Working on updating my weather station currently. It’s been out of commission for a year or so. The rubbermaid box I had it in didn’t last in the elements so I’m having to rethink my mounting process. I’m also looking into getting a larger battery because the 6000 maH one I’m using doesn’t last that long.

I’m also going to be improving it. I’ve put together a circuit to measure how much battery I have left so I can have it turn itself off when the battery is too low. Also have a few more calculations that I can add in to my reporting like heat index which will be useful for the summer.

I’ve also reordered my posts so you will see the updated weather station posts below this one to try to group them in an order of build process

As I stated in the previous post, the readings of this sensor take a lot of work to setup. You have to get a reading at each direction and then split the difference between them to get a high and low. Somewhere I have an excel file that I use to do all the calculations and print out the code. I’ll load it here if/when I find it.

To use this, you will need to place an include in your python program:

from wind_dir import wind_dir

Then when you want to get the value, you call the function with your ADC reading:

wind_direction = wind_dir(wind_dir_read)

The annoying part of this is setting up this file. All it does is take your reading and see where it falls within the table of max & min values established through testing:


#!/usr/bin/env python

As you can see from the above, I get all the way down to the minor directions such as “NNE” & “ESE”, etc. You can change it to suit your needs.

The rain gauge to me was one of the easiest to do, mostly because I kind of cheated a bit. Since I didn’t think I could create a sensor for cheaper than I could buy one, I spent $20 and bought the Acu-Rite gauge at Wal-Mart and modified it to my needs.

To start off, you’ll need to take apart the “gauge” piece and set the wireless display aside. This is fairly easy, as the main cover and tipping part comes off fairly easy. Next, you’ll need to remove the screws under the battery compartment to remove the circuit board. There are two wires coming out of the circuit board that go to the reed switch within the gauge that need to be clipped.

The reed switch is set within the tipping part, so carefully pull it out and strip the wires. You’ll need to attach wires to each of these. I use some telephone cable/cat3. I usually start with attaching about 10 feet of wire just in case. When attaching, make sure you solder the wires and use shrink tube to protect the connection.

Next, carefully slide the reed switch back into the tipping piece. Real quick explanation of how this works….A reed switch “closes” when a magnetic field is near. So we run current through the reed switch and place a magnet in the tipping mechanism to pass over the reed switch when it tips. When rain fills up a side of the gauge it tips over and the magnet causes the reed switch to complete the circuit for a brief period, which we can count….

We then need to drill a hole in the battery compartment and in the bottom piece to allow the wire to go through. Make sure to put a little hot glue in the hole in the bottom to protect against the elements a bit.

For testing, plug the two wires into a breadboard, one needs to run to power and the other to one of the pins on the Raspberry Pi (I believe I use number 17). In order to count how many times the gauge tips, we have to use GPIO interrupts. Before I forget, each tip is .02 inches of rain….

To keep count, I use a script that runs when the Pi starts up and monitors that pin. When the gauge tips and it detects a voltage “spike” it opens a file, takes the number, adds 1 to it and then rewrites the file with that number. (When I run the script that gets the current weather, I access this file and multiply by .02) At midnight every night, I also run a script that resets the number in the file to 0.

Here is the file I use to monitor the pin…

#!/usr/bin/env python2.7

import time
import os
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)


First bit is to set up the normal stuff…I have to give some credit to Alex Eames @ http://RasPi.tv/ for the pieces of interrupt code. http://raspi.tv/2013/how-to-use-interrupts-with-python-on-the-raspberry-pi-and-rpi-gpio


# GPIO 17 set up as input. It is pulled up to stop false signals
GPIO.setup(17, GPIO.IN, pull_up_down=GPIO.PUD_DOWN)


Next we need to set up the pin for interrupts. We’re setting up pin 17 as an input and using an internal resistor to pull it down to 0 when there is no current.


def my_callback(channel):
tfile = open("/home/pi/rain_count.txt")
text = tfile.readline()
tfile.close()

Now we create the function that gets called when a “spike” is detected. This function opens the file called “rain_count.txt” and reads the number, adds one and then writes the new number to the file. When doing this, don’t forget to create the rain_count.txt file prior to running this and place a 0 in it.


