data logging

[makenzie71]

Looking for ideas of how I can keep a better log of information coming off my turbines.  Currently I have four turbines up all going to one battery bank and plans are currently in place to add three more.  I want a way to keep a running record of how they perform throughout the day...I would like to be able to graph out voltage, watts, and amps.

Do you guys have any ideas of how I can go about doing this in an economical fashion?  I'm itnerested in standalone devices that could handle the task but I can set up a computer next to my junction if there were a means to use it.  Ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciate!

[SparWeb]

Roll your own?

https://www.thebackshed.com/windmill/PicLog.asp

or buy it?

https://www.amazon.ca/Onset-UX120-006M-HOBO-4-Channel-Analog/dp/B00I2XI8P6/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=data+logger+hobo&qid=1583020146&sr=8-8

There are two completely different budgets represented there.

[makenzie71]

lol I need something that's a little more DIY than the $500 logger and a little less DIY than making your own circuit board :p

I do like that first one, though...definitely looking into that.

[SparWeb]

Yeah, figured on picking a spot on the complexity/cost scale would help.

You can also use an Arduino for a lot of data logging tasks.  It's mounted on a board already and the programming is much more powerful than the Picaxes.

It's important to define very specifically what you want to log.  Temperature logging is not like speed logging, for example.

I spent years trying different dataloggers, always failing to get good results.  Eventually I found the formula to get rock-solid RPM figures and the rest of the system came together nicely after that.
https://www.fieldlines.com/index.php/topic,149346.msg1042640.html#msg1042640

[SparWeb]

Found something you might enjoy, from Homepower magazine:

 HomePower_114 Datalogging.pdf (401.34 kB - downloaded 60 times.)

[makenzie71]

I actually have been reading up more on the hobo and pricing stuff from that angle...the problem is that accounting for all the required materials to be able to log all the turbines I've got running simultaneously is going to be more cost prohibitive than I thought it would.  I think it's something I'm going to have to put off until later when I can focus it on larger turbines.  With the cost involved it doesn't make a lot of sense to make that investment on these tiny $100 rigs.