DIY Weather Station & WiFi Sensor Station || ESP8266, Nextion LCD

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The background pictures were made by Tom Wendlandt and you can download them for free on Instructables
More project information (schematic, parts list, code, pictures,.....) on Instructables: www.instructab...
Parts list (incomplete, see Instructables for more, affiliate links):
Aliexpress:
3x Wemos D1 Minis: s.click.aliexp...
2x 1N4148 Diodes: s.click.aliexp...
2x Micro USB Breakout Boards: s.click.aliexp...
1x Nextion LCD: s.click.aliexp...
1x BME280 Sensor: s.click.aliexp...
Ebay:
3x Wemos D1 Minis: rover.ebay.com/...
2x 1N4148 Diodes: rover.ebay.com/...
2x Micro USB Breakout Boards: rover.ebay.com/...
1x Nextion LCD: rover.ebay.com/...
1x BME280 Sensor: rover.ebay.com/...
In this project I will show you how to create a weather station along with a WiFi sensor station. The sensor station measures local temperature and humidity data and sends it, through WiFi, to the weather station. The weather station then displays the data on its LCD screen. It also grabs the current temperature and humidity data in your city from the Internet and displays it as well on the LCD screen. Let's get started!
Websites which were shown/used in the video (useful):
educ8s.tv/esp8...
www.itead.cc/w...
www.instructab...
www.instructab...
www.instructab...
github.com/esp...
github.com/spa...
Music:
2011 Lookalike by Bartlebeats

[@chandrashekarr9527]

If you add time it's look better

[@RoterFruchtZwerg]

he would need a third ESP for that 🙈

[@qaisalmokdad9511]

CHANDRASHEKAR R treuuu!!!

[@dominiquegobeil5831]

Gps real-time clock.

[@beforth]

A well developed, mqtt enabled, control panel android app in an old smartphone would beat that lcd in looks and in price.

[@Nono-hk3is]

Oh I see. Normally the hardware guys says, "ehh, fix it in software." Until he has to write the software, then suddenly more hardware shows up!

[@beforth]

Developer's time is expensive, but esp's are cheap 😀

[@sgsax]

ESP2866 is a game changer. Way easier to use and cheaper than Xbee for local communication. Integrated arduino-compatible microcontroller is a bonus. Really want to build a weather station to put on top of my house. Got some good ideas here. Thanks for sharing!

[@tf3confirmedbuthv54]

Man, I’m still surprised you can upload with such high consistency and still have high quality videos! Keep up the good work!

[@rklauco]

Those 2 Wemoses made my day :) Seems like a bit of overkill to me. First of all, ESP is pretty fast, so any LCD will be capable to display the graphics directly from ESP - you can even utilize the SPIFS for storage of the data and, potentially, upload a new background using web interface. But I admire your - let's just hack it together - attitude, really. I usually spend LOTS of time on my projects just because I don't want to do it this way and go with something like "this has to be possible - how hard can it be?". 3 months later I am left with lots of unfinished or half-done projects ;)

[@beforth]

Perfect is the enemy of good (Voltaire)

[@MaxintRD]

So recognizable... +1

[@petrosdimitriospilichos9195]

Dude, I feel you soo bad on this one. I have an extreme do this is the nice way or do it in a way so that it looks like it was bought. most of the time they end up like yours. PS: sorry for the reply 2 years later xD

[@twilightknight123]

This is perfect timing, actually. I'm waiting on a bme280 to be delivered to set up an automated climate system in a vivarium. Always glad when there's a greatscott video to help back up my work so I don't get too lost

[@YukiElectronics]

Regarding the Nextion Editor, it was probably expecting a monospace font, which would explain the weird text spacing.

[@nhisme9805]

Yes to the monospaced font. I ran into the same problem.

[@nicolasperdrix5617]

I think icons are better than text

[@RequiemForABuckeye]

Would it be better to generate pics of words through an external app and upload them to the nextion instead?

[@jonty1857]

I had a play around with the BME280 and needed 2 of them connected to the same processor. After looking through huge amounts to datasheets, I found that you can indeed change the address on these boards; you have a choice of 2! If you look carefully at the 3 gold pads on the pcb, you will see that 2 are connected (middle and 1 side). You break this connection and join the middle to the other pad. One address is 0x76 and the other 0x77. This saved my project, hope it helps someone else too.