GPIO.add_event_detect(17, GPIO.RISING, callback=my_callback, bouncetime=300)


Now we add the interrupt event that monitors pin 17 and says that we want to monitor it for a rising event (I call a spike). When it is detected it calls the function “my_callback” and then waits 300 milliseconds before it will try to detect another one. (The bounce time is necessary to keep from getting false positives.)


while True:
time.sleep(60)


The last bit is just an infinite loop to keep the script running. To run this at startup of the Pi, you’ll need to add a line to the crontab file:

@reboot python /home/pi/rain-gauge.py &

The clearing file is fairly easy too….
#!/usr/bin/env python2.7
import time
import os

tfile = open("/home/pi/rain_count.txt", "w")
rain_count = 0
tfile.write(str(rain_count))
tfile.close()


And add this to your crontab file to run at midnight…
* 0 * * * /home/pi/rain-clear.py

The last bit is grabbing the count when you run the the weather script…
#get rain amount
rain_file = open("/home/pi/rain_count.txt")
rain_gauge = rain_file.readline()
rain_file.close()

rain_count = round(rain_count, 1)


The only thing I’ll mention here since it’s pretty straight forward is that you’ll notice I do a round at the end. I’ve experienced some false positives during the day when it’s sunny (usually 1 or 2 a day), so I just get rid of them by rounding to the nearest 10th.

It was too late last night when I finished the post about building the anemometer that I didn’t want to get into the code to read the wind speed. As I said before, basically what I do is I count the number of “triggers” within a 10 second period and then feed that into the formula that came from testing it with our car.

Here is the code I use for Raspberry Pi…I run this every 5 minutes (with the rest of my measurements) to get the wind speed at that time.

# calculate windspeed
# set up the GPIO to be an input and activate the internal resistor to pull down the pin to low
GPIO.setup(22, GPIO.IN, pull_up_down=GPIO.PUD_DOWN)

# round it off to 1 decimal.
windspeed = round(windspeed, 1)

I am actually in the middle of a redesign on my weather station due to the Raspberry Pi not being the best at interrupts for the rain gauge. For the one at my father-in-laws farm, I will be using an Adafruit trinket to capture all the data from the anemometer, rain gauge, and wind direction sensor before relaying it to the Pi. This type of sensing is better for a micro controller than it is for a Linux computer such as the Pi. For my home weather station, I’ll be using a Arduino Pro Mini as I have a lot more sensors on my mast. The Trinket code is a little more difficult due to the ATTiny85 that runs it. I’ll post info on how to connect it to a Raspberry Pi later.

Here is the code for the same principal as above on a trinket. The big difference here is that this runs constantly. Every 10 seconds I have a wind speed reading, although I only pull it every 5 minutes.


#include avr/interrupt.h

}


I finally completed migrating the weather sensors for the weather station that is at my father-in-law’s farm. I had issues with the rain gauge not working too well with the pi directly, so I decided to use an Adafruit Trinket to capture the values of the sensors and send them to the pi for tracking. The communication between the two is accomplished using I2C.

Here’s the completed mast with sensors attached. (This is actually a pic of it at my house for testing) What you’ll need for this is 1 of each of an anemometer, wind vane & rain gauge. It works with the sensors I built, but I’m sure you could incorporate it to use any sensors you have as well.

I’ve used PVC to build all my sensors as it’s easy to connect together. In my anemometer & wind vane posts I have used certain PVC pieces to allow for connection to my mast. For the rain gauge, it’s a little different. I used a piece of cedar fence board to secure the sensor, then some u-bolts to attach the board to a 1 inch pvc pipe, plugged one end and drilled a hole for the wire to run through.

