Topic: It arrived!

[KA8MAV]

Today, all the equipment arrived from Ambient Weather.     I must say... EXCELLENT support already from them.  Fast shipping and I had many questions that were answered before I placed my order.  I'll be buying a lot more gear from them in the future! 

Okay, now I have a 33 lb. box of goodies... that is now spread out all over the place.

When all this stuff arrived... was anyone else a bit overwhelmed? 

I'm planning on installing XP Pro (very stripped down) on a VIA EPIA system I have (currently running Ubuntu Studio - need to pull out the Audigy II ZS card and put in the Boltek Stormtracker PCI card - I hope it fits) as a dedicated weather computer.  I've been *very* interested in weather for a very long time.  My history with weather stations dates back to when my dad designed the original Heathkit ID-4001.  If anyone is interested in some history... he drove around in a Toyota with the anemometer mounted to the top of it with a 2x4 testing the calibration (it was actually tested in a wind tunnel during the design phase for the wind cups).  Funny thing is, he got pulled over and had to explain WHY he had all this gear strapped to the top of the car.  Anyway, back in 1977 or so, we had one of our ID-4001's connected to a Heathkit H-8 with a prototype Votrax speech synthesizer that would wake us up and tell us the current weather.  That was a LONG time ago.  Now, with this new system... I plan on doing SO much more.  I'm very excited!

Anyway, freezing rain right now... the ground is still frozen here in central Indiana, so I can't put in the post to mount the ISS just yet, but I'm SO ready to get it all up and running.

I've been doing a lot of reding on this site and want to thank everyone for all the posts I've read so far.

More to come later... I'm building a lake level sensor to measure the water level in our lake.  That should be fun to get on a website and in a chart.  I'm SURE I'll have questions... I just can't sleep.  I NEED to get this up and going!

Again, a SPECIAL thanks to Ed and Ambient Weather!  I'll buy ALL my weather gear from them.

[Mark / Ohio]

Welcome to WxForum KA8MAV!   

My original weather station was the Heath Kit model with analog gauges and imitation wood console I bought around 1987.

[KA8MAV]

Thanks for the welcome.  I've spent most of the night installing XP and got the Boltek up and running (although the antenna is still inside).  I'm hoping to have the rest up and running by the end of the week and have the website up and running as well.

I can't wait to get the VP2 up and running!

[ncpilot]

I'm most impressed that it was your father that designed the original Heathkit weather station... brings back fond memories of all the Heathkits I built in my youth... makes me think of vacuum tubes (huh??  is that something you use on carpets??)

Also, since there is another thread on micro/mini-ITX type systems, I'm sure some of us would be interested in your final experiences using that box for a dedicated weather computer...

[Sigdigit]

You cracked me up!  Nice to hear from other people that share the same enthusiasm when their "toys" arrive at their doorstep!  I just wish I had your budget!

[racenet]

I just wish I had your budget!

Budget? We don't need no stinkin' budget! 

[ncpilot]

I just wish I had your budget!

Budget? We don't need no stinkin' budget! 

That's right! You can skimp on the basic necessities of life... cut back on the bourbon and $8 cigars, substitute generic for name brand frozen meals. Dump the premium whole wheat for plain old white bread... get rid of broadband and go back to dialup.

  oops, keep the broadband...

And if you have a family, well, put them all to work--people are way too sensitive about child labor... LOL

[Mark / Ohio]

.... get rid of broadband and go back to dialup.

....

I was with you up until that point.  Then I thought I was going to have to drive down there and slap you up side the head.   

[KA8MAV]

... get rid of broadband and go back to dialup.

  oops, keep the broadband...

Well, actually... I AM still on dial-up out here.  That's one of the problems I've been having all weekend is getting VWS to do updates automatically.  I *really* wish we had broadband!  But... AT&T keeps saying new copper isn't in the budget just yet.  Yea, just out of 3G range too (even with a Yagi).   

[Anthony]

Many people with that have dial up and use VWS have no problems updating their web pages. You just can't over do it. I would recommend maybe every 30 mins.

[KA8MAV]

The only way I've found for it to be reliable is to set it to auto reboot and have everything start up automatically.  I put IE in the startup folder (pointing to a static page) and as soon as it tries to load the page it connects and everything updates.  But I can't get VWS to initiate the dial-up.  Any thoughts?

[Mark / Ohio]

...

Well, actually... I AM still on dial-up out here.  That's one of the problems I've been having all weekend is getting VWS to do updates automatically.  I *really* wish we had broadband!  But... AT&T keeps saying new copper isn't in the budget just yet.  Yea, just out of 3G range too (even with a Yagi).   

I was on dialup until a little over a year ago.  AT&T finally installed a remote terminal about 2 mile away so now I qualify for all their DSL speed packages.  Sure opens up a new realm of the internet and makes the weather hobby much easier.

Along the lines of getting VWS to dial out.  I did not have any problems on Win 98 but when I upgraded to XP there was something I had to changed in the services so when any program wanted internet access it would dial out.  But I'm drawing a blank now what it was I changed to get it to work since that was 2-3 years ago.  I remember also I had occasional problems with it failing to disconnect due to other running software which would tie up my only phone line into the house.  To resolve that I installed a little program to disconnect after so many minutes of inactivity in case Windows failed to to so.  I deleted that program when I got the DSL connection and I don't recall what the name of it was either.

Boy am I being a lot of help.     I think I found the answers to both googling something along the lines of "unable to auto dial" or "dial up not disconnecting".     It did take a lot of fiddling with settings before I hit the right combination that it worked reliably with both software and the ISP.

[Anthony]

I have not had dial up since I've had vws. So I am of no help either. But as Mark indicated. Deffinately a setting. Either in Windows or maybe IE?