The weather station here at Dean-O's Toy Box in downtown Staples, Texas consists of the following components.

• AAGv3 weather instrument from AAG electronica part number TAI8515
• Tipping bucket rain gauge with Hobby Boards dual counter module part number DC2.5-R1-A
• Hobby Boards temp/humidity module part number HT3-R1-A
• Hobby Boards barometer part number B1-R1-A
• Hobby Boards six port hub part number 6CH1-R1-A
• DS9097U 1-wire serial adapter
• Linksys WRT54GL wireless router with SD card and serial port modifications

The AAGv3 weather instrument mounted in a temporary location above the roof of the main building. This is not the ideal location of course, as nearby buildings and trees block the wind to a great extent. I have set the multiplier in the software to 1.8 in order to get readings that are closer to reality. It has been handy to have the unit easily accessable though, especially for things like the modification to AAGv3 weather instrument circuit board which I did in order to provide power to all the components on the board. At some point I will move the weather instrument to the 60' tower in the back yard. It needs to be at least 54' above the ground in order to be 7' above the canopy.

This page Component identification for the AAGv3 weather instrument circuit board will help you out in case you need to know which parts are which.

The housing for the temperature and humidity sensor mounted on a wood post 4' high. The PVC pipe is strapped to the post putting the sensor at the recommended height of 5' above ground. Again, the siting is less than ideal being on the corner near the intersection of two roads, but it is the best I can do at this time. This page Housing for temperature and humidity sensor shows how the sensor housing was made.

Another view of the temperature and humidity sensor housing with the radiation shield in place. The radiation shield is made of plastic bowls. There is an extra bowl on the very top which is covered in aluminum foil to help reflect the solar radiation away from the sensor.

The schematic of the humidity, humidity / solar, temp / humidity /solar, and temp / humidity sensor from Hobby Boards. All use the same board, and can be ordered with or without temp and solar sensors. I got the temp/humidity sensor without solar. If you have the jumper on the board set to use remote power the temperature sensor still runs on parasitic power as can be seen fom the schematic. I wanted to have the temperature sensor powered remotely as well, so I cut the lead (pin 3, Vcc) near the board, extended it with a piece of lead "borrowed" from a resistor, and soldered the extended lead into the +5V hole on the board intended for the solar sensor diode anode. The 12V DC fan in the aspirated housing gets its power from the (+12V) and (gnd) terminals on the terminal block on the board.

This is my tipping bucket rain gauge HAGSTROM MODEL 1928 purchased on Ebay in December 2006. I paid $40 including shipping. I looked around on the internet to see what I could find about it, and found nothing. I did find some new ones very similar ranging from $325 to over $700. That made me feel like I had gotten lucky. I added a dual counter module and hooked it up to my 1-wire network. In this picture you can see the proximity of the temp / humidity sensor to the intersection.

In this picture you can see the inner workings of the rain gauge. The white powder is a residual insecticide used to prevent the infiltration of spiders and small insects. This treatment has been very effective, and one dose has lasted more than a year.

Another view from the opposite side showing the reed switch, terminal block, and dual counter module.

This view is looking into a bucket in the "catch" position.

This view is of a bucket in the "dump" position.

And here is a view looking down into the funnel. The flat spot on the side of the funnel is some kind of damage that was there when I bought it. It looks as if someone went at it with pliers. The leaf screen is also missing, but that is not a problem as I check the orifice for obstruction every day. The (heavy) concrete base was originally supposed to be a base for a gasoline pump back in the 1970's, but was never used and had been sitting in the back yard all these years. The pedestal is a short piece of 6" heavy wall heavily Galvanized straight sided tubing which is a cast off from a polar mount for a 16' satellite receiving dish. Altogether very stable.

That does it for the outdoor stuff. Everything else is on a high shelf above the front window in the office inside the building.