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Weather Station Hardware => AcuRite Weather Stations => Topic started by: docbee on January 05, 2012, 01:11:00 PM

Title: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: docbee on January 05, 2012, 01:11:00 PM
As the author of Meteohub I did try via two channels to get some info from AcuRite about the protocol to get this station supported by Meteohub. While I received good support from most manufacturers, AcuRite did not even answer my mails.

So don't expect too much flexibility how to use these stations or any support from the manufacturer.
Looks like a "sell and run" product to me.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 05, 2012, 02:23:21 PM
opposite experience for me
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: docbee on January 05, 2012, 05:07:49 PM
great, so there is exactly one external sw to choose from  =D>
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 05, 2012, 09:09:12 PM
only just got the station today
trying to get my head around it all
I might need your help....and in doing so you could then be able to add meteohub support
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: docbee on January 07, 2012, 04:11:59 AM
Thank you Brian!

I checked for avaiablity in Europe, but looks like no one is selling it outside US. Could someone from AcuRite please comment on planned availability in Europe? Hopefully it is not a RF issue, which would make HW mods necessary and could be an explanation, why we don't see them in Europe.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 07, 2012, 11:51:35 AM
*the acurite server only accepts connections from the USA or Canada at this stage when I tried to create an account (it uses zip code for location)
*the data via USB is via a service...mine stopped, and will not start again...looking around this is a commen problem, and a new service program is to fix that is on its way
*the management program enables to set the MAC address to get the data to the acurite server, and a couple of other settings,but does not display any data but you can set to download data to a csv file....for me that locks up when I tried that...looking around some others have found that too
*I have followed the instructions in the USB HID data protocol but I can not get any data to arrive from the station to the PC to my test programs
the data protocol is from some engineer in China and is very different to other stations
*this is provision in the service program to pipe streamed data to a 3rd party program, but it looks like that is not completed yet
so hopefully the next version of the service program will get working (I have a test program to connect to named pipes...but no pipe shows up )
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 07, 2012, 10:47:01 PM
after many hours I have success
I have raw data arriving into  some c++ code :)
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: docbee on January 08, 2012, 10:35:46 AM
Brian, thanks for sharing this und congrats that could work around the difficulties.

The whole aculink approach is not very interesting to me, as I have my own internet visualization service (meteoplug.com) in place which is completely independent from what station you have. So their obstacles with trying to get something in that way running are not my concern :lol:

To get it integrated to Meteohub (and by that automatically into meteoplug services) I will need to get the low level USB HID thing working on Linux. I Did this for the Oregons, Hidekis and Fine Offsets. Hopefully, the engineers from chaney instruments did not invent the wheel another time by defining their own special dish  ](*,)

Did you connect on USB HID level or are you making use of their code (drivers resp some services running in the PC)?
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 08, 2012, 11:42:39 AM
I was provided with some sample code (VB C++/C#)
I have used some C# code (high level .NET) to get the data
I could not get any data using Pascal code I had
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: docbee on January 08, 2012, 12:54:48 PM
Sounds not that promising for a Linux context. However, having some info about the protocol and/or some code fragments at all and combining that with good old USB sniffing should make a driver for Linux possible.

What a pitty that they do not give me access to a station and some interface specs. Meteohub customers and resellers in the US might like to have Meteohub bundeled with this station. #-o

If someone from AcuRite is reading here, I can be contacted via e-mail to "info(at)meteohub.de". I am located in Germany, my products Meteohub/Meteoplug are sold world wide with focus on Europe and US.

Regards,
Boris
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Rhino on January 09, 2012, 12:42:48 PM
There are no plans to sell this system in Europe markets at this time.

The USB PC Connect software is being updated and tested currently- should fix the issues.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 09, 2012, 02:29:31 PM
I have managed to decode most of the data , just working on the barometer next
then I will need some real world testers :)
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: ctccbc on January 09, 2012, 04:52:27 PM
Brian,
I will be glad to test here.

