Curently using WD 10.37 p build 37 and I’m using a THGR810 on channel 3 and it works fine to the OS console. I’ve modified it to use LDRs to detect sunlight in a similar manner to Use an OS THGR 810 temperature/humidity sensor as a global radiation sensor and set all the solar pages in a like manner
The sensor works fine going from a temp of -7C in darkness to +40C in bright daylight. However when I go in to the solar settings and configure for sensor 3 (I’m not currently using channel 2 although I was for soil) the readings in current readings don’t vary, when I shield or expose the sensors. The “temp” reading on the console reflects the change but WD doesn’t. Also it occassionally displays 103.6 w/m2 then changes to some other value but the percentage seems to stay around 60%.
I have the I have an adapted sensor ticked and the override UV sensor checked.
Questions:
Does the sensor number relate to the channel number?
Do the current settings actually update according to the changes recorded by the sensor?
Is there anything else I need to set up?
In solar setup → sensor in a jar tab I had to set the sensor number to one less than used on my WMR100. In my setup the solar in use is using channel #2 on the WMR100 console, but in WD I set to use #1. If your sensor is using channel #3 then try setting WD to look for the data on channel #2.
OK, now I’ve tried sensor 2 for channel 3 something seems to happen.
As soon as I go into current reading it shows 38.5 which is what the sensor is reading and what is displayed on the console. it then changes to 300 w/m2
Since I started typing this in it now shows 38.5 w/m2 - now 250.7 w/m2 (20 seconds later) - a further minute passes and the reading now says 38.5 w/m2 and 5 seconds later it goes back to 250.7
All the time it still shows 33% for the current reading.
I run the Mac version of WD so my setup may look different than yours…where are you ticking to override UV? I don’t see that setting in my solar setup so curious where you found it.
The picture shows where it is, bottom option, I assume the Mac version sets it elsewhere.
Another assumption I’m making is that the temperature high and low thresholds are what I would set for darkness (low threshold) or full sun in the middle of summer (high threshold) In my case it is about -7C for full darkness and 36C for full sunlight.
Try unticking the UV override and see what happens. I’m not really sure why that option is there. If you have a UV sensor you should be able to still use it for UV and let the solar sensor do solar…
I think that unticking it will just use WD to calculate what the solar might be given what the UV level is, when I did untick it it just dropped from 235 to 100 w/m2
Don’t give up yet, you have a WMR type station - right? If so it should work, or can be made to work, because it works for Dan. Let’s see if Brian has any ideas for this one.
Yeah, its a wmr 200 with a modified extra temp hum.
Instead of a temp sensor (which is a thermistor) I’ve replaced it with a light sensor (a light dependent resistor) with some series/parallel resistors so that the resistance from light to dark stays within the range of the THGR810 temperature scale. Total darkness is -10 C and total sunlight is 38C. That side of it works fine albeit not a perfectly linear relationship but hey, I’m skint and can’t afford a Davies…
I do have a couple of BPW21 photo diodes kicking around the shack which might give a more linear response but not much point in ferreting them out if WD doesn’t work the way I thought it did. Brian’s such a nice guy but so busy I don’t like to trouble him to mod WD so it works for me.
edit… @dcrooks
I hadn’t realised you had done exactly the same as me (only just found the thread http://discourse.weather-watch.com/p/311517) - amazing how you can search all around and still miss stuff. The difference is you use the mac version don’t you.
Yes, it is the standard WMR200 one and seems to work fine.
I have checked and they are the same (except for the localisations of course) I used to use a 1-wire system with solar on it and that worked fine, just the 1-wire became unreliable and moved to the WMR-200. I’m wondering if there is something in the 1-wire settings which is still persisting and upsetting it?
Is WD plotting the temps from your sensor? If you set up WD according to the screen shots you should have it logging as extra temp #4. You should see the readings from your sensor as in the attached…
I get both the solar and UV plots on a graph. Where I seem to be going wrong is the percentage calculation.
Currently my temp sensor is reading 29.9C and this shows on the wmr console and if I select the sensor as the outside temp sensor WD shows it as 29.9C.
However in the current readings it shows as 206.3 w/m2 and 31%. Max radiation is 675 so percentage is about right for the figures. In the solar sensor in a jar setup I have 31C set as being 100% ie full sun so I would have thought it would give a percentage of approx 98% and a solar of about 670 w/m2.
Maybe I’m just not understanding the way WD works this out.
I don’t think you set the number on that screen as a flat temperature. I think what you are setting is the differential between your regular thermo sensor and the solar-in-a-jar thermo as the base.
Example:
Regular sensor reads 30 C (I’m an American, so bear with me…I’m also a pilot, so I know metric conversions pretty well)
Solar in a jar in full sunlight at solar noon reads 37 C.
BigOkie: This thread needs to be re-titled, he is not using a solar in a jar differential temp setup. He has a temp sensor that has been modified with a light sensor in place of the thermal sensing component so the output is directly convertible to solar. Brian added this option to WD some time ago, but I think Father Barry’s WD is not set up correctly for that type of sensor.
What I did was wait for a full sunny day, with your sensor in full bright sunlight, and see what temp it reads.
Then in the solar setup use that number for the max. You need to play around with these numbers until WD is giving a good representation of your conditions. The temp range of the thgr810 is -30C (-22F) to 60C (140F). My current setup is using 1C for minimum and 35C for max. And my sensor is poorly sited as well and doesn’t get full on sun. I am working on getting it weather-proofed so I can site it better.
Also double check your lat/long settings as WD uses them for determining the max solar. You can plot the max solar line on the graph to see how close your readings are in comparison.
