Welcome to the Cocoontech forum SpatialProf!
Here many years ago purchased the Hobby Board moisture sensor, Gypsum Soil Sensor and Leaf Wetness Sensor. (~2006??)
I never saw a moisture meta data logger or mention of a Hobby boards moisture meter data logger on the HB site. (unless I missed it)
Documentation to the Hobby Board moisture sensor was:
Moisture Meter
The Moisture Meter measures moisture levels as detected through either a Gypsum Soil Sensor or a Leaf Wetness Sensor. It works by measuring the resistance of these sensors, which decrease as moisture levels go up.
To set up the Moisture Meter, you will need to connect all 5 terminals of the screw terminal. Two of the screw terminals connect the Gypsum Soil Sensor or the Leaf Wetness Sensor; see below for installation instructions for these devices. To connect the Moisture Meter to your 1-Wire network, simply connect the 1-Wire data line to the screw terminal marked DQ, and connect the 1-Wire ground line to the screw terminal marked GND. This device also requires 9-24 volts of external power, which should be connected to the screw terminal marked +12v and GND. For more information, please see our general discussion of Connecting Devices to the 1-Wire Network.
Since your Moisture Meter will most likely be installed in a humid environment, you should take precautions to protect it. The board should be mounted inside a weather-tight enclosure if possible. We recommend coating the device with a spray coating, which is available through us when you purchase an assembled device. If you coat the board yourself, use liquid electrical tape or spray varnish. Apply the coating after the connections have been made, and be sure to coat the terminals well. The Moisture Meter does not have RJ45 connectors, as they may not hold up as well in outdoor exposed conditions.
The Moisture Meter is a relatively new 1-Wire device. It will work with any software that supports a DS2760. If you have favorite software, you should check whether the device is supported. An increasing number of software vendors are including support for this device.
Gypsum Soil Sensor:
The Moisture Meter can be very simply connected to the Gypsum Soil Sensor by directly connecting the built-in wires of the Gypsum Soil Sensor to the screw terminals labeled SENSOR. If longer wires are desired, we recommend that you custom-order a soil sensor with wires the desired length. You can extend the wires yourself, using twin-lead, but we do not recommended that you extend the wires using CAT-5 or other twisted-pair wire. We also do not recommended that you extend the wires beyond an extra 10’ (3m), as the additional wire length may skew the readings of your moisture meter. The Gypsum Soil Sensor should last approximately 5 years before needing to be replaced.
Gypsum Soil Sensors work by detecting changes in the resistance of the gypsum block as it absorbs moisture from the surrounding soil. The Gypsum Soil Sensor should be installed in your garden or yard, according to the root zones of the plants you intend to grow. Ideally, two sensors would be placed at different depths, one in the center of the root zone and the other near the bottom of that zone. This enables you to ensure deep watering, and to re-water when the soil starts to dry out in the middle of the root zone. A typical depth for a vegetable garden might be at 12” – 24” (30cm-60cm). For large yards or gardens, more than one monitoring station may be desirable, especially if the sunlight exposure, soil, or drainage is very different across the area. To install, pre-soak the Gypsum Soil Sensor in water for at least an hour. Dig a hole for the sensor to the desired depth, reserving the removed soil. Soak the hole, and insert the soil sensor. Make a slurry out of the reserved soil, and backfill the hole with this slurry.
Leaf Wetness Sensor:
The Leaf Wetness Sensor is also easily connected to the Moisture Meter. It does not come with attached wire -- you will need to solder the desired length of speaker wire (or other wire) to the two connector holes, and then connect the other end of the wire to the Moisture Meter screw terminals labeled SENSOR. We do not recommend using wires longer than about 10’ (3m), as the long wire length may skew the readings of your moisture meter.
The Leaf Wetness Sensors work by detecting changes in the sensor’s resistance as moisture bridges across the traces. The non-solder-masked version will react more quickly to moisture, but as it is less protected and the traces may corrode faster than the solder-masked version. Either version of the Leaf Wetness Sensor should be periodically wiped clean to remove contaminants and prolong its life. To mount the Leaf Wetness Sensor, you can use the screw hole provided. The sensor should be mounted horizontally or at an angle rather than vertically. The appropriate mounting location should be selected depending on whether you desire to measure moisture from rain, dew, fog, etc.
The sensors and 1-wire board did not work for my needs and I abandoned my efforts - (thinking it is still in my one wire box o 1-wire trinkets).
I am not sure that HB sold a 1-wire data logger. Thinking they sold a 1-wire sniffer at one time.
1-Wire Data Logger Ideas
Back then I was automating in Wintel and using Midon's Temp0X stuff (3), 9097's, xAP (Michael's stuff) with multiple 1-wire networks.
Recently tinkering with an old RPi2 with one 9097 (USB) and a 2nd floor combo temperature/humidity (and lightning) network covering every room on the second floor. Still doing a hybrid star of sorts...well maybe hub and spoke is a better term for what I am doing. Using both Linux DigiTemp and OWFS at the same time and it works great. Many folks are main lining connections to the RPi or using Aduinos (and doing stuff wirelessly).
Lately having switched to Linux for my automation also switching to WeeWx for my weather station stuff from originally using CumulusMx.
If you want to do some data logging of your moisture sensor, just install WeeWx and use their stuff.....it is plug n play.
WeeWx is using a mySQL back end and Apache2 web front end. (well a LAMP server). That said with WeeWx I can use my Davis weather station (now via a multifunctional wireless receiver called the MeteoStick), 1-wire stuff, new Lightning sensor and old 1-wire lightning sensor, old moisture board with data logging for anything which works for me. Here also utilized the Davis Rain tipping bucket, Dallas Rain tipping bucket (1-wire) and two digital rain guages (one connected to a HB dual counter and the other servers as an on off switch for any rain or mist). There was a time too where I was comparing my numbers to NOAA / marine study locations which were using Davis weatherstations and easy access to data layered down in the web sites that hadn't ever been updated (99% of these are like that today with absolutely no security and public).