Chris
moreheadcityweather.com
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 09, 2012, 05:47:27 PM
the pressure is proving to be a bit of a challenge, as its using a complicated pressure reductions algorithm
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: docbee on January 09, 2012, 06:15:08 PM
@Rhino: Last try... Meteohub has hundreds of US users, my biggest reseller in the US is ambientweather who are reselling Meteohub as "weatherhub". It is not a PC-program but SW that converts embedded devices like SheevaPlug or Iomega iConnect into miniature weather servers with minimal environmental footprint. If you have a few minutes time for browsing, try www.meteohub.de and www.meteoplug.com to at least get an idea what you are deciding not to give support to. thanks.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: weatherforyou on January 09, 2012, 07:35:44 PM
Glad to see WD is able to communicate with this station.  And will be great if Meteohub/Weatherhub can too!  I've inquired about adding PWSweather.com support to their product but never received a reply.  So at least there will be software and (hopefully) a stand-alone hardware solution.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 09, 2012, 09:01:10 PM
I have barometer working now
(it seems to be sending altimeter reading, i.e its lower than what the console shows?)

just now need to work on the rain
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 10, 2012, 04:17:26 AM
beta ready for testing
email me if you want to be a beta test, for the link

(I am running a test here overnight )
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 10, 2012, 04:17:01 PM
I have the 01050C with the bridge and no USB, and the AcuRite servers only update every 15 minutes and the temperature data has absolutely no granularity. It will go from 42.8 for a few hours then down to 39.2 for a few hours. Very disappointed with the system to be honest. Is there any possiblity of an upgrade to the bridge to either update faster or allow a 3rd party service to access the bridge?
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 10, 2012, 04:20:09 PM
Look at my temperature data. Just horrible!

(http://i40.tinypic.com/avhd11.png)

The worst part is the retailer won't let me return the station...
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 10, 2012, 05:10:07 PM
you can use weather display to udpate to wunderground, even using rapid fire,to give every 18 second data

there is no way to use the data from the bridge easily other than using a spy on the network data
you would be best to get a new console with the usb ability
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 10, 2012, 05:35:56 PM
I'd love to but then I'd have to buy a whole new station. I can't find the console alone for sale anywhere
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 10, 2012, 07:23:35 PM
here is a picture of the data from running a test here
(with the station mounted on a fence)
note the good data update rate...no straight lines etc :)

one thing  is you will need to have .NET 4.0 installer, or later
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 10, 2012, 10:03:40 PM
@Weather Display

Found a complete system on ebay for 118 that ships 25 miles from my house! I'm going to get my money back through my credit card company for my other station if the retailer won't let me return it.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 11, 2012, 03:49:12 AM
seems that there is a prolem with the USB routine I am using
no error on my development pc
but an error on other pc's
trying to find out why....
so do not try the beta yet...until I get that resolved
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 11, 2012, 04:28:45 AM
fixed that problem
the hid.dll included with the WD files was too old
use this new update
http://www.weather-display.com/downloadfiles/wdisplay32.exe
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 12, 2012, 01:05:12 PM
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)
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Scalphunter on January 12, 2012, 01:41:16 PM
Six months seem to be the limit on their gear. Myt station in less then 2 years died, Now can't get it repaired.  So AMen to what was said here. It seem that I was not the only one that was dis satisfied. Of course Rhino will only tell you that you are an angry man like he did me.


John
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: ctccbc on January 12, 2012, 02:24:01 PM
I have to agree with some of what has been stated. Overall, I have been relatively pleased with the Acurite 01050 unit. I'm a Senior Forecaster with the NWS, so I take my data seriously. The only major flaw in the sensor package has been that the barometric pressure is way way off, on the order of 0.3 inches/mercury. Even after the 14 and 33-day learning periods, the pressure is not even close, and there is no way to correct this pressure in either the console or the MBW interface. I also see very different numbers on the console, the MBW dashboard and in what is being sent to the Weather Underground. Frequently, rainfall totals will be different in all three places. The other data (Temperature, Humidity, Wind) is fairly representative versus both my Oregon Scientific unit which I have had for over 5 years, and our local ASOS station about 4 miles away.

I hear that many of these issues are being addressed, and I'm very glad that Brian is willing to test these units using Weather Display. I think the potential is there for the Acurite units to be quite good if these flaws can be fixed. The cost alone will add alot more people into the personal weather station hobby, so hopefully these issues will be addressed.

