Meshtastic or Helium Ultrasonic WX Station

Modify the Ecowitt WS85 to output serial data to create a Meshtastic enabled weather station.

Tavis

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Description

This project piggy backs on the https://hackaday.io/project/194509-harbor-breeze-meshtastic-hack project to create a Meshtastic weather station.

This hack can enable the WS85 to transmit over a Meshtastic or Helium Lora network.

The hardware mods involved enable serial output from the WS85. That data can then be parsed by a Meshtastic node and the weather data will be sent out onto the mesh as a telemetry packet. I created a new serial mode for Meshtastic to allow for the proper parsing of the data. To accomplish this hack you'll need an Ecowitt WS85 and soldering tools. The video tutorial for the WS85 portion of the mod is here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpVVf8dRDc4

Details

Step 1 : Take off the rubber sleeve from the top of the unit and then untwist the solar cap to reveal the top circuit board.
Step 2 : Following photo 2 make the mods shown including removing the small pulldown resistor, adding the 10k pullup resistor and adding the TX jumper wire.
Step 3 : Following photo 3 unscrew the four screws in the bottom of the unit and open up the base of the unit.
Step 4 : Following photo 4 make the two wire mods to create the serial output cable and drill the wire egress hole and reassemble.
Step 5 : connect to the Meshtastic node serial pins. Photo 5 shows where to solder into the Rak4631.
Step 6 : Optionally install serial wire coupler connection for ease of disconnect as shows in photo 6.

Step 7 : When enabling the serial mode WS85 in meshtastic configuration use pins 15, 16

Components

1 × Ecowitt WS85 Sensor Only
1 × 10k resistor
1 × Rak Meshtastic Starter Kit https://store.rakwireless.com/products/wisblock-meshtastic-starter-kit
1 × Harbor Breeze Solar Light 60LM https://www.lowes.com/pd/60LM-Solar-Spot-Light/1002689960

Project Logs

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1 month of deployment debrief and teardown.
Tavis • 10/12/2024 at 19:46 • 0 comments

The station on Maui was deployed for 1 month on the north east coast. It experienced winds up to 30mph almost everyday. Near the end the RF transmissions were getting fewer and far between the normal 5 minute interval. So we took it down to inspect its condition. Here are some pictures of the result. The inside of the harbor breeze solar enclosure was spotless. Corrosion ocurred on the SMA connector for the antenna. This part needs to be an outdoor waterproof or completely sealed with glue.

We swapped this unit out for a twin unit with a beefed up serial connection and smaller antenna.