temperature & humidity in modified bird feeder – has to be replaced. Not enough ventilation (catches morning sun in winter)

anemometer & wind vane

rain gauge and solar sensor (solar sensor saturates, needs mod.)

Well, after too many weeks my weather stations is up and running in its Version 1 configuration. Had to learn to program in Java (with much needed assistance from my son Christopher) and it was great fun to be totally immersed in an old-fashioned hardware-software engineering project. It’s now time to get back to my photography before summer and my Version 2 effort.

Hardware issues: Freezing of anemometer and wind vane in temps around 32 F. and just below. Rain, snow, condensation? I haven’t come up with a solution yet. Suggestions are always welcome. The 1-Wire technology generates occasional errors but these are infrequent (about 1 error/hr), non-critical and ignored. This summer I plan to move the wind stuff to my roof peak to get more accurate readings. Our place is surrounded by tall trees so getting the sensors higher should help. I also need to bury the cable once the ground thaws.

Software: I’ll modify the user interface to include some of the parameters that are now hard coded. I’ll also get the database set up for storage of long term data. Right now I’m just saving the daily logs.
That’s it for now –

I have a long interest going back to childhood in the weather. I studied clouds and cloud formations in grade school and learned their relationship to changes in weather. Well now that I’m retired and have the time I’m starting to put together my personal backyard weather station. I’ll be adding notes here as things progress. My project is based on “Weather Toys” by Tim Bitson published by Wiley. It will be a “1-wire” system with a Java based software server running from an old T23 laptop. I’m planning to include PHP driven graphics for a custom web display. I’ll also be posting on Weather Underground – more to follow.

Check the “Weather Station” link to see this work in progress.