WS85 modification - Breezedude/breezedudeWindSensor GitHub Wiki

⚠️ Attention: This type of modification is outdated and replaced by WS85 UART mode

Upgrade already modified WS85 to UART

If you already have a already modified (old method) WS85 sensor with 3-core wire attached, you can leave the wire as is and just modify the top part. This requires WS85 firmware to have a default baud rate of 115200 and autosend enabled (not available yet, coming soon).

  • Remove 1M ohm resistor
  • Add 10k-1M pulldown resistor to R4
  • Close solder jumpers JP2, JP3 and open JP4 to enable UART mode
  • Connect a wire from pin 4 of U2 to the second pin of J8

This needs to be confirmed.

Old Modification (not recommended for new builds)

The WS85 can be modified to output the measurement data via UART as a human readable debug message. We can parse this data to extract the current wind data. To do so, the debug mode must be enabled by changing a resistor and adding wires to access the UART port in a waterproof way.

  1. Open the top cover by turning it counter-clockwise
  2. Remove the 4 screws to take off the upper plastic frame. This allows us to have more space and don't burn the plastic when soldering. If you are careful you can keep the FPC cable connected.
  3. remove resistors R2 and R3 to disconnect the power of the internal RF unit
  4. Add a wire from TX to pin 2 of the 6pin cable. Remove resistor R4 and add a 1MOhm resistor from RX to J1/T16 (VCC)
  5. Open the lower part of the sensor by removing the 4 screws from the bottom.
  6. Connect the UART data line (TX on sensor) to the second pin of J8. To supply the sensor with external 3.3V connect to positive and negative of the battery holder.
  7. Test the UART output of the sensor, assemble in reverse order. Optional: Add some silicone to seal the cable outlet.