Re: Automating the weather

[Jim Noble <yahoo-groups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

rb_ziggy wrote:
> At the moment my thoughts are to go for a 1-wire setup (weather
> station + barometer + humidity) and use Weather Display software that
> is 'xAP' enabled.
> Couple of questions:
> - Anyone else using the 1-wire weather system?  Pros and cons from
> your point of view?
>
1-wire: Low cost, expandability, flexibility, but no nice backlit
display and less reliable.
Proprietary weather stations: More reliable (?), integrated, often have
a nice display, but expensive and less expandable.

I don't have either yet, but have been toying with the idea of getting
one or the other.

1-wire  humidity sensors have a tendency to die slowly if exposed to
high levels of humidity for extended periods, judging by quite a few
user reports. The AAG anemometer sometimes succumbs to extremes of
weather (but spares are freely available and inexpensive).

OTOH, there's a 1-wire sensor for just about every measurement you'd
care to take, or at the very least an 1-wire I/O device to interface to
a non-1-wire sensor. Some DIY/development may be required though.

The alternative would be something like the Oregon Scientific
WMR-928/968 range (moderately expensive, wireless only?), La Crosse (a
bit cheaper, but some models have quite a slow update rate, wired or
wireless), or one of the Davis Weather Monitor/Wizard/Vantage range
(expensive, wired and wireless models, more accurate and reliable).

Usually with those you get a nice backlit display which isn't dependant
on the weather monitoring server running (and some can log data during
server outages).

I've wondered if a remote TFT screen showing the Weather Display Live
output would be nicer though.

> - Anyone aware if Weather Display can OUTPUT xAP messages containing
> weather data or does it just INPUT from xAP messages?
>

There's a Weather Display forum. Might be worth posting this question
there.

There's also a good mailing list for the One Wire Weather s/w here:
http://www.buoy.com/mailman/listinfo/weather

> - Anyone aware if Weather Display can take input from Quasar? (Clearly
> if it can read/input from xAP it shouldn't be an issue!)
>

WD can take input from a file AIUI. If you can get the Quasar data into
the appropriate format, it's possible.

HTH,

Jim