For the rest of the top part of the mast I use a 1″ T-connector at the top with about 8 or so inches of 1″ pipe to connect the anemometer & wind vane. I run the wires down through the pipes. I then use a small piece of 1 inch pipe (about 3 or so inches) to connect another T-connector for the anemometer. I then use another portion of 3 or so inches of 1″ pvc pipe to connect to the lower portion. (Sorry, but I don’t have any pics of this…)

The lower mast is where the trinket comes in…I connect all the sensor wires to a single cat 5 cable to connect to trinket and then another wire for the I2C communication. The idea is to house the trinket in some 3/4″ pipe that is waterproofed and have it sit inside some 1 1/2″ pipe. (You can see this bulge in the pic above) I use some connectors to move from 1″ to 1 1/2″ pipe. Then a portion of 1 1/2″ pipe (I think it’s 12 inches long) and then connect it back to another 1″ piece of pipe to mount it.

Before wiring up your trinket, make sure you upload the code to it. Here is what I use which tracks the sensors and sends the data via I2C:

#include avr/interrupt.h
#include TinyWireS.h

// setup cbi & sbi for interrupts
#ifndef cbi
#define cbi(sfr, bit) (_SFR_BYTE(sfr) &= ~_BV(bit))
#endif
#ifndef sbi
#define sbi(sfr, bit) (_SFR_BYTE(sfr) |= _BV(bit))
#endif

//Define address of device
#define I2C_SLAVE_ADDRESS 0x04

// Set up registers to hold data to send
volatile uint8_t reg[] =
{

0xDE,
0xAD,
0xBE,
0xEF,
0xEE,
0xED
};

// Set up variables used

volatile byte reg_position; // keep track of reg position sent from master
volatile int rainGauge = 0; // keep track of interrupts from rain gauge
volatile int windSpeed = 0; // keep track of interrupts from anemometer
volatile int windDirection = 0; // keep track of value of wind direction sensor
volatile int windSpeedSend = 0; // used to send 10 second interrupt value to pi
long debouncing_time_rain = 300; //Debouncing Time in Milliseconds for rain gauge
volatile unsigned long last_micros_rain; // micros since last rain gauge interrput
long debouncing_time_wind = 100; //Debouncing Time in Milliseconds for anemometer
volatile unsigned long last_micros_wind; // micros since last anemometer interrupt
volatile int val1 = 0; // pin 1 value at interrupt
volatile int val2 = 0; // pin 4 value at interrupt

// Function to send data when it is requested. Sends 2 register positions
// for each request
void onRequest()
{

// Load all values into registers. (even though only 2 will go to master)
reg[0] = lowByte(windDirection);
reg[1] = highByte(windDirection);
reg[2] = lowByte(windSpeedSend);
reg[3] = highByte(windSpeedSend);
reg[4] = lowByte(rainGauge);
reg[5] = highByte(rainGauge);

// send 2 reg positions to master
TinyWireS.send(reg[reg_position]);
reg_position++;

}
// Function to set which register positions you wish to receive
void receiveEvent(uint8_t howMany)
{
reg_position = TinyWireS.receive();

// if requested position is 7, reset rain gauge variable. Will be sent at midnight each day
if(reg_position == 7) {
rainGauge = 0;
}

}

// Setup for connection
void setup()
{
TinyWireS.begin(I2C_SLAVE_ADDRESS);
TinyWireS.onReceive(receiveEvent);
TinyWireS.onRequest(onRequest);
pinMode(1,INPUT);
pinMode(4,INPUT);

sbi(GIMSK,PCIE); // Turn on Pin Change interrupt
sbi(PCMSK,PCINT1); // Which pins are affected by the interrupt. Turn on Pin 1
sbi(PCMSK,PCINT4); // Which pins are affected by the interrupt. Turn on Pin 2
}

void loop()
{

// anemometer counts interrupts for 10 second interval. This is sent to master for calculation
windSpeed = 0;
tws_delay(10000);
windSpeedSend = windSpeed;

// read pin 3 analog value of wind direction sensor
windDirection = analogRead(3);

// Check for connection to be stopped.
TinyWireS_stop_check();
}

// debounce rain gauge. make sure new reading is greater than old reading + debounce rain micros
void debounceRainGauge() {
if((long)(micros() – last_micros_rain) >= debouncing_time_rain * 1000) {
rainGaugeFunc();
last_micros_rain = micros();
}
}

