transmitting weather data

[wild_man]

hello,

i have been redirected from another post to this section. i would be grateful if you could please help.

i would like to record various weather information to map the various local micro climates, partially out of interest.

is it possible to transmit data from apparatus on say a heli to a transmitter for it to be displayed on an electronic device or perhaps a lap top?

at the moment i am just researching this and i am pretty much at the beginning so any suggestions would be gratefully received!

thank you

[Unterhausen]

it would be possible to do this. A lot of people are using radio modems to download data, the question is how much of a computer would be required to do your measurements. Olimex and Sparkfun have some computers that will take analog signals and have a serial port.

[workshop]

Exactly how much weather data (i.e. how many channels?). You would connect your sensors to a PIC or BasicStamp to collect and code the data and then send it back via the RS232 RF modem mentioned above.

You could also use a PIC or BasicStamp as a data logger and d/l the data when your plane returns.

If you only have a channel or two there are easier methods. Help us understand better and we can give more exact advice.

Jeff

[wild_man]

thank you for the replies.

an ideal scenario would be for me and my friends to send up 5 or 6 helis or similar aircraft with the same weather instrument on board. for example so i could measure air humidity, and then map the area and make comparisons.

as you can imagine, my electronic skills are very basic but i am a keen learner.

[macboffin]

Over how wide an area do you need virtually simultaneous readings?

[wild_man]

i would like to do approx 1 acre max at a time, probably a less in reality tho.

[macboffin]

i would like to do approx 1 acre max at a time, probably a less in reality tho.
With a bunch of 'planes in the air at the same time, seems made to measure for the DX7.
Presumably you want not only instrumentation for humidity, temp, height, pressure, and sequential reading of rising/falling barometric pressure, but also sensors for such pollutants as smoke, salt etc which could affect results; and cameras for records of local terrain, vegetation etc which would be relevant. Thats quite an instrument/recording suite.Some instruments would be required at ground level also for local wind speed, surface temps etc.
Quite a project, but do-able and could produce unique and valuable data.
Mac.

[wild_man]

With a bunch of 'planes in the air at the same time, seems made to measure for the DX7.
Presumably you want not only instrumentation for humidity, temp, height, pressure, and sequential reading of rising/falling barometric pressure, but also sensors for such pollutants as smoke, salt etc which could affect results; and cameras for records of local terrain, vegetation etc which would be relevant. Thats quite an instrument/recording suite.Some instruments would be required at ground level also for local wind speed, surface temps etc.
Quite a project, but do-able and could produce unique and valuable data.
Mac.

thank you for the reply.

you are quite correct, but if necessary only take up one piece of instrumentation at a time.

are there any companies that specialise in this sort of set up? or how do i go about setting it up myself?

[wild_man]

any help please?

[Gary Mortimer]

Could'nt you fill some helium balloons in a grid with the gear strung underneath??

Then the next time you came to sample the same area your points of reference would be in exactly the same place.

Also why do you need to transmit the data?? Could'nt it be recorded for crunching later??

G