SwitchDoc Labs SkyWeather WXLink User manual

Version 1.2 May 2019
SkyWeather WXLink Assembly and Testing Guide
May 2019
Version 1.2

Version 1.2 May 2019
Table of Contents
Errata ............................................................................................................................2
What is SkyWeather?.....................................................................................................3
SkyWeather Features ..............................................................................................................3
Versions of SkyWeather ..........................................................................................................5
SkyWeather ........................................................................................................................................................5
SkyWeather Lite.................................................................................................................................................5
SkyWeather Solar...............................................................................................................................................5
SkyWeather Plus Solar WXLink Remote ..........................................................................................................5
Preparing and Learning your Raspberry Pi....................................................................5
What is in the SkyWeather Box ......................................................................................9
Step by Step Assembly.................................................................................................. 15
Setting up the Raspberry Pi ...............................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
I2C Sensor Connections ....................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
What is I2C?............................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Step By Step ............................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
GPIO Connections .............................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
What is GPIO? ...................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Step By Step ......................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
WeatherRack Weather Instruments Assembly ..................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Final Assembly Pictures ....................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Wiring Lists for SkyWeather....................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
SkyWeather Initial Testing .......................................................................................... 17
Power Up your Raspberry Pi .............................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Test 1 – Verify I2C Devices.................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Test 1A – Verify Detectable I2C devices .................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Test 1-B - Testing the AM2315................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Test 1C - Test AS3935 ThunderBoard Lightning Detector ....................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Test 2 – Testing Specific GPIO Connected Devices (and the WeatherRack) .. Error! Bookmark not
defined.
Test 2A – Testing the Dust Sensor ............................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Test 2B – The TSL2591 Sunlight Sensor Test ........................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Test 3 – Testing SkyWeather Device Detection ..................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
The Science and Education Goals Behind SkyWeather.................................................26
Support........................................................................................................................ 27
Disclaimer ...................................................................................................................29

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Errata
Version 1.2 – Clarified contents of SkyWeather WXLink Kit

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What is SkyWeather?
This is a perfect project kit for kids with some help from the adults and for adults trying to learn some new
things. We have done this before with our successful OurWeather KickStarter so we know what we are talking
about. People all over the world have built the OurWeather weather station with great success. This project
has no soldering involved and uses Grove connectors to wire everything up! You can't reverse them and blow
things up. Here is our tutorial on the Grove system.
SkyWeather Features
• Barometric*Pressure*
• LIGHTNING!*
• Outside*Temperature**
• Outside*Humidity**
• Altitude**
• Inside*Temperature*(in*box)*
• Inside*Humidity*(in*box)*
• Air*Quality*-*AQI*(your*own*local*Air*Quality*Sensor)*
• Sunlight*
• Wind*Speed*
• Wind*Direction**
• Rain**
• All*your*weather*information*on*the*Cloud*including*history*
Easy to build. Easy to learn about the IOT (Internet Of Things) and the Raspberry Pi.

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Versions of SkyWeather
SkyWeather
The full SkyWeather kit including the Lightning and Wind Direction, Speed and Rain sensors. Includes: Rain,
Wind Speed / Direction, Lighting Detection, Outside Temperature and Humidity, Barometric Pressure, Internal
Temperature/Humidity, Sunlight Strength, and Outside Air Quality.
SkyWeather Lite
SkyWeather Lite does not contain the Lightning Detector and the WeatherRack wind and rain sensors.
Because of that, do not drill the holes for the Lightning Detector Pylon and you do not need to have the RJ11
box connectors for the WeatherRack
SkyWeather Solar
SkyWeather Solar adds a set of solar panels on the top of the SkyWeather Box. We have a special assembly
manual for that add on to the SkyWeather kit. Note that you have to think about where and how to orient your
solar panels versus the orientation you want for your Sky Camera. Solar Panels should generally point south
(in the northern hemisphere) and north (in the southern hemisphere – right Topher?).
SkyWeather Plus Solar WXLink Remote
This SkyWeather package places the WeatherRack wind / rain sensors and the outside temperature and
humidity sensor, along with a solar system in an external box connected by wireless LoRa. See the
weatherproofing manual for the WXLink Box. Basically, you place the WeatherRack and the outside
temperature / humidity sensors outside and the rest of SkyWeather can either be inside or outside. There are no
wires between the WXLink remote box and the SkyWeather system. You may still want to place the Sky
Camera and SkyWeather system outside and in that case you do not need to have the RJ11 box connectors for
the WeatherRack or the hole AM2315 Outside Temperature and Humidity Sensor.
This manual is for the base SkyWeather kit.
Preparing and Learning your Raspberry Pi
The SkyWeather system requires a working Raspberry Pi. You can use virtually any not too old Raspberry Pi
(2, 3, Zero, etc.) but you do need to set it up before starting the process of building SkyWeather.
Initial setting up your Raspberry Pi and connecting to it on your network is well beyond the scope of this
manual. There are just too many variables in how you might set up your Raspberry Pi.
SwitchDoc Labs provides an SD Card that has the Raspberry Pi operating system, version Stretch, and all the
SkyWeather software installed. https://shop.switchdoc.com/products/16gb-sd-card-with-stretch-smart-garden-
system-groveweatherpi
Insert your SD Card (Part N from below if you have a SkyWeather Kit) into the Raspberry Pi SD Card. It goes
colored face down on the Raspberry Pi 3B+ and face up on the Raspberry Pi ZeroW. The picture below shows
the SD Card pluggend into a Raspberry Pi 3B+ (with the Pi2Grover board installed – Part A if you have the
SkyWeather Kit).
(Default user: pi Default password: raspberry)

