Author Topic: Weatherstation now running on Acer netbook (Read 28442 times)

Sigdigit · « **on:** February 26, 2009, 05:56:42 PM »

Thanks to the serial to USB converter I just got in the mail from WXsoft, I am now using my little Acer netbook as my 24/7 weatherstation platform. Thanks to whoever posted the Davis tech bulletin regarding transferring Weatherlink to a new computer, pretty much went off without a hitch (sorry I forgot who posted). If anyone does the serial to USB converter route, you should know you keep the settings in Weatherlink set to "serial", and the com port has to be set to whatever number you find your computer recognizing under device manager for the serial to USB converter. I had to change mine from COM1 to COM3. I don't have a kill-a-watt device to measure power saved, but it should be a fraction of my old Dell Dimension desktop. Going Green Baby! $\:D/$ (Yeah, I know, it's probably just a drop in the bucket of the whole power bill, but then again, I don't leave my front porch light on either). The way some of the people around here have the whole outside of their house lit up (not to mention the inside) you would think they have stock in the electric company.

W3DRM · « **Reply #1 on:** February 26, 2009, 06:15:27 PM »

I'm seriously thinking of doing the same thing. Some questions:

Which model Acer did you get?
Also, other than the Serial to USB converter were there any other hardware items you needed to purchase?
What WX software are you running for your station?
Any additional software, i.e., Startwatch, VirtualVp, etc?

Any hints or things to watch out for would also be appreciated.

Bushman · « **Reply #2 on:** February 26, 2009, 06:33:14 PM »

You only need the serial to USB converter if you have the serial datalogger. Nothing else needed. He's running Weatherlink. Startwatch is fine if you only need to monitor one pgm. like weather link. There are other options for pgm. monitoring that are freeware althogh Startwatch is very good. I'm using an Asus eee PC. Works like a charm and draws next to nothing for power!

Bushman · « **Reply #3 on:** February 26, 2009, 07:20:31 PM »

Bruce, does the Acer BIOS allow access to the RTC - Real Time Clock? If it does, you could automate the whole process.

Sigdigit · « **Reply #4 on:** February 26, 2009, 09:26:38 PM »

W3DRM -

Didn't have to get anything other than the serial to USB converter, about 12 bucks with shipping from WXsoft, came with driver mini CD. I'm only using Weatherlink, which posts to WU and CWOP. The Acer Aspire One netbook is pretty cool, I got it from Office Depot for 298 bucks. There are a couple other posts out there regarding this little gem. I have it running on my home Wifi system. I use the drives on my desktop to upload software by assigning them as shared folders/drives. When I'm not messing with the computer, it sits with the screen folded down right behind the Davis console doing it's thing (it's about the same size of the console when the screen is folded down.) Just make sure your power management functions are set to not go into standby or hibernate when it's plugged in, or you're gonna lose 24/7 uploading. Same with when I fold the screen down, I have it set to "do nothing".

Good point about the window updates, maybe I'll set it to manual uploads only, this way I don't have any reboot problems!

ncpilot · « **Reply #5 on:** February 26, 2009, 11:19:34 PM »

Quote from: Sigdigit on February 26, 2009, 05:56:42 PM

...Thanks to whoever posted the Davis tech bulletin regarding transferring Weatherlink to a new computer, pretty much went off without a hitch (sorry I forgot who posted).

Do you have that link by any chance?

Now I feel guilty and pressured into getting my Acer up and running... in addition to WeatherLink, I'm streaming weather radio to WU, and also taking pictures with a P&S cam--so I've got a few more things to set up, and the way I process my images, I use 3 freebie programs... rainy weekend predicted, maybe I'll get to it. OTOH, it's such a fun little thing to play with... probably have to buy a 10" when the prices drop a bit...

Bushman · « **Reply #6 on:** February 26, 2009, 11:39:27 PM »

http://www.davisnet.com/product_documents/weather/app_notes/apnote_34.pdf

And wait for the new ultra thin Acer 10"er

What freeware are you using?

Sigdigit · « **Reply #7 on:** February 27, 2009, 08:44:56 AM »

Bushman, thanks for posting that tech note link. Oh, and I got the adaptor thru SoftWX, not WXSoft as I think I previously posted. Well, the windows update tried to restart the computer last night at 3 AM, knocking WL offline. Resent archived data to WU, CWOP lost a 5 hours. Oh well. I'm going to set windows update to manual and just do a periodic download.

ncpilot · « **Reply #8 on:** February 27, 2009, 09:24:40 AM »

Quote from: Bushman on February 26, 2009, 11:39:27 PM

http://www.davisnet.com/product_documents/weather/app_notes/apnote_34.pdf

And wait for the new ultra thin Acer 10"er

What freeware are you using?