Just my two cents,
Chris
moreheadcityweather.com
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 12, 2012, 02:37:37 PM
I agree, but these flaws are unexcusable. I'm guessing that the console data is the most accurate?
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 12, 2012, 02:39:37 PM
I am going to add support to WD to update the acurite dash board
so that then you will get more accurate data
and also you can add the needed baro offset into WD, as WD is using the altimeter reading (i.e not adjusted for sea level or learned over 2 weeks)
from the console
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 12, 2012, 02:42:26 PM
In your experience, does the data in weather display from these accurite units have any sort of granularity, or are they jumping from say 42.8 to 39.2 staying on each for hours?
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 12, 2012, 07:01:52 PM
its tracks good and responsive
i.e every 18 seconds or so temperature changes, with 0.1 resolution, via the USB data
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: vreihen on January 12, 2012, 08:34:58 PM
I'm going to get my money back through my credit card company for my other station if the retailer won't let me return it.

If you can't recover your costs and want to defray the loss, I'm looking for a bridge device.  Having read several threads noting problems and shortcomings with it, the geek in me wants to see if I can figure out what's going on and if it can be de-coupled from MBW.....
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 13, 2012, 12:36:33 AM
one thing re WD and the acurite USB
you will need to stop the acurite service otherwise there is a conflict
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: docbee on January 13, 2012, 07:50:14 AM
To hear that the outdoor units dont seem to be very reliable is bad news, as the outdoor units setup seems to be inspired by the davis vantage vue which is known to be a good/reliable sensor unit. To have that at a much smaller price would be brilliant!

From the specs it looks like the sensor unit is using 433 MHz RF. This will allow to use external RF decoders like the ones from RFXCOM, which can decode the complete bunch of Oregon sensors. RFXCOM is developing its next gen decoder supporting even more weather station sensors from more manufacturers and I am working on integration of a prototype of this new RFXCOM product into Meteohub. May be, this way Acurite sensors can be evaluated directly without fiddling with their consoles/bridges at all  \:D/

Does someone find FCC material about the Acurite products? This would help to make educated guesses about the RF part.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 13, 2012, 12:14:47 PM
Its my belief that the outdoor sensor is great, but the console/bridge is crap.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 13, 2012, 12:15:17 PM
Weatherdisplay is getting good data out of the console, but it just seems like buggy software in the console and bridge.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 13, 2012, 01:01:15 PM
Just got my station, but Weather Display isn't getting any data. It says my device is connected, but still no data...
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 13, 2012, 01:06:22 PM
in the separate acurite reader program you mean?

try closing that

then remove the usb cable

wait a few minutes

plug that in again

wait for windows to detect it OK

then restart the acurite.exe
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 13, 2012, 01:12:13 PM
Still nothing unfortunately. Anyone else having this problem?
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 13, 2012, 01:14:54 PM
Its detecting my device, but no data is coming into the program
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 13, 2012, 01:27:58 PM
all other testers got data OK
can you post a screen shot of what you see?
also does windows device manager show the USB HID device up OK?
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 13, 2012, 01:34:16 PM
It is in the device manager. For some reason I think it won't work with front USB ports
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Bushman on January 13, 2012, 01:52:46 PM


Does someone find FCC material about the Acurite products? This would help to make educated guesses about the RF part.

You can get it here:  https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/GenericSearch.cfm  Grantee code is RNE
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 13, 2012, 02:04:22 PM
I see the problem, you have different header data, might be due to different model
uploading build 7 to fix that
stand by
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 13, 2012, 02:43:36 PM
have catered for that now in a new build 07 .zip update, ready now
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Jake on January 14, 2012, 12:33:07 PM
I am not able to get any data using Build 07. I stopped the Acu-rite service, installed the WD app, connected the USB, ran the wizard, re-started the app. However, I do NOT see a new service running. This is windows XP Pro SP3 with all .net updates installed.

At one point I saw an icon on the status bar that reported some hardware device ID. I don't see it anymore.

