EnviroDIY | James P | Activity https://www.envirodiy.org/members/jp/activity/ Activity feed for James P. Tue, 05 May 2026 02:49:35 -0400 https://buddypress.org/?v= en-US 30 hourly 2 dd91fd6d117918fd2624203ab0faff71 James P replied to the topic Monitoring power consumption in the forum Mayfly Data Logger https://www.envirodiy.org/topic/monitoring-power-consumption/#post-18340 Fri, 23 Feb 2024 16:53:26 -0500 See attached, a picture is worth a 1000 words. This one has the 4400mAh battery. Installed the new micro sd card yesterday.

]]> 3a8767bd2ab30af36420bd95d4fe2980 James P replied to the topic Monitoring power consumption in the forum Mayfly Data Logger https://www.envirodiy.org/topic/monitoring-power-consumption/#post-18323 Sun, 18 Feb 2024 01:26:39 -0500 Turns out, it was the micro sd cards. We had two units with Sandisk Ultra 32gb cards, and two with different cards. One was a Sandisk “industrial” 8gb card, I forget the other one but it was an older 4gb card. The Sandisk 32gb cards use far more power — there is some info online but I don’t fully understand it. What I know is the Sandisk…[Read more]

]]> a498667b3cab3ec2264a84442c18c584 James P replied to the topic Monitoring power consumption in the forum Mayfly Data Logger https://www.envirodiy.org/topic/monitoring-power-consumption/#post-18262 Tue, 19 Dec 2023 17:11:17 -0500 I have a multimeter that can measure amperage. I’m not sure how to get it inline with the circuit though without putting together a couple wires with the proper jst connectors…I’m not an expert in this and don’t want to short the board.
Any suggestions on where on the board or how to test?
Thanks!
James

]]> 9cfc0bba20a17050cb19780b5cfd2d48 James P replied to the topic Monitoring power consumption in the forum Mayfly Data Logger https://www.envirodiy.org/topic/monitoring-power-consumption/#post-18258 Mon, 18 Dec 2023 19:15:06 -0500 Thanks for all your help. I believe that the bigger solar panel with >1A peak current, a 1A charging current to the board (jump SJ15), and a freshly charged battery should remedy the winter issues.

Regarding consumption, I took one unit home, mostly charged a LiPo 3300mAh battery, here is what I found (no external sensor connected, transmitted…[Read more]

]]> 7eccf5d9993f9b2ba5baa5343f2a6790 James P replied to the topic Monitoring power consumption in the forum Mayfly Data Logger https://www.envirodiy.org/topic/monitoring-power-consumption/#post-18254 Sat, 16 Dec 2023 01:36:27 -0500 I’ve had a 5v 2.0A usb charger plugged in for 3.5 hrs. The yellow charging light is still on. I think it should take ~2.5 hours to fully charge a 4400mAh battery with a 2.0A charger, so it should be done.

Does someone know if the board is getting any feedback from the battery on whether it’s accepting a charge or not? If there is not feedback…[Read more]

]]> 1adb806cc950befa7aae7bea00d0c65a James P replied to the topic Monitoring power consumption in the forum Mayfly Data Logger https://www.envirodiy.org/topic/monitoring-power-consumption/#post-18252 Fri, 15 Dec 2023 18:07:41 -0500 Thanks! So the yellow light was on because solar was charging, that’s good news. I assume that light is powered by the sun and not the battery.

Our next step will be to replace the battery if the full overnight charge doesn’t work. I’ll set those two DIP switches to off after I try to fully charge the battery.

