WeatherRack3 Data Formats

SwitchDoc Labs is building a new weather station and software with the WeatherRack3, a new generation no-moving parts 7 in 1 sensor.   We are building a solar powered box around the WeatherRack3 that will keep the sensor running for long periods of time (even with out sun – love those large capacity lead acid battery).   It’s a similar solar power system to SolarMAX2 (designed to run Raspberry Pi 4B systems) but with a much simpler controller because we don’t need nearly as much power as the Raspberry Pi 4B takes (don’t forget the high startup current!).  the WeatherRack3 uses about 1.3W, so we can have a much smaller solar panel (30W) and simpler control system.

The WeatherRack System features:

• New NO MOVING PARTS Weather Sensor.  It measures:

– Air Temperature
– Air Humidity
– Air Pressure
– Rainfall (Optical)
– Noise
– Air Quality
– Wind Speed (Ultrasonic)
– Wind Direction (Ultrasonic)

• • 433MHz communication fromWeatherRack3 to Raspberry Pi
  • Compatible with the WeatherSense products (Lightning, Radiation, etc.)
  • Solar Powered (panel included)
  • Solar controller and Mini Pro Plus included (all that good solar data!)
  • Permanent, non changing SERIAL NUMBER (Yea!!!)

We transmit all the information from the WeatherRack3 using the rtl_433 library (the SwitchDoc Fork).  Devices 154 and 155.   We have two devices defined, one for the Weather Data and one for all the Solar Power data.   The solar power controller we are using at the moment is a Renogy 10A Solar Power controller.  We have decoded the information from the RS232 port ion the Renogy using our Arduino Mini Pro Plus board and then we transmit a subset of the information via 433MHz to the Raspberry Pi (running an SDR and the SDL_Pi_WeatherSense software.  More on that whole process in a later posting.

Here are the two JSON messages (output from the SDL rtl_433 Library) and the definitions of the values:

First the Weather Data Message:

{"time" : "2022-12-18 13:19:53", "model" : "SwitchDoc Labs WeatherRack3", "len" : 37, "messageid" : 30039, "deviceid" : 15727, "protocolversion" : 1, "softwareversion" : 0, "weathersenseprotocol" : 20, "windspeed" : 0, "windforce" : 0, "winddirectiondegrees" : 0, "humidity" : 750, "temperature" : -12, "noise" : 412, "PM2_5" : 7, "PM10" : 8, "pressure" : 937, "hwlux" : 0, "lwlux" : 7612, "lightvalue20W" : 76, "rain" : 0, "mic" : "CRC"}

– time: Time of receipt on local machine – time zone is what is on local machine
– model: model name
– len: Message length
– messageid: unique message ID from WR3
– deviceid: unique serial number of WR3
– protocolversion: version of the WeatherSense Protocol
– softwareversion: version of the SDL_Arudino_WeatherSenseWR3 software
– weathersenseprotocol: WeatherSense Protocol Number
– windspeed: meters/second * 10
– windforce: wind force level
– winddirectiondegrees: wind direction in degrees – N is 0 degrees
– humidity: % relative humidity * 10
– temperature: celcius * 10
– noise: dbm (?) * 10
– PM2_5: 2.5um particulate count – air quality
– PM10: 10um particulate count – air quality
– pressure: Kpa absolute value * 10
– hwlux: High 16 bit value of Lux
– lwlux: Low 16 bit value of Lux
– lightvalue20W: lux / 100 (used for when lux > 32 bits as in really bright sunlight)
– rain: mm * 10
– mic: CRC – What is used for message validation

Then the WeatherRack3 Solar Power Message:

{"time" : "2022-12-18 13:20:34", "model" : "SwitchDoc Labs WR3 Power Message", "len" : 53, "messageid" : 30040, "deviceid" : 15727, "protocolversion" : 1, "softwareversion" : 0, "weathersenseprotocol" : 21, "batterycapacity" : 51, "batteryvoltage" : 12.100, "batterychargecurrent" : 0.240, "loadvoltage" : 12.100, "loadcurrent" : 0.110, "solarpanelvoltage" : 12.700, "solarpanelcurrent" : 0.150, "Min_Battery_Voltage_Today_Volts" : 12.100, "Max_Charge_Current_Today_Amps" : 0.600, "Max_Discharge_Current_Today_Amps" : 0.130, "Charge_Amp_Hrs_Today_Amp_Hours" : 1.000, "Discharge_Amp_Hrs_Today_Amp_Hours " : 2.000, "Charge_Watt_Hrs_Today_Watt_Hours" : 12.000, "Discharge_Watt_Hrs_Today_Watt_Hours" : 12.000, "Controller_Uptime_Days" : 0, "Total_Battery_Over_Charges_Count" : 0, "Total_Battery_Full_Charges_Count" : 0, "Controller_Type" : 2560, "wakecount" : 1650, "auxa" : 0, "solarpresent" : 0, "WR3BoardPresent" : 0, "justbooted" : 0, "lowbattery" : 0, "mic" : "CRC"}

– time: Time of receipt on local machine – time zone is what is on local machine
– model: model name
– len: Message length
– messageid: unique message ID from WR3
– deviceid: unique serial number of WR3
– protocolversion: version of the WeatherSense Protocol
– softwareversion: version of the SDL_Arudino_WeatherSenseWR3 software
– weathersenseprotocol: WeatherSense Protocol Number
– batterycapacity : % of capacity that the battery is charged
– batteryvoltage : Current voltage o the battery (V)
– batterychargecurrent : Amount that the battery is being charged in Amps (Note: If you battery is currently being discharged, it will be zero)
– loadvoltage : Voltage of the Load terminals
– loadcurrent : Current going to the load (A)
– solarpanelvoltage : Current voltage on the solar panels
– solarpanelcurrent : Amount of current from the solar panels
– Min_Battery_Voltage_Today_Volts : Lows battery voltage in past 24 hours
– Max_Charge_Current_Today_Amps : maximum charge current in past 24 hours in Amps
– Max_Discharge_Current_Today_Amps : maximum discharge current from the battery in past 24 hours in Ampls
– Charge_Amp_Hrs_Today_Amp_Hours : Number of AmpHours charged in past 24 hours
– Discharge_Amp_Hrs_Today_Amp_Hours : Number of AmpHours discharged in past 24 hours
– Charge_Watt_Hrs_Today_Watt_Hours : Number of Watt Hours charged in past 24 hours
– Discharge_Watt_Hrs_Today_Watt_Hours : Number of Watt Hours discharged in past 24 hours
– Controller_Uptime_Days : Number of days the controller has been on
– Total_Battery_Over_Charges_Count : Total count of Over charges of Battery
– Total_Battery_Full_Charges_Count : Total count of the number of times the battery has been fully charged
– Controller_Type : 2560 – Renogy 10A Wanderer
– wakecount : Number of times the Mini Pro Processor has been awakened. Only reset to zero if the processor has rebooted
– auxa : Additional information – will be defined later
– solarpresent :Additional information – will be defined later
– WR3BoardPresent :Additional information – will be defined later
– justbooted : 1 if just booted
– lowbattery : Additional information – will be defined later
– mic : CRC – What is used for message validation

Next up we will be discussing the MODBUS interface to the Renogy Wanderer RS232 port and also the MODBUS interface to the WeatherRack3 sensor.