Author Archives: Javan
Normally there is no power supply at the apiary, therefore this article is dedicated to the autonomous power supply of the Raspberry Pis (RPi). The Raspberry Pi 3 B needs 5.1V and 3A as optimal input voltage. Compared to other boards like the Arduino or the ESP8266 this is a lot. Nevertheless such a power supply can be… Read More »
An A/D converter is required for the weight sensors (load cells). Unlike other boards, such as the Arduino or the ESP32, the Raspberry Pi has no integrated A/D converter. An A/D converter converts the analog signal into digital values. Therefore we need this 3 Euro component for the Raspberry Pi. Number of load cells per Raspberry Pi The… Read More »
Switching between maintenance mode and measuring mode If the connected button ? or button with LED ? is pressed on the Raspberry Pi, the maintenance mode starts. In maintenance mode, the Raspberry Pis WLAN turns on and creates an Access Point (AP). The continuous measurement is paused. This means that no measurements are recorded during maintenance mode. The… Read More »
The BME680 sensor measures humidity, air pressure, temperature and air quality (IAQ). The BME280 ? is the little sister of the BME680 ? and does not measure air quality. The cost of the BME680 is about 20 Euro. The BME280 costs about 7 Euro. The BME680 requires the I2C bus of the Raspberry Pis. The I2C bus is… Read More »
The DS18B20 or DS18S20 is used as the outdoor temperature sensor. These temperature sensors measure the temperature quite accurately and can be placed inside the hive with a cable. The DS18B20 differs from the DS18S20 in that it is already equipped with a long waterproof cable. For simplicity’s sake we use the DS18B20 directly and invest the small… Read More »
Compatible Surfsticks Huawei E3531i-2 [25€ at Amazon] Huawei E303 [20€ at Amazon] If there are other models compatible, please send a comment or a mail to [email protected] so that I can add the model to the list. If you have a WLAN network within reach of your apiary, you don’t need to buy a surf stick. Configuring the… Read More »
Good load cells can also be taken from personal scales or kitchen scales. One example is the kitchen scale “IDEENWELT digitale Küchenwaage” from Rossmann, which has a capacity of only 5kg and therefore too small. A bee colony should be able to measure a range between 50-150kg (depending on the weight of the hive). The article Rebuild platform… Read More »
