I’m getting some help from other members who have taken the step to do the laser rangefinder as a snow depth sensor.
Is there a sweet spot for how far from the snowboard the sensor should be mounted? I know there is a minimal and maximal range. Logic says that you should be at least as far above the board as expected snow fall (sorry for being obvious) plus a bit so that the minimal range is not encountered.
Too far away and one might find that the function is degraded by blowing snow (notice these are all thought experiments as I investigate taking the step of ordering everything.
Also I wonder if one is too close that the ability of the laser to give accurate measurements may be infringed, that is as one gets near the minimal distance, does the % of error increase over the average error in the specifications? Sort of like humidity sensors that aren’t real good as one gets close to 100%, and better in the approx 50-80% range.
If one were to mount a very substantial fixed support at say 4 feet above the snowboard, is this a good range where the laser is giving as accurate results as can be expected, or would a slightly higher distance be better?
Lastly, as I read this info I have understood this to be the chain of events. Laser/LR4 combo is powered up. The new version of the Porcupine software is set to take readings every hour or so. Those values are read by the Porcupine’s LRTimeLog, with the snow sensor being plugged into a USB port (NOT INTO A 1-wire port) of it’s own. Then WD is running but uses (somehow) the 1-wire routine to read those data from the laser even though it is NOT a 1-wire device. Is my chain of reasoning to try to figure this out correct? Thanks for helping my understand what I’ll need to do or if it is doable in my sestting. The confusing part for me is that so much of WD seems to be set up for 1-wire but snow depth is not connected to 1-wire.
I’m sure I’ll get it with a little nudge, but my intuition is fading as I get older! Please see the attached .jpg as an example of how, to me, some essential info isn’t being understood by me.
