WXforum.net

Weather Station Hardware => AcuRite Weather Stations => Topic started by: oleweatherfan on October 10, 2012, 01:36:04 PM

Title: Bridge
Post by: oleweatherfan on October 10, 2012, 01:36:04 PM
Now they have moved the release to Nov it looks like! Good grief are they ever gonna release this thing?! Why do they tell us one month then they move back a month and so on!! come on acurite get this thing out!!!!!  ](*,)
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: vreihen on October 10, 2012, 06:57:56 PM
Some of us have been waiting (with varying degrees of patience) since their web site said it would be out in March (2012).....  :-(
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: blizzardof78 on October 10, 2012, 09:11:52 PM
Very unreliable if you ask me. I do believe I'd go to a different weather station if I were you.
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: oleweatherfan on October 11, 2012, 09:14:24 AM
Very unreliable if you ask me. I do believe I'd go to a different weather station if I were you.
Don't get me wrong I love the 5 in 1 I have! For the price difference between it an the davis vue I think it is just as good! Also right not its not connected to the PC that's what I'm wanting so I can send data to WU. So for now I'm just gonna buy a 1035 USB compatible console and connect it to PC then just wait for the bridge to come out. I just don't understand the run around they giving people that is my complaint! They should just come out and give folks a specific date and it should be available that date!
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: Rhino on October 11, 2012, 10:45:17 AM
I have been testing the latest firmware this week, we previously had an issue with the pressure reporting low from the module. Everything seems to be tracking great now. It has been a long road, we basically went back to the drawing board with the firmware and did things a little differently, and data accuracy and hardware reliability has been vastly improved.

If you currently have an Acu-Link bridge device, it will receive the firmware update automatically over the internet.

For folks who want to purchase one asap- as soon as it is available for purchase, I will post a coupon code here for my friends at WXForum- we appreciate your patience and understand your frustration with the timeline. We hope that you will hang on just a little bit longer....very soon!!

Thanks,
Ryan
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: GreenLaneWX on October 11, 2012, 04:42:22 PM
I was lucky enough to get into the beta bridge program. I got the unit today and had it up and running in less than 15 minutes. The product is real and works well so far. Keeping a close eye on it for the beta period and trying out all the nerd knobs. Don't fear, the prouduct is clearly unique and well worth the wait based on what I've seen so far.
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: hdtvluvr on October 11, 2012, 05:37:41 PM
I was lucky enough to get into the beta bridge program. I got the unit today and had it up and running in less than 15 minutes. The product is real and works well so far. Keeping a close eye on it for the beta period and trying out all the nerd knobs. Don't fear, the prouduct is clearly unique and well worth the wait based on what I've seen so far.

Congrats on getting to be a beta tester.

Are you sending data to Weather Underground? If not, go to:

http://www.wunderground.com/ (http://www.wunderground.com/)

and create an account. Once created go to My Backyard Weather and select the down arrow by your username. Then choose "Share my bridge". Enter the appropriate info and enable WU sharing. Now you can send the WU link to your family and friends.

You can also enter your WU station ID into your signature here.
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: Bushman on October 11, 2012, 06:39:50 PM
Hmmm... a one post wonder suddenly declares they got a beta unit.  Right.  Why not have obe of the stalwarts on the forum as a tester??
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: Bushman on October 11, 2012, 06:42:40 PM
If you currently have an Acu-Link bridge device, it will receive the firmware update automatically over the internet.

This is a patently Bad Idea (tm).
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: GreenLaneWX on October 11, 2012, 07:38:55 PM
OK - to quell the paranoia on my first post....

Didn't we all sign up at some point and make their first post after maybe being a lurker for a while?

Weather Underground Station ID: KPAGREEN31

As you can see (if you punch out to the site) that it was setup today and has been collecting data since around noon.

Everyone had the chance to sign up as a Beta tester - luck of the draw for me and I'm willing to share my experience with everyone and Acu Rite.
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: Rhino on October 12, 2012, 12:49:48 AM
I can confirm we have sent out beta test units to some of the individuals that signed up for the beta panel on AcuRite.com. The selection process was based on a number of factors.

Also, I have to ask- why do you say "over the internet" automatic firmware update a bad idea? It has been successfully done 3 previous times on the thousands of bridges in the field over the last year, and many thousands of internet connected products in the world do the same.
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: Bushman on October 12, 2012, 01:48:57 AM
Automatic updates have caused more grief than good IME.  Think Microsoft, Dlink, McAfee, etc.  Unless you write zero defect firm/soft-ware, you run the risk of bricking or hobbling your unit.   I personally like to wait a bit before I blindly rush into updates.  And have you considered that there may be users without high speed?  Try updating firmware over a dial-up.  Ugh.  Bad idea.
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: wxtech on October 12, 2012, 06:04:39 AM
Hmmm... a one post wonder suddenly declares they got a beta unit.  Right.  Why not have obe of the stalwarts on the forum as a tester??
I'm in the bridge beta testing program.
Al
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: Bushman on October 12, 2012, 09:43:14 AM
Hmmm... a one post wonder suddenly declares they got a beta unit.  Right.  Why not have obe of the stalwarts on the forum as a tester??
I'm in the bridge beta testing program.
Al

That makes me happy.  :)
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: SlowModem on October 12, 2012, 09:51:47 AM
Automatic updates have caused more grief than good IME.  Think Microsoft, Dlink, McAfee, etc.  Unless you write zero defect firm/soft-ware, you run the risk of bricking or hobbling your unit.   I personally like to wait a bit before I blindly rush into updates.  And have you considered that there may be users without high speed?  Try updating firmware over a dial-up.  Ugh.  Bad idea.