(Thanks for that link)

From this thread: http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=1240.0

Canon Remote Capture
ImageMagick
Fling
AutoIt

I'm still in the stages of only using WeatherLink and my free Earthlink hosting, but inspired by a thread in the Weather-Watch forum, hooked up an older Canon S30 digital cam for hi-res photos.

Click on the thumbnail on the main page http://home.earthlink.net/~marcpilot1/weather

It's only running during the day.

Here's what I'm doing.

1) Run Canon RemoteCapture utility program to take snapshot every 15 minutes. (not nearly as flexible as VM95 software)
2) Let WeatherLink create a DOS batch file by processing a *.htx file every 15 minutes--contains pertinent weather data and ImageMagick commands.
3) Using Windows scheduler, run the DOS batch file created in step 2.
4) DOS batch file calls ImageMagick to add bottom row of weather data to photo taken in 1. Also creates thumbnail.
5) Fling FTP program monitors folder for new file created in step 4, then FTP's to my website.

AutoIt starts #1 on the hour, #2 starts on the hour, #3 offset by 3 minutes to make sure #1, #2 complete.

tinplate · « **Reply #9 on:** February 27, 2009, 11:19:19 AM »

brucifer,

I don't understand why windows automatic updates would interrupt your CWOP updates for anything other than the time it took to reboot. You can configure your computer to automatically log in to an account (the user account under which you run your weather software) even if the account is password protected. There are a number of ways to have your programs all start up automatically after that account logs in. This is how I have my weather computer set up. There is no reason for a reboot - whether it is windows updates or a power cycle - to stop your weather data flowing.

Steve

Bushman · « **Reply #10 on:** February 27, 2009, 12:28:55 PM »

@Marc - thanks for the recap of the freeware. BTW, did you know you could overlay weather infor text onto an image without using Imagemagick? You use a /DIV HTML tag and z-referencing.

@Bruce

You have several options depending on your hardware and network. One I've used that is BIOS based is to set the machine to wake up at a sp[ecific time. As long as you can access the RTC and have ACPI support (which the Intel BIOS in the Aser does AFAIK) you set it to wake at 8:05 every day. If it is running, nothing happens; if it is powered off it starts. You should add the NOBOOTGUI to the .ini file to skip over the login and use Startwatch or similar (AppMon from Jockersoft) to ensure that Weatherlink runs (which should be in the startup file anyway)

If you are hardwired on a network, you can send a "MagicPacket" to the netbook's network card to have it Wake On Lan. there are apps that will do this as well like http://www.matcode.com/wol.htm or http://software.bootblock.co.uk/?id=wakeonlanex2 that will do it for you. If you are wireless, it will still work IF you plug the netbook into a router to keep the wifi card powered.

But Steve has a point - there should only be data loss for CWOP during the reboot process unless the PC gets shut down hard in which case one of the above will restart it. HTH

Cienega32 · « **Reply #11 on:** February 27, 2009, 01:23:23 PM »

Quote from: tinplate on February 27, 2009, 11:19:19 AM

brucifer,

I don't understand why windows automatic updates would interrupt your CWOP updates for anything other than the time it took to reboot. You can configure your computer to automatically log in to an account (the user account under which you run your weather software) even if the account is password protected. There are a number of ways to have your programs all start up automatically after that account logs in. This is how I have my weather computer set up. There is no reason for a reboot - whether it is windows updates or a power cycle - to stop your weather data flowing.

Steve

That's the way I did it, here in the land of power resets. I got tired of having my weather knocked out for one reason or another as a result of the PoCo resets.

I auto-d/load the Win updates and install when I choose and have WeatherLink (and whatever else) in the StartUp folder. The WLink uploads run as scheduled w/out a problem.

W3DRM · « **Reply #12 on:** February 27, 2009, 01:57:28 PM »

This is looking better everytime I read an update!

I do have a couple other questions and comments:

Can someone post the link to where they got the Serial to USB converter? I can't find it on wxsoft or softwx...
The new Acer Aspire One w/10.1" display is model number AOD150-1165. Amazon.com is selling them for $349.99.
Set up Windows Update so it either notifies you of a new update download being ready or have it automatically download but not install. You do the installation manually at a time that is convenient to you.

I am running the following software to support my Davis VP2 weather station:

VWS
WeatherLink
ImageSalsa
MovieSalsa
WeatherDisplay (currently off-line due to system performance issues)
WeatherDisplayLive (also currently off-line due to system performance issues)
Startwatch
VirtualVP
VPLive
WLBulletin
Fling for automatic uploads to my web server.

Startwatch from SoftWx keeps everything running smoothly even if one of the routines gets into trouble. I run my system 24/7. Currently all of this plus all of my email, image editing and other activities are being done on a single Dell Dimension 8250 w/52MB of Rambus RDRAM. At time that system runs extremely slowly and thus, the reason for looking at other options.

Of course, the real question is whether the Acer Aspire One will be able to handle all of this real-time. The system will be dedicated solely to my weather station operations so no heavy image editing or other software will be necessary.

