Topic: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support

[Weather Display]

I had assumed the header numbers were always the same (and so I was checking on a certain sequence of header values)
but they are not
download a new update of WD to get around that

[Rhino]

The horrible inaccuracies of the Acu Rite weather stations are laughable and disgusting. After having horrible experiences with Acu Rite and LaCrosse, I'm starting to wonder if the only good consumer weather stations are Davis.

My 01050C is reporting a HIGHER dew point then temperature. And the My Backyard weather has COMPLETELY different values than my console. Can someone please explain to me (Rhino) how Acu Rite can come up with such absolute crap? I'm sorry if this is rude, but its ABSOLUTE BS and customer service knows less about their products than I do. I was told an engineer would be calling me to discuss the discrepancies and lack of granularity in the bridge reading, but to date I have received no call. Horrible experience.

Representatives (Including those on this board and facebook) appear to be helpful, but they will ignore any real questions addressing the deficiencies of the stations. They respond to favorable questions, but again, they ignore any questions with negative implications; Talking heads phenomena... (Like, will update speed on the MBY server to Wunderground be improved? No response etc... among others)

I am sorry you have had such a bad experience with our product. I have heard I would say around 99% positive experiences about our accuracy with the 5n1 sensor- especially in this price range and when compared with our competition. In that realm this is a dynamic product that is pretty ambitious. With that comes a level of complexity that will inevitably result in some issues, we are working very hard every day and and every weekend to resolve issues while still pushing the platform forward, adding new features, etc. In fact, we actually have not had a full launch of this entire system yet.

Our customer service department is the same group we have had for some time, we added a few folks to handle the usual holiday volume. They are doing their best to solve issues- but some issues with this system are complex and are hard to diagnose without getting allot of detail. I will personally check with them on following up with you if you could PM me your contact info.

I think that the dew point issue may be a result of some english/metric conversion issues- especially if they are close. The code was all done in metric and then converted, so we are working to fix some of those issues.

How often do you want updates? All of this updating and free saving of data creates allot of server traffic, so you must understand we had to limit the update speeds to keep servers up. Also, note that you are still getting all of your data, it's just backlogged and updated in bursts instead of a constant stream. When we developed this system we talked to allot of folks and looked at most weather services and found our update frequency was more than acceptable.

If you can get me some specific questions- I can get try to get you some answers- but please, let's try to be constructive here instead of all of us

Like I said, this is a dynamic system that we are working on expanding and improving all the time, so please continue to be patient and we can hopefully resolve the issues you are having.

Thanks!

[Rhino]

I'm looking forward to using weather display software myself- Great Work!

[Weather Display]

cool
things (like just now off to visit the daughters at Girl guide camp) are getting in the way of adding the ability to update direct to the acurite server
but I will have more free time in a few days

[mdouglas10]

The horrible inaccuracies of the Acu Rite weather stations are laughable and disgusting. After having horrible experiences with Acu Rite and LaCrosse, I'm starting to wonder if the only good consumer weather stations are Davis.

My 01050C is reporting a HIGHER dew point then temperature. And the My Backyard weather has COMPLETELY different values than my console. Can someone please explain to me (Rhino) how Acu Rite can come up with such absolute crap? I'm sorry if this is rude, but its ABSOLUTE BS and customer service knows less about their products than I do. I was told an engineer would be calling me to discuss the discrepancies and lack of granularity in the bridge reading, but to date I have received no call. Horrible experience.

Representatives (Including those on this board and facebook) appear to be helpful, but they will ignore any real questions addressing the deficiencies of the stations. They respond to favorable questions, but again, they ignore any questions with negative implications; Talking heads phenomena... (Like, will update speed on the MBY server to Wunderground be improved? No response etc... among others)

Our customer service department is the same group we have had for some time, we added a few folks to handle the usual holiday volume. They are doing their best to solve issues- but some issues with this system are complex and are hard to diagnose without getting allot of detail. I will personally check with them on following up with you if you could PM me your contact info.

I think that the dew point issue may be a result of some english/metric conversion issues- especially if they are close. The code was all done in metric and then converted, so we are working to fix some of those issues.

How often do you want updates? All of this updating and free saving of data creates allot of server traffic, so you must understand we had to limit the update speeds to keep servers up. Also, note that you are still getting all of your data, it's just backlogged and updated in bursts instead of a constant stream. When we developed this system we talked to allot of folks and looked at most weather services and found our update frequency was more than acceptable.

If you can get me some specific questions- I can get try to get you some answers- but please, let's try to be constructive here instead of all of us

Like I said, this is a dynamic system that we are working on expanding and improving all the time, so please continue to be patient and we can hopefully resolve the issues you are having.

Thanks!

It's not that then update speed is slow, its that its bugged. I get completely different readings on Weather Display (Which I believe is the most accurate), my console, and on the acu rite dashboard.)

Also, why is the data uploaded to Wunderground so coarse? My temp will stay at 32.7 for 2 hours then drop to 29.3 for 2 hours, etc... With wxdisplay, everything is uploaded with precision and granularity

[Jake]

Brian, Just to let you know the update from early this morning fixed my issue. I am now sending data to wunderground. The pressure dropped 10hPa but it was off before anyway. I will look into it later this week.

