Shednet with weatherstation In the recen ... / 2010-11-23

Shednet with weatherstation

In the recent days I have been running the shednet computer again, this time with the conrad weather station attached. This is mainly for finding out what the climate in the shed is to help decide on hardware choices and setup.

The climate (in the shed) is different from what I expected: humidity is (so far) within limits of what the current PC (a Dell optiplex GX270) can handle. I expected humidity to become a problem before temperature. Temperatures are at the moment dropping below 'operating range' and a couple of cold days are coming up here in the Netherlands.

You can view the results at the weather station page but remember this is in the shed. Real measurements done with (something resembling) meteorological standards will be later.

But these measurements have learned me a few things and helped with a few decisions for the project sundial weather station:

• The humidity in the shed is not much of a problem.
• The temperature might be, but if a really low-power PC in an IP66 housing can survive an outdoor climate, it should survive in the shed.
• The conrad temperature sensor is not very precise in outdoor temperatures. So the 'outdoor' temperature / humidity will be measured using 1-wire sensors hooked up to the future weather station computer. The Netley Marsh 1 wire weather station has nice ideas and pictures how this can be done and a small 'sensor house' like the one they use would fit better in our back garden than a full-size Stevenson Screen (the official name of the white 'meteorological hut' which tries to shield thermometer and hygrometer from local influences).

The flickr picture is also some experimenting with the gimp.