I've made the software available as open source via the pywws project. This is all done with a combination of Python and gnuplot. It creates graphs and tables, such as last 24 hours weather, and posts hourly Twitter messages. The software also processes the data and uploads it to this web site. I can also translate data to and from the EasyWeather.dat data file format. Starting from Michael's C program I've written some Python programs, using the Python USB library PyUSB, to read data from the device. This includes some information on reading the station under Linux. I've found several useful web sites, in particular one by Michael Pendec of Denmark. I added a balance weight to the front to compensate for the weight of the wedges. I attempted to reduce this effect by adding a couple of foam wedges to the vane, giving some "dihedral angle" as used to stabilise model gliders.
The wind vanes on these stations are notorious for swinging wildly and never giving a steady reading. I also rewired the wind vane and routed its cable inside the mast. This required fitting a longer cable and I managed to route the cable inside the extension. I've mounted the anemometer on an extension mast, to reduce any effect its turbulence has on the wind vane. Having a large collection of spare parts allowed me to make some improvements to the wind sensors. I used a 32mm to 20mm reducing coupler for MDPE water pipe to join the new mast to the weather station's stainless steel mast, giving quite a neat result as shown in the third picture.
#EASYWEATHER DOWNLOAD TV#
I mounted the N96GY wind sensors on a 32mm diameter aluminium alloy tube sold for mounting TV aerials. In May 2014 I finally replaced the thin, rusty mast described above. This is unusual in using dark coloured plastic for all parts, including the sun shield! Installation mk 3 In November 2013 the replacement's transmitter failed so I bought yet another one - a Maplin N96GY. In August 2011 the atmospheric pressure sensor on my first station failed so I bought a replacement WH1081. A quick cleanup has restored normal operation. In November I dismantled the rain sensor and found that a spider had moved in and tied up the mechanism with its "silk". Within a few months of installation the new mast is beginning to discolour from rust, and I suspect it might not last the winter.ĭuring the summer of 2008 the rain sensor stopped detecting any rain. I also took the opportunity to tidy up the cables, using cable ties to attach the cable to the mast at 18" intervals. I jammed it in tight and then clamped the bottom of the new mast in the TV aerial bracket. Squeezing this slit closed allowed the end of the tube to be inserted into the upper part of the original two-piece mast. I sawed a single slit, about an inch long, in the end of the tube. (But at least I'll have measured the wind speed at which it collapses!)įitting the alternative mast was quite simple. The tube is meant for use as a wardrobe rail - it's a bit thin walled for this application, and I suspect it may not survive a high wind. Inspired by Grant's efforts, I went to B&Q and bought a 6' long 19mm tube to make a taller mast, in the hope of getting more realistic wind measurements. You can read more about his installation on his blog. Soon after putting this page on my web site I received an email from Grant Gibson, who'd found this page whilst looking for info on the version he'd just bought. These weather stations, in their various brands, are obviously becoming popular. Even after doing this I don't hold out much hope of truly accurate readings. I need to make some sort of shield for it, perhaps from a length of plastic pipe. Despite having a white louvred enclosure this is badly affected by strong sunlight, over-reading by 5 centigrade degrees or more. Last of all is the temperature & humidity sensor, which also contains the radio transmitter. These are far too near the ground (and other obstructions) to give meaningful measurements, but I should at least be able to judge relative wind speed from day to day. At the top are the wind speed and direction sensors.
The first two pictures show my first installation of the weather station's outdoor sensors, mounted on my garden fence with a TV aerial standoff bracket.
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My station came with some Windows software called EasyWeather, but I've connected it to an embedded Linux box (an Asus WL-500gP V1 router) so I can upload "live" weather data to this web site. One thing that sets these apart from other weather stations is that they have a USB socket to connect to a computer. It's branded "Elecsa AstroTouch 6975", but a brief web search showed that it's functionally identical to several other brands, such as Watson W-8681 or WH-1080PC / WH1080 (the WH1081 is similar, but doesn't have a radio controlled clock). In April 2008 I bought an electronic weather station.