Author Topic: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?  (Read 40016 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline up10ad N9RJH

  • USA Weather Finder
  • WxElement panel
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 578
  • Station will be back up someday...
    • Forecaster without a site
AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« on: May 23, 2010, 03:37:39 PM »
I received the following email today from AKEWAS, complaining that my pressure is reading too low, and to that I have used one of my webcams to temporarily point to my foaling pen:

> Dear AWEKAS Member
> Your station is sending invalid values to AWEKAS Weather Network. One of our operators has disabled the following sensor(s):
> air pressure (wrong value: 991.4hPa )
> The blocking of the sensor(s) is for 24 hours and will be automatically removed at Mon, 24.05.2010 19:11 UTC
> Please check your sensors and transmission unit.
> If this mail is unjustified please contact us by mail at mail@awekas.at.
>
> The administrator has added the following note: Air pressure 10-12 haPa too low. On a weatherwebcam i expect landscape and heaven, not a mare and its foal.

My cam (one of two) makes it clear that it is only temporarily pointed at the mare and foal, and I'll be darned if some PWS compiler located 10,000 miles away is going to tell me what I can do with my personal station.

Mine is a Personal Weather Station, and a very professional one at that.  My viewers are local and regional, and they actually like watching the foals being born on cam each year.  It is one of the things that makes my weather site much more appealing to my visitors that other weather sites.

I'm not at all happy and have have pulled the plug on AWEKAS.  Your comments are welcome.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2010, 03:42:04 PM by up10ad »
Rick (N9RJH)
Have you joined USAWeatherFinder.com yet?

Offline sam2004gp

  • Mount Crawford, Virginia
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2865
  • Weeeeeeeee!!!!
    • Mount Crawford Weather, VA
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2010, 03:55:11 PM »
I am behind you.  =D>
SAM --->>> http://www.mountcrawfordweather.org
OS WMR-968 with a Dedicated PWS Weather Computer running VWS v13.01 p09


Offline Downlinerz2

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2937
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2010, 04:02:36 PM »
    Good Job!!  =D> =D> =D>

Offline lddaly

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 490
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2010, 04:10:07 PM »
Good call!  =D>

Offline up10ad N9RJH

  • USA Weather Finder
  • WxElement panel
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 578
  • Station will be back up someday...
    • Forecaster without a site
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2010, 04:13:52 PM »
As this settles into my brain I can't help but wonder why a site like AWEKAS, that relies on volunteers to freely contribute their data, would behave in such a manner.  As most of you know, I run USAWeatherFinder.com and, apart from requiring data from an actual weather station, I wouldn't dream of suggesting what is or is not appropriate content for any member site. 
« Last Edit: May 23, 2010, 04:19:38 PM by up10ad »
Rick (N9RJH)
Have you joined USAWeatherFinder.com yet?

Offline Axelvold

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1704
    • Axelvold's weather and photo
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2010, 04:18:12 PM »
You are absolutely right Rick

I do not like their tone, it was a bit rude I think.
Lars Magnusson
Axelvold / Sweden
55° 57' 41" N / 13° 6' 1" E
WX Station: Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus

Offline up10ad N9RJH

  • USA Weather Finder
  • WxElement panel
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 578
  • Station will be back up someday...
    • Forecaster without a site
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2010, 04:20:38 PM »
You are absolutely right Rick

I do not like their tone, it was a bit rude I think.
Thanks for the non-US perspective Lars, I appreciate it.
Rick (N9RJH)
Have you joined USAWeatherFinder.com yet?

Offline Axelvold

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1704
    • Axelvold's weather and photo
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #7 on: May 23, 2010, 04:31:52 PM »
Your welcome Rick

One thing that puzzles me is how could they be so sure that your data is incorrect?
Lars Magnusson
Axelvold / Sweden
55° 57' 41" N / 13° 6' 1" E
WX Station: Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus

Offline Weather Display

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2611
    • West Coast Road Weather Data
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #8 on: May 23, 2010, 04:43:23 PM »
do take into consideration cultural differences
i.e people from Germany can be blunt and direct and to the point

but commenting on your web cam in that way does seem to be over the top
putting it as an interest question would be better I would have thought
Brian
info@weather-display.com
http://www.weather-display.com

Offline Axelvold

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1704
    • Axelvold's weather and photo
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #9 on: May 23, 2010, 04:48:37 PM »
i.e people from Germany can be blunt and direct and to the point

Could not have said it better myself.
Lars Magnusson
Axelvold / Sweden
55° 57' 41" N / 13° 6' 1" E
WX Station: Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus

Offline up10ad N9RJH

  • USA Weather Finder
  • WxElement panel
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 578
  • Station will be back up someday...
    • Forecaster without a site
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #10 on: May 23, 2010, 06:12:26 PM »
It's not like you can't tell what the weather is like from the cam pic.  If its raining it shows, if its cloudy it shows, however, it doesn't show the wind speed very well.  :lol: So if my cam showed trees and maybe some of the neighbors houses because I lived in town, would that also be unacceptable?   
« Last Edit: May 23, 2010, 06:21:53 PM by up10ad »
Rick (N9RJH)
Have you joined USAWeatherFinder.com yet?

