Wind Sensor Rev. P

Description

The Rev. P6 wind sensor is the latest revision of our wind sensor, revised to increase stability and accuracy. We also added a high precision potentiometer to allow easier calibration. All boards are calibrated in the shop, so the potentiometer shouldn’t need to be changed by the user, although it’s there to experiment with if you so desire.

The Rev. P wind sensor is an improved hot wire anemometer, similar to our Rev C wind sensor, but including hardware compensation for ambient temperatures. The P refers to positive temperature coefficient thermistors that are used in this model.  These thermistors are more stable and more absolutely accurate than the thermistors on the Rev C.

These thermistors require a higher voltage to heat the sensing element to operating temperature. Thus the sensor needs an 9-12 volt supply.  One pleasant side-effect of this increased voltage is that there is plenty of power to heat up the thermistor, so the sensor can sense hurricane force winds without saturating (going to a flat maximum value). (It does not necessarily mean the sensor can survive being in hurricane, apologies storm hunters).

The new mounting of the thermistor sensing element means that the Rev P is much less directionally sensitive than the Rev C. sensor, closer to the 15% range. The sensor is physically more robust than our older sensor due to the loop that holds the sensing element. Another new feature of the sensor is a dedicated ambient temperature sensor that is independent of supply voltages. The temp sensor analog output is also scaled to 3.3 volts. The voltage (wind) output of the sensor has also been scaled to a maximum 3.3V output with high precision (.1% resistors). This is to accommodate the increasing use of 3.3 volt boards, and microcontrollers.

It works great with any Arduino or clone, right out of the box, however you need to provide at least 9-12 volts from an external power source, with 12 volts being ideal.

For a less expensive alternative, check out the Wind Sensor Rev. C

Specifications:

• Supply voltage: 10-12 volts
• Current: ~40mA – increases a bit with higher wind speeds
• Wind Speeds Measured: 0-150 MPH
• Ambient temperature compensation

Resources

• Calibrating the Wind Sensor Rev. P Blog Post
• Wind Sensor Rev. P6 schematic
• Wind Rev P5-P6 Dimensions(pdf)
• Wind Sensor Rev P Arduino sketch
• Wind Sensor Rev P Outline file dxf zipped