Laser Sensor for Snow Depth Sensing

mikeym

ā€œHope this helps. Good luck itā€™s a great project. Feel free to PM me is you need any additional info. We have seen some problems at very low temperatures as the 414D is only rated to a min temp of 32 deg F (o C), so Iā€™m in the process of adding a automotive bulb (1157) with a small thermostat to keep it from getting to warmā€

Hello,
For the history of temperature, I solved the problem in a camera housing with heater thermostat.
I noticed that from -8

This looks interesting, do you know if it is possible to measure water depth with it too?

Got the lr4 414d and cables now to install. Iā€™m thinking about using plumbing heat tape to keep it all above freezing.

rick

Fluke thinks thatā€™s a good idea see http://www.fluke.com/fluke/usen/community/fluke-news-plus/ArticleCategories/Electrical/101AppForDistanceMeters.htm

Wow thatā€™s really useful, thanks!

Rick

Installed the LR4/Fluke 414D last night just before the snow and it performed perfectly. We received 4.2 inches overnight. The LR4 / Fluke 414D mod is far superior to the LR3 / Fluke 411D. No cable bending and shoving and tucking like the LR3/Fluke 411D.

Good luck with the project.

Cheers

:smiley:

MikeyM

I hope to get at it tomorrow. I bought 3 feet of heater tape today for inside the box. The only trouble is they say it is a torx T8 to unscrew the meter but the one I bought today is too large so it must be a T7 or T6. It is snowing here now and due to snow several more times this week so Iā€™ll soon find out how well it works.

rick

Rick

Itā€™s a #6 torx. All Porcupines instructions are incorrect. I keep meaning to send Richard a note and I keep forgetting. If you live near a Sears store they have nice torx for I think $3.99.

Cheers

:smiley:

MikeyM

Thanks MikeyM. I went outside on Wed. to blow some snow and get ready for the install and slipped on the ice. Iā€™ve never been this sore in my life!!! X-rays show no broken ribs but Iā€™d swear everyone was broken. It was all I could do to type this.

rick

Yikes Rick sorry to hear that!

8O

Cheers

MikeyM

Darn near killed myself yesterday but I think I have the sensor installed and working correctly. Are the php graphs for snow available? If it is where can I grab a copy?

thanks
rick

Hey Guys,

Been very intrigued by this project. I read the specs and it seems that the cold weather may affect the readings some.

Has anyone been having issues with the cold affecting the readings?

-Dennis

I glued a 3 foot piece of heater tape on the inside of the box and havenā€™t had any problems. Itā€™s been quite cold here zero deg F and colder lately. Iā€™m using the lr4 and 414d

rick

Hi

Iā€™m using an 1157 automotive bulb in my enclosure with a button type thermostat and havenā€™t had any problems. I added the heater as the Fluke 411D and 414D are only rated down to 32 def F (0 deg C). My enclosure temperatures can be seen at:

http://mikeymsweather.com/extrarealtimegraph.gif

Cheers

:smiley:

MikeyM

Thanks Guys I will probably go with a similar design to what I am using in my rain gauge (just with a little less power).

Still debating if I am going to install it this year or next yearā€¦

-Dennis

Guys,

I have finally taken the plunge to Laser Snow Depth measuring, and boy does it work well.

Just a few questions.

Are you guys running one of the Porcupine demo programs 24/7 to collect the data with WD (1 wire)? What is your upload rate back to the computer from the Range Finder? Have you had any problems with either Porcupine demo programs or the 1 wire program stopping causing it not to receive data? Are you guys turning the laser off when not in use?

I havenā€™t installed a heater yet, and the sensor seems to be measuring without issue (even this weekend at -14F).

Thanks guys,
-Dennis

I have mine measuring using these settings:
Centimeters, or inches if you live in the states.

Interval

1 hour.

Iā€™m running the demo program 24/7 with the 1 wire running as well. Wd checks every hour on the hour. Leave the laser on. I havenā€™t plugged in my heater this year either and itā€™s working flawlessly so far with temps down to -32C/-26F. Do you have snow graphs running in WD? If not check our my site laity.ca I have the php stuff here as do several others if you need them.

rick

Hey Rick,

Thanks for the reply. For some reason I cannot run the demo on my computer so I am running the basic program (I have changed the interval to 30 mins using another computer).

Sometimes one or the other hangs so I need to restart the combo, still troubleshooting that problem.

I have my graphs on this page http://eastmasonvilleweather.com/wxsnowdetails.php. Maybe after sometime I will make a few more but for now those graphs are working great.

-Dennis

Hi Dennis

Glad to see that you have it working. Iā€™m using the LRSimple program to activate the laser sensor as it seems the Dallas 1-wire reader wonā€™t reliably enable the sensor. No problems here with the LRSimple. I do use the LRDemo if I want to change the settings of the laser ie sampling rate. Iā€™m using 1 hour sampling. After playing with various sampling rates it appears that with more frequent sampling rates there was a higher rate of errors causing minor fluctuations in the readings. I start the LRSimple program a few minutes before the hour followed by WD as WD will report the new snowfall on the hour. As for the heater Iā€™m using 3 - 3 ohms power resistors in series powered with 12 volts and a button type thermostat located in the enclosure which is working very well. I think the LR4/Fluke 414D combo is less susceptible to the low temp problem than the LR3/411D was. Everyone that was using the LR3/411D had problems last Winter when the temp dropped well below 0 F.

Heater operation can be seem here: http://mikeymsweather.com/extrarealtimegraph.gif but itā€™s too warm right now. Cycles between about 25 deg F and 47 deg.

Cheers

:smiley:

MikeyM

Hi everybody

I finally mounted the laser snow Depth sensor
Itā€™s mounted in a waterproof plastic box with a hole cut out for the laser
After I had taken the photos, I realised I needed to add a shield around the laser hole

Tested running the demo software, alongside weather display

This will be online sometime in November 2015

mick


snowlaser2.jpg