Author Topic: Acu-rite internet bridge queries: history, number of sensors, etc  (Read 3050 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Broaddd

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 31
Acu-rite internet bridge queries: history, number of sensors, etc
« on: September 10, 2012, 12:55:53 AM »
Hi folks,

Amazing site! I have been reading here about the bridge, and have got myself confused on a couple of things.

- how many separate transmitters can it receive and/or report? Is there a difference in the sense you can have any number of sensors registered, but only receive data for 3 (or whatever) at a time? The acu-rite website refers to 3 which I think I say Rhino confirming in one thread but then I saw Rhino in another thread saying "I have 11 different sensor all reporting to my bridge at my house, and at the office here- we have upwards of 30 sensors reporting to the office bridge." (http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=12930.0). The manual doesn't seem to mention it.

- has the bridge already been on sale and is currently 'out of stock' while awaiting the new bridge? Or has it never yet been widely available outside beta testers?

- if the answer to the second question is that the bridge was once on sale, will the new bridge be different hardware or just coincide with new software?

It sounds like a great product, but it would be even better if it connected to your wireless network rather than requiring an ethernet connection :)

Cheers,
B

Offline Rhino

  • Senior Contributor
  • ****
  • Posts: 246
Re: Acu-rite internet bridge queries: history, number of sensors, etc
« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2012, 12:34:53 PM »
Hi there,

The Bridge can connect to 3 separate AcuRite sensors. Some sensors provide only temp and humidity, some provide wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, temperature and humidity (5-in-1 sensor). Either way- each physical sensor counts as ONE sensor only, regardless of how many weather data variables it provides. The hardware is technically capable of supporting more sensors, but the additional server traffic of "unlimited" sensors would be very expensive and unstable at times. The hardware we have in our facility has unlimited sensors for testing purposes. There may be a future option to have a "PRO" account that will offer more expanded features and will allow more sensors to connect to the bridge and store data on servers. The Acu-Link account, website use, and app are all free- there would likely need to be some minimal costs involved in a PRO account to offset the costs of the additional server traffic and storage of your data.

The Bridge was on sale initially as a one-time lower volume sale at Costco stores, with plans to sell it at higher volumes later when the system is configured to handle all the additional traffic. Along the way, we heard from users of the bridge that they wanted more features, etc., and we have been developing the hardware and software to be even more stable and to offer expanded features and options.

The bridge is slated to be available for purchase again this fall- the hardware is the same, the firmware and application on the bridge will be updated. Existing bridges in the field will also be updated over the internet- this will be automatic and requires no user action to receive the updates.

We discussed wireless network interface in great detail during early development. A wireless network interface is not as "Plug and play" or as reliable as having a wired network connection- it would require more network setup by home users, not to mention the added costs of adding a wireless NIC. We have had good success with the current setup- it is pretty bulletproof and has been easy for most folks to setup.

I invite you to follow our support forum and sign up for announcements, etc.- then you will be first to know when the bridge is available for purchase again.
http://support.acurite.com/acurite/topics/acu_link_internet_bridge_availability

Thanks for the interest!

Ryan





Offline Broaddd

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 31
Re: Acu-rite internet bridge queries: history, number of sensors, etc
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2012, 05:01:17 PM »
Thanks Rhino!

If you have 3 separate sensors registered on the bridge, and then buy a 4th sensor, how easy is it to switch the bridge between different sets of 3 out of the 4.

For example, does the bridge 'remember' all the sensors ever registered to it, and you just use the web configuration to select which 3 to log? Or do you have to unregister one sensor in order to register and start using a new sensor.

For example, I will probably have two external sensors in constant use, and occasionally want to switch between logging a 3rd sensor in my roof cavity and a 4th sensor in my basement.

Regards,
B

Offline Rhino

  • Senior Contributor
  • ****
  • Posts: 246
Re: Acu-rite internet bridge queries: history, number of sensors, etc
« Reply #3 on: September 14, 2012, 05:45:39 PM »
The sensors don't have to be registered per se, they just all show up in the sensor management window. So yes, they would be available to switch between at all times- in short- it's pretty easy to do what you described.

Offline Broaddd

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 31
Re: Acu-rite internet bridge queries: history, number of sensors, etc
« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2012, 05:24:31 PM »
Thanks again!

Is there a non-bridge acurite product that can log a couple or more separate external sensors?

Eg. logs input from external temperature sensors, with a USB cable for downloading the data? I gather at least some have an ABC switch to select a channel, but guess those only log the active channel if at all?

Cheers,
B

Offline Rhino

  • Senior Contributor
  • ****
  • Posts: 246
Re: Acu-rite internet bridge queries: history, number of sensors, etc
« Reply #5 on: September 17, 2012, 12:35:35 PM »
At this time there is not another product that handles multiple sensors. We had a few products in the past that did this, and we stocked multiple sensors users could purchase- I think we only sold about 20 extra sensors over a few years. It just did not have enough interest to keep the product alive.

The bridge is really our next generation product that can handle multiple sensors and allows the average user an easy interface to use the features they really want. It also has advanced enough features that it is useful for us "more intense" weather folks ;)

The A-B-C switch simply allows more than one of the same product to work in the same area. For example, if you and your neighbor both have the same product- but you took your time to mount your sensor in a better location, you would certainly not want to have your live data "polluted" with his poorly installed sensor, right? So you could choose A on your display and sensor- and he could choose B on his....until he realizes that your data is more accurate...then he will probably secretly flip his display to A so he can get good data :lol:

 

anything