Originally, he was connected to the “console” by a Serial Port (a MacIntosh serial port, to make things worse!). This connects to his weatherstation “console” and places the data on his LAN with a Lantronix Matchport b/g. That means his server can be located anywhere in the house and he can collect data as long as he is within range of the wireless router. The embedded server can be set up on a private network, so there’s little worry of being hacked.
We had some problems getting it working on his Apple “Airport” router. NOT SHOWN on the schematic is a “mod” we had to install. Pin 33 of the Matchport needs to be connected to +3.3 volts during power up for about 10-15 seconds in order to reset the unit to “default” values.
I used Cadsoft’s Eagle schematic capture and layout package (the “light” — or “free” — version). If you want the files in the project, click here to download the zip. It includes the schematic, the PCB layout, and a ‘custom’ library you’ll need to load some of the parts.
Here’s the schematic of the prototype I built.
Since this is just the prototype, I’m going to “Rev B” of the project.
Here’s a PDF of the schematic.
“Rev B” will include access to both serial ports on the MatchPort, and access to the wired TCP port, in case you’re looking for a LAN bridge (those are getting hard to find these days).