An Inexpensive APRS Weather Station

The cast of characters


Will Beals (NØXGA)
"The young whipper-snapper who knows which end of the soldering iron is dangerous."
I'm the guy having most of the fun. I get to develop the code for this project and see it come to life. I am an engineer by profession, so my work is my hobby too. One of my life ambitions is to continuously out-nerd my sister, something this project helps with considerably. A website about the project is a multiplying factor! Her new digital camera is a serious threat though.

Russ Chadwick (KBØTVJ)
"The old guy who knows how to spell waether correctly."
If I'm the engine, Russ is the pilot. He deals with weather professionally and knows how a project like this SHOULD be done. His insight in to such tricky questions as how to average all the 60 wind direction samples into a meaningful result is really cool and I think adds significantly to the usefulness of the project. He also wrote several thesies on why only 16 wind direction samples really is enough when you do lots of averaging. He may not convince everyone, but he convinced me. (If you are really curious--and you probably are--see the FAQ page on why it all works) Finally and most important, he does most of the evangalizing and research for this project. He found the Dallas sensor unit, got in touch with TAPR, and does lots of other corrospondence so I can concentrate on playing.

The TAPR folk (Steve, Steve, and Greg)
"The GURUs on APRS and endlessly helpful"
The most helpful group I have ever been associated with, makes me proud to call myself a member. They steered me toward the 6808 when I realized my 6805 was running out of steam and also pointed out a cool design contest around the 6808, so I can have dreams of recouping some costs. Full of advice on how to deal with the APRS network correctly, and most important, letting me know that there may be someone else out there besides Russ and I that think this is a cool project.

Dr. R. John Morgan (1923-1999)
"Those of you who think you know everything, really annoy those of us who do."
This quote really applies to Dr. Morgan. He is the guy who showed me what an engineer should be. In doing so, set me off on a career of which I am proud. He was always trying new things and learning new stuff, just they way I hope to be. Even after graduation (a long time ago) we kept in touch daily via email and with regular visits. I had hundreds of technical arguments where I was certain I was right, I think I won only two. He was kind, helpful, and generous to the last. He is sorely missed.


This page was last updated Aug 1, 1999.