BloomSky – Serious but Fun

April 15, 2016 by Andy Thompson

Welcome to the third and concluding edition of our series on the BloomSky Weather Sensor review. In the previous articles we covered the introduction to the community and the technology. The second article focused on putting the device together right out of the box. Now it’s time to provide information on the software for the device and then give our overall review of the product along with our recommendations

The Device

There are going to be some of our readers who are inspired by this weather sensor technology and want to take the step of buying an actual weather device for themselves. We covered how to assemble the device and now we will look at connecting it with the available software. First we’ll review some of the features of the device.

A Serious Weather Station

For weather hobbyists, you will immediately recognize the value of the BloomSky device. It has sensors to constantly measure the temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, along with ultra-violet sun exposure and a rain sensor. It is built to withstand weather extremes and it can last 20 days on one battery charge, and it can be powered by solar or AC power.

BloomSky enables you to connect your device and share weather data with Internet weather service like the Weather Underground. Those who are serious about collecting weather data can trust BloomSky’s industrial grade quality when it comes to withstanding the most severe weather conditions. We couldn’t help but share this photo that was posted on Xiao’s, BloomSky’s CEO, personal blog. He proudly stated that the seemingly frozen device below is still powered on, functioning, and transmitting weather data!

Dashboard – the Device Software

To connect to your device and examine the data that is now being collected, you can access the software known as the dashboard. Simply go to this link: https://dashboard.bloomsky.com/ using your desktop or mobile device. You’ll need to create an account with a user name and password. Once your device is up and running for a day or more, you can view time-lapse captures of previous days’ recordings using a calendar view to select the day you want to view.

There is also a Data view with graphs that display the weather information you are taking from your location as can be seen here:

A Fun Device

For those of us who are not weather hobbyists, BloomSky is a fun device that allows you to connect with others in ways that you’ve never imagined before. The BloomSky device takes pictures of the sky every few minutes and has a fish-eye lens that is pointed upwards. The 170 degree ultra-wide lens can be adjusted vertically.

The devices are designed to forward images to the BloomSky website, which assembles the pictures and produces a time-lapse video on its cloud-based network. You can then check out the weather in another location for yourself and get a firsthand look at transmissions along with corresponding temperature measurements. So, by getting this unit, you are plugging yourself into a weather information network.

Furthermore, all of the information collected, including the time-lapse video generated daily, can be easily shared with the rest of the world including your family and friends who may be keen on admiring the weather you are enjoying. Along with the BloomSky website, sharing is also made easy through the BloomSky app, which supports mobile devices running on either the iOS (Apple App store) or Android (Google Play) platform. What’s also amazing is that your friends and family can subscribe to your BloomSky weather station through the app and receive not only daily time-lapse videos but also “push messages” you send regarding important updates and alerts.

Our Tech Corner Evaluation:

Our Technical Support specialist Richard has this to say:

I have to admit that at first blush I was skeptical of the weather sensor device. It wasn’t that I did not believe it could be accurate in its measurements or incapable of handling wet or cold weather, but rather the utility of such a device. That is always the acid test isn’t it, what purpose does it serve?

For some people being able to check the weather conditions at home while they are away is valuable, but then you’d have to be away from home for long periods to justify it. So, I went to the BloomSky webpage to see if they could sell me on it.

One of the first things I came across was IFTTT technology (IF This, Then That). This refers to the ability to use the information gathered from the device for a purpose. Simply put, if a condition arises than a corresponding action ensues. That is to say, you would be able to set your home thermostat according to the temperature changes. “For example, you can have BloomSky trigger your connected thermostat to turn on (or off) when an outside temperature is reached.” We see other options are available as well including have your home thermostat adjusted remotely using a device such as a Wi-Fi thermostat controller. Or, you could simply contact a friend or neighbor who could adjust it for you. There is also the option to have it record data and present it to you. Getting an idea of how much rainfall you had locally or overnight or tracking freezing temperatures could be very useful for farmers and gardeners.

As global weather and forecasting becomes increasingly variant and harder to predict, the value of this technology could be even more salient. BloomSky has also placed considerable effort toward establishing a weather network community. They have a Facebook page and anyone can join in regardless of whether you have the BloomSky hardware.

Recommendation and Offer

We feel that this is really the definition of an emerging technology, and the impact is hard to predict, but we can easily see value for such devices as it relates to automation of homes, for people to use in their businesses, and to assist with travel plans. In reading their blogs we also see opportunities to learn about how weather affects people in different vocations and walks of life. Certainly handling the device for a couple of days, and seeing what is being done with it has been an education for our team.

An offer for our readers:

For those who are interested in joining the BloomSky network, BloomSky is currently offering an unprecedented special promotion to our readers. Simply follow the link and use coupon code: COMPUCLEVER to get up to $40 off when you purchase a solar powered BloomSky weather station.

Disclaimer: CompuClever will not financially benefit from any purchase that may result from this article, which serves as a purely independent review.

With the BloomSky device the sky may really be the limit!

We hope you enjoyed our volume of the newly minted “Gears and Gadgets” column. We will bring more creative and smart high-tech products to you on a regular base. If you have any specific interest that you would like us to cover, simply send us an email to: newsletter@compuclever.com

BloomSky Weather Sensor – Setup

April 8, 2016 by Andy Thompson

Welcome to the next installment of our series on BloomSky – the weather technology. In this article we review the BloomSky Weather sensor. We will be taking the device, as any new user would, out of the box. Then we will follow the instructions and put it together. Get ready for our first impressions offered by our Tech Support specialist as he unwraps and assembles the weather sensor device from BloomSky.

When the box from BloomSky arrived, Andy was quite excited about it. So, I was somewhat surprised when he asked me to set up the unit and document the proceedings. I’m Richard from the Technical Support team and I would think the assumption is that this should be a snap for me, right? The truth is I learn how to do things by repetition – doing them over and over. However, it’s not likely that I would be a good assembly line worker – my strength is working with computers! So, if I can succeed at setting this up… most anyone can.

An offer for our readers:
For those who are interested in joining the BloomSky network, BloomSky is currently offering an unprecedented special promotion to our readers. Simply follow the link and use coupon code: COMPUCLEVER to get up to $40 off when you purchase a solar powered BloomSky weather station.

Disclaimer: CompuClever will not financially benefit from any purchase that may result from this article, which serves as a purely independent review.

Out of the Box:

We received the Solar Powered Weather kit that includes both the solar panel and the mounting bracket. To begin, I opened one box to find three smaller boxes as can be seen below. One was for the main sensor, and it included the electrical adaptor and the central mounting pole. The flat box contained the solar panel. The third box (the smallest), had the mounting bracket.

I found a couple packages of screws to help with mounting the assembled unit. Also included is a brief manual to help with setting up the system.

Opening the boxes you will find the following items as depicted in the image below:

weather sensor module
mounting bracket
mounting pole
AC adaptor
solar panel (as an alternative power source)

Putting it Together:

The assembly is fairly simple. First, you assemble the sensor unit and the mounting pole. Begin by connecting the two pieces of the mounting pole together. Next, connect the sensor module to the top of the pole. There are four little notches to fit the sensor on the pole (you can see a couple of the guides at the top of the pole in the main picture). Once down, turn the sensor to the side to secure it on the pole.

Now you have to decide whether or not to use the mounting bracket. This really depends on two conditions:

How you plan to power the sensor unit, and
The location of the device (Note: distance to your Wi-Fi router needs to be factored in as we mention below).

Keep in mind, these conditions impact one another. If you plan to have the sensor in a place higher up where there is no AC power outlet close by, you have to use an extension cord or consider the solar power option, which necessitates the use of the mounting bracket. Also, if you want to place the sensor at a location where you can’t drive the mounting pole into a piece of lawn or a flowerbed, then you also need to use the mounting bracket.

If you have decided to use the mounting bracket, find a place to secure it. You could clamp it over your patio railing, as shown above, or simply screw it to a vertical fixture. If you plan to use the solar panel, there is a mounting plate on the underside of the solar panel. You need to slide it up so you can remove it from the panel and then attach it to the main mounting bracket. There are four small holes on the angled part of the bracket where you attach the plate to the bracket using four dark screws that came with the larger plastic bag as seen in the picture that shows all the parts.

Once the mounting bracket is in place, as seen in part 2 of the illustration shown above, slide the mounting pole (with the sensor unit attached), down through a hole near the top of the angled piece of the mounting bracket and then through a hole near the turn handle on the bracket. Next, slide the solar panel back onto the mounting plate and make certain it is secure, and will not slide off the plate. The notch in the panel denotes the top side of the panel and is necessary for the panel to connect securely when the central pole is in place.

Power Up and Connection

The cable from the solar panel (or the AC adaptor) clicks into a connector at the bottom of the module; you will need to move the cover to the side to insert it. To the left of the power connection is the power switch for turning the module on and off. To the right of that connection is a button to reset the Wi-Fi connection.

Once the unit is assembled and powered up, you can start the process of connecting it to the Internet. A smart phone or tablet (iOS or Android), with an established connection to the Internet is required at this step. You also need to download and install the BloomSky app from either the Apple App store or the Google Play store. Your smart phone or tablet acts like a conduit so that you can use the BloomSky app to connect the weather sensor to the Internet.

Once connected, the app will install and guide you through connecting the sensor to your Wi-Fi and your phone or tablet. You will need to sign on to the router which involves supplying the router name and password. From there it will connect with the sensor and have you up and running in three minutes or less!

Our Review:

We found the assembly to be a straightforward process without any real hiccups. The instructional documentation is brief but doesn’t complicate what is a fairly straightforward assembly. The unit is largely metal so it should stand up to any harsh weather conditions. Also, the clamping system is very sturdy. When put together the unit is secure and not flimsy in any way.

To provide an unbiased and instructive review, we would also like to point out a few issues that we ran into during the installation and configuration process:

The design of the mounting bracket is somewhat peculiar. Primarily designed as a clamp-on device, it can only be used with a horizontal bar that is less than two inches wide. Given that two-by-fours are the common building material for decks, we couldn’t make proper use of the mounting bracket. We recommend that BloomSky design a different mounting bracket that is not limited by the width of the mounting surface.
The most “technical” part of the configuration process is likely the part where you connect the sensor module to your Wi-Fi network. In our experience, it took a few timed-out attempts before the unit connected successfully. We attributed the issue to the distance between our unit and the wireless router – about 50 feet apart from each other. So we suggest you take the distance between your Wi-Fi router and the device into consideration when selecting a location to install.

We recommend you read and follow the instructions, as seen above and shown on your mobile app. This includes performing steps in the right order. This should largely reduce the chance of failures and make your installation process a happy experience!

Recommendation to Date

To recap… we are pleased with the BloomSky hardware in terms of ease of assembly, instructions given, and even the quality of the materials / device. The software to connect to the device is easy to understand and to use. For our next article, we will continue our review of the BloomSky technology including our experience with the information it collects such as the time-lapse videos it generates, and we will finish with a complete overall review.

We hope you enjoyed this edition of Gears and Gadgets. We plan to offer our final review and recommendation in the last article of this series available to you in the next few days. Feel free to email us with questions and comments: newsletter@compuclever.com

Introducing the BloomSky Network

March 31, 2016 by Andy Thompson

For some of us, spring is coming soon this year, and we are getting ready for the bloom. With the coming of the season, we put more attention on the sky. So what better time for us to roll out a review of a technology that we are really excited about! In a mini series of three articles, we are introducing our readers to BloomSky – a crowd-sourced, hyper-local weather network powered by an innovative smart weather station.

We’ll get started by looking at the company vision and the technology offered.

The company vision at BloomSky is to change the way people access weather information. They are setting out to build a weather network based on data that is “crowd-sourced” and image based. Weather is captured by devices around the world by regular people and presented using images and daily time-lapse photographs. Of course it is available to be viewed online with your PC or your mobile device.

The Vision:

Speaking of regular people, we’ve had a chance to connect with the CEO and the marketing coordinator at BloomSky who shared more about the company and the vision. They are located in the Bay area and the CEO’s name is Xiao (pronounced: Shee’ou). He tells us his goal is to bring about the largest independent data network that covers the globe. The emphasis is on “independent”. The collection of weather data is independent from other sources. They want to better serve areas not currently covered by government or agencies. This includes for example, rural areas and territories that have little to no coverage.

The Product:

The hardware portion of this technology is an HD camera equipped smart device with some impressive features:

Ultra-wide Angle Camera: captures pictures of the sky every five minutes, creating a time-lapse video at the end of the day.
Dependable Weather Sensors: measures temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, UV exposure, and precipitation using reliable sensors.
Constant Data Collection: records weather information uninterruptedly with the solar panel option.
Designed with Durability: adapts to the harshest weather conditions, including gusts, downpours, dust, and UV radiation thanks to its aerodynamic design.
Smart Wireless Integration: connects seamlessly through a Wi-Fi router and smartphone, as well as with other smart home hardware and applications.
Broadcast to the World: provides the ability to share weather data and images to family, friends and the world.
Powered by Solar: BloomSky can be optionally powered by solar panels so that it can be installed at a location where direct AC power is not easily accessible.

Here’s a good video that highlights the functionality of this device:

The Community:

Taking part in the BloomSky community is easy and you can choose your level of involvement. We’ll start by introducing you to the basics. The application is freely offered in the following flavors:

Free online service at: https://maps.bloomsky.com/; no account is necessary and there is no download!
Free mobile app available for iOS and Android; again, no account required and it is free. Simply go to the App Store or Google Play and look for “BloomSky”.

Let’s Get Started:

We’ll walk you through the first steps of checking out the BloomSky community. Once on the site you can begin to explore locations around the globe!

Click on the link: https://maps.bloomsky.com/
The web page is divided into two regions as can be seen in the image.
In the top half you can enter a location in the search box like so…
Note: You can also move the map and find a location using the red circle regions.
Click on a red circle or any of the images in the lower half which are a subset of the BloomSky devices within the viewable map. A box appears with a current image of the sky from that location. Now you can click the image or the “View Details” button to get weather information such as what you see here:

You can also play a time-lapse of the previous day’s weather.

Our First Impression:

Like the BloomSky community growing around the globe, we’re excited. This is real-time weather tracking provided by real people. It’s a true indication of a global neighborhood. The features that inspire us include:

Access to current weather data and forecasts.
Real-time view of the sky around the globe.
Relevant weather information from five high-grade sensors to measure: temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, UV, and precipitation when it occurs.
Easy to operate interactive map.
Easy to access daily time-lapse videos.

An offer for our readers:

Disclaimer: CompuClever will not financially benefit from any purchase that may result from this article, which serves as a purely independent review.

As the BloomSky community is saying… it’s fun and educational too. We will be following up this review with further reviews of the BloomSky technology for those of our readers that are interested in taking the next step: getting a BloomSky weather device of their very own.

Stay tuned!