VIRTUAL WEATHER STATION 14.0 INTERNET EDITION

[Midnight Star 1]

Ok, here I am after Setting up my Vantage Vue, mounting the tripod on the roof which had to be rock solid, installed WeatherLinkIP, registered with 4 different weather site & now the final issue. I can honestly say that I am worn out.
The issue I am having is trying to make VIRTUAL WEATHER STATION 14.0 INTERNET EDITION look right on my brand new web site.
I change things, hit refresh on my site yet things never match up to how I have them arranged on VIRTUAL WEATHER STATION 14.0 INTERNET EDITION
Is anyone willing to get on the phone & call me???
I am 99.99% finished except making my website look right
I am glad I don't have to write html code
My cell is 443-243-8944
I would be grateful to anyone who knows about this software if they would talk me through a few things
I have the site almost done but again, I can't get certain items to go where I want them to go
HELP  
I just added my web site. Suddenly it does not update yet VWS 14.0 IE does???

[peterc46]

I just took a look at your site (10pm my time, 1am your time), and the site seems to be working ok. Everything seemed to be up to date and time. What specifically does not seem to be working?

[TorH]

Well the site still say it's 1,08am now, so i' think it's not updating, have just been in there now so this thought is because it's almost two our since peterc46 said it showed 1am.

Have you ticked the update scheduler of the files? Settings -->HTML settings tick and set update time and the same for the jpg's. If you use a FTP program for this, then it should not be updating from VWS.
To get "things" instruments, gauges etc. you must use an editor like Frontpage, Dreamweawer to set the items were you want them.

Hope this was useful  

[Dabbling]

When you get the chance...I sent you an e-mail just asking a basic question as I notice you're not updating...

[sam2004gp]

As mentioned above you will need some Web-Page Development Software or learn html to get past the basic templates provided in VWS.   It just keeps snowballing (in a good way) from here on out.  Now will you not only have a weather hobby, but also a web page/troubleshouter hobby as well.   

However it is possible with a some basic knowledge, to expand on the generic templates from VWS.  Just take a look at my page and you will see some of the old templates peaking through. 

[Anthony]

Web site has not updated since yesterday. Did you set an upload schedule, is the serer name, user name & password correct in the ftp settings? How did you go about setting up the web page, did you use the web site builder in VWS?

[Midnight Star 1]

  Hello All,
I finally got VWS 14.0 to work
I am disappointed with it though
The main reason is I purchased WeatherLinkIP so I would have a website without running my computers but if ya want a better format ya gotta pick software that you can customize. Only problem is I now must run one computer 24/7 in order for VWS to keep updating my site
So, I paid alot of money for WeatherLinkIP so I could shut down my PC but now I see I cant if I want better graphics.
I called Davis to ask them if they had a product that would allow editing of weatherlinks site but the guy acted like I was a spoiled brat cause I wanted better graphics. I don't know about others but when I dump Nearly $800.00 bucks in a weather station Davis shouldn't act surprised when I ask if they have a better product. These guys think everyone is or should be an expert in this field but no one starts off that way.
My site isn't as fancy as many I have seen but for now it'll have to do. From researching weather stations for the better brand to installation to the joys of software I am blind from sitting behind computers for hours to days to get where I am now which is I guess ok for someone who crammed all of this in about 3 weeks walking into it totally green.
If anyone knows of software to create a web site that is more flexable then VWS please let me know. Not gonna try to learn html codes again. Did that about 15 years ago. Way to much time. Software does it better if ya ask me.

[racenet]

Hello All,
I finally got VWS 14.0 to work
I am disappointed with it though
The main reason is I purchased WeatherLinkIP so I would have a website without running my computers but if ya want a better format ya gotta pick software that you can customize. Only problem is I now must run one computer 24/7 in order for VWS to keep updating my site
So, I paid alot of money for WeatherLinkIP so I could shut down my PC but now I see I cant if I want better graphics.
I called Davis to ask them if they had a product that would allow editing of weatherlinks site but the guy acted like I was a spoiled brat cause I wanted better graphics. I don't know about others but when I dump Nearly $800.00 bucks in a weather station Davis shouldn't act surprised when I ask if they have a better product. These guys think everyone is or should be an expert in this field but no one starts off that way.
My site isn't as fancy as many I have seen but for now it'll have to do. From researching weather stations for the better brand to installation to the joys of software I am blind from sitting behind computers for hours to days to get where I am now which is I guess ok for someone who crammed all of this in about 3 weeks walking into it totally green.
If anyone knows of software to create a web site that is more flexable then VWS please let me know. Not gonna try to learn html codes again. Did that about 15 years ago. Way to much time. Software does it better if ya ask me.

It doesn't matter what software you decide to use, it requires you to run it on a computer. WeatherlinkIP isn't going to do it for you. WeatherlinkIP is doing exactly what it was designed to do. Fast & easy weather data on the web without the need for a computer.

The web site builder in VWS allows you to get your data onto the web quickly, using simple templates. It is what it is. If you want something different or better, it requires work on your part. No software is going to do that for you, none.

So, is your issue really with VWS or WeatherlinkIP?

 

[stevebrtx]

I made the decision early on to run 24/7, but not my big Vaio, I picked up a small HP Slimline for $400 at BestBuy and it needs less than 40 watts to run continuous.