// debounce anemometer. make sure new reading is greater than old reading + debounce wind micros
void debounceWindSpeed() {
if((long)(micros() – last_micros_wind) >= debouncing_time_wind * 1000) {
windSpeedFunc();
last_micros_wind = micros();
}
}

// function to increment rain gauge count
void rainGaugeFunc() {
rainGauge = rainGauge + 1;
} // end of rainGauge

// function to increment anemometer count
void windSpeedFunc() {
windSpeed = windSpeed + 1;
} // end of rainGauge

// interrupt service routine. What to do when an interrupt occurs as all pin change interrupts
// on ATTiny85 trigger PCINT0 vector.
ISR(PCINT0_vect) {
// get value of pin 1 @ interrupt
val1 = digitalRead(1);
// get value of pin 4 @ interrupt
val2 = digitalRead(4);

// if pin 1 is HIGH (caused the interrupt), proceed with rain gauge increment functions
if (val1 == HIGH) {
debounceRainGauge();
}

// if pin 4 is HIGH (caused the interrupt), proceed with wind speed (anemomether) increment function
if (val2 == HIGH) {
debounceWindSpeed();
}

}

So, now to the wiring:

Here is the wiring diagram I drew out that shows how everything is connected. When connecting, make sure you use solder and shrink tube to protect the joints.

After all the wires are connected, drill a hole in a 3/4″ pvc plug and push the wire through that hole prior to connecting to the trinket. You may want to run it through a piece of 3/4″ pipe as well (about 8 or so inches).

All 3 sensors will need 1 wire connected to the +3v on the sensor. I managed to get all 3 of the cat 5 wires into the hole on the trinket. The read wires will need to go different pins. For the anemometer and rain gauge, you will need to connect a 10k resistor to ground to pull the pin to ground. The rain gauge read wire should go to pin 1 and the read side of the anemometer should go to pin 4. The read wire for the wind vane should go to pin 3. Connecting all the ground wires was fun. What I did was run 1 wire out of the trinket and connected all the ground wires to it and put shrink tube over all of them. (You can see it in the pics below.)

I didn’t take a lot of single step pics on this and I apologize. You can see the connections for the I2C wire as well in these pics. The last part is connecting the wires for the I2C communications. You’ll want to put the wire through hole in another 3/4″ pvc plug before you connect them to the trinket to allow for waterproofing. Connect the +v to the battery pin (I use 5 volts out of my raspberry pi to power, but you can power it any way you want. I used a 3 volt trinket for this setup). Ground to your ground wire, SDA to pin 0 and SCL to pin 2. Once this is done, slide it all into the 3/4″ pvc and plug the other side. It should look like this:

Place some hot glue on each plug where the wires go in to keep the water out, then shove this into the 1 1/2″ pvc pipe and then connect the rest of your mast.

This is really set up to communicate with a pi, but I’m pretty sure it would work with an Arduino as well. In the code you basically send the trinket a number and it will give you the response. Sending 0 will give you the wind direction reading, 2 will give you the wind speed reading and 4 will give you the rain gauge reading. Sending it 7 will cause the rain gauge count to reset. Here’s a quick bit of code you can use for the pi:


#!/usr/bin/python
# Import needed libraries
import smbus
import time

# Request values from device. Number is start register position.
while True:
print 'Testing for connection...'
while True:
try:
wind_dir_read = bus1.read_word_data(DEV_ADDR, 0)
wind_count = bus1.read_word_data(DEV_ADDR, 2)
rain_count = bus1.read_word_data(DEV_ADDR, 4)
break
except IOError:
print 'No connection...'
time.sleep(5)
#break
if wind_dir_read < 1030: break else: print 'Value too high.' time.sleep(5) # Use this to reset a variable: #d_val = bus.read_word_data(DEV_ADDR, 7)

It doesn't seem that wordpress knows how to deal with indents in it's code sections, so make sure you indent it properly. Sometimes the trinket can give you some funny business which I've handled via the error trapping above. If you keep this bit of code you shouldn't run into any problems.