6 Sensors- an update

I rewired the two sensor setup to be six sensors, and rewrote the code for this, and finally got all the right wires to connect up through the phone jacks (its a tangle of sensors and wires)....and, it works. Its still sitting on my table, but I put it all together, and it seems to work fine. Real data, from six sensors- which was pretty much my goal to start with. I'll install these tomorrow.

This is the "hub" where a modified 4 pair ethernet cable splits to feed 6 sensors. I let two pair carry voltage and ground, and rat-tailed that to each splitter, which then splits it to each sensor jack.

This shows the 40 feet of ethernet cable (at right) and the pile of sensors (at left) as I am testing them. 

One of my many sketches trying to trace the wiring and how it ultimately feeds to the sensors. I know it now, but in a week, I will have no idea what I did.

Years ago I had observation hives, so had this handy 1" hole in my studio wall that I drilled through, and can now feed the ethernet line out to the hives.

This is, as boring as it might look, the whole goal of the thing. Data.. This shows the typical data using a great Serial Data Transfer program (SDT) (I made that up) called Coolterm. I have not yet callibrated the data in this screen shot.

These are the sensor ends- the little DHT11's which  I have lettered for reference. I did not solder them to the wires- they are inserted into 3 female to female connectors, then inserted in shrink tubing.

I hooked them up through a jerry rigged Ethernet cable- which has 4 twisted pairs. I used two wires for voltage and ground, and made these common to all the sensors. I then had 6 wires I could use for the sensor's data lines. I used 40 feet of cable, plus 5 to 12 feet of 4 wire cable at each sensor. I wasn't sure of the voltage would hold up- but it seems to work fine.  The sensors aren't all in agreement- they vary quite a bit- so I will have to rewrite the code to see if i can compensate.

It started to rain this evening, I took a long walk, and though cold- it feels like Spring is happening. I opened the bees earlier, and checked the white sugar I have been dumping in their. I think in a few days some of the hives and cleaned out 2 or 3 pounds of it- the trays I made are clean.

I am trying to figure out a way to remove the feeder trays I made, which are about 1 1/2" tall- as in the Spring they start to build comb there- and i have already had to scrape it out. One hive was also laying in this comb already- so somehow, the queen is finding this new comb attractive. The bees are all over it- I suppose like a hive in nature, and massed around it. Maybe that makes it extra attractive.

First prototype. Copper tube, inserted through rubber grommet, through drilled water bottle cap. It leaks like hell at the tip- not sure if I can reduce opening size, or stopper up somehow. Rabbit feeders are notoiious leakers- I went to the feedstore in town and they have a ball bearing at the end, which I guess the rabbit pushes on. I don't think bees have it in them. Leaking is bad- as this will be in the hive- so I have to figure that out.

However, I have this idea to feed the bees in the Spring with a modified Rabbit feeder- and worked tonight to build one out of a water bottle and some 1/4" copper refrigerant pipe. The idea is to drill a hole in the side of the hives and feed a tube in. In that way, I don't have to use boardman feeders (which it is too early for anyhow), I can get the food into the center, and I don't have to feed at the top- so can remove the trays. I'd like to keep the vented tops on, but also want to find a better fabric for this.

Lots to do to keep me busy.