Bushman · « **Reply #13 on:** February 27, 2009, 02:05:28 PM »

http://shop.softwx.com/USB-to-RS232-Adapter_p_13.html Nicely buried in Softwx's menus...

As for what the netbooks can do, you'd be amazed. I can run a half dozen apps simultaneously including heavy image manipulation (Imagemagick and Phoroshop) and it doesn't even break a sweat. They are very impressive devices and just about perfect for weather station PC hosts. BTW, if you don't want the screen (so that it is esentially a server), get an eee Box. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?sq=desc&shs=Eee%20Box&Q=&O=&ci=0&iso=Y&pn=1&sb=ps&A=search I have seen them for under $250!

George Richardson · « **Reply #14 on:** February 27, 2009, 02:16:09 PM »

Don
Go to Newegg. Search Serial to USB. They have a lot.
George

Bushman · « **Reply #15 on:** February 27, 2009, 02:17:07 PM »

Just make sure you get a converter with the right chipset! These things are like modems; some chipsets work, others do not.

W3DRM · « **Reply #16 on:** February 27, 2009, 02:37:39 PM »

Well, I just ordered the Serial to USB converter from SoftWx. I like doing business with Steve. He has made life much easier for me with his Startwatch, VirtualVP, VPLive and other software packages. They have worked flawlessly for me for the past few years and kept my weather station on-the-air 24/7 since they were installed. Prior to those installations, I had trouble getting VWS to run more than a few hours at a time without crashing. Additionally, VPLive automatically takes into account changes in barometric pressure for those of us who live at higher altitudes. I'm at just over 4800ft and was constantly trying to adjust (chase?) my barometer readings which are affected by both altitude and temperature. VPLive solved that problem and now my CWOP quality reports track almost perfectly with their standard references. Yes, I'm shamelessly plugging Steve's software

and highly recommend it for anyone running a Davis VP2 especially if you live at the higher altitudes!

Now, I just need to decide which Netbook to get. I'm leaning towards the new Acer Aspire One with the 10.1" display. I may also add another 1GB of memory to it just to be safe with Windows. Any pointers to good buys on these netbooks would be greatly appreciated.

BTW,the Acer Aspire One User Forum (http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/) has tons of information on all of their offerings for anyone who may be interested. The link is shown above.

George Richardson · « **Reply #17 on:** February 27, 2009, 02:49:21 PM »

Don,
I didn't realize Bushman was plugging Steve or I would have kept my mouth shut. I endorse your post in spades. Having said that, have you looked at Steve's small computers?
George

W3DRM · « **Reply #18 on:** February 27, 2009, 02:57:41 PM »

George,

Yes, I did see Steve's small computers. They are great and have a really low power consumption. However, they do not include a keyboard, mouse or monitor. I prefer the Netbook approach since it includes everything in a single package and can also be used as a portable unit should I decide to use something else for weather processing.

Bushman · « **Reply #19 on:** February 28, 2009, 07:00:51 PM »

Bruce if it is only being used as a weather box, turn updates off (manual). DL the updates every several months and even then use "custom" settings to pick and choose updates.

Sigdigit · « **Reply #20 on:** March 01, 2009, 01:10:03 PM »

Great thing about the netbook having it's own battery, you really don't even need a UPS. With the screen closed, it should run by itself for hours during a power failure. I do have my modem and router on a UPS my desktop is connected to though. I am so pleased with what you get for the money with the Acer, I was tempted to buy a second one to travel/go on vacation with. Then I remembered I'm not rich, and I hardly travel, or go on vacation more than once a year. Reality bites. When I do go, I'll just plug the console into the serial port on my desktop and leave it on while I'm gone, I still have Weatherlink installed on the old machine. This way I can take my cool little netbook on travel with me to satisfy my weather obsession (is it ever satisfied?)

Cienega32 · « **Reply #21 on:** March 01, 2009, 09:12:29 PM »

Quote from: Sigdigit on March 01, 2009, 01:10:03 PM

I was tempted to buy a second one to travel/go on vacation with. Then I remembered I'm not rich, and I hardly travel, or go on vacation more than once a year.

CLASSIC!

ncpilot · « **Reply #22 on:** March 01, 2009, 09:17:54 PM »

I haven't yet implemented my Acer as the weather computer, and I'm thinking about buying another one...

Bushman · « **Reply #23 on:** March 01, 2009, 09:47:27 PM »

I'm definitely buying another one. 10" screen though.

Sigdigit · « **Reply #24 on:** March 01, 2009, 09:51:37 PM »

Pilot, you were one of the guys that convinced me to get this thing in the first place! Put your weather on it, you won't be sorry! Been very reliable so far w/the USB converter.

News:

Author Topic: Weatherstation now running on Acer netbook (Read 28442 times)