On Nov 26, 2:50*pm, "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:
On Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:02:29 +0000, Timothy Murphy wrote:
Does anyone have experience of a weather station
sending back information over the internet,
preferably by WiFi but possible by USB connection
to a remote computer?

Several weather stations have USB connectivity, a now reducing number
have RS232. I've not come across one that supports ethernet or WiFi
directly.

It depends hugely on what price bracket we're talking about, but
certainly direct output on an Ethernet is possible, eg via a Davis
WeatherlinkIP logger interface.

But the other option is simply to interface a logger with a USB or
serial interface to an appropriate Ethernet adapter (for instance
Silex make a suitable USB-to-Ethernet adapter).

So either way it's certainly possible in principle but with some work-
up of detail required.

The catch often is in ensuring that there's sufficient electrical
power at the remote site available for whatever data link technology
you're using. The weather station itself is usually no problem -
they're designed with autonomous operation (at least for several
months at a time) in mind. But most data link transmitters require at
least 5W power (at say 5-12v) and that's a non-trivial amount of power
if a continuous 24/7 data feed is required. Of course you can use
solar panels and/or wind turbines but to guarantee even 5W 24/7 over
many consecutive gloomy days in midwinter takes a significant PSU.

John Dann
www.weatherstations.co.uk