Edit: The icon was Acu-Rite Data Reader: I launched it manually it reports:Device Detected Vendor ID: 24c0, Product ID: 3

Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: grahamsbeachweather on January 14, 2012, 02:04:35 PM
Maybe try a different try a different usb plug
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Jake on January 14, 2012, 02:26:05 PM
No luck but I did get a string of what look like hex values.

01 CC 70 71 00 05 02 50 03 FF
02 00 00 40 2B 0C E0 00 FD 02 35 81 A8 17 77 09 C4 06 1C 06 07 7F 6C AF 63
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 16, 2012, 02:22:10 AM
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
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Rhino on January 16, 2012, 01:08:09 PM
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!
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Rhino on January 16, 2012, 01:08:57 PM
I'm looking forward to using weather display software myself- Great Work!
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 16, 2012, 01:26:48 PM
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 :)
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 16, 2012, 08:40:05 PM
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
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Jake on January 16, 2012, 09:22:38 PM
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.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: grahamsbeachweather on January 16, 2012, 10:27:04 PM
That's good news
You can set baro offset in wd
And set starting rain totals
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 16, 2012, 11:10:41 PM
Brian, any possibility of adding a feature where I can download past data from when the station wasn't connected?

Thanks!
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: grahamsbeachweather on January 16, 2012, 11:56:58 PM
I have not decided the every 12 minute data at this stageo
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 23, 2012, 08:10:30 PM
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
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: ctccbc on January 24, 2012, 03:56:38 AM
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!
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 24, 2012, 04:00:02 AM
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)
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: ctccbc on January 26, 2012, 09:48:11 PM
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
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 26, 2012, 10:13:50 PM
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
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: DanS on January 26, 2012, 10:53:57 PM
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.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 26, 2012, 11:54:16 PM
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)
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 27, 2012, 11:34:02 AM
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.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Rhino on January 27, 2012, 12:05:13 PM
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.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 27, 2012, 12:08:03 PM
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...)
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: ctccbc on January 27, 2012, 12:25:36 PM
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.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 27, 2012, 01:00:51 PM
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
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: mdouglas10 on January 27, 2012, 01:31:33 PM
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.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on January 27, 2012, 02:40:36 PM
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?


Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Rhino on January 31, 2012, 05:37:57 PM
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.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: ctccbc on February 02, 2012, 10:08:59 AM
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

Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on February 02, 2012, 12:34:48 PM
Hi
did you change to a mini usb cable to RF chokes?
Also try using the latest update of WD (which now works with indoor temp/hum (USB mode 3)
and you could add a barometer low limit to WD
I have not seen the low barometer spikes here yet in testing

There are some parameter (used in the calculation) range checks I can add to the barometer reading though, which I will look into
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: ctccbc on February 02, 2012, 12:47:57 PM
What are the units for the Barometer Spike in the offsets section? I set it to 5, but I'm not sure about 5 what? Millibars?
Thanks.
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on February 02, 2012, 12:56:31 PM
not the spike setting
the actual max/min limits, in the limit setup...try setting a lower limit

But what I will also do is add some data filtering (i.e compare to previous reading and reject if an outlier)
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on February 02, 2012, 04:48:57 PM
I have made some changes (first step , more if needed) re data problems
in the latest.zip update of WD
use that one and let me know how it goes
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on February 03, 2012, 03:06:03 PM
ps, I have discovered that if you had set a windspeed % offset increase, that would lead to occasional windspeed spikes
simply because I was applying the offset even if a new windspeed value had not arrived
uploading a fix for that
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: ctccbc on February 05, 2012, 10:28:49 AM
After a couple of days with no problems, I did get a couple of the wind spikes today. Interestingly, they only seem to affect the Average Wind speed, but not the gusts.

Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on February 05, 2012, 01:04:09 PM
do you have a windspeed offset set in WD?
as I did find a problem if that is in use
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: ctccbc on February 05, 2012, 02:04:30 PM
Yes, I'm using one for wind speeds and gusts. Should I change that?
Title: Re: AcuRite - does not seem to get sw support
Post by: Weather Display on February 05, 2012, 05:26:21 PM
make sure to be using at least build 10