Topic: Erreneous reading of 85.0 Degrees for precisely one hour on WS-2000?

[K5GHS]

Anyone heard of this? 

This morning my WS-2000 went to 85.0 degrees between 0934 am and 1033 am.  At 1034 am it didn't report the temp for that entry in PWS, then at 1035 it went back to normal.

It was for precisely an hour looking at my graphs...

Any insight would be appreciated.  I've had it running since the evening of the 2nd, this is the first time its done this.

EDIT: Looking at the data further, the data for Dew Point and Humidity also changed to 68.1 and 63%, respectively.  Right before it happened they were way different.... (Went from 91% to 63%, the dew point may be the resulted calculation from the bad temp of 85 and the bad dew point reading).  The rest of the data continued reporting correctly during the hour timeframe, it was only outside temp, dew point and humidity that was the same for the exact hour.

[galfert]

Where are you looking at this data? The display console itself? On the display console .csv file log on the SD card? On Ambientweather.net? On Weather Underground? or somewhere else that data is sent?

[K5GHS]

I got the precise hour from looking at it on PWS weather, but it shows on everywhere (including Ambient Weather and WU).  I was asleep at the time it happened since I work overnight so I don't