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Once you have your Raspberry Pi setup up, running and can access a command line window (terminal) than
you are ready to go with this manual.
This is the reason that we consider The SkyWeather Kit an advanced beginners kit, rather than a beginners kit
(like the OurWeather Weather Station).
Here are some resources to get you set up and running as quickly as possible.
Helpful Getting Started Videos:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/help/videos/
Helpful Getting Started Written Tutorial:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/quick-start-guide-v1.1.pdf
If you want to set up a headless (no monitor, keyboard, mouse) Raspberry Pi, it is more complicated. Here are
some links to tutorials for that process.
http://www.circuitbasics.com/raspberry-pi-basics-setup-without-monitor-keyboard-headless-mode/
http://blog.self.li/post/63281257339/raspberry-pi-part-1-basic-setup-without-cables
Many, many more tutorials are available on the web.
Once you have it set up, take a brief tutorial about using the terminal window and the very powerful Raspberry
Pi Command Line.
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/learning-the-command-line/
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/learn-to-love-the-command-line-with-the-magpi/
You don’t need to know a lot about the command line to enjoy building and running SkyWeather but you do
need a bit of knowledge.

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SkyWeather Solar WXLink LoRa Kit
The issue is sometimes you don't want to run a wire all the way from the Weather Station to the wind and rain
sensor. Using the Mini Pro LP, we built a WeatherRack reader and then we use a transmitter to send it back to
the SkyWeather station inside. We then added solar power to the system.
The Solar WXLink LoRa SkyWeather product kit contains one Mini Pro LP Arduino board, a WXLinkWR
Weather Rack Interface board, two LoRa transceivers, SunAirPlus Solar Power Controller and Data Collector,
and a 330mA 6V Solar Cell..
The SkyWeather Solar WXLink Kit is a solar powered wireless serial link that can transmit up to 6000 meters
in free air, with the proper antenna (like our Yagi Antenna product). It is designed to connect up to any source
of data from sensors connected to the Mini Pro LP Arduino compatible low power computer board. It was
specifically designed to connect a WeatherRack weather sensor array to a SKyWeather based system connected
to a Raspberry Pi computer. And yes, it has Grove connectors throughout the system. The WXLink LoRa
comes preloaded with the software to support a WeatherRack and AM2315. See below for the source code. No
soldering required.

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This design uses SunAirPlus which collects (and transmits the information back to the weather station)
information on the power system (Solar Panel Voltage/Current, Load Voltage/Current, Battery
Voltage/Current). A GREAT science project! Lots of dataThe serial link is bi-Directional although the software
currently just supports a uni-directional link.
This kit contains:
• One Mini Pro LP Arduino Boards
• One WXLinkWR Weather Rack Interface Board
• Two Grove 433MHz LoRa boards
• 5 20 CM Grove Cables
• SunAirPlus Solar Panel Controller / Data Collector (includes Pin Header to Grove Plug Cable)
• USB Type A Cable from SunAirPlus to micro USB Mini Pro LP Rx Arduino Board
• Two 330mA/6V Solar Panels with JST-2 Plug for SunAirPlus
• Multi Solar Panel Connector Board
Grove 433MHz LoRa Transceiver
The main functional module in the LoRa Radio 433MHz is RFM98, which is a transceiver features the LoRa
long range modem that provides ultra-long range spread spectrum communication and high interference
immunity whilst mini-missing current consumption. The CPU on board the LoRa Radio 433MHz is an
ATmega168,
There is also an integrated a s wire antenna to receive and transmit the signal, if the signal is too weak to
receive,, you can use the MHF connector next to the wire antenna.
This is the 433MHz version.
Note
• Keep the antenna vertical to the board and as straight as possible
• Avoid having any big metal object near the antenna
Features
• Uses RFM95 module based on SX1276 LoRa®
• ~28mA(Avg) @+20dBm continuous transmit
• ~8.4mA(Avg)@standby mode
• ~20mA(Avg) @receive mode, BW-500kHz
• Simple wire antenna or MHF Connector for external high gain antenna
• +20dBm - 100 mW Power Output Capability

