Help with hacking a wireless outdoor weather station
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@Boots33 Thankyou. That's all very helpful info. I've learnt more about RFlink now, finding their website and online shop.
I've got a Mega i'm using for my GW currently but will put a nano or pro mini in for the gw, and free up the mega, and i have some 433mhz RX/TX pair coming, so looks like i'll be making an RFlink for my Domoticz install.
Hoping and praying RFlink can talk to my weather station and 7 or 8 wireless 240v switch sockets!!
@breimann Yes I think you will be in luck as this post seems to indicate that your station does use the Fine Offset WH1080 protocol which is supported by rflink. RFlink also lists Digitech XC0348 Weather Station as supported so it may be the same protocol as the XC0400.
As far as power sockets Rflink has pretty good coverage as well it works with my Watts Clever sockets and my Belkin power board and even my old X10 sockets. I think you will be amazed how many of your neighbours weather stations and devices you will also pick up.
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@breimann Yes I think you will be in luck as this post seems to indicate that your station does use the Fine Offset WH1080 protocol which is supported by rflink. RFlink also lists Digitech XC0348 Weather Station as supported so it may be the same protocol as the XC0400.
As far as power sockets Rflink has pretty good coverage as well it works with my Watts Clever sockets and my Belkin power board and even my old X10 sockets. I think you will be amazed how many of your neighbours weather stations and devices you will also pick up.
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@breimann Yes I think you will be in luck as this post seems to indicate that your station does use the Fine Offset WH1080 protocol which is supported by rflink. RFlink also lists Digitech XC0348 Weather Station as supported so it may be the same protocol as the XC0400.
As far as power sockets Rflink has pretty good coverage as well it works with my Watts Clever sockets and my Belkin power board and even my old X10 sockets. I think you will be amazed how many of your neighbours weather stations and devices you will also pick up.
@Boots33 Oh I have a question though. You're using RFLink with Domoticz is that right?. How do you actually connect your RFLink Arduino to Domoticz? It might be a silly question, but I'm already running Domoticz on a RPi3, and a MYS serial gateway plugged into one of the 4 USB ports on my RPi. DO I just plug the RFLink into one of the USB ports too??
Is it that simple??
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@Boots33 Oh I have a question though. You're using RFLink with Domoticz is that right?. How do you actually connect your RFLink Arduino to Domoticz? It might be a silly question, but I'm already running Domoticz on a RPi3, and a MYS serial gateway plugged into one of the 4 USB ports on my RPi. DO I just plug the RFLink into one of the USB ports too??
Is it that simple??
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@breimann yes pretty much just plug it in to a free USB slot and in Domoticz select rflink USB from the drop down box on the hardware page. You may need to type in the serial port it is using and then you should be good to go
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@Boots33 awesome!!
Did you make one from scratch or buy the RFLink board? Any tips in terms of choosing the 433mhz Rx Tx pair?@breimann Yes I built one from scratch, if you are already building MySensors nodes you will have no trouble with it. It is a great way to expand your connected devices. I have a cheap Chinese floating thermometer in our pool and it even picked that up.
As to the 433mhz devices, of the cheap sets on ebay the fs1000 transmitters seem ok but i have found you may need to supply them 9v or more if you want to get decent range. The receivers that are bundled with them are not very good at all. You would be best to search on ebay for "arduino 433mhz superheterodyne" for a more reliable receiver.
As you are in OZ you can also buy the Dorji units from Willtronics, I have had good results with them and the transmitter reaches full power at 5v so is easier to use with arduino.
They are a bit more expensive though
The antenna is also very important, I usually just use a length of wire around 170 to 175mm seems to work best for me. You will find lots of info about antennas if you google it.
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@breimann Yes I built one from scratch, if you are already building MySensors nodes you will have no trouble with it. It is a great way to expand your connected devices. I have a cheap Chinese floating thermometer in our pool and it even picked that up.
As to the 433mhz devices, of the cheap sets on ebay the fs1000 transmitters seem ok but i have found you may need to supply them 9v or more if you want to get decent range. The receivers that are bundled with them are not very good at all. You would be best to search on ebay for "arduino 433mhz superheterodyne" for a more reliable receiver.
As you are in OZ you can also buy the Dorji units from Willtronics, I have had good results with them and the transmitter reaches full power at 5v so is easier to use with arduino.
They are a bit more expensive though
The antenna is also very important, I usually just use a length of wire around 170 to 175mm seems to work best for me. You will find lots of info about antennas if you google it.
@Boots33 said:
The receivers that are bundled with them are not very good at all.
I noticed this also when working on this project. I had rally bad range, like 4m or so changing to the RBX6 superheterdyne gave me the range I needed.
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@breimann Yes I built one from scratch, if you are already building MySensors nodes you will have no trouble with it. It is a great way to expand your connected devices. I have a cheap Chinese floating thermometer in our pool and it even picked that up.
As to the 433mhz devices, of the cheap sets on ebay the fs1000 transmitters seem ok but i have found you may need to supply them 9v or more if you want to get decent range. The receivers that are bundled with them are not very good at all. You would be best to search on ebay for "arduino 433mhz superheterodyne" for a more reliable receiver.
As you are in OZ you can also buy the Dorji units from Willtronics, I have had good results with them and the transmitter reaches full power at 5v so is easier to use with arduino.
They are a bit more expensive though
The antenna is also very important, I usually just use a length of wire around 170 to 175mm seems to work best for me. You will find lots of info about antennas if you google it.
@Boots33 thanks for sharing this info. Really helpful.
I have another question if you don't mind. What's the process once RFlink is connected and running in domoticz to program wireless power points like Cleve and Watts etc? Is there a learning process when you press the on/off buttons on your remote?
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@Boots33 thanks for sharing this info. Really helpful.
I have another question if you don't mind. What's the process once RFlink is connected and running in domoticz to program wireless power points like Cleve and Watts etc? Is there a learning process when you press the on/off buttons on your remote?
@breimann once RFlink is running and you have "Accept new Hardware Devices" turned on in Domoticz settings, it will start adding anything it recognises to the devices list.
You can then give the device a name and add it to your used devices. if it is a power socket then as you said just press the remote and watch for it to turn up in the device list. If you live in a heavily populated area you will likely get lots of devices showing up .You will have to make sure you get the right device or you will be turning on and off the neighbours lights as well.
For your weather station you will see the data also shown as separate devices like temp, pressure etc. Remember it will probably be listed as fine offset.
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@breimann once RFlink is running and you have "Accept new Hardware Devices" turned on in Domoticz settings, it will start adding anything it recognises to the devices list.
You can then give the device a name and add it to your used devices. if it is a power socket then as you said just press the remote and watch for it to turn up in the device list. If you live in a heavily populated area you will likely get lots of devices showing up .You will have to make sure you get the right device or you will be turning on and off the neighbours lights as well.
For your weather station you will see the data also shown as separate devices like temp, pressure etc. Remember it will probably be listed as fine offset.
