SDI-12 USB adapter on Raspberry pi

[UPDATE] Please follow this link to the SDI-12 USB adapter page for up-to-date information:

https://liudresllc.com/gadget/sdi-12-usb-adapter/

I have successfully developed Python code to run the SDI-12 USB adapter data logger on Raspberry PI. It was quite a learning experience for me but I was able to boil down the steps into a tutorial on how to install the latest Python on Debian/Raspbian here.

Here are some screen shots of the data logger:

I was using a Decagon 5TM soil temperature and humidity sensor (hanging free in air and sometimes touching my table).

I have translated the Tera Term scripts into Python so it would run on all operating systems, including Win 10, Linux (Debian), and Raspberry PI (Raspbian). I have not got my Mac fixed but don’t expect any issues.

Now you have two Python scripts:

The configuration script detects the SDI-12 sensor’s address, prints the name of the sensor, and you can change it to a different address.

The data logger script lists all available serial ports to let you choose the correct one, then asks for sensor address, total data points, delays between data points, and also what time (GMT or local) to use. You can expand the script to take data from multiple probes and upload data to a server. I’ll add more info on the server upload to sparkfun’s phant data server.

While developing the code, I also discovered that the serial port console was very useful. You can set up auto login and run the data logger script upon auto login. This way the data logger starts logging data once the RPI boots up and auto logs on. No need to log in or use VNC (not good if your logger is using 4G hotspot for internet). Just a command prompt is all that is needed. Next step is to add a config file so the data logger will no longer ask for user inputs when this file exists and takes parameters from the file. This config file will reside in the FAT partition so that the user can easily update the parameters without having to boot into raspberry pi. Just remove the sd card and change parameters on a PC.