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You can set the UART baud rate, frequency, output power, data rate, frequency deviation, receiving bandwidth
parameters, etc. It comes pre-programmed for 433MHz and 9600 baud.
The 433Mhz LoRa board is rated for 6000 meters in free air. Free air means with no obstruction and line of
sight. Anything in your way reduces the received power and reduces the range. To test the range, We took
the solar powered transmitter system on a walk down to the Spokane River. We ran two tests. One with the
receiver behind three interior walls and one exterior wall and then repeated the test with the receiver only
behind one interior wall. We specifically looked for continuous data flow. We found we could go about 5% or
10% further and still get a packet now and again.
Table 1 - Tested Transmission Distance
Receiver Condition
Maximum Transmitter Distance
Behind 3 Interior / 1 Exterior Wall
220 meters / 720 feet
Behind 1 Exterior Wall
438 meters / 1437 feet
Yagi Antenna on Transmitter
1600 meters / 5200 feet
What do I Do First?
The first thing to do is assemble and test the base SkyWeather Kit. Test everything! Remember, since you
have a wireless link from the Weather Instruments to your SkyWeather base unit, you may choose not
weatherproof your base SkyWeather kit. Just make sure you that your SkyCamera can see the sky outside!
What is in the SkyWeather WXLink Box
A Raspberry Pi is NOT included and must be purchased separately. Any Raspberry Pi with a 40 pin GPIO
connector will work (such as the Raspberry Pi 2, 3 or Zero). You will need to also purchase a 3.7V LiPo
battery. Because this system is so low power, any size of LiPo battery greater than 1000mAh should work fine.
The higher the mAh rating of the battery, the longer the streak of cloudy days your unit can run without solar
power. Adafruit has a great selection of LiPo batteries. Make sure you buy one with a JST-2 plug.
Suggested LiPo batteries:
2000mAh https://www.adafruit.com/product/2011
4400mAh https://www.adafruit.com/product/354
6600mAh https://www.adafruit.com/product/353
Any of these batteries will work and it is likely you can use the 2000mAh battery for this project as it is so low
power.

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Part AA – Two (2) Grove LoRa Transceivers
Part AB – Mini Pro LP Arduino

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Part AC – WXLinkWR – WeatherRack Interface Board
Part AD – SunAirPlus Solar Power Controller (With PinHeader to Grove Adaptor)

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Part AE – Two (2) 330mA Solar Panels
Part AF – Five (5) 20cm Grove Cables

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Part AG – USB Cable – Type A USB to Micro USB
Part AH – Solar Panel Multi Connect Board

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Step by Step Assembly
Make sure you have assembled and tested your SkyWeather Kit before proceeding.
SkyWeather Base Assembly Changes
Step 1) Remove the WeatherRack RJ11 plugs from your SkyWeather Kit. You connect the WeatherRack to
your WXLink kit.
Step 2) Remove the AM2315 Temperature Humidiy Sensor from your SkyWeather Kit. You use this sensor in
the WXLink kit.
Step 3) Using a 20cm Grove Cable (Part AF) plug one end into one of the Grove LoRa Transceiver board (Part
AA)
Step 4) Connect the other end of the 20cm Grove Cable (Part AF) from Step 3) into the Grove Serial Port on
your Pi2Grover Board in SkyWeather.
This completes the SkyWeather base unit part of the assembly. When you start up SkyWeather next, the
software will automatically pick up the Grove LoRa and switch to WXLink mode.
Solar WXLink Assembly
Step 5) Take the Grove Pin Header to Grove Connector Cable from SunAirPlus (Part AD) and connect the pin
headers to the Pins on the top right of the SunAirPlus board as seen in the picture. Make sure you connect the
colors properly and in the order shown.
Yellow – SCL
White – SDA
Red – VDD

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Black – GND
Double check your wiring!

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Step 6) Plug the Grove Cable from SunAirPlus (Part AD) to one of the I2C Ports on the Mini Pro LP Board
(Part AB).
Step 7) Plug the Grove Cable from the AM2315 Temperature / Humidity Sensor (that you disconnected from
SkyWeather in Step 2) into the other I2C Port on the Mini Pro LP Board (Part AB).
Step 8) Plug the second Grove LoRa Transceiver (Part AA) into the port D6/D7 on the Mini Pro LP Board
(Part AB).
Step 9) Plug a Grove Cable (Part AD) into WXLinkWR (Part AC) Port Grove Rain Bucket.

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Step 10) Plug the other end of the Grove Cable (Part AD) from Step 9 into the port D3/D4 on the Mini Pro LP
Board (Part AB).
Step 11) Plug a Grove Cable (Part AD) into the WXLinkWR (Part AC) Port Grove Anemometer / Wind Vane
Output.