. I have two of these sensors and they don't do that. Coldest is -30 or so. 

Also, I don't understand why the delta is useful. The sky temp is the sky temp regardless of local ambient. It can be clear at 5 degrees if the wind is from the south and cloudy at -5 if the wind is from the north. 

[whipdry]

Thanks for the reply skybadger, your info gives me some idea of what I should be seeing. 

After more testing I'm wondering if heat inside the box is having an adverse effect on the readout... l've included a couple of images of my build this includes a heatpad for drying the rain sensor, first picture pointing at a white ceiling about 5M from a window the ir reading starts out around 17C & drops to 4C in a couple of hours with a consultant room temp. of 21C. 

I'm now thinking I should have used a bigger box as everything's a little cramped & when running opened up the ir temp readout is more stable, see last picture... any thoughts insights on this? 

Peter 

 

[Padraig]

Just a thought,

why not leave the lid off to test it in your house, prop it up someway. Add/Or maybe discount heat pad. 
 

Looks the job 👍

Just read you post again 🙃

temp dropping to 4’c , now that doesn’t make sense. 
It would have to get quite warm in the box for circuits to go wacky?  

Edited February 7, 2022 by Padraig

[whipdry]

Decided to take some action... I have two identical boxes so rather than trying to separate the mounted sensors, I've used the empty base with them & added a wall of closed cell packing material insulating ir sensor from the heat pad as in the picture.       The arduino & other boards staying as is with a plain lid... probably unnecessary as I'm thinking I'll keep the box of electronics in the warm room & just put the connecting cables through the wall along with the air temperature sensor. 

Peter

[Padraig]

Keep us updated…very interested to see how this works 

[skybadger]

The ir temp should remain constant. The sensor is internally compensated for temperature so regardless of enclosure temp should read a consistent and steady reading.

[Padraig]

Good to know Skybadger, wonder if polarity of the sensor might be Peter’s issue …sounds strange that temp going down in his house , you’d think it’ll be 21’C ++ pointing at the ceiling. 

[whipdry]

I think the arduino nano has com port issues, it disconnected when running a (cloudy night) test & now I get this error;

I'm using a USB port on the nano, just wondering if it's a possible to wire it with a serial connection & use a separate serial to USB converter if that parts shot on the nano?

Before this issue the IR sensor showed a stable minus -12 to -15C, no more runaway... thinking now the heat pad should have its own power supply!

 

Peter

[skybadger]

I think that wise.

[LeoKD]

I don't know if anyone is still following this post. But I'll try anyway.

 

I am a complete novice with regards to Arduino and everything related. Nevertheless I thought this project looked super cool and therefore wanted to try it. 

I started ordering the necessary parts, already sucessfully connected the arduino nano to the ambient temperature sensor and was able to verify it working with some simple temperatur-read-out code. 

 

However, when I tried compiling the Clourdwatcher Evo Plus code (Evoplus.ini and Command.ini being in the same folder and having installed the necessary libraries) I get quite a long error message. 

 

Now I don't know, wether I overlooked something obvious or missed any step in between. Since the code is working for everybody else I figure this is the most likely cause...

Is someone able to make sense of the error message?

Cloudwatcher Evo Plus Error Message.txt

[skybadger]

Yes, you have a mIssing ' character.

And there are lots of hidden characters at the end of the mentioned lines due to converting from Unix to windows.

[LeoKD]

Ty for your fast reply!

What would be the best way for me to go about fixing this problem? 

[skybadger]

Delete the ends of the lines by backspacing the next into it and then re_adding a newline to reintroduce the original line structure. 

Or use a tool like sed to delete all those characters at the end of a line e.g.

s/∆.*[0x387,]$/' '\n/r

Is my guess at what that would be. 

 

 

[skybadger]

Git also has a setting to preserve Unix end of lines or replace with windows end of lines which may help.

 

[LeoKD]

A little update on my part:

Your tip, that git has different export modes, made me export everything in "Raw". Now the code looks much better. The many problems were gone.

However, it kept missing a library "i2cmasters". This, unfotunately, was not present in the Arduino library manager. After hunting for it on the internet, installing Visual Studio to create the Header-files, etc. I was finally able to install the library. 

However, it keept flashing a new error message: 'i2c_init' was not declared in this scope. After some more searching, it turns out, I pobably installed the incorrect i2cmaster.h file. 

Now having hopefully found the right code, the old error message vanished, to be replaced with a new one... 

 

What can I do to stop the "repeating definitions"? The problems start in line 200

Cloudwatcher Evo Plus Error Message 2.txt

[david76gr]

Hello

 

It's been a lot time for this thread. I have built this safety sensor, with arduino NANO.

 

I am receiving continuously positive temperatures of the sky, and my friends that have another sensors, say me that the normal is to have negative temperatures of the sky. By the other hand, temperatures fluctuates a lot between readings (from lets say 0 and 8ºC). Is this behavioour normal?

 

thank you!