The Alecto WS-1300 is a wireless plant observation system. It consists of a base unit and one or multiple plant sensors. The default system includes the base unit and one plant sensor. Optional sensors can be ordered from the manufacturer (Alecto). Although it seems Alecto just re branded a Chinese product (more about that later)
Here is a picture of the product, with the plant sensor on the left and the base unit on the right:
The base unit
Lets have a look at the base unit, it only has four simple screws to get inside:
And this is what it looks from the inside:
The PCB has a lot of screws (12!) to keep it in place with the LCD attached on the backside of the PCB. Top left is the 433MHz receiver module (yes, this little gadget uses the 433MHz band) with its long antenna (wire) attached.
This is what the backside of the PCB looks like, nothing much to see except for the LCD:
And here is a more detailed view of the PCB. I have looked up some of the numbers, and figured out that Chinese markets sell exactly the same board. So it seems Alecto just put their brand on it.
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The plant sensor
The plant sensor itself was a bit harder to open (its sealed along its edges in order to keep it water tight). I managed to pry it open using a bit of force with a screw driver. This is what I ended up with:
This concludes the teardown of this product. If anyone knows a bit more about the protocol it uses, please let me know!
