Netatmo Clone / Weather Station

Social Project Share
1

Hi Community,

I want to share a project with you that I was working on last year. For my home I wanted to have an device that measures Temperature, Humidity and Pressure and publishes the data to my local server. And I really liked the Netatmo solution but it was a little bit too expensive for me so I decided to make something like a clone. Or just simply a Weather Station inspired by the Netatmo devices.

So I started with a list of key features the weather station should have:

  • Small dimensions
  • Temperature / Humidity / Pressure and (Battery)-Power Sensor
  • Battery or wired power Connection (with Battery power at least 2 month “lifetime”)
  • Low Power consumption
  • Remote controlled measurement interval (15, 30, 60 minutes)
  • Easy changeable (if Photon dies or whatever)
  • Library for Sensors should already exist
  • Nice look/housing
  • Easy to add new Sensors

And what I realized early is that I needed a custom printed PCB. So I made a circuit design (I’m an Engineer, so that and soldering was not a problem) and selected the Sensors for the project.

  • Temperature / Humidity: SHT21 (±0,3 K and ±2 %rH)
  • Pressure: BMP085 (±2%)
  • Power: Just a regular Voltage divider

This is what the PCB looks like compared to a Photon:
pcb
On this PCB there are the Sensors, Pullups, Voltage Divider and a connector for a Battery. And you can easy insert the Photon.

photon_Kopie

Stuff like remote control of the measurement interval, low power and publish to local server are all made in the application. So I wrote one, where the communication is made via MQTT and another one with HTTP. (Had problems with MQTT, that’s why the HTTP).

For the battery power I got a battery holder that holds 4 AA batteries. With a protective resistor I can power my Photon and the Sensors with this “package”. With these 4AA the device works for 2-5 Months (depending on the measurement interval).
package

Last but not least, I got me a nice small “can” and drilled a very small hole in it for the antenna. It looks like this:
fertig

Now I get measurements from my different rooms, get a notification when I need to charge the batteries etc. etc…and I think it looks pretty good for a diy project.
So…that’s basically it. By the way, if someone what a PCB (with soldered components or without), just let me know. I have some left.

Hope you like it :slight_smile:

PS: Sorry for the language, I’m not a native speaker.

8 Likes
2

Nice share - thanks :+1:
I’ve recently also played with this idea + a CCS811 for eCO2

1 Like
3

@larusso

respect.

I've the same basic concept but using NRF24 to an ethernet gateway device (Arduino/MySensors) and it has been merrily working for a few years.

Me too. Plus, I did a 3D printed rain gage with temp/humid/baro for outdoors.

I imagine that the new mesh tools will make these devices quite capable for battery operation... one or several indoor sensors (garage, main house, guest house) and one outdoor.

If anyone is in for cooperating on such an open source Particle Mesh powered project, I'm in! It would be great to have a community project such as this.

3 Likes
4

I like your idea of adding the rows of “cheater” thru holes to your PCB layout. Great for adding test probes, or for adding roach wires to fix any goofs.

1 Like
5

With the Xenon boards, battery life should be excellent. As in a year or more on a single CR2032 coin cell. Your sensors could end up being more of a battery hog than the smarts and wireless link. I’m thinking that a solar cell from a dollar store yard light and a supercap could allow for battery-free operation.

1 Like
6

Thank you. I also have some SiLabs Thunderboard Sense lying around, maybe I can hook them up with a Photon to measure VOC…

1 Like
7

Yeah, that was the idea :slight_smile: And it works very well.

8

@larusso
I would love to have one of your soldered PCB boards. I have been using an electric imp (competitor to Particle) “Tails Board” which measures temperature, humidity, and pressure. It works pretty good but I would like to try the same on the Particle platform. Are you in the US?

9

Sure. No, I’m not in the US. I’m from Germany. But let’s talk about that via private message :slight_smile: