Posted: 4/4/2026 9:41:00 PM EDT
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I am kicking around an idea of being able to obtain data from some of the common out door temp sensors. If that don't work; maybe sensors tied into a low end Raspberry PI for local broad cast. While I can hook up a SDR and maybe get the data, I am looking for a smaller solution that I can "plug in" to a raspberry pi / Linux box or if I must, a Windows machine. Good SDR's are not cheap. The simple USB dongle is cheap but I found that running the device they tend to over heat. I can dedicate one of my open Ham Clock hardware setups for a host if I want the pretty-pretty displays. The secondary thought is I might need to rig my own outdoor hardware to collect the data and transmit it back "home". If I can find the hardware pre-made that is more universal - I am good with that solution. Solution would be something that has a range about a block max. If I need to setup my own transmitter; I figure that same max range would work. Meshtastic (core) would be the transmitting framework I would look at. Yep; a few years ago I went and picked up my Extra license so if needed I can go that route to get data from point A to point B I wold be covered if following the rules. I plan on having about 4 outdoor sensors (more if I sponge off my neighbors out door sensors). So I am looking for websites that might have solutions that I could cobble together. Links or brand name for hardware that can be used, that will work. brad |
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Would look at LoRaWAN sensors and reciever. Receiver: https://embeddedworks.net/product/sens1036/ Sensor: https://embeddedworks.net/product/sens981/ |
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Originally Posted By seek2: It's already been done. RTL433. Swiss army knife decoder (and it works on more than just 433 MHz devices.) I used ambient weather's sensors (ten of them) and RTL433 + a USB dongle grabs them all. I have 4 of the USB dongles - only 2 work 'ok' and both want to get too hot to touch after a few hours. I have 1 USB dongle which might run for 20 mins if I am real lucky. Now I do have one higher end SDR sort of like the Kracken SDR - runs very well; but not that cheap. For now I will dig into github on the RLT433 front and continue to dig more into google/dogpile results. I remember seeing a few years ago more detailed how to from scratch with even decode sequences with the various mfg on how to read the data over the air. Shelly dot com has some real nice hardware and could do a bit out of the box. Except the data logging feature I sort of want, how I want it (by programming it). I have a handful of Raspberry PI 4 & 5 hardware that I don't mind running 24/7. I have a 'killer' dev setup using a CM5+SSD+I/O board rocking 8 gig of ram. |
The last thing a tyrant wants is their ideas to be judged on the battle field of truth and justice.
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I've run a NooElec NESDR Nano 2 for over five years continuously, they get pretty warm but not crazy bad, and they're cheap enough even one failing once every year or two wouldn't break a budget. Part of them being warm is due to having a TXCO onboard so it has decent frequency stability, and those work by being warm and thermostat controlled to stay in a narrow temperature range. You could probably find something that ran cooler but wouldn't be nearly so stable. I wouldn't be surprised if the docs you saw on decoding were related to the rtl_433 project, since it's set up to allow you to add new devices using things like logic analyzer output. There's a file in the source code wiki that details how to do it for news things. ETA: There's another approach to this issue, which is to get Ambient's internet-enabled weather station. So it's set up to allow you to upload weather data (including temps) to their site on the internet, but you don't actually have to let it do that. Instead you can point it to your own web server and have it try to do that -- you don't actually need any special software other than a basic server, because the logging of the server will show the URL it tries to access, and they embed the temperature data into that. Normal linux tools (grep, awk etc) can be used to extract the data from the logs. Here's a log line example (edited out the MAC): "GET /data/report/stationtype=AMBWeatherPro_V5.1.3&PASSKEY=XXXXXXXXX&dateutc=2026-04-05+08:36:19&tempf=51.8&humidity=19&windspeedmph=1.12&windgustmph=2.24&maxdailygust=2.24&winddir=48&winddir_avg10m=36&uv=0&solarradiation=0.00&hourlyrainin=0.000&eventrainin=0.000&dailyrainin=0.000&weeklyrainin=0.000&monthlyrainin=0.272&yearlyrainin=2.409&battout=1&tempinf=70.2&humidityin=44&baromrelin=30.135&baromabsin=23.707&battin=1&temp1f=70.9&humidity1=43&temp2f=52.3&humidity2=17&temp3f=69.8&humidity3=49&temp4f=70.9&humidity4=44&temp5f=51.1&humidity5=18&temp7f=57.7&humidity7=26&temp8f=57.4&humidity8=25&batt1=1&batt2=1&batt3=1&batt4=1&batt5=1&batt7=1&batt8=1&lightning_day=0&lightning_time=1692224152&lightning_distance=1&batt_lightning=0 HTTP/1.1" 404 1124 |
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I have a bit of Nooelec hardware so even tho I don't need another usb dongle I think I will give it a spin. I just poked at my higher end SDR - Hydra - setup with only one board. Hardware was made by the same person who did Kracken SDR but USA made for folks that want that sort of thing. |
The last thing a tyrant wants is their ideas to be judged on the battle field of truth and justice.
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The little RTL-based USB receivers do get quite warm! If you blow just a little bit of air over them with a tiny USB fan it makes a big difference. For new projects I buy the Nooelec Nano 3. The metal case and heatsink helps a great deal to manage the heat. Again, blowing just a little bit of air over it with a cheap USB fan makes a huge difference in temperature compared to just letting it convect heat passively. |
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I guess I will be poking hard at github - rtl-433 area. I do remember once seeing some hardware setups for folks that want to use a breadboard setup. I did spot one how-to build a new end-to-end setup including roll your own sensor package/transmitter. But it will involve me out sourcing a small circuit board assuming the board used can be obtained (PCB layout). I sort of like the ability to build a 'scanner' that can find outdoor sensors and report back the telemetry. |
The last thing a tyrant wants is their ideas to be judged on the battle field of truth and justice.
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I have ordered some new hardware and go for the metal SDR with external usb fan to keep the temps down low. I have a nice RP #4 that I will dedicate to data collection and maybe a web/data server so I can access data anywhere in the house. |
The last thing a tyrant wants is their ideas to be judged on the battle field of truth and justice.
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I just put the Nooelec Nano 3 thru the paces. A bit of fussing to get the drivers loaded / configured. At first it ran real cool; but after I exited the the SDR software (++) it went from a bit warm to...ok that is too hot. I installed the heat sink, and now to find a smallish fan to reduce the heat. I do have a cheap Amazon USB fan, but I am looking for something a bit smaller. I might see if I can hook up a CM5 fan (raspberry PI fame) in a customized fan + SDR frame. The few FM radio stations I tuned in seemed to be running fine. I used my own rabbit ears versus the included antenna. I did notice what I think was a bit cleaner sound profile. |
The last thing a tyrant wants is their ideas to be judged on the battle field of truth and justice.
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I guess for ease of getting remote data meshtastic style solutions are out there. KNOT LR9G kit TG-LR92 (sensor) well; the solution is more lorawan I do need to dig a bit more into this solution set. |
The last thing a tyrant wants is their ideas to be judged on the battle field of truth and justice.