Offline ocala

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 4383
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #11 on: May 23, 2010, 06:13:04 PM »
I would contact someone higher up at AKEWAS
From time to time we all can be "grumpy" so to speak and this may be one of those times. I have never heard of this before from them so it could be someone just had a bad day.
I don't send any data to them so I don't know how they interact with the public. I'm betting someone overstepped their bounds and needs someone to explain to them that what they did was wrong.
The blues had a baby and they named it Rock & Roll

Offline lddaly

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 490
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #12 on: May 23, 2010, 06:38:42 PM »
Your welcome Rick

One thing that puzzles me is how could they be so sure that your data is incorrect?

Good point Lars... Rick is getting thumbs up from CWOP.

Offline DanS

  • Chiang Mai weather
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 5434
    • ThaiWx
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #13 on: May 23, 2010, 07:41:44 PM »
I received the following email today from AKEWAS, complaining that my pressure is reading too low, and to that I have used one of my webcams to temporarily point to my foaling pen:

> Dear AWEKAS Member
> Your station is sending invalid values to AWEKAS Weather Network. One of our operators has disabled the following sensor(s):
> air pressure (wrong value: 991.4hPa )
> The blocking of the sensor(s) is for 24 hours and will be automatically removed at Mon, 24.05.2010 19:11 UTC
> Please check your sensors and transmission unit.
> If this mail is unjustified please contact us by mail at mail@awekas.at.
>
> The administrator has added the following note: Air pressure 10-12 haPa too low. On a weatherwebcam i expect landscape and heaven, not a mare and its foal.

My cam (one of two) makes it clear that it is only temporarily pointed at the mare and foal, and I'll be darned if some PWS compiler located 10,000 miles away is going to tell me what I can do with my personal station.

Mine is a Personal Weather Station, and a very professional one at that.  My viewers are local and regional, and they actually like watching the foals being born on cam each year.  It is one of the things that makes my weather site much more appealing to my visitors that other weather sites.

I'm not at all happy and have have pulled the plug on AWEKAS.  Your comments are welcome.

I don't know how they can complain about members sending inaccurate data. I submitted a suggestion about a month ago to adjust the temperature scale on my instrument page because it tops out at 104 F and we've been having days warmer than that. I was told it would be fixed and still today it's the same. So who is providing the wrong data (or masking it) here? Not me.

Offline kray1000

  • Purveyor of wry
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1336
    • http://www.roanokevalleyweather.com
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #14 on: May 23, 2010, 09:43:40 PM »
If the link was submitted as a weather webcam and it isn't, then I'm with awekas.

As Rick mentioned, there is a [weather] webcam image on that page in addition to the foalcam.  There might be some merit to switching their positions on that page, although I'll admit that the foalcam is more interesting!
« Last Edit: May 24, 2010, 06:03:01 PM by kray1000 »

Offline racenet

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1306
    • NH Weather Data
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #15 on: May 24, 2010, 12:26:24 AM »
You are correct Rick. I am behind you 110%.

I am pulling the plug on them also. I do not want my data going to a place that treats someone like that.



Bob
www.theamericanflagstore.com - The American Flag Store



www.nhweatherdata.com - NH Weather Data

Offline up10ad N9RJH

  • USA Weather Finder
  • WxElement panel
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 578
  • Station will be back up someday...
    • Forecaster without a site
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #16 on: May 24, 2010, 12:34:33 AM »
While I'm unhappy at their behavior, I'm not asking for a boycott or anything.  However, I appreciate the support.
Rick (N9RJH)
Have you joined USAWeatherFinder.com yet?

Offline Axelvold

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1704
    • Axelvold's weather and photo
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #17 on: May 24, 2010, 01:02:09 AM »
While I'm unhappy at their behavior, I'm not asking for a boycott or anything.  However, I appreciate the support.

Just say the word and we unplug the cable.  \:D/
Lars Magnusson
Axelvold / Sweden
55° 57' 41" N / 13° 6' 1" E
WX Station: Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus

Offline Mark / Ohio

  • Live from Mars!
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2511
    • Fairfield County Weather
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #18 on: May 24, 2010, 01:07:42 AM »
...My cam (one of two) makes it clear that it is only temporarily pointed at the mare and foal, and I'll be darned if some PWS compiler located 10,000 miles away is going to tell me what I can do with my personal station...

