Wirelesss Weather Station: Increase Update Interval Frequency

[Bowman]

Hello, new to the forum and not very good at understanding electronic circuits, but wish to improve.

I have a wireless weather station from Excelvan that updates the display every 60 seconds with the data that it collects, such as atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, rain fall.

But to my point. I'm wondering if there is a way to modify the circuit board inside the external sensor array to make the interval more frequent, as the LED will light when its sending the data to the LCD. I thought there would be a potentiometer on the inside you could just rotate to make it faster or slower but there isn't one so its at a fixed value from what i can make out. kind of knew it wouldn't be that easy.

I wish to know what would i need to change or modify to make it update faster? I'm not worried if it uses more power as its connected to a solar panel so its got plenty.

Here are the pictures of the sensor arrays circuit board:



Thanks for your time.

 

[shrtrnd]

I'd contact the manufacturer and see what they say.
My guess is that your readings are designed specifically for the way it works.
The unit takes 'samples' over a one-minute period, and then displays the 'hold' value for the viewer.
It'll probably require a more complex circuit to sample and then immediately display the sample value.

 

[davenn]

But to my point. I'm wondering if there is a way to modify the circuit board inside the external sensor array to make the interval more frequent, as the LED will light when its sending the data to the LCD. I thought there would be a potentiometer on the inside you could just rotate to make it faster or slower but there isn't one so its at a fixed value from what i can make out. kind of knew it wouldn't be that easy.

all the work is done by the microprocessor under that black blob
the timing of the updates will be in the programming commands of that micro .... I doubt there is anything you can do about it
1 minute updates is pretty standard ... my 4 weather stations have all had the same time period

 

[Bowman]

I had a feeling it would be pretty difficult. Wouldn't the microprocessor' behavior change if you changed the values of the resistors feeding it or something?

Also i noticed that when you remove the power and then reapply the power it will instantly send the data again, but the LCD will not display it unless you hold the OUT button for a few seconds and a signal icon appears, then the new data will be displayed. so i believe if i set a timer on the array to disconnect then reconnect the power every 15 seconds or so and did the same on the LCD's OUT button so it mimics a button press, then i can kind of trick it to update faster.

 

[davenn]

Wouldn't the microprocessor' behavior change if you changed the values of the resistors feeding it or something?

no, not in the way you think, as I said it would be in the programming

well, yes, it's behaviour would change .... most likely result would be that it didn't work any more

 

[Bowman]

no, not in the way you think, as I said it would be in the programming

well, yes, it's behaviour would change .... most likely result would be that it didn't work any more

Yeah i understand that

 

[Bowman]

I'd contact the manufacturer and see what they say.

If i contacted the manufacturer I'm pretty sure they would say the same thing that its designed that way and that i shouldn't mess with it but wheres the fun in that?

 

[davenn]

designed that way and that i shouldn't mess with it but wheres the fun in that?

well if you want to wreck it and then go buy a new one
be my guest ...
any messing with it will end badly for you .... I personally don't consider unwarranted costs
"fun"

 

[Bowman]

well if you want to wreck it and then go buy a new one
be my guest ...
any messing with it will end badly for you .... I personally don't consider unwarranted costs
"fun"

I'm not going to mess with its design now like previous, its best kept the way it is, but i have figured a way to force it to update with the use of timers. One timer removes the power to the sensor array, and another bridges the button that is used to sync the array with the LCD to mimic the button being held down, it has to be done in an order of:

1. Sensor array power disconnect.
2. LCD button hold (3 seconds or less).
3. Reapply power to sensor array.
4. Wait few seconds.
5. LCD Data Updates.
   
6. Repeat.

The fastest this would probably make it update is around 10 seconds or a bit less, using some timers and probably some relays to bridge the power on and off. One thing that bothers me is if the timers get out of sync, then it will mess up the whole thing. Maybe when the data is sent, then the same signal can be sent to the timer processor, so it knows now to repeat, keeping it in sync. But its all just my theory.

 

[shrtrnd]

Yeah, but is that enough time for the weather station to take enough valid samples before giving you its updates?
Is accuracy of your readings going to be right?
It seems to me the station would need time to sample readings/stabilize those values and then report them to the display.

 

[Bowman]

Yeah, but is that enough time for the weather station to take enough valid samples before giving you its updates?
Is accuracy of your readings going to be right?
It seems to me the station would need time to sample readings/stabilize those values and then report them to the display.

To me it looks like the display is the main brain in the whole system and the sensor array is a drone that just hibernates every 60 seconds and then wakes up, looks at all its instruments for a millisecond, then sends that raw data for the display to decipher, then goes back into hibernation and repeats. So i don't think any accuracy would be lost as the display keeps a record of the data for up to a week. So as long as that stays powered, then i don't think it would be an issue accuracy wise.