The Weather Station Thread

[Wowbagger]

Southend-on-Sea,Essex Weather

My weather station is now broadcasting to the world. Clicky above for what the weather's like at my house.

Dez is still in the process of tweaking the software. This is free linux-based stuff and was (apparently) written by weather geeks rather than people who know about writing stuff for linux systems. Therefore Dez is doing stuff to improve it.

At the time of the first post, there is a map being displayed on the first screen which shows weather radar broadcast from Fort Worth, Texas. I don't suppose we can find an equivalent based on Southend. It would be nice to be able to get some images of the Thames estuary though.

If you click on the links to the last 7 / 28 / 365 days the graph shows that the highest outside temperature we have recorded was 18.9°C. This was because we put the unit outside and connected it up straight after it had been at room temperature and it registered some data before it had cooled down to the -2°C or whatever it was outside on 22nd December when it was delivered.

[FatBloke]

Humid. Apparently.

[Wowbagger]

Ho yus, definitely high humidity. That's why the washing doesn't get dry when you hang it on the line, Fatters. Either that or you've spilt your Stella on it.

[FatBloke]

Where's yer anemometer mounted?

[Wowbagger]

Where's yer anemometer mounted?

Don't be personal.

[fuaran]

What make/model of weather station is it? I'm thinking about getting one.

[Wowbagger]

Oh, that. Not high enough, sadly. Ideally it would be on the eves at the top of the house. It's actually on the granny annexe.

ICBA to pay an aerial installer to put it in the right place. Depends how long we stay here - we have a sort-of plan to move out of Saarfend.

[Wowbagger]

What make/model of weather station is it? I'm thinking about getting one.

One of these.

http://www.davisnet.com/weather/products/vantagepro.asp

[Kim]

Luckily we don't have anywhere sensible to mount an anemometer (or at least that would give realistic readings if we did), so I'm able to resist my weather station lust for the most part.

On the other hand, I do have a bag of 1-wire temperature sensors on my desk, and may well get round to mounting one a decent distance from the house and away from direct sunlight^[1] at some point.  Having done that it would be silly not to make the most of it and add humidity and pressure sensors, and maybe even a rain gauge...


_{[1] I currently have an analogue thing sticking out on the end of a wire a few inches from an upstairs window sill, which reads a bit high in the cold, and very high if its sunny in the early afternoon.  Makes some pretty graphs though.}

[delthebike]

On the other hand, I do have a bag of 1-wire temperature sensors on my desk, and may well get round to mounting one a decent distance from the house and away from direct sunlight^[1] at some point.  Having done that it would be silly not to make the most of it and add humidity and pressure sensors, and maybe even a rain gauge...

All you need to add is seaweed and pine cones. 

[Wowbagger]

I'm very impressed with the rain gauge in the above beast. The collector has a hole at the bottom and the rain drips through onto what looks like a miniature double scoop which is on a pivot. For each 0.2mm of rain that falls, one side of the scoop fills and topples, emptying itself and putting the opposite side of the scoop under the water source. The toppling movement activates a reed switch and the rain is recorded at the console.

[delthebike]

Why does the gif image, lower left corner, link to Fort Worth, Texas?

[fuaran]

What make/model of weather station is it? I'm thinking about getting one.

One of these.

Wireless & Cabled Professional & Home Weather Stations by Davis

Looks good, but about £500? Its a bit more than I'm looking to spend.

[Domestique]

Nice one 
Looks good
How often does it update itself ?

[Wowbagger]

Why does the gif image, lower left corner, link to Fort Worth, Texas?

Because Dez is still working on finding an alternative. Texas is the default state.

[David Martin]

On the other hand, I do have a bag of 1-wire temperature sensors on my desk, and may well get round to mounting one a decent distance from the house and away from direct sunlight^[1] at some point.  Having done that it would be silly not to make the most of it and add humidity and pressure sensors, and maybe even a rain gauge...

I do like those 1-wire sensors. Very easy to play with, even for an electronics numpty like me..

[Cudzoziemiec]

I currently have an analogue thing sticking out on the end of a wire a few inches from an upstairs window sill, which reads a bit high in the cold, and very high if its sunny in the early afternoon.  Makes some pretty graphs though.

I don't know what this analogue thing you have is, but I doubt it reads as high as the good old mercury-in-a-tube thermometer I had outside a flat I used to live in. When the sun shone on that, even just a spring sun, it shot up to 40C.

[Kim]

I don't know what this analogue thing you have is, but I doubt it reads as high as the good old mercury-in-a-tube thermometer I had outside a flat I used to live in. When the sun shone on that, even just a spring sun, it shot up to 40C.

LM335 (or one of the others in the same series, it's been a while) wrapped in a couple of layers of heatshrink, connected to some slightly dubious 8-bit sampling electronics that maxes out in the mid-40s in the interests of resolution in the room temperature range.  So bugger all thermal mass and a nice black surface to absorb as much radiant heat as possible.  Utterly useless when the sun's shining on it.

It was a bonus extra sensor I added to a system that was designed for controlling the central heating and a couple of fans in the cupboard our servers used to live in, not really for collecting weather data.

[Canardly]

WB why have you suddenly decided to place yourself in front of the intergalactic mega computers that continually get our forecast wrong? What drove you to 'must install a weather station'? Rendelsham forest is far enough away to not be a factor.

[Wowbagger]

WB why have you suddenly decided to place yourself in front of the intergalactic mega computers that continually get our forecast wrong? What drove you to 'must install a weather station'? Rendelsham forest is far enough away to not be a factor.

I don't think my interest in recording weather is sudden. I started in 1968 with a max/min thermometer, the family's old barometer and a rain gauge made out of a baked bean tin.

I like to know what's going on. It helps assuage my OCD, which is currently frustrated at not seeing a cycle computer measuring the miles ticking past.

I don't care about forecasting. Like Christopher Robin, I don't care what it does as long as I'm out in it.

[noisycrank]

I used to submit the reports for the Met office surface station at Inverpolly

[Cudzoziemiec]

I don't know what this analogue thing you have is, but I doubt it reads as high as the good old mercury-in-a-tube thermometer I had outside a flat I used to live in. When the sun shone on that, even just a spring sun, it shot up to 40C.

LM335 (or one of the others in the same series, it's been a while) wrapped in a couple of layers of heatshrink, connected to some slightly dubious 8-bit sampling electronics that maxes out in the mid-40s in the interests of resolution in the room temperature range.  So bugger all thermal mass and a nice black surface to absorb as much radiant heat as possible.  Utterly useless when the sun's shining on it.

It was a bonus extra sensor I added to a system that was designed for controlling the central heating and a couple of fans in the cupboard our servers used to live in, not really for collecting weather data.

Thanks for the reply, I've highlighted the parts I understand. 

Now, do you think you could help me program my Betamax video recorder?

[Wowbagger]

It's curious that the weather station software seems to think that 3.7mm rain has fallen since we rigged it up. I don't know how it's managed that, given that it only records 0.2mm at a time.

[Wowbagger]

The free software is still doing its stuff.

Southend-on-Sea,Essex Weather

We've had a lot of rain today (the wettest day since records began, just over a fortnight ago!) and the curious rounding error, which takes place between the console and the knackered old laptop which is driving the website, seems to correct itself every whole mm  that has fallen.

Still no SD card for the sheeva plug. That should arrive in a day or two.

[David Martin]

Do let me know how you get on with the sheeva plug. I am very tempted.

..d