Receiver with the internet connection
This receiver listens to the weather station and sends all the data to this web site over the internet connection. Since the data is coming every minute, the internet should be connected all the time. ADSL or Hikari will work fine, but dialup internet will not.
On the top there's antenna for wireless communication, on the bottom there's Ethernet connector to attach to your router or internet hub. Also there's a power connector on the other side.
It looks quite simple, but actually it's the most complicated part in the whole project. Inside there's 600Mhz ARM processor with 64MB of memory running Linux to process the data, connect to the internet and upload current weather to this web-site.
How to Use receiver with internet connection
Switch on router, hub and modem you use to connect to the internet and wait about 1 minute for internet connection to get established.
Attach ethernet cable to the receiver. Then connect the power supply to the power connector. Two small LEDs next to the ethernet connector should show some activity.
Adjust the antenna in a more or less vertical position. In about 10 minutes check this web-site to see if there's any data uploaded. If you are hidden behind the mountain or inside the building, the reception quality may be quite poor, and it's advised to move the receiver in a clear view of the mountain.
How much bandwidth is required? Will it slow down my connection?
This receiver sends about 100-200bytes every minute or about 300kb every day. If you have 1Mbps connection, this communication will consume only 0.002% of your available bandwidth – it's way too small and most probably you won't even notice that.
How much electricity is consumed?
Wireless module consumes about 30mA on 5V, processor board takes about 80mA on 5V and together with the network card they require less than 200mA – totally less than 1 Watt of power every hour. This is probably even less than your internet hub/router consume.
Will everybody access my computer to see my weather?
You computer will be totally safe and not visible from the outside. Weather data will be saved on ParaTenki web-site and other people will access only this web-site, but not your computer or your network. Also, there are no viruses under Linux, so nothing bad could happen to your network.