my first weather station

[Andy Pep]

this is the recycled tipping bucket rain gauge i found at the bottom of my garden

this is my sensor node .. fake uno bnp180 dht11 with a nrf radio .. all running an upcycled laptop batterys at 8volts 2c balenced lipos (home made)

heat shrinked sensors with plenty of air flow and venting with nrf radio

orignal radio and mcu for the rain gauge

some of todays data

see it did happen ...
lol
andy

[Andy Pep]

went to the local thrift store today and picked up a archos win7 tablet for 10ukp its working but dog slow ..
dual core 1.20 atom gig of ram wifi bluetooth usb 80 gig hdd but i may boot a compact flash ..
so lastnight i did a 3 wipe format and a fresh install (win7 home basic) got it updated installed security and a fresh copy of domoticz.
so now i have a display and control hub with cloud data backup working very well with mysensors serial gateway and my small sensor package....lol..

i am loving this btw ...

i have orderd the mcu and radio for the tipping bucket refurb i decided for that to go as a stand alone device ..

i am now thinking of makeing an air and polloution sensor pack as i am near to a main road and i have breathing issues so some kind of local alarm would be good.

what sensors would you use .. i know current useage are very high and i have opted for a enclosed box with a airpump ect so i can power it via the mains ..and inside .

any advice on air and gas sensors would be great..

cheers
andy

[NeverDie]

@Andy-Pep said:

i am now thinking of makeing an air and polloution sensor pack as i am near to a main road and i have breathing issues so some kind of local alarm would be good.

what sensors would you use .. i know current useage are very high and i have opted for a enclosed box with a airpump ect so i can power it via the mains ..and inside .

any advice on air and gas sensors would be great..

cheers
andy

Maybe consider 1. a CO sensor, and 2. a particulate sensor/counter, and 3. a sulfur sensor? You've probably heard of acid rain, which can come from sulfur pollutants becoming sulfuric acid when it comes into contact with water vapor. So, perhaps it's eating holes into your lungs.

[NeverDie]

Here's a project giving details of a particulate sensor made by Sharp:
http://www.elektor-labs.com/project/air-pollution-level-display-solar-powered.14541.html

[Andy Pep]

cheers neverdie :)

seams like a good starting point ...i have found the sharp particle sensor cheap on ebay i have got a combined mq-135 that is a one sensor package that covers a lot of gas's and poloution

data sheet for the mq-135 is here https://www.olimex.com/Products/Components/Sensors/SNS-MQ135/resources/SNS-MQ135.pdf

it covers everything i need includeing sulphers :) and its one package that helps keep the power useage down .. just the heaters in the sensor pulls 300ma so it will have to be a heavy duty lipo and mains powerd.

just need to think of a sample chamber ..

cheerd for the link

andy

[NeverDie]

I wonder if the results would be thrown off by pollen levels?

If I could track pollen levels cheaply and accurately, I'd be very interesting in doing so.

[Andy Pep]

i just found this for the sharp sensor "Sensitivity

These results are true only when the sensor is used with factory settings. The variable resistor shouldn't be changed. Attach:output.jpg Δ The table demonstrates that for every 0.1 mg more of dust, the voltage increases by 0.5 Volts.
There are other environmental sensors in the market that can detect particles with the size of 1 micrometer (1�m). This scale means that even pollen grains, and mildew spores can be detected. There is no information about this on GP2Y1010AU's datasheet except that it is stated that it can detect cigarette smoke.
0.6 mg/m3 of dust doesn't seem much when National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)'s recommended wood dust is 1 mg/m3 and used to be 5mg/m3 for softwoods. "

so yes it can do pollen ..and mould ...

looks like a good addition to my sensor network

more info here https://itp.nyu.edu/archive/physcomp-spring2014/sensors/Reports/GP2Y1010AU.html

with the mq-135 and a sharp sensor i can measure a lot of different gases and nasty stuff..

[NeverDie]

Looks as though you'll need to measure temperature and humidity also in order to compensate for their effects on your mq-135 sensor.

I don't know enough about pollution to know whether that sensor is sensitive enough or not. i.e. is 10ppm sensitive enough, or does it need to measure parts per billion or parts per trillion? I have no idea what levels are considered safe versus unsafe. Perhaps you know already from research that you may have finished.

Good luck! I'd be interested to hear how it works out for you, regardless of whether it's success or failure.

[Andy Pep]

cheers for your kind comments :) ..

yes its going to be a learning curve ..but after finding mysensors my mind has woken up :)

some more sensor data http://www.staceyk.org/airSensors/sensorsetup.php

you know in this day and age air polloution is someting to think off.. it effects everyone.. and mysensors could be a very usefull resorce for this kind of remote sensing :)

now i have to finish my tipping bucket rain gauge and deploy that :)

..and now in the project list

make gateway box and add 433.
place mcu power radio in tipping bucket
assemble and test airqualty package
.. i am also thinking of useing a gyro mcu radio and power in to a 3d printed weather vane..

busy times ahead :)

regards
andy

[DrJeff]

@Andy-Pep said:

yes its going to be a learning curve ..but after finding mysensors my mind has woken up

Got to love Sites like this one that challenge your brain and you have fun with physical items to show what you have been doing!

[Andy Pep]

Indeed Drjeff ...

i have learned more in the past 4 weeks in starting this journey than i did for a year makeing flashy led stuff lol. mind you i am thinking of a neopixel display lol
and the good thing is i can give back..the data collected will be of use to someone if not myself :)

andy :)

[NeverDie]

Have a look at this post: http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/147/air-quality-sensor/91
and it will likely save you a lot of time.

[Andy Pep]

cheers neverdie for the link to the post it has helped alot :)

my sensors arrived today im just awaiting on some nrf and esp radios and im away ..

tipping rain gauge retrofit will be started today or tomorrow :)

regards

andy

[Andy Pep]

little update

mq135 is now up and running ..need to be callabrated but its close enough untill i have finished testing it ... and thay do eat some power...300ma just for the sensor.

i just need to get some potting compound for the rain gauge

just added a pir sensor .

this is getting addacting lol

[Andy Pep]

slowly getting there........... just waiting on a slow boat from china with the rest of my parts :)

[Andy Pep]

well thats cool .. my recycled tipping bucket works and seams to be close to accurate ..