Advantages:
The data is reported at 5 minute intervals. (I picked that interval)
The temperature is reported to 0.1C.
I get wind gust data.
I can adjust the pressure.
The wind speed and direction is much smoother than before.
The rainfall and total I can't tell yet but no more bad readings.

Right now it is installed on a temporary PC for testing. I am still not certain I will keep this station but your software give me hope.

[grahamsbeachweather]

That's good news
You can set baro offset in wd
And set starting rain totals

[mdouglas10]

Brian, any possibility of adding a feature where I can download past data from when the station wasn't connected?

Thanks!

[grahamsbeachweather]

I have not decided the every 12 minute data at this stageo

[Weather Display]

good news, I have data being uploaded to my back yard weather from weather display now
I will get a version uploaded for testing soon

[ctccbc]

More great news!  I finally got a console with USB support, and my Acurite 01035 is working with Weather Display, creating my ajax webpage, and sending data to Weather Underground rapid fire! Great work Brian!

[Weather Display]

thats good
I created a new thread about WD's support of the acu rite station on this section of the forum, rather than hijacking this thread...
WD can now send your data to the acu rite server (every 5 minutes)
easy to setup: see in the weather station type setup
from this new update
http://www.weather-display.com/downloadfiles/setupacurite.exe
(temporary location of this new build 8 version while its beta tested)

[ctccbc]

Brian,
Everything was working great, then I started getting these weird spikes in my data. I've been away from Weather Display for awhile, how does one go about getting rid of these 94 mph wind spikes, or 22.84 barometer spikes that have occurred over the past couple of days?  I'm using Build 8, do I need to go back to a previous build??

Thanks,
Chris

[Weather Display]

I have not had data spikes like that here in testing
and other users have not reported them either
you can though get data limits in WD, i.e to get it to ignore any data spikes

and you can reset records: action, reset selected all time records , action, reset selected daily records, etc

and you can edit out spikes in the logifle then convert the logfile to data file (also see under action, convert WD logfiles to data files)

I do not see the need to go back to a previous version either

[DanS]

Brian,
Everything was working great, then I started getting these weird spikes in my data. I've been away from Weather Display for awhile, how does one go about getting rid of these 94 mph wind spikes, or 22.84 barometer spikes that have occurred over the past couple of days?  I'm using Build 8, do I need to go back to a previous build??

Thanks,
Chris

Chris, I would check things like power grounds to your computer, console power supply, and anything else that uses AC power in your setup. Also if possible use the same AC power source for your equipment as opposed to different circuits/branches. Bad or non existent grounds is one possible source for spikes in your readings.

[Weather Display]

also always a good idea to add RF baluns (chokes) to the USB cable to the console
(I notice the supplied mini USB cable does not have those)

[mdouglas10]

Well, my console died on me today. I already had to replace a bad sensor because it started reading too warm. So 300 dollars later, 2 stations, and still don't have a functioning piece of hardware. The hardware is crap, the software that is bundled is crap, the customer support is crap, literally every aspect of this product is absolute crap and I would not recommend it to anyone.

[Rhino]

Again, I'm really disappointed and sorry that you have had such a bad experience. The hardware is pretty robust , especially for this price range. Ask some folks around here and read reviews on the internet- nearly all positive reviews about our 5n1 sensor and console.

Why did you buy another one? These are still under warranty! Call customer service at AcuRite (which has GREAT ratings if you check around) and they will help you out. Can't help you with your issues if you don't call.

Trust me, we will do our best to help out EVERY customer. I work here every day and we are a tight-knit team that is 100% committed to making customers happy- it's woven into our core.

[mdouglas10]

I mean, I spent 300 (THREE HUNDRED) dollars for 2 separate weather stations. BOTH were defective within 2 weeks of ownership!  Customer service is utterly useless. I called several times and was promised a call back from an engineer 3 weeks ago. Nothing. Completely and utterly horrible and disappointing experience. (don't even get me started on how absolutely horrible the Internet Bridge is...) I'm not made of money, I'm a college kid, and I have been completely screwed and ripped off and I'm not happy at all. The only bright spot in this whole debacle is the Weather Display software. When everything is working, Weather Display is great!

I'm sorry if this is harsh, but its completely 100% true. I can't dance around this any longer. And I was never offered a replacement, I was only offered some "troubleshooting" after holding for a bout 20 minutes before each call. Never got my call back and this is after 2 calls inquiring about my issue. Unfortunately, the customer service isn't great. Nice people, but again, I knew more about the product. (Trying to switch from Fahrenheit to Celsius to fix my issue with the granularity of the readings...)

[ctccbc]

Rebooted my PC, restarted Weather Display, cleaned up the spikes, and haven't had any more problems. I stand by my initial review, outstanding system! I'm sorry others have had issues.