[@justincastilloux8051]

You can also use them as SPI devices and have as many as you want. Provided you can supply a 'chip select' signal for each. Also, the BME280 datasheet is only 55 pages long. That's tiny. :)

[@y2ksw1]

Regarding the temperature sensor, you should keep it separate from everything else, since the boards develop some heat too, and could so influence the result.

[@moeburn]

Yes but at 35C he must have put it right on top of the wifi chip lol. I have some that are 5-10cm from the wifi chip and they only read 1.5C over ambient.

[@uiopuiop3472]

Esp8266s are getting more popular each day

[@electron-1979]

Finally, a tutorial/build of a weather station (because that's an original idea)!

[@Braeden123698745]

There you go again, making a video about the exact thing I wanted to learn.

[@RoyTecTips]

love GreatScott! video ❤❤❤

[@JjMn1000]

yes hes good

[@packratswhatif.3990]

SWEET !!!! After all the failed purchased weather stations I have tried, I wish you could design a complete all-out enhanced station with wind, direction, uv, temp, humidity, rain amount and pressure. This idea of going thru the wifi sounds absolutely grand compared to the expensive crap I have purchased that failed which operates over their own RF signal. My problem is that I an Not a programmer (mental block) and I get too frustrated trying. With having all the basic sensors already up and installed, just communication setup would needed to get all info back to the head unit.

[@noweare1]

Yup, agreed. Using wi-fi to get to the internet is the way to go. An outside station is not needed. I bought a bunch of RF2401 to build weaterstations and I guess I will use them for something else.

[@qps9380]

Haha, I thought I was the only one that went around the internet using pieces of other people's code when I couldn't get my own stuff to work. If a pro like GreatScott does it, I guess it's not that bad! Great video btw.

[@electron-1979]

Really, even professionals do it! Why "reinvent the wheel"?

[@airborne501]

You are the first left hander that has very ledgiable penmanship. I am left handed and my writing is terrible. My son is left handed and his is worse than mine. All my coworkers I have come across in my career that were lefties, also had bad penmanship. I am curious what your secret is, or how they taught you this in school. And it isnt fun when I have to design software on a white board going left to right. BTW, excellent videos.

[@bonnome2]

I also have a couple temperature sensors with an esp8266. I just bought one of those electric cable boxes from orico to put all my stuff in. Works great!

[@rutaElectronics]

that is a very interesting project Mr.GreatScott! and it has been well implemented.

[@electronic7979]

Excellent project 👍 👍

[@MCsCreations]

Beautiful work, dude! 😊

[@mellee3436]

Because of the relatively high cost of the Nextion display (in Aus) I think a remote sensor station could incorporate a web server that can connect via wifi to a tablet.Good project and magnificent handwriting!!

[@user-fc4so8of8o]

I'd use an OLED display and make it simple white text on black(off) background, replace "Internet" with "Outside" and "Sensor" with "Inside", and maybe add a little cloud/sun icon indicating the current weather. Anyway, cool project!

[@donaldwright2426]

Nice project! Keep it going GreatScott!

[@Dinkleberg96]

As always, a great project!

[@freakyou123]

Best channel ever! Cheers from Brazil!

[@esugan]

Super and nice project sir..... and i tried its look working good and excellent...

[@MarksGoneWicked]

Most awesome. Been needing to build something like this for awhile.

[@Void-cw3vu]

I get that this thing is already worth it, because it's great fun to make something like this yourself etc. and I'm not trying to be negative, but I don't know why it would have any practical value over smartphone weather tbh. Still a great video, like always.

[@FirechipAcademy]

It's a cool weather station project You are a great GREAT SCOTT! :-)

[@jeffhill6769]

Very well done. Your simple instructions are very helpful!

[@aswinbenny1118]

Awesome project brother keep it up. I Love u r creations.

[@AboubakrA]

you can also collect data from the sensor and plot them over a large period of time (say a month, or a year) to get the weather trends in your apartment

[@defaultuser000]

Why not put the little wires through the holes in the boards when you solder them on? It does make them harder to remove if you take the project all apart, but you don't have to worry about the wires ripping the pads off the boards when moving them around.

