A meteorological station

Mark Guest 2009-04-01 16:13 #1215163

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Hello,

I wanted to something useful and fun after having finished the A-Levels. 
So I thought about building something electronical and i thought about a 
meteorological station.

I have so far built an Analog to Digital Converter, so the temperature 
sensors shouldn't be the problem, but my electronical knowledge is 
delimited. My question is if the rest like connecting a rain sensor is 
very difficult? Then i would look for something simplier as a start.


Greetings
Mark

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klaus2 Guest 2009-04-01 16:29 #1215188

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...in general no problem.

humidity is i.e. an capacity sensor

light is LDR

wind is an generator or magnet with hal-sensor

temperature can also be measured by I2C capable sensors, so you can use 
a kind of network

display - already some experiences?

KR, Klaus.

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Andreas S. (andreas) Admin 2009-04-01 16:44 #1215208

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That sounds like a good idea for a first project, if you already have a 
little experience with microcontroller programming or programming in 
general. The good thing about a weather station project is that you can 
start with the basics (a simple temperature display) and then gradually 
expand into all the different areas of microcontroller programming (more 
sensors, data logging to memory card, radio transmission, graphical 
display, network interface...).

To measure temperature and humidity accurately I would use the SHT75, it 
is a fully calibrated sensor with a digital output. But a simple 
thermistor might be better for a start, using it will help you get some 
experience with analog circuits.

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Norgan Guest 2009-04-01 16:49 #1215211

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If it is for fun it shouldn't be a problem. Interfacing all kinds of 
sensors to an MCU is a common task in embedded development, you'll find 
many examples.

At some point you'll find that getting more precision and accuracy 
becomes difficult. Something like getting twice as precise requires to 
work four times as hard. That's the moment I would stop in a fun project 
with that particular sensor and turn to the next sensor :-)

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Mark Guest 2009-04-01 23:11 #1215643

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>display - already some experiences?

Yes, my Analog/Digital Converter sent the data straight to a display. 
But it was only a small one, I think I will need a bigger one :-)

Well then, I'm gonna try it out and see if it works.
And it doesnt need to be a high precision measuring tool, because it's 
only for personal use.


Thanks for your answers!

Greetings
Mark

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Arc N. (arc) 2009-04-02 13:12 #1216058

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Andreas Schwarz wrote:
> To measure temperature and humidity accurately I would use the SHT75, it
> is a fully calibrated sensor with a digital output. But a simple
> thermistor might be better for a start, using it will help you get some
> experience with analog circuits.

A lower priced alternative to the SHT75 are Honeywells HIH series of 
humidity sensors with voltage output e.g. HIH-4010/4020/4021 and 
HIH-5030/5031 (with lower operating voltage) or GEs ChipCap (temperature 
+ humidity, voltage or digital output).
ChipCaps are available from Digi-Key, HIH from digikey and 
Newark/Farnell

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