[mmorris]

You know actually your really lucky when I started this weather venture back in the day weatherlink didn't have anything to get your weather on the web, it was just a home use thing. Then came VWS but there wasn't any website builder it was you want it on the web it was shoot from the hip. Help forum what forum it was an email list shooting emails back and forth sometimes it take days to get a wrong answer you didn't want to here that it just wasn't possible to do what you wanted to. It took me 5 months to get my first web page up and running it was the hardest thing I ever did with a computer and a piece of software. Thinking back it was a lot of fun and I've enjoyed every frustrating minute.

[sam2004gp]

Even the big guys (commercial weather sites), have to have someone to program their site.  It's don't do itself.  The wonder of this hobby is the thrill of observing the weather and figuring out a way to share it with your community.

[Midnight Star 1]

I know I know. Patients 

I actually thought VWS was an interface to WeatherLinkIP so I was expecting it to work with computer off 

On a more positive note I can say I have the best of both worlds for a novice 

Hey look, automated html 

[Anthony]

As for the graphics. I think VWS has some of the best.

As for running you computer 24/7. I guess I will never understand why some people don't like to do this. It's actually better for it if you leave it runing 24/7. It's doesn't take a fast computewr to run VWS. A 300Mhz machine with 256Meg of ram is more than pwerful enough to run VWS.

[Midnight Star 1]

About running your computer 24/7.  Some say turn it off after using to spare the drives/components lifetime & to save power but others say for one leave it run all the time cause the bearings create a more uniformed wear pattern thus giving the drive a longer life . Also never forget a computers worst enemy...Heat. Take out the hard drive theory & you have a power supply, a processor etc... which all have fans that will be running much longer then if you shut down after use. Every piece of hardware in the computer will defiantly be hotter for a significantly longer time. Despite all this people on average believe it is better to leave it on all the time. I am now running one of mine 24/7 only to run VWS. Time will tell the hard drives life as well as the entire pc while running 24/7. The pc running VWS is a Dell Dimension 8200 over 9 years old & used to be powered up & shut down daily multiple times a day. Everything has lasted except three hard drives not due to malicious code. Running two 500 GB Western Digitals currently. See, I use my computers for much more then my station so I will be getting another computer, maybe a used laptop just for my station & run it 24/7. I still have this Inspiron laptop which is much newer so should be ok for now. I back up lots of data using Norton Ghost so I keep duplicate info on multiple hard drives. Just was in fear of loosing my data. A senior tech in our server room once told me "there's no such thing as too much back up"
Anyway, time will tell

[mmorris]

The weather computer runs 24/7 my general use computer runs when I'm home the Uniden bearcat computer netbook runs 24/7. The computer get backup maybe once a month just in case a hard drive dies. The data well I send some to noaa and weatherunderground and weatherforyou and I asked around and the family said they don't give a shit or have any Idea what to do with this weather stuff if I check out, I had lots of data once but the author of VWS change the data base once upon time and left that data useless. Then there was that backup software once that just didn't work when I needed to restore the CD coating just came off the CD before that it was a 31/2floppy just didn't work anymore. Backup now are made to another harddrive and there ain't no guarantee that is going to work when I need it. So basically I never look to see what happened two years ago I ain't trying to write no Farmer almanac that been done I just want to know how cold it got last night and how hot it got today and the same with the rest of the stats,,,   

[racenet]

Actually, thermal cycling does the most harm to computer components. 

I have a computer that has been running 24/7 since 1992 and it still uses the same hard drive that I put in it when I built it. Only replaced the power supply fan twice and the cpu fan once. I'd say that is a good service life. 


Bob

[sam2004gp]

I am doing just like Anthony said...

As for running you computer 24/7. I guess I will never understand why some people don't like to do this. It's actually better for it if you leave it runing 24/7. It's doesn't take a fast computewr to run VWS. A 300Mhz machine with 256Meg of ram is more than pwerful enough to run VWS.

My computer was resurrected from the back of the closet to just run VWS and my webcam.  It is a Pentium II 300MHZ with a 8Gb Primary HD, and 384Mb of ram.  The computer itself was purchased in 1995, so that makes it about 14 years old.  It only draws about 50 watts of power, so energy efficient as well.  Eventually I will upgrade it but, that will be after I shuffle around the other 5 computer in the house.  I also back it up completely to DVD once a month.  And I backup the VWS folder 4 times daily to a 20GB HD.  So again, major power or in this case Money is not needed.  I estimate that the computer's  retail value now is not worth $50, but it's value to me is worth a whole lot more. 

Take a look at my webpage at www.mountcrawfordweather.org
As you see even a weak machine can provide enough "umph" to upload data to a web server.

[DaculaWeather]

I've managed networks of computers for 20 years or so and I had servers (Novell, not Windows) that ran years without ever rebooting. I had an old Honeywell AP computer (286) that sat in a closet and ran for 12 years, 24 hours a day.

Most hard drives have a MTBF of hundreds of thousands of hours. We're talking 10 years or more, 24/7. And like racenet said, the worst thing you can do to electronics is heat cycling. Maintaining a constant temperature is very important in the longevity of all the components in your system and they operate better once up to temperature.

I vote for leaving it on.

[Weather Display]

I have had great success in leaving Pc's running
during heat waves or cold there is more reports of PC's failing
,so , yes, mainting a good temperature is important

[W Thomas]

My vote is for "Always On" also !

I have had a failure or two but that has been mainly a power supply once, which I swapped drives to a different machine in the interim and repaired that one. The last failure strangely was BIOS related and I swapped back to the original I built which I had already repaired on the shelf and ready to go!

Given the unstable AC line voltage we had for awhile previously that is a good reliability showing!   Hopefully between AEP and my improvements we have licked that problem!