[Weather Display]

I am sorry mdouglas10 feels that way too
Chin up Acu Rite, as long as the majority are pleased then that is the main thing.
One thing I did come across,we had some heavy wind (45kmh,27mph) blown rain, which got into the temp/hum sensor ,which saturated the humidity sensor
that then reported 1% humidity: the firmware in the console idealy needs to be changed to report 100% humdity when the sensor over reads like that
Once the sensor dried out it started to read correct again

[mdouglas10]

Do you blame me though? 2 sets of hardware. 1st set had a sensor that started giving erroneous readings within 2 weeks. The next set, the sensor works great. Perfectly, until the console freezes and won't respond to any resets.

What I've experienced with the company is that they appear friendly and proactive at first, but if you push any deeper they become quite unresponsive and unhelpful unfortunately. Still waiting for my call back after 3 weeks and 2 separate calls.

The bottom line is the Sensor is a GREAT piece of hardware when it works, but the implementation doesn't even come close to doing it justice. Weather Display had great, fast, and accurate data coming in, but the software and hardware on the Acu Rite side is truly atrocious; I'm sorry its the truth. The Backyard weather dashboard with the bridge, as I've said, has no granularity at all unfortunately. And why does the data on the dashboard not display any decimal points? Anyway, the data it gives to wunderground has no granularity. It also displays completely different data vs the console (Customer service kept giving me the canned "It updates slower" yet it supposedly updates from the bridge every 12 seconds, so that makes no sense).

I really wish Acu Rite would get their act on the implementation and software side of things (not to mention the software is literally unusable, it crashes instantly when you try to download data).

I don't think I'm being unreasonable. I expect things to work, and not be dysfunctional. There is no excuse for the level of implementation and software support provided by Acu Rite. I don't think "chin up" is the right thing to say. I think it would be better to acknowledge the huge faults in the implementation of this system, which no one here seems to want to acknowledge. Maybe if we do they can work on firmware updates for the bridge and mybackyard weather?

Anyway, unless something changes on Acu Rite's end, I fully expect to be throwing the station out when I'm back home this summer and just getting a Davis station. I've had enough with the Acu Rite and LaCrosse products.

[Weather Display]

the data provided to the mybackyard weather does have decimal place data
do they just need to change the display of the data to include that, hopefully that will occur at some stage in the future
I have developed a free to use utility program to replace the PC acurite service program,which has a few problems, to update to mybackyard weather (this program shows the current conditions and includes a simple setup to update to my backyard weather)
I am looking for beta testers: PM me for details


I have not had the console freeze on me, or had any problems with the sensors on the station itself
(although I have only had it going for a couple of weeks I must admit, but so far so good)
Did you not say the second unit (USB you got was a swap/2nd hand one, I seem to recall?

[Rhino]

Do you blame me though? 2 sets of hardware. 1st set had a sensor that started giving erroneous readings within 2 weeks. The next set, the sensor works great. Perfectly, until the console freezes and won't respond to any resets.

What I've experienced with the company is that they appear friendly and proactive at first, but if you push any deeper they become quite unresponsive and unhelpful unfortunately. Still waiting for my call back after 3 weeks and 2 separate calls.

The bottom line is the Sensor is a GREAT piece of hardware when it works, but the implementation doesn't even come close to doing it justice. Weather Display had great, fast, and accurate data coming in, but the software and hardware on the Acu Rite side is truly atrocious; I'm sorry its the truth. The Backyard weather dashboard with the bridge, as I've said, has no granularity at all unfortunately. And why does the data on the dashboard not display any decimal points? Anyway, the data it gives to wunderground has no granularity. It also displays completely different data vs the console (Customer service kept giving me the canned "It updates slower" yet it supposedly updates from the bridge every 12 seconds, so that makes no sense).

I really wish Acu Rite would get their act on the implementation and software side of things (not to mention the software is literally unusable, it crashes instantly when you try to download data).

I don't think I'm being unreasonable. I expect things to work, and not be dysfunctional. There is no excuse for the level of implementation and software support provided by Acu Rite. I don't think "chin up" is the right thing to say. I think it would be better to acknowledge the huge faults in the implementation of this system, which no one here seems to want to acknowledge. Maybe if we do they can work on firmware updates for the bridge and mybackyard weather?

Anyway, unless something changes on Acu Rite's end, I fully expect to be throwing the station out when I'm back home this summer and just getting a Davis station. I've had enough with the Acu Rite and LaCrosse products.

You need to call customer service and ask for a replacement if you have a defective unit that "froze up" and will not respond to reset- that is a first for this unit and we would want it back to investigate why it froze up- I promise you that. If your unit is under warranty, and is defective, you get a new one from AcuRite- that's it. Don't go out and buy another one..

If you are really having trouble with our customer service dept., PM me your contact info and I will have someone contact you personally.

[ctccbc]

I changed out the USB cable and plugged the Acurite unit into AC power (I previously had been just using batteries) and
I'm still getting crazy spikes in the wind speed and barometer about 2 or 3 times a day (barometer drops to 22.42 and wind
gusts to 60+ mph for one minute). Otherwise, the system and Weather Display is working flawlessly. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Chris
moreheadcityweather.com