I agree!
Mark 
2002 Davis VP I Wireless, WeatherLink (Serial), GRLevel3, VirtualVP, StartWatch, Weather Display, Windows 10


Offline up10ad N9RJH

  • USA Weather Finder
  • WxElement panel
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 578
  • Station will be back up someday...
    • Forecaster without a site
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #19 on: May 24, 2010, 04:23:39 PM »
To their credit, AWEKAS responded:

AWEKAS Wetterkartensystem - Othmar Gattringer wrote:
>
> Sorry but this post was by one of our admin. The primary problem was you air pressure. It was to low. I think it was the absolute pressure not the relative.
>
> Cam is no problem! It can be hide…. (because its no weather cam)
>
> Best Regards
> Othmar Gattringer
>  
> AWEKAS Weather Map Network
>


I have written back to them as follows:


Othmar,

First, thanks for the response.  However, your admin needs a lesson in etiquette.

As for the cam, it is a weather cam, and does show if it is raining, foggy, cloudy, and lots of other stuff.  It is one of two cams and is only temporarily pointed at the foaling pen.  Mine is a Personal Weather Station, and a very professional one at that.  My viewers are local and regional, and they actually like watching the foals being born on cam each year.  It is one of the things that makes my weather site much more appealing to my visitors that other weather sites.

As for the pressure issue, interesting that you think my pressure is too low, CWOP says it is fine compared to nearby stations.  Anyway,  you guys need to remember that his isn't a a science experiment.  Most PWS are run as a hobby, and while we like to keep our information accurate, it may not always be in line with what you think it should be.  If you want to aggregate PWS data you have to expect some degree of variance.  Perhaps you should aggregate NWS or NOAA station data; but from what I've read on the subject, they aren't very accurate either, mainly because of (mis)placement in many areas.

I've made the decision to stop sending my data to AWEKAS and some other sites.  It seems that the receiving sites always seem to develop an attitude that I should be thankful that they allow me to give them my data, when in reality it should be the other way around.

I wish you the best.  Thanks again for the response.
--
Rick Heming        
                             



« Last Edit: May 24, 2010, 04:26:10 PM by up10ad »
Rick (N9RJH)
Have you joined USAWeatherFinder.com yet?

Offline Weather Display

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2611
    • West Coast Road Weather Data
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #20 on: May 24, 2010, 06:11:09 PM »
maybe the thing with the barometer is due to you being at high altitude and is the old altitude vs sea sea level barometer reading, maybe they are comparing to sea level barometer adjusted readings, when at high altitudes, an altitude adjusted barometer reading is better (adjusted for 24 average temperature etc)
Brian
info@weather-display.com
http://www.weather-display.com

Offline up10ad N9RJH

  • USA Weather Finder
  • WxElement panel
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 578
  • Station will be back up someday...
    • Forecaster without a site
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #21 on: May 24, 2010, 07:17:58 PM »
I don't know.  There isn't any config choice for barometer that I see in the WD panel to set up AWEKAS.  VWS has choices but not WD that I see.
Rick (N9RJH)
Have you joined USAWeatherFinder.com yet?

Offline weatherforyou

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 545
  • My weather is on WeatherForYou.com. Is yours?
    • http://www.weatherforyou.com
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #22 on: May 24, 2010, 07:21:44 PM »
I've made the decision to stop sending my data to AWEKAS and some other sites.
Including PWSweather.com?  I hope not.   :-(

We have never had an attitude like you describe.  We're here to serve personal weather stations and always have been.
« Last Edit: May 24, 2010, 07:23:51 PM by weatherforyou »
Joe Torsitano


Offline Weather Display

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2611
    • West Coast Road Weather Data
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #23 on: May 24, 2010, 09:47:21 PM »
you can set in WD in the CWOP setup to use the altimeter adjusted barometer for all WD data
Brian
info@weather-display.com
http://www.weather-display.com

Offline tomcj2

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 848
    • CanbyWeather
Re: AWEKAS being a bit rude and intolerant?
« Reply #24 on: May 24, 2010, 09:59:22 PM »
If I stopped dealing with every company that had an employee that had ticked me off at some time, I would be on my own with no source of food,water, entertainment and transportation.  Somebody screwed up, give them a break.  The second time they pissed me off would be a different matter.

Davis VP2 (6163), WL 5.9.0..  VWS 14.01 p25, Panasonic HM371A camera. WU & W4U KORCANBY3, CoCoRaHS OR-CC-27