[aprssig] WM-918 Troubleshooting

[Keith VE7GDH]

Arte N2ZRC wrote...

> I own an Oregon Scientific WM-918 Weather Station... I recently
> installed it at my current QTH, and found that the rain gauge doesn't
> seem to be registering any rain either on the control panel display
> or within FreeWX, which translates the unit's output for use with UI-View.

I would assume that there is a "tipping bucket" in the rain gauge sensor.
Disconnect it from the WX station and check it with an ohmmeter. There
is probably a reed switch and a magnet that goes past it creating one pulse
every time the bucket empties. Maybe it's all jammed up with dead insects 
or cobwebs or whatever. If it isn't the sensor, look at the other end and see
if there's a problem with how it connects there. If it's easy to get to, you
could simulate rainfall by shorting the two wires together a few times.
If it isn't the rain gauge or the cable and connector, then it would get a
bit (lot) more complicated. I doubt if OS will supply a circuit diagram,
so you would have to trace the connection to see what it connects to
and then possibly get a data sheet for the device... or you could just buy
an WS1 from Scott at Argent Data. You could use it with UI-View with
the right software in between, or just connect it to a radio.

73 es cul - Keith VE7GDH
--
"I may be lost, but I know exactly where I am!"