Transcript Building a Pressure/Temperature Weather Station (Sensor Pack)

Building a Pressure/Temperature
Weather Station (Sensor Pack)
AEM 1905, Fall 2008
Parts list:
Perf board
Pressure sensor
4-wire ribbon cable
Temperature sensor
and 1k resistor
Wire for jumpers
Separate one end of ribbon cable
then strip individual wires.
Place components on the non-copper side of
the perf board, starting with the pressure
sensor. Orient it so that the +Vs pin (with
notch) is toward the center of the board.
Place temperature sensor on opposite side of
the board with the flat side facing in.
Add the 1k resistor, in line with the center leg
of the sensor. Don’t solder them in yet.
Run the stripped end of the 4-wire cable
off the edge of the perf board.
Splay the leads so the components don’t fall
out. Once you are satisfied with the
placement, solder them all in place.
Pull apart you jumper wires so you have a
short piece of each different color of wire.
The red wire in the cable
will be +5 V. Make 2 red
jumpers to carry that
voltage near each of the
two sensors. In the case
of the temperature sensor,
that will be the far end of
the resistor. Then turn the
board over and make the
necessary solder bridges.
The black wire in the cable
will be +0 V (AKA ground).
Make 2 black jumpers to
carry that voltage near
each of the two sensors.
In the case of the
temperature sensor, that
will be one of the outside
legs. Then make the
necessary solder bridges.
Clip off excess leads.
Make a green jumper for the
pressure sensor signal line.
Make a white jumper for the
temperature sensor signal line
(which is the center leg, not the
other outside leg – that one is
left unconnected). Make the
necessary solder bridges, clip
off excess leads, and double
check for inadvertent solder
bridges.
Separate and strip the
wires at the other end of
the cable. Slip on short
pieces of shrink wrap.
Prepare to solder the
cable end to two 3-pin
male headers.
Hold the wire and the 3-pin header in the
two clips of a Helping Hands tool. Solder to
the short end of the pin. Use the Helping
Hands clip on that same pin as a heat sink.
Solder the green wire to an outside pin.
Use solder and heat
sparingly so you don’t melt
the plastic nor shrink the
shrink wrap nor leave a
solder blob too large to slip
the shrink wrap over.
Finish up by soldering
the green, red, and
black wires, in that
order, to one header.
Solder the white wire
to an outside pin of
another 3-pin header.
Slide the shrink wrap over the solder
connection (no metal should be exposed)
then carefully shrink it with a heat gun.
Plug the two 3-pin
headers into a female
receptacle, crossing
the white wire over so
it is next to the green
wire. This will help it
hold its shape while
you glue it.
Use hot glue to hold the two 3-pin headers
together permanently. Be sure not to glue
the connector to the female receptacle – you
need to be able to disconnect the sensor.
Here is what a completed
cable end looks like – the
glue appears light in the
photograph. Don’t put on
too much glue – you may
need to plug in other
sensors into a female
receptacle bank right next
to this one.
Here is a completed
weather station
(pressure and
temperature) sensor
pack, ready to be
plugged in to a flight
computer to record its
data as time goes by.