 

]]> 5ab806ae5de1d0ebcc2d7afce70655c9 James P replied to the topic Monitoring power consumption in the forum Mayfly Data Logger https://www.envirodiy.org/topic/monitoring-power-consumption/#post-18247 Fri, 15 Dec 2023 17:22:53 -0500 Yesterday I attached a powerbank to the usb-c port for a little over two hours. Two yellow lights were on, one near the usb-c port and one lower down. I also installed a 10w solar panel. When I detached the powerbank, the yellow light near the usb-c port turned off but the other one stayed on. The station held voltage for two hours after that,…[Read more]

]]> f7d1c349ddfea59c2d76081ac049d2c5 James P replied to the topic Monitoring power consumption in the forum Mayfly Data Logger https://www.envirodiy.org/topic/monitoring-power-consumption/#post-18208 Fri, 01 Dec 2023 23:30:17 -0500 I don’t believe any lights are on during the 15 minutes between data transfers. In the summer and fall lights would start blinking every 15 minutes, then stop for 15 minutes, etc. I’m not sure if there was something happening during the 15 minute break. Once I get the battery charged up with a powerbank i’ll check the dip switches.

Crazy, today…[Read more]

]]> 9ee0f6b7c77823c1ec41f74e46578f17 James P replied to the topic Monitoring power consumption in the forum Mayfly Data Logger https://www.envirodiy.org/topic/monitoring-power-consumption/#post-18194 Wed, 29 Nov 2023 19:19:38 -0500 Thanks for the data, Our site has much more exposure to sun than in a redwood forest, and  is doing something similar:
https://monitormywatershed.org/sites/SpokaneR-SpokaneValley/

Note the times on the website are accurate but when you look at the data the times are not accurate — sun isn’t up at 5am. I wonder why the clock reset..
The last…[Read more]

]]> c6241127fd7f719f55823a2abe0bf9d9 James P replied to the topic Monitoring power consumption in the forum Mayfly Data Logger https://www.envirodiy.org/topic/monitoring-power-consumption/#post-18189 Wed, 29 Nov 2023 04:45:41 -0500 Hi thanks for responding. I’m sure our system is undersized for our location. Today was a pure sunny day, last week we installed an extension pole and cable so the solar is up plenty high to get direct sun. But today we got no readings sent via cellular.

Our battery is a LiPO 4400mAH 3.7V.

The solar panel is a 1W 6V
Open Circuit Voltage:…[Read more]

]]> 1340cb240fede34f4fdbae471095b8f3 James P replied to the topic Monitoring power consumption in the forum Mayfly Data Logger https://www.envirodiy.org/topic/monitoring-power-consumption/#post-18181 Sun, 26 Nov 2023 23:42:34 -0500 We have the standard Mayfly kit from TU…the sun here  in the winter is apparently never strong enough to charge the battery with the default solar panel and battery. The voltage reading may get to above 4V for a short time (maybe 1 hr per day), but quickly drops and no more data is transmitted. I dont know if the voltage i see is coming from…[Read more]

]]> 77c9cffbf84fd85c55e26123a66bf2cd James P replied to the topic Solar Panel extension cord in the forum Mayfly Data Logger https://www.envirodiy.org/topic/solar-panel-extension-cord/#post-18170 Thu, 09 Nov 2023 22:32:53 -0500 Thanks very much!

]]> 5a3ba1a8125a3df52478c8f64703e89a James P started the topic Solar Panel extension cord in the forum Mayfly Data Logger https://www.envirodiy.org/topic/solar-panel-extension-cord/ Tue, 07 Nov 2023 22:55:14 -0500 Hello, the sun is low here at 48 N and we need to run an extension pole for our solar panel.

Can anyone recommend what type or where I can find a ~15′ extension for the solar panel wire? And if using that length it’ll still deliver power/charging to the mayfly?

Thanks!
James P
Spokane, WA

]]> 768dc287ace70b7e433aa06975c17ec5 James P replied to the topic Gen2 CTD Sensor Noisy Conductivity in the forum Environmental Sensors https://www.envirodiy.org/topic/gen2-ctd-sensor-noisy-conductivity/#post-17993 Tue, 01 Aug 2023 17:50:13 -0400 We’re seeing that. Ours are mainly shorter blips down:

https://monitormywatershed.org/sites/LittleSpokane/

]]> 4f3b46ebf82a8b66b44d6668d0adb2c2 James P became a registered member https://www.envirodiy.org/activity/p/8818/ Tue, 01 Aug 2023 17:44:33 -0400 0