I can confirm that! 
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: CNYWeather on October 12, 2012, 10:36:13 AM
I can confirm we have sent out beta test units to some of the individuals that signed up for the beta panel on AcuRite.com. The selection process was based on a number of factors.

So just to ask, those who signed up and havent gotten anything by now will be on the list for maybe next time?
Just wondering is all Rhino.

Thanks!
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: Rhino on October 12, 2012, 11:08:31 AM
Yes, you will remain in the beta database (say that five times fast beta database, beta database...) for potential future tests. We have lots of people signed up in our beta test program, and there are many factors that are considered before folks are picked for an actual test.
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: Rhino on October 12, 2012, 11:14:52 AM
We actually have four levels of testing JUST to verify that the over the network update works and track potential bugs. The bootloader does not update, only the application firmware itself- so even if the update fails, the device will simply try again automatically. This is not really similar to software updates on your computer, as there are multiple parties involved in those cases - hardware manufacturers and the software folks DO have incompatibilities. We are the hardware manufacturer and we provide the software that runs on it, so there are far less inherent issues. Companies that control the hardware and the software development have lots of success with field updates- DirecTV and it's 30 million subscribers comes to mind immediately. Like I said, we have updated thousands of these devices a few times each with no issues- so the track record really speaks for itself. Also, note that our product requirements clearly state high speed internet as a requirement, so dial up would not work very well either way.

We have spent the last 8 months developing and testing this product thoroughly, improving the reliability of the data and the underlying system- I am sure you will find it reliable as I have throughout testing and validation.

Happy Weather Watching!
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: Bushman on October 12, 2012, 04:27:50 PM
Good luck on getting 100% firmware updates.  Ain't gonna happen.
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: vreihen on October 12, 2012, 07:55:29 PM
Good luck on getting 100% firmware updates.  Ain't gonna happen.

Back in the olden days when 8-bit processors roamed the Earth and programmers carefully coded assembly language programs to fit in a 2708 EPROM with pride in their optimization, I would agree with you.

These days however, the crap that they call embedded firmware is more times than not a virtual disk image of a Linux (or other RTOS) filesystem stored as a file on a bigger flash partition.  The bootloader can run checksums against the disk image, and only load a sane image.  If there's a bug, the bootloader can sense that the new image failed to execute properly and fall back to the last working image that is still stored on flash.  Not saying that any process will be 100%, but five 9's is not unrealistic from my own experience.  The chance for firmware bugs and errors is much greater and the QC much lower in this distribution model, that's for sure.

Just looking around my house, TiVo sends quarterly updates to my DVR.  Samsung has already sent a few firmware bundles to my TV for new streaming features.  My smart phone has received at least 7 forced/automatic over-the-air major firmware updates in the three years that I've owned it.  Even my home router receives pushed automatic updates.  If any of these vendors were worried about "bricking" a significant number of customer devices, they surely would think twice before pushing out updates.

FWIW, I'm not part of the beta, so I can't comment on AcuRite's implementation.....
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: Bushman on October 12, 2012, 10:09:50 PM
Actually, thanks for making my point.   Last Samsung upgrade to my phone (Ice Cream Sandwich) hobbled email for three days until *I* figured it out.  Telco could not.  Last Dlink IP camera firmware update (last two actually) pooched thousands  of cams and ALL Mac Chrome users.  Recently Sun's Java 7u7 update for he Zero Day vulnerability crippled hundreds of thousands of users.  Heck I had to uninstall that one on my web server since it  munched the Dlink.  Yeah, tell me how failsafe bootloaders and auto-firmware updates are.  I *much* prefer to control the updates myself.  Are you one of those folks who lets MS update your computer automatically??
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: vreihen on October 13, 2012, 11:01:15 AM
Are you one of those folks who lets MS update your computer automatically??

I have a complete cloned virtual environment to perform complex regression testing on every single Microsoft update before I apply it to my computer.  :lol:  So far, not even the boot CD has passed, which is why I don't use Windows.

The point here is that there's nothing wrong with the update process itself.  Most of the problems are poor QC from third-world contract programmers, with rare exceptions like Sophos anti-virus' mistake a few weeks ago where they sent out a bad definition that quarantined their auto-update process on Windows clients.....
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: vreihen on October 13, 2012, 01:32:57 PM
"Even my home router receives pushed automatic updates."

Wow, that would scare the heck out of me  :eek:

What scares the heck out of me is the thought of using Linksys, Netgear, or D-Link home-grade routers for anything but door stops.  ](*,)  You get what you pay for, and that includes firmware quality.  This is why I bought my AcuRite weather station to replace a half dozen broken wireless thermometers that I have amassed.....
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: kc4sbd on October 14, 2012, 09:38:17 PM
Mr. Acurite, I received an email asking for my address saying they wanted to get me an acurite product out to beta, but never received the unit can you please check this for me
Title: Re: Bridge
Post by: kc4sbd on October 15, 2012, 05:39:53 PM
 \:D/ yee haaa, just received my email from Acu-Rite they have shipped my test product!!