[wxsig] Newbie question

[wn0x at earthlink.net]

Any reason you wouldn't consider a 1-wire setup with T238+?

Sounds like it has almost everything you need and be much simpler and cheaper to implement.  

Rich

-----Original Message-----
>From: "Daron J. Wilson" <daron at wilson.org>
>Sent: Mar 1, 2007 2:55 PM
>To: 'TAPR Weather Station SIG Mailing List' <wxsig at lists.tapr.org>
>Subject: RE: [wxsig] Newbie question
>
>> Our local sailing club would really like to know the wind
>> speed/direction at a spot offshore.  NOAA doesn't have the budget to
>> install a real weather buoy, so  it's up to me (us).  We think the
>> USCG will allow us to place an instrument package on a navigation
>> buoy in the area of interest, although installing it will be a good trick!
>> 
>> Needs:
>> 1) Wind speed/direction required
>> 2) Able to communicate with base station about 1.8 miles away (good
>> line of sight).
>> 3) Solar panel operated. (Night time observations not important, so
>> maybe no or very small battery?).
>> 4) Marine environment (non freezing, but salt water and frequent gale
>> conditions)
>> 5) Low cost, since the USCG has a hard time just keeping the buoy in
>> place, and it will probably be lost more than once.
>> 
>> The Dallas Wind sensor seems like a reasonable input device, although
>> sufficient accuracy might be possible with a wand with strain
>> gauges.  I'm a competent PIC programmer, so that wouldn't be too
>> challenging.  The 1.8 miles is the gotcha for me.  There are no
>> available locations for repeaters, so I'm thinking it will have to be
>> either a packet radio or possibly a cobbled-up FRS type personal walkie
>> talkie.
>> 
>> Any suggestions?
>
>I think a fiberglass watertight enclosure (Hoffman or similar) would be
>where I would start.  Inside there I'd try to fit a low power VHF radio,
>Kantronics KPC3+ TNC and possibly a Peet Bros Ultimeter 100 weather station.
>Our APRS weather stations http://www.ocrg.org/telemetry_feed/ocrgwx.html use
>commercial mobile radios for more power, the KPC3+ which has been modified
>for our telemetry needs, our custom made telemetry adapter which gets a
>digital input and a couple analog inputs, and a device we make called the
>WeatherDOG which takes the Peet data stream and 'massages' it with a PIC
>before sending it to the TNC.  This is done primarily to make the weather
>data standards compliant so it will show up on the Kenwood APRS radio
>displays (mobile and portable), but secondly we have an option in the
>WeatherDOG that allows the data to be 'human readable' and spits out the
>weather data in a UI packet with it in clear test format so you could easily
>parse it or just read it on a computer screen.
>
>Many ways to do this of course, power will certainly be your challenge.  I'd
>use some photo sensor to shut the thing off at night if you want to
>conserver battery, using a couple of gel cells and a small solar panel for
>maintenance.  If all you really want is wind speed and direction, I guess
>you could take the output of the anemometer and feed it into the PIC, write
>a bunch of code, and get what you want.
>
>Another off the shelf option (more power required) would be the CAT200
>repeater controller with the computer interface, connects directly to the
>Peet weather station and a two way radio, simple DTMF query to the radio and
>the synthesized voice could read back the wind speed and direction for you.
>
>Sounds fun, good luck on the installation!
>
>73
>
>N7HQR
>
>
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