[@linuxgnuru]

If you are hardcoding ip addresses, you should also set up static reserved ips in the router

[@spicymemeboi2646]

so glad i found this channel

[@MaxintRD]

if you only just found his channel, then you need to take some time off. There are many more, very interesting videos you will like. Have fun watching them!

[@monojithalder3993]

This is a great project but now day anyone likes to see all sensor value into their mobile phone or their smartwatches. Please try that. I already build this kind of project. This is a just suggestion do not take it otherwise. I like your video very much. Thank you.

[@Harish-xw2jt]

The best thing about DIY is that you can add and remove anything you want. Plus it super cheap

[@Ed19601]

Looks great. I didn't go in detail through your code but just want to leave some info on the BME280 for those who might work with it the first time: by default it usually is in continuous mode, taking g reading after reading and that way heating up itself. Best use it in 'forced mode'. I infact had problems with a Bosch sensor once. A BMP180 stopped working, so I have slight reservations :-)

[@OldCurmudgeon3DP]

I have 2 of these on different projects. I need to look into setting forced mode I think. I only poll in 15sec (minimum) intervals.

[@anycatdessai]

Another great project. ESP8266 is quite a marvelous creation for electronic hobbyists. Please do videos on MQTT and other such concepts in the future as part of electronics basics series.

[@noweare1]

Thank you for the high quality video. It was funny when you said "fraidy cat" . We used to say "scairdy cat".

[@Dante1243]

love you videos great scott enjoy your day keep it up

[@Drxxx]

You are amazing dude.. keep going.. i say it again, i love sunday because your videos..i can't wait on next one..

[@junuhunuproductions]

Very helpful video indeed. Great Job!!

One of my favourite projects yet! 😊 (If I'll have some time I'll definitely make it and also add clock to it and inside temp+humidity instead of the internet one.)

[@Andreas-gh6is]

So we finally learn you live in Berlin!

[@drr0b0tnik]

The random spacing in the font might be because the GUI has no concept of kerning. If you use a mono space font you will get better results.

[@richardwilliamjohnson8566]

Thanks mate anther useful and interesting project

[@ESCcrasci]

Awesome Project. Like it a lot. Might make it someday

[@JyothiSwaroopM]

You deserve more subs, man!

[@shraiwi]

That's pretty cool how the esp8266 has enough memory to completely buffer the display. Nice video!! 👍

[@scootscoot2k]

dont think the screen drawing is on the esp's side its that fancy screen doing the heavy lifting.

[@shraiwi]

@@scootscoot2k but you need to somehow buffer the display in order to draw the text, unless the display has integrated readable RAM.

[@OldCurmudgeon3DP]

The Nextion does all the work. The ESP only sends the actual values via serial. In this case it's text, but could be numerical or commands. The enhanced models have 16MB of onboard storage, a battery backed RTC, and a few GPIO. If their core code was more polished you could almost get by w/o the ESP other than missing wifi.

[@pfeerick]

The nextion display has its own onboard processor that is doing all the work. You could connect a attiny85 to it and get the same result. You just send the sensor values to it and it does all the heavy lifting. The software is clunky, but they are a nice screen for that onboard processing feature.

[@aniketakabir1572]

good work as always

[@bobby1214]

this looks awesome man

[@dinithaw]

you are so lucky! theres lots of best in class electronics manufacturers in your country like bosch and siemens!!! here in my country there no such a company even a single one! it's hard to find components here. self studying or experimenting is impossible here. I'm self studying about electronics since 2010 I haven't even seen a oscilloscope or a lcr meter yet! if we want to find scope here what we could find is cheap & simple pocket oscilloscopes only and funniest part is they inly exists in large mobile-phone repairing shops... we can't even import such electronic equipment from ebay or amazon because lack of foreign currency sanctuaries... sad of my country & and our poor economy😭😭😭

[@Diamonddrake]

The esp has a mdns library that you could easily use for your sensors to auto discover the server with maybe 10 lines of code.

[@DiyEcoProjects]

Wow, thats Awesome!! ... Well done

[@robertorusso3192]

Great Scott!!!!

