Recently, I was fortunate to receive a new prototype model of the fan-aspirated MeteoShield Pro from Barani Design. On this version, the solar panels are replaced with two power wires, making it possible to connect an external power source, allowing the fan to be active 24 hours a day. Varying fan rpm is possible by…
Category: Apogee
The B parameter vs. Steinhart-Hart equation
In my previous post about reading thermistors with a Wemos D1 Mini, I observed resulting output seemed a bit high at lower temperatures, while readings were lower compared to other sensors at higher temperatures. (If you haven’t read that post yet, you may want to check that first in order to understand the starting point…
Trying out a Vaisala DTR504
I’ve pretty much settled on my current radiation shield setup. Based on personal research alongside that of others, I do not think I will find an affordable radiation shield that can outperform the Barani MeteoShield Pro. Whenever I have doubts about radiation errors, the results produced by sensors inside my actively ventilated Apogee TS-100 will…
Active versus passive ventilation under high radiation
It’s June. An ideal month in the Northern Hemisphere to observe the effectiveness of radiation shields under high solar radiation. Two of my main sensor setups are a passively ventilated Barani MeteoShield Pro with an SHT35 sensor and the actively ventilated Apogee TS-100 with PT100 sensor. In theory, there should be situations where the Barani…
Temperature sensor responsiveness (part 2)
In February I wrote a post about the responsiveness of the temperature sensors I am using. One caveat I noted then, was that I was comparing SHT35 sensors with PT100 sensors while the latter were actively ventilated and the first were not. In the mean time I made a few changes to my setup. Most…
Temperature sensor responsiveness
The passing of a sharp weather front, accompanied by a sudden increase or decrease in temperature, is a good occasion to analyze temperature sensor behavior. Especially apparent becomes the responsiveness of different sensors. February 4th 2022 didn’t see any spectacular weather, but during the afternoon a cold front passed over which caused a very abrupt…
Apogee TS-100 first impressions
I was losing the last light and had to get a flash light while connecting the last wires Tuesday evening (August 17th), but I have the TS-100 up and running. Without battery backup for now. I will fix that later. Adding this new shield to my setup has triggered a whole series of new tests…
Project Apogee part 3: controlling the TS-100
In my previous post I addressed the power supply needed to run the Apogee Instruments TS-100 fan aspirated shield in my setup. The next step is building a controller for the fan that allows me to vary the fan speed and read the actual rpm being achieved. The idea is that the controller can query…
Project Apogee part 2: power supply
Project Apogee requires me to rethink the power supply of my weather station. When I start writing this, the Meteodrenthe weather station runs on solar power only. The Davis components have their own panel inside the transmitters. Other custom elements use 2 watt 6 volt panels by Voltaic Systems. This has been an ideal solution…
Project Apogee part 1: fan aspiration
My big project for the summer of 2021 is adding a fan aspirated radiation shield to my setup. My primary shield – the Barani MeteoShield Pro – is a superb product, but a passive shield it remains. It suffers from overheating in windless conditions. Those conditions do not occur too often at my location, but…