Oct 07 2018
The Zambretti Forecaster is a weather forecasting tool in the form of a circular slide rule introduced in 1920. It claims to accurately predict near-term weather based on barometric pressure, the trend in the pressure (rising, steady, or falling), and wind direction. It relies on the fundamental meteorology of pressure fronts. Watch any TV weather forecast and …
Permanent link to this article: https://w4krl.com/zambretti-forecaster/
Sep 07 2018
The amateur radio Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) is typically used for position and weather reporting. It can also handle eight digital and five analog telemetry channels. The IoT Kits© solar-powered weather stations have four APRS analog telemetry channels for LiPo cell voltage, time awake, WiFi signal strength, and light intensity. Four digital channels are used …
Permanent link to this article: https://w4krl.com/sending-aprs-analog-telemetry-the-basics/
Jun 07 2018
The D1M-WX1 and D1S-WX1 solar-powered weather stations heat up in direct sunlight giving an incorrectly high-temperature reading. Early results from testing an Acurite solar radiation shield are very good. The shield is available from several online vendors. Check around for a good price as the same item sells for $10 to $60 from different vendors. …
Permanent link to this article: https://w4krl.com/solar-radiation-shield-under-test/
Apr 02 2017
The ESP8266 using the Arduino Core reports Wi-Fi status with the WiFi.status() function. The D1M-WX1 Weather Station attempts to connect to Wi-Fi every 250 milliseconds until the “Connect” status is found. If this does not happen after 15 attempts, it prints the status to the Serial Monitor. Normally, the LED on the ESP8266 flashes five or six …
Permanent link to this article: https://w4krl.com/di-mini-esp8266-wi-fi-status-codes/
Dec 11 2016
The key to using solar power in an Internet of Things project is to put the microcontroller unit into sleep modeafter the sensors are read and the data posted to your IoT server. The NodeMCU and the Wemos D1 WiFi, a larger profile that mimics the Arduino UNO form, reliably woke from deep sleep. So …
Permanent link to this article: https://w4krl.com/sleep-mode-for-the-wemos-d1-mini/
Dec 06 2016
Recently the local Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) held two “hands-on” sessions to build an Internet of Things (IoT) weather station. We built it on a breadboard so that the attendees would not have to solder wires. Several of the participants have kept their stations on-line and two have placed the unit outdoors. …
Permanent link to this article: https://w4krl.com/external-sensors-for-weather-station/
Nov 24 2016
A solar power supply would be a really neat addition to any Internet of Things project. The ultimate goal would be to have a self-sufficient IoT device that could be remotely reprogrammed with the Over The Air (OTA) feature. A key to using solar power is to reduce the average power requirement of the IoT device. …
Permanent link to this article: https://w4krl.com/solar-power-supply/