User:David
INTRODUCTION:
My name is David Hawa, I am hobbyist beekeeper in Texas and have been keeping bees since 2012. The HawaUbee Apiary is registered with the State of Texas (#1-439-701) and is located in Roanoke Texas at Henrietta Creek Apple Orchard. The orchard which has been in operation since 1990, hosts field trips to thousands of children annually teaching them about pollinators and pollinator habitats. Currently the apiary has two monitored beehives, the first Named: HawaUbee which utilizes an older version of HiveTool and is a 10 frame Langstroth style hive. The HawaUbee hive is a participant in the NASA pollination project; the first of its kind in Texas. The second, more recent hive named HawaUbee02 is equipped with the new user friendly HiveTool setup (HiveTool 0.7.3)and monitors not only weight but internal hive temperature, external temperature, and sunlight patterns. The HawaUbee02 beehive is an 8 frame Flow Hive with dual brood boxes. My development scale is Named: HawaUbee03 which resides on my desk and it serves as my tinkering system. At the end of 2016 I currently have ten, ten-frame Langstroth beehives and I manage 5 Flow Hives that are owned by the orchard. I am amazed how far this project has come and excited to see where it is going!
The HawaUbee webpage is located at HawaUbee.com
Pictured below the HawaUbee Apiary at the close of 2016:
SYSTEM
Overview - The HawaUbee Hivetool System is totally off the grid; it is powered by two 185W; 5.17AMP solar panels which charge Three 35AMP hour batteries and is wired with an inline fuse incase anything goes haywire. Each scale is run by separate raspberry Pi computer systems contained in individual Pellican water-tight storage boxes. The entire system is enclosed in a small outdoor storage shed which is anchored to the ground to prevent tipping. The scales under HawaUbee and HawaUbee02 are constructed out of stainless steel "L" angle. Wires from the load cells are run into a watertight junction box and then are run through a protective conduit and connect to the Pi computer systems. Both Pi systems have wireless USB dongles that connect to an AT&T velocity hotspot. Below are pictures of some milestones for both HawaUbee and HawaUbee02 HiveTool Scales
HiveTool Scale: HawaUbee
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Stainless Steel Scale with Load Cells
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Testing the Scale with Weights
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Leveling and Installation of the Scale
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Rough Installation of Components
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Connection to the Internet Accomplished
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HawaUbee Hive Langstroth 10-Frame
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Inside the Container
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HawaUbee(NASA #TX01)is Complete
HiveTool Scale: HawaUbee02
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Stainless Steel Scale with load cells
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HiveTool Development Board Components
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Soldering Components
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HawaUbee02 powered by battery
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Preparing to install the scale
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Installing HawaUbee02 Computer
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Construction of Light Sensor
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Final Installation of HawaUbee02 Under a Flow Hive
Parts List
Upcoming
Soldering/Construction Manual
If you have decided to assemble your own board below is a manual to aide in the assembly of your HiveTool v0.3 board.
File:HiveToolV0.3Board - Construction.pdf
EZ Connector for the DHT22
Soldering the DHT22 is not an easy thing to do, even for the savvy solder-er utilizing a high-end iron and a convenient clamp. I have found a convenient extender cable that will plug into the connector, the connector can then be secured to the DH22 with a piece of shrink tubing. The wire leads off the connector are much easier to solder to; I even accomplished this in-field with relative ease. This cable can be purchased at Amazon.com for around $6.00 for a quantity of ten.
Search: "'TronicsPros RGB LED Light Strips Female Connector RGB LED Strip Connector Cable" I am going to call the connector the DHT-EZ for easier descriptors below.
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Picture of the DHT-EZ
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DHT22 sensor is inserted into the DHT-EZ
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Shrink Tubing Securely attaches the DHT22 to the DHT22-EZ
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Leads off the DHT-22EZ are soldered and insulated
