The new Peet Bros. weather station Ultimeter 2100 runs for a few weeks now. First results where very disappointing. All kind of weird data was logged on aprs.fi. Even data for rain (which the weather station has no sensor for). The weather station itself logs fine and readings are okay. So I figured it has to be the serial connection between the Ultimeter 2100 and my Kenwood TM-D710. I tried several things but nothing seems to work. Then PA1EDL informed me about the fact that this is a very common problem between two devices, connected via serial port, but with separate power supplies. It can result in “floating” serial signals which the devices can’t process. Solution for this problem is galvanic separation.
I ordered some 3N44 optocouplers and start building a galvanic separation. It wasn’t very successful, there was no connection at all. I removed the optocoupler and hit a dead end.
I looked around in my shack and suddenly realize I still have a solar powered battery! Maybe it would work when I connect the weather station to the battery. It would still be floating serial signals, but maybe less floating then with 2 AC power supplies.
After a few hours of running on battery the data on aprs.fi starts to make sense. The weather station uses a few hundred milli amps, the battery is around 12Ah so it should be able to run 24/7.
The big data collection starts now. I’m still thinking about buying the extra sensor combo with rain gauge and humidity meter some day.
And I still want to make the optocoupler work because thats the only guarantee for a proper operation regardless of what power supply is used.
Peet Bros. Weather station
An early birthday present this year: a Ultimeter 2100 from Peet Bros. I had my eye on one of these for a long time because it can do weather telemetry send on APRS. Ordered one from WiMo.
It arrived the other day (see unpack pics in gallery) with a German and original English manual. Fortunately for me because my German is not that good.
Did the glue-thing with the wind cups and test drive the weather station inside. All works fine. Then moved the sensors outside. Wind meter in my antenna mast and temperature sensor in the shade side of the chimney.
Next thing to do is connect the Ultimeter to my Kenwood TM-D710 so the telemetry can put on APRS. That seems quite simple. I put all the settings in and wait….. and wait….. 5 minutes…. 10 minutes…..an hour. No data in the Kenwood. Weird. Switched between I/O-ports on the Ultimeter. Wait….wait….nothing.
Reset the Ultimeter and did all configuration again. Plug the serial cable in it and a few minutes later: tadaaaaa! Weather station data on the Kenwood! That was last night. But after 2 or 3 beacons everything went dead again. No more updates received by the Kenwood. Also: weird wind values appeared on APRS.
But okay, maybe the Ultimeter suffers from RFI, maybe I need to change some settings. We’ll get there I hope! 😉 Anyway, a very cool birthday present!
APRS in French Alpes
The last two weeks we went on holiday in the French Alpes. We went by car with my Kenwood TM-D710 with APRS and GPS-modification on board. This was the first time I entered the Alpes with APRS and I was curious if there was any coverage at all. To my surprise the coverage was excellent!
I also brought my HT (Kenwood TH-D72) with me. We did a few hikes with the HT in the backpack. Due to the excellent coverage, everything got recorded quite nicely. The mountain we hiked on (Céuse) is even equipped with a digipeater: F5ZFN-3.
At the cabin I connected the HT to my Ubuntu laptop and installed Xastir. I wasn’t a big fan of Xastir before only for it looks (or lack of). But when you play a little, it sure is great software with tremendous possibilities. I let the combination run for a night and was a little surprised to see HB, EA and IZ the next morning plotted on the map. Not only excellent coverage but also a great range.
