The Backwoods Logger is a programmable device for measuring and graphing temperature, air pressure, and altitude. It's designed for hikers, backpackers, climbers, skiers, trail runners, cyclists, kayakers, snowmobilers, horseback riders, and other outdoorsy people interested in environmental data logging over timescales from an hour to a few weeks.
Please visit the wiki for complete details and documentation.
- Graphs of temperature, pressure, and altitude over time
- Three graph time scales: past 2 hours, past 10 hours, past 2.5 days
- Current rate of ascent/descent
- Estimated time of arrival at a user-defined altitude
- Weather forecast
- Station pressure and pressure at sea level
- Snapshot feature – make a permanent record of date, time, altitude, temperature, and pressure at important waypoints
- Current date and time display
- Imperial or metric units option
- Battery voltage indicator
- Sound on/off control
- 3 to 6 month battery life, depending on usage
- Temperature measurements in 0.5 degree steps, from -10F to 117.5F (-23C to 48C)
- Air pressure measurements in 0.01 in-Hg steps, from 5.9 to 36.12 in-Hg (170 to 1250 millibars)
- Altitude (calculated from air pressure) measurements in 2 ft steps, from -1384 ft to 14999 ft (-300 to 4500 meters)
- Download graph data to your PC using the optional BLsync adapter
Don't see the feature you want? Join the project and help create it! Also check out the list of development ideas for suggestions on where you could help out.
Two versions of the Backwoods Logger design are available:
- 128 x 64 OLED display
- 1.9 x 1.1 x 0.7 inches (48 x 28 x 17 mm) - very small!
- 0.7 ounces (19g) including AAA battery
- 84 x 48 LCD display
- 2.75 x 1.75 x 0.75 inches (70 x 45 x 17 mm)
- 1.3 ounces (37g) including CR2032 battery
- all through-hole parts, easy to assemble
Both versions of the Backwoods Logger use the Atmel ATmega328P microcontroller and Bosch BMP085 pressure / temperature sensor. The ATmega328P is the same microcontroller used in the popular Arduino electronics prototyping system. Anyone with some programming experience can modify the Logger's C source code to change its behavior or add new features.
The Backwoods Logger was originally developed as a Big Mess o' Wires project.
Because the Backwoods Logger is an open hardware project, you can build one yourself using the plans provided here. See the assembly instructions for more details.
Don't want to build your own? Steve Chamberlin made a small production run of Backwoods Logger Mini units and BLsync adapter boards, and is offering them for sale. The price is $49 for an assembled Logger Mini, and $6 for an assembled blsync adapter. Contact Steve for more details or to make a purchase.
Need a PCB? Steve is also selling bare Logger Mini PCBs for $3.
Want to learn more, or maybe help with the project? Join the Backwoods Logger public discussion group.
Youtube video of the Backwoods Logger Classic in action:
