Weather and Allsky station

thingiverse

This remix leverages ideas from LBT's Weather Station, a project available on Thingiverse. A key component of this design involves detecting wind direction and speed using Hall effect transistors instead of reed switches. Initially, I attempted to replicate LBT's approach but encountered issues with the reliability of the reed switches. Therefore, I modified his Arduino code as a foundation and implemented significant changes to enhance the overall performance of the weather station. To improve upon LBT's design, all sensors were redesigned using Fusion 360. Hall effect transistors replaced the unreliable reed switches, significantly increasing the system's reliability. With this improvement, I continued to redesign various components, including the Wind speed sensor, wind direction sensor, and a Radiation dome housing temperature, humidity, and barometer sensors. Furthermore, an Allsky camera station was integrated into the weather platform. The entire setup is mounted on 2'' PVC pipe, making it easy to assemble and requiring no special mounts. This project relies heavily on parts sourced from Amazon, including: 1. A variety pack of M3 screws and nuts 2. Hall effect transistors 3. 5mm brass rod 4. Magnets 5. Ball bearings 6. An Arduino Uno board 7. BME280 sensor boards 8. Miscellaneous items such as wire, a power source, PVC pipe, and a solar station for energy The Allsky setup utilizes the camera and Raspberry Pi described in the Instructables project "Wireless-All-Sky-Camera." To assemble the weather hardware, follow the instructions from LBT's Weather Station on Thingiverse. Instead of using reed switches, substitute Hall effect transistors, which require an additional 5v line. The sensor board employs a library from Cactus.io to interface with the BME280 barometric pressure sensor. The Arduino code outputs serial data, allowing for easy integration into a database and visualization using Grafana. All parts are held together primarily with M3 screws of various sizes. However, due to the close tolerances in the build, some parts can be epoxied together for added stability. This design allows for disassembly and part swapping as needed, given that it is an initial iteration of this project. Assembly begins with the Radiation dome, consisting of a lid, three waffle disks, and a package holder for the BME280 sensor. The Hall effect sensor body is used for wind measurements, requiring two sensors: one for the anemometer and another for the wind direction. Follow LBT's Weather Station instructions to assemble these components using bearings and brass rod. For the anemometer sensor, use two magnets directly opposite each other, ensuring their magnetism aligns for accurate detection by the Hall effect transistor. Two magnets balance out the weight of this sensor, which only requires one Hall effect transistor. The wind direction sensor employs two magnets oriented similarly and installed in adjacent holes. This sensor utilizes all eight Hall effect transistors, so populate all available holes. For the Allsky camera setup: * The top half is designed for mounting the dome, with six holes that align perfectly with the dome purchased on Amazon. * Ensure a weather strip is used between the dome and top body to prevent moisture from entering. * There are two mounting points inside to secure the camera through the top hole using tie-wraps. * A cheap 5v relayed control heater for the dome is being explored to address dew issues in the mornings. * The base features a place to mount a fan blowing out, which plugs into the Raspberry Pi mounted on the four posts of the bottom plate using tie-wraps. * Finally, ensure the base mount and retainer ring are installed, and the two halves of the Allsky container are held together with tie-wraps on the outside posts.