[@arifindobson]

Superb master comrade, thank you very much

[@garytalman3973]

The reason you are getting weird looking text is that the font data is compiled and transferred to the Nextion screen as part of the programming. This method frees up memory that would otherwise be cluttered with unused font data. The best way of correcting your issues is to stick to using monospace fonts that occupy the same spacing. Those recommended are the following (Recommended Fonts by InterlinkKnight): BatangChe Consolas CourierNew DFKai-SB DotumChe FangSong GulimChe GungsuhChe Incubus KaiTi LucidaSansTypewriter MingLiU MiriamFixed MSGothic MSMincho NSimSun OCRAExtended Quartz Rod SDViewerFont SimHei SimplifiedArabicFixed SimSun SimSun-ExtB Hope this helps, look forward to "seeing you next time!!!"

[@cottsak]

Could you share a little more about the challenges that led to the 2nd ESP module?

[@alexanderislas4382]

I would guess it is because you could have the sensor in one room and the screen in another. Honestly, I would have settled for having the sensor and the lcd together.

[@JjMn1000]

thanks for the free IPs!

[@MDFRESCUER]

Nice project.

[@zephalon]

You could use the MQTT protocoll and a Node RED server, it's very versatile.

[@electron-1979]

Over-kill for this project, but a great solution if you want to greatly expand with more/other sensors.

[@erickjoseph895]

please enable the subtitles, I'm from Brazil and I really like your videos

[@robinc.5077]

The BME280 is very sensitive to electromagnetic heating. Putting it this close to the ESP8266 antenna can easily skew the temperature by 3 degrees Celsius or more. Use a fan or put a lot more distance between it and the Wifi antenna.

[@AThreeDogNight]

Very nice build.

[@kyoudaiken]

Tomorrow >9000°C I see that you are also tired of this strange drought and hot weather we even STILL have in OCTOBER... :D

[@97Giorgos97]

"YesIReally" "WantToKnow" 😂

[@Cheese_1337]

i was about to write a comment like this lol

[@sandwichchef5042]

i was about to write this comment. :)

[@___OmerAJ___]

very nice project.

[@qaisalmokdad9511]

Nice video man

[@aggelos_0256]

a nice thing to do is to remove the internet function and add a clock telling the time

[@PreritSahu]

1million soon

[@rdxdt]

My guess on the font spacing is that the editor expect you to use a monospaced font, try with a monospaced font it should work better.

[@BharatMohanty]

Now #greatscott is great again !!

[@martinsindans1341]

Greater*

[@drprinter]

You are a FREAKING GEINIOUS!!! Thank You for your videos!!!!

[@Richie_]

I'd like to try this but I'm an absolute beginner with arduino and electronics. I have an engineering background so find schematics no problem. I will save the video for later.

[@Will256]

“Since I’m not that big of a programmer, I used different code bits I found around the internet” Haha that’s what us “programmer” types do as well! There’s no shame in building on existing code (as long as you understand what it’s doing)

[@MaxintRD]

Not that big? Only BIG programmers use one MCU for each and every little code bit they use. Think big, use all the MCUs you have! ;-)

[@PerKroon]

What you could do is to start up a new WiFi on the ESP (with separate SSID and password) server and let the client connect to that WiFi. Then you don't need to utilise any existing network. That way you can actually give a weather station to someone since you won't need to "borrow" their WiFi. If you want it really good you hide the WiFi so no one know how the sensor and station talk to eachother. However you will not get internet access this way.

[@OldCurmudgeon3DP]

Maybe an MQTT broker & Home Assistant?

[@PerKroon]

That would also be a solution, depending on the situation.

[@bag-stg-kft7445]

Great explanation. But I have questions: I have three stations (ESP8266 with BME280) and Openweather on Nextion. These also send the data (all, not just Temp and Hum) to Thingspeak. How should I send this data on another Nextion? Reading Thingspeak doesn't work, although that would be the simplest solution, because in this way many stations could be created and all data would be shown on a display (that would then be a real "station" and could also be used for thermal heating)

[@eriklaken1025]

Thank you, I Will try to make but iT wil be difficult but so Nice with all your help.

[@jftechdrones]

It'd be cool to add some more features to the screen, it looks kind of bare at the moment. Adding time would be a start, and maybe add some scrolling news headlines at the bottom.

