Sensor cable length?

[Quincy]

Hi guys, I have a WH1090 that I've been using for several months now and I'm very pleased with it.

The one thing I'd like to change is the positions of 2 of the sensors (rain and temp). At the moment, i have all 4 sensors in a cluster at the top of a pole at the bottom of my garden. I'd like to extend some of the cables so the rain and temp sensors are in lower positions. Is there any problem with extending the length of those cables ?

Just out of curiosity, if I wanted to shorten the wind speed/direction cables would it cause any problems? I dont mind keeping the Wind speed/direction sensors together at the top of the mast but theres a 1 mtr cable between the two sensors, even though the T arm is only 300mm long (hence a bunch of gathered cable tie wrapped to the arm). I have some telecom plugs and a plug fitting kit and the plugs looks identical to the plugs used by the manufacturer so it'd be a simple job to shorten them. Just dont want to go cutting yet until I get some feedback form the pros.

Thanks,

Quincy

[werribee_au]

Ah Quincy,

You beat me to this post. I also wish to use a longer cable between the wind sensors and the transmitter as I have a 7m mast here and want to raise their height.

I can purchase a standard telecom 4 wire 10m cable here
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.as ... BCATID=500
Off the top of their head anyone know if the pinouts for the telecom cable are the same as the WH-1081 cables.

I have a short telecom 2 wire cable here and it looks like it is crossover not straight through on the 2 centre pins.

Gerard

[bruce45]

check out https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1535 there are other posts. If you can solder then you can open up each unit and remove the cable and replace with the new one. The colours might not be the same so check with a meter first for the pin out.

[goldrush]

Interestingly it does not matter if one uses a crossover, or straight connection with the 1080/1090 series for the 2 wind sensors.
The 2 sensors only produce a non polarity signal and luckily use the outer 2 for one and the centre 2 for the other.
Basically the same as telecoms

You will see from the other thread I have extended my cable to some 50 metres. Been ok for some 2 years now, but for a long distance please use cat 5 "screened twisted pair cable", (usually 4 pairs) shorting out the unused pairs to each other and earthing the screen only at the transmitter end, in order to minimise interference pick up from things like car and baby alarms, and other domestic gadgets.

As someone mentioned, btter to solder the new cable direct into the units, but it will invalidate any warranty,
If you use Cat 5 cable, the 4 pin 1080 plugs will fit directly into the cat 5, 8 way sockets if you wish without soldering.
In any event, I suggest you cover any junction with a good dollop of silicon to stop moisture ingress.

.

[EvilV]

It would be pretty useful to bring the thermal and rain sensors down to a lower level, like say 6ft at the bottom of the mast instead of having them up in the sun and swaying about.

EDIT:

Very easy job. PC World had an extension RJ11 cable with a plug at one end for £7.99. Now the wind sensors are up top and the rain gauge and thermal sensor are about five feet off the ground in the shade behind a tall wooden fence. Just plugged in, sealed the plug with silicone sealant, taped the cable run to the mast in about three places, and Bob's your uncle. No more elevated temperatures when the sun shines.

[Gina]

When I looked a couple of days ago I thought the wind sensor to tx cable used pins 1,2,3,4 of the 6 way RJ12 plug, rather than pins 2,3,4,5 of the RJ12 connectors, but I was wrong. It is pins 2,3,4,5 after all so RJ11 telephone extension leads will work. OTOH I'm thinking that replacing the cable entirely by soldering a new cable into the wind vane unit would produce a more reliable result. The more plugs and sockets, the more likely to have trouble.

[geoffw]

Sorry to raise this subject again but can I confirm something?

If I want to extend the cables for my Wind Sensor (Raising it about six metres), all I need is a UK telephone extension cable? That seems far to easy!

I do have access to some "3 pair" outdoor phone cable that would be better (and more robust) than a basic indoor extension cable, but that would require fitting a male and female connector on the ends. Never done anything with phone cables - can anyone advise on doing this and what the wiring sequence would be

[Gina]

If you are going to extend the cable rather than solder a new one into the wind vane unit you are going to have to protect the connector junction from the elements anyway. I've just used a polythene bag, closed around the cables with an elastic band, and fixed to the pole with the cables at the bottom so the rain doesn't run in. When (or if) we get some summer weather I might replace the cable from the wind vane unit.

But to answer your question about the best cable, TBH I don't really know. But the cable used is standard telephone cable AFAICT with RJ11 plugs (as we use for modems and routers - and telephones in the USA). You need 4 wire cable but I don't think it will make much difference what sort of cable. I simply bought an ADSL extension cable from Rainbows, the local cheapo shop, for £1.49 (as I recall). This had male connectors both ends so I bought a coupler from Amazon for a couple of quid to connect it to the cable from the wind vane. As I said above, I put the coupler in a polythene bag and secured it to the pole with the opening downwards to keep it dry. To date it's worked perfectly. Of course, it only has to carry on/off signals from the anemometer and the resistance value from the vane.

[geoffw]

Sounds like a job for Duck Tape Gina

[Gina]

As long as you can be sure no rain will get in, yes, that's another idea. I've often done that too In fact insulation tape of one sort or another is the usual way I do it (as long as it's dry).

[wheels10]

This reply maybe a little late to be of value.....my suggestion for weatherproofring the connection...once the 2 cables are secured into the connector, test that all is well then seal both ends with silicon sealer, no water will enter and there will be no moister/air problems (corrosion) that you will get in a plastic bag.\cheers wheels

[hills]

When we had our bore pump replaced they had to connect the cable at a location that would be about 100ft under water. To do that they used a putty like product that looked a lot like blutack. I was thinking about getting some of that to water proof any connections. You might even be able to use it to weather proof the rj connectors in the transmitter and sensors.