Starter Station - Noob Question

[Aaron Griffin]

I have been digging through conversation threads as well as documents on the Weewx pages and such and just cant come to a decision.

I also dug through related topics and there are some decent suggestions but they seem to definitely be a bit old by this point in time.  So, question time...

What would you guys recommend at THIS point in time as far as being a "Starter" point for weather data collection when it comes to equipment?  I am working right now with a Raspberry Pi 3b+ currently and want to make sure I utilize my budget the best I can at the moment.

So, any weather equipment you believe is the best bang for the buck when it comes to a low budget at the time being?

[vince]

On Thursday, June 24, 2021 at 7:36:05 AM UTC-7 griffi...@gmail.com wrote:

So, any weather equipment you believe is the best bang for the buck when it comes to a low budget at the time being?

That's impossible to even speculate on without more information.

• how much 'can' you spend ? 
  
  • what's your target price ?
  • if you need to stretch that, how high can you go ?
• what data means most to you ?
  • temperature ?
  • humidity ?
  • wind ?
  • rain ?
  • solar ?
  • lightning ?
  • do you need a console on it ?
  • do you need indoor temperature/humidity readings ?
• do you care if the gear requires an internet connection to a vendor in order to function ?

[Aaron Griffin]

That is a fair question.  I guess I should have provided more of a detailed answer instead of just a generalized "Hey, I want to do this" without proper details.

I would like to spend between $100 - $150 and if I were to need to stretch the budget, probably another $20 to $30 CURRENTLY at this time.  If I need to wait, I may be able to up the budget a little more.

As far as Data and what means the most to me:
* Temp
* Wing
* Rain
Those are the main three that I would consider important.  I do not require a console or indoor info.

As far as for Solar and Lightning is concerned, that would be the "I want" but not an "I do not need" feature and I am sure that is more part of the higher priced ones.  As far as for internet connection, I am probably going to get it hooked into weather underground if that is a separate function but honestly it does not bother me if there is a separate connection as I am going to vLAN it to the IoT group on my network so it really isn't going to give me any issues on internal equipment, etc.

Vince, I hope this helps to clear up quite a bit of things.  If you need anymore questions answered that would help out a bit more, I really do not mind answering them and again I am sorry for the brain-fart moment I gave you and probably a lot of other guys / gals on the group posting.

[storm...@gmail.com]

Here is an AcuRite station:

https://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-01036M-Wireless-Weather-Programmable/dp/B00FWSP3UC/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=acurite+weather+station&qid=1624559281&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExQVBXTlI0T1RENVRDJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzA0NDM5MldOVjhPTEJZRU41MyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzIxNzgxM0FYRVU0TjMyOEZSOCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

I see it is on sale for $127.00 .... You can connect the console directly to the RPI.

[p q]

I have this or a very similar model plugged into a raspberry pi 3 running weewx. The only thing I don't like is there is a single sensor unit with rain wind temperature. If you put it in a good place for rain and wind it's in the sun and gives inaccurate temps. 

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[vince]

On Thursday, June 24, 2021 at 9:15:22 AM UTC-7 griffi...@gmail.com wrote:

I would like to spend between $100 - $150 and if I were to need to stretch the budget, probably another $20 to $30 CURRENTLY at this time.  If I need to wait, I may be able to up the budget a little more.

As far as Data and what means the most to me:
* Temp
* Wing
* Rain
Those are the main three that I would consider important.  I do not require a console or indoor info.

Man that is a low budget.

You could cobble together something with Ecowitt pieces for more like $175 or so

* gateway = 35.99

* rain bucket = 44.99

* anemometer = 89.99

* outside temp/hum sensor = 12.99

The gateway gets you inside temp/hum as well.

I can't speak to the accuracy of the rain/wind sensors but the temp/hum sensors are nice and Gary's weewx driver is very solid.

[Aaron Griffin]

Storm, I was definitely looking at that one but was not sure if anyone verified that it was working correctly but it looks like Peterq above said same or similar so that might be good enough for me.

As far as for the budget Vince, I know.  I would love to be able to spend more but with my wife and health issues, that kind of limits my budget and I want to get something going at least as a small quick project for my son and I since he has been looking at all sorts of stuff like this lately.

[vince]

On Thursday, June 24, 2021 at 12:02:18 PM UTC-7 griffi...@gmail.com wrote:

As far as for the budget Vince, I know.  I would love to be able to spend more but with my wife and health issues, that kind of limits my budget and I want to get something going at least as a small quick project for my son and I since he has been looking at all sorts of stuff like this lately.

That makes the Ecowitt piecemeal approach perhaps more worth thinking about.

Go for inside+outside temp+humidity for starters which would require the gateway and the outside sensor only.  That would be under $50 plus the pi you already have  Add rain+wind as budget/inclination permit.

I might add the little inside/outside temp/hum sensors are a steal for $12.99 considering they have a nice little display on them.  They'd work fine standalone even without the gateway, although gateway and (free) phone app let you apply a little tuning if you find they read a bit high/low versus some reference you believe is accurate.

 

[Aaron Griffin]

Vince -

Would this pretty much be the same as what you are proposing currently?

Amazon.com: ECOWITT HP3501 TFT Wi-Fi Weather Station with Solar Powered Wireless Anemometer, UV & Light Sensor, Self-Emptying Rain Collector, Color Graph Display, Weather APP and PC Software: Industrial & Scientific

If so, I may honestly just break the bank a little more just to jump on it.

[storm...@gmail.com]

Griffi - I have one.  It runs with in a degree or two of my Davis.

[Aaron Griffin]

Gotcha.  I guess I just need to make a decision then. lol