QUESTION: Can IoT weather stations send data every 10 minutes and comply with wireless regulatory requirements of LoRaWAN and Sigfox?

ANSWER: MeteoHelix® weather stations have been verified with SIGFOX and are allowed to send messages every 10 minutes, thus conforming with requirements of professional meteorology as specified by the WMO.

Sending 11 bytes every 10 minutes 144 times per day (not 12 bytes 140/day) still enables the MeteoHelix micro weather stations to comply with government radio directives like:

• UK CEPT Rec. 70-03

• EU CEPT/ERC Recommendation 70-03 relating to the use of short range devices (SRD)

• Southern AFRICA Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa (CRASA) Harmonised Frequency Bands For SRD Applications

• Complies to the regulatory requirements of all other countries. (To the best of our knowledge.)

The Sigfox backend will send warnings, but all is OK.

WMO requirements

The reason for the 10 minute time interval is so that the weather stations can comply with World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standards for measurement. If this could not be the case, Sigfox disqualifies itself from any non-amateur weather observation systems. So in the end, all is good and Sigfox can be used for professional meteorological observation systems and AWOS weather stations.

DISCLAIMER: Please always verify with your local authority the regulations governing LoRaWAN IoT sensor operation. If you have a Sigfox operator in your country, they will be verified already. If you do not have a Sigfox operator in your country, please verify with your local authority the regulations governing Sigfox IoT sensor operation.