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Data collection for WiFi-only PWS - beta testers wanted!

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relko:
Up to 5 beta testers wanted.

This info will be of relevance to you if:
-You operate a WiFi enabled weather station that is actively uploading to WU but has no built-in capability to collect live or historical data other than retrieving it from WU.
-You have a website, your own Internet or LAN web server or a single board computer (Raspberry PI etc.) where you can store your weather station data on. Basic requirement is a web space or server with PHP and SQLite support.
-You have a 5V/1.0+ amps micro-USB type B power supply laying around (an unused smartphone charger will do the job)

You will be beta testing ATMOCOM which is a small form factor, special purpose WiFi device that you connect your PWS to instead of directly connecting it to your 2.4 GHz Internet router. The device will seamlessly link your PWS and Internet router, send all weather data uploads to the original destination (WU) while simultaneously also re-transmit the data to a user configurable target URL (e.g. on your website). On your web space a special companion PHP receiver/parser script stores the replicated data in monthly zero-configuration SQLite archives. While restricted to the WU data protocol during the beta tests, the PHP script can actually be tailored to support any weather network upload protocol.

In theory any WiFi enabled weather station that can upload data to Weather Underground is compatible. For the past months we have been testing with the following PWS models:
FOSHK WH2900 series (a.k.a. Ambient WS-2902 Osprey, Ventus W830, MiSol, ChiliTec, PanTech, Froggit WH3000, <insert your favorite rebranded variant here> etc.)
GARNI 1055 Arcus (a.k.a. Ambient WS-8478 Falcon, Bresser etc.)
FOSHK HP-3500 series (new unreleased model)

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A live demo dashboard based on a customized version of Home Weather Station template - designed by Brian at weather34.com and used with kind permission - can be seen here: https://atmocom.com/wx34/?units=metric

Note this dashboard is for demo purposes only, not officially supported by weather34.com!

You should be located in either Europe or North America and know your PWS and Internet equipment well. You should also have some spare time to set up the device when you receive it so that it doesn't sit and collect dust for weeks.

If selected you will get:
-ATMOCOM beta device, which you may keep using with tech support included after tests are completed.

Downloadable:
-User manual
-Data receiver/parser PHP script (Weather Underground protocol)
-Data fetching PHP script (outputs JSON or XML)
-2x graphical weather sticker demo PHP scripts (see signature for an example)

You will have to pay for shipping to your location, estimated 10 EUR ($12 USD) tracked. Package will be declared low value so no import taxes should apply outside the European Union where the items are shipped from.

Key features:
-Minimal form factor. The production version will be the size of a matchbox (beta devices are a bit larger than this)
-Simple configuration via Telnet client when device is in Access Point config mode.
-Plug-configure-play; No operating system dependence, no router, network or any other type of hacks required
-Automatic and fail-safe firmware over the air updates
-Replicate skip option 0-240 seconds. For reducing disk space usage the device can be set to transmit data to your private data store less frequently than the PWS default update rate.
-Numerous watchdog functions to ensure PWS and uplink router WiFi connections are working 24/7/365
-On-board combined status/network traffic LED. Traffic LED indications can be enabled/disabled the user
-A single multifunction button
-Powered by commonly available 5V/1A+ power supply with micro-USB type B connector (not included).

If interested please PM me the following:
-Weather station make and model
-WiFi router make, model and your Internet bandwidth
-Weather networks your PWS is uploading to in addition to WU, if any
-Your WU ID or link

If anything is unclear please feel free to ask below and I'll do my best to answer.

kbellis:
Nice looking template; tip of the hat to Brian.

Why is the user required to have their own dedicated web server if the data is destined for CWOP, for example?

relko:

--- Quote from: kbellis on January 01, 2019, 02:20:08 PM ---Why is the user required to have their own dedicated web server if the data is destined for CWOP, for example?

--- End quote ---

This requirement is outdated, there is now a Python script that handles data logging on the local network. A website with PHP support is only required if data is going to be logged on the Internet. So for the CWOP example you would run the Python script alongside a companion script that can read the logged data and send it on to multiple other targets such as CWOP. Or the Python script, which is open source, can be modified to directly re-transmit to other targets. There is no limit really on possible uses but not everything is implemented at this point in the project.

kbellis:
Is data logging, local or remote, still a requirement?

Logging implies something is running - somewhere - 24/7, right?

The other point I wanted to be clear on is what, if anything, is impacted by ATMOCOM specifically in regard to the WS-2902A's Display Console as configured through AWNET? Will ATMOCOM interfere in the physical operation of the Ambient system?

Lastly, and not meaning to sound discouraging and I hate even to bring it up, but will running ATMOCOM conflict with any licensing agreements?

relko:

--- Quote from: kbellis on January 02, 2019, 05:36:07 AM ---Is data logging, local or remote, still a requirement?

Logging implies something is running - somewhere - 24/7, right?

--- End quote ---

Data logging is not a requirement but the device would be a pointless addition without some type of logging. It is a requirement if you want to be able to save your weather data and/or upload to other services not natively supported by your PWS. I.e. the device itself does not have built-in data logging capabilities. Logging to a website using the PHP method does not require anything to run locally. Logging locally would require a computer that hosts the logging script to be operational at all times. This can be handled perfectly fine by a Raspberry PI or similar.


--- Quote ---The other point I wanted to be clear on is what, if anything, is impacted by ATMOCOM specifically in regard to the WS-2902A's Display Console as configured through AWNET? Will ATMOCOM interfere in the physical operation of the Ambient system?
--- End quote ---

It does not interfere with anything. The ATMOCOM device is in essence a special purpose WiFi network router with customized features for sharing data.


--- Quote ---Lastly, and not meaning to sound discouraging and I hate even to bring it up, but will running ATMOCOM conflict with any licensing agreements?

--- End quote ---

Each upload by your PWS to a cloud service such as AWNET has data records such as wind, temperature etc. in a custom format that is different for each service. At present, only WU data format is recognized by the parsing software so AWNET or any of the other protocols are not used and just passes through to their respective destination. That said, there is nothing really that would relate to licensing other than the protocol format itself which may or may not be proprietary. But we are not using the protocols for any purposes other than intended or modifying the data, we're just parsing out the raw data. This raw data is not owned by the services that you upload to, it is yours. The WU protocol is officially published as are most other protocols so there is no dark web hacking going on.

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