[@e1ghthree]

Ahhh the keming 😝! Nice to follow video :)

[@burhanuddinbhiwaniwala618]

GREAT VIDEO sir.... I was thinking is it possible to use Nextion display to enter WiFi credentials without hard coding or without creating a Soft AP

[@mst7460]

Could you make us informed in the channel when the LCBs are available for commercial purposes pls?

[@4funrc11]

Hey. :) Thx. (You make it look so easy.)

[@secretgenius4185]

I love your projects.You should be engineer of year or something

[@sledgeHammerRulez]

cool video! I was planning to make the same but the communication will be based on MQTT ...

[@electron-1979]

There must be 100s, if not 1000s of examples, Google it!

[@TheDejfson]

The question of the day: do you believe the bme280 is accurate? I have constructed already several of those devices and I always had a problem with temperature readings, which in some extreme cases were like 6.5 degrees off. I I'm aware of self heating issue but that thing does not seem to be the 'large scale' issue. I did not do any tests yes, but is seems that this sensor has some dependency of temperature vs power supply

[@Fifury161]

Nice DIY project, however for me the BOM seems a tad high for such a simple project - that LCD is overkill - especially if you aren't going to use the touch screen function... As ever you have inspired me to make my own and implement my design changes!

[@Mika_3c33]

Nice! I tried something like this a bit ago, but i kept running into problems, so i gave up.. one of those was that i couldn't get an API key for free from the site mentioned in the tutorial, but now you gave me another site! thanks!

[@Alone-kd3bc]

Please make another Video about this station by adding more stations and maybe a data logger for temperature and humidity.

[@ManuKrishnanmagz]

Oh the video is done recently? Cool that you could do the editing the sound overlay and everything in a jiffy!

[@QLTD]

good project

[@MitsuZer0G]

9:42 Are you sure that the diodes should be connected in this way? In this configuration you block the signal from TX to RX, so it can't go through the diode?

[@olpqay]

If you use the default config for your fritzbox, you should not use 192.168.178.80 as a static ip-adress, because the default dhcp-range is .20-.200. better use a adress between .2-.19 😉 (.201 + are the default vpn-client adresses)

[@dl8cy]

You can reserve this via the MAC address in the FRITZ!Box. "Home Network > Network Connections" "Use this button to add network devices that have not yet connected to the FRITZ!Box and are supposed to always receive a fixed IP address from the DHCP server."

[@serhii710]

...or just switch to dynamic discovery protocols like SSDP and Avahi

[@dl8cy]

@@serhii710 In 2014 it was discovered that SSDP was being used in DDoS attacks known as an SSDP reflection attack with amplification. Many devices, including some residential routers, have a vulnerability in the UPnP software that allows an attacker to get replies from port number 1900 to a destination address of their choice. With a botnet of thousands of devices the attackers can generate sufficient packet rates and occupy bandwidth to saturate links, causing the denial of service.

[@serhii710]

@@dl8cy anyway, modern homes often contain at least one UPnP (and hence SSDP) - enabled device like Smart TVs, set-top boxes and even lights (like Yeelight with modified SSDP) A lot of protocols have vulnerabilities. But in this case I'm not sure that the SSDP implementation for ESP or some other multicast-based discovery protocols can cause a lot of problems

[@黄博宏-f8l]

great project!

[@hafizuddinmohdlowhim8426]

For the enclosure, make the bolt and nut does not protrude from the surface. Its much better to have seamless enclosure

[@LittleBruze]

Can you make a detailed video on gsm module and AT commands

[@EndreSzasz]

Did you compare the bosch values to another thermometer? Were they correct or a few degrees higher?

[@annemariemiguel2541]

Hey great scott youv should build a synthesizer of some tipe, but dont use the 555 timer for it. Thanks

[@Loundre3]

He could try doing a analog synth with analog filter, but that can get quite complicated still.

[@davidrubio8673]

hi i have done one of those using an arduino with 4 voices of polyphony, here is my post mitxela.com/forum/topic/arduino-midi-synth-now-with-5-different-wave-forms

[@annemariemiguel2541]

david rubio I would like to see a synth that is analog and does not use an arduino.

[@davidrubio8673]

ok, thanks Anne Marie Miguel

[@ManofCulture]

Can you do a DIY or Buy for smps? and how to make a smps transformer?