# USB Thermometer?



## jp1203 (Jul 21, 2005)

Okay, what I want to do is very basic, but I can't seem to find the hardware capable of it, or rather hardware that is capable, yet simple.

I want to find a USB thermometer that I can run outside with a 10-20 foot USB cable. The goal is to have it give a temperature output in an HTML file or text file. It would need to be capable of a temperature range of about -25F to +100F. 

The ultimate goal is to have the current outdoor temperature appear on a website hosted from said computer.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Joe


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

Sounds like this one might do it.......
http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/15/usb-indoor-outdoor-thermometer-for-when-walking-outside-is-ju/
Probably would be easier to put a weather gadget from one of the
weather websites on your site.


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## paisanol69 (Sep 7, 2005)

leroys1000 said:


> Sounds like this one might do it.......
> http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/15/usb-indoor-outdoor-thermometer-for-when-walking-outside-is-ju/
> Probably would be easier to put a weather gadget from one of the
> weather websites on your site.


from the link posted by leroys in the previous post, one of the viewers comments...the comment actually gives more detail than the web based ad that the link takes you to.

heng Posted Aug 15th 2008 12:23PM NeutralHey guys


> .......... I already bought 2 ( 1just temp and one temp and humidity)
> I use it for Logging purposes in the office, ( we have over 30°C very often) and it works great. the software can even send a email every so often and it has a temp alert when temperature is over a certain value.
> it writes .csv tables 1 per hour you can use in excel.
> you will have to set the correction factor by comparing with another thermometer.. but otherwise it is cheap and does the job. I paid about 12 on ebay. it suits my needs just fine..........


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## jp1203 (Jul 21, 2005)

Thanks for the replies,

Looks like it's out of stock or discontinued on every site I can find that sells it, unfortunately.

Otherwise, it looks like it would do exactly what I want. Did either of you find a place that still sold it?

Joe


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## Chipzzz (Jan 12, 2010)

Amazon has it here http://www.amazon.com/TEMPer-USB-Thermometer-w-Alerts/dp/B002VA813U .


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## paisanol69 (Sep 7, 2005)

Chipzzz said:


> Amazon has it here http://www.amazon.com/TEMPer-USB-Thermometer-w-Alerts/dp/B002VA813U .


....customer rating at the link above (amazon)

The rater seems to know what he/she is talking about, and heres a partial quote....



> 1) If you attempt to measure a temperature slightly above 37 C, it will get "stuck" at 37.00 C, which is a very suspicious property. Only if the temperature exceeds 39 C will it get "unstuck", and produce a higher temperature reading. The curve plotted by the nice software bundled with the device makes this "bug" obvious.
> 
> 2) It has an obvious hysteresis: the temperature reading in the same room depends on the starting temperature of the device (if you pre-heat it or pre-cool it, the final reading is different, after a reasonable equilibration time). The hysteresis is more than 2.0 C, which is unacceptable.
> 
> 3) It significantly over-estimates the ambient temperature, probably due to the thermal coupling with the computer.


so it may not be what you're looking for after all. Basically, the rater liked the software that came with the temp probe, but not the probe itself. If you need really accurate measurements, then this probe probably wont work for you.

Thanks Chipzzz, good find!!


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## jp1203 (Jul 21, 2005)

paisanol69 said:


> ....customer rating at the link above (amazon)
> 
> The rater seems to know what he/she is talking about, and heres a partial quote....
> 
> ...


37C (these darned Celsius measurements), that would be about 99 degrees. I don't think that would be an issue because the place it would be rarely hits 80, and has probably never even gotten to 95, nevermind 99.

I wonder how inaccurate it really is. I certainly don't want it 5-10 degrees off, but if it's within about 2, that's okay. It's just to measure temperature of the outside of a building.

I'm almost inclined to order it because it's only $13, so it's not a big risk if it is a horrible sensor.


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## paisanol69 (Sep 7, 2005)

well, the usb extension cable is going to cost more than the probe, so if the probe craps out due to weather exposure (rain?) at least you will still have th cable for other uses! Good luck!


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## Frank4d (Sep 10, 2006)

Maybe something here: http://www.vernier.com/probes/temperature.html It looks like the publish accuracy specs too.


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

You might just try doing a web search for USB
temperature probe to see what else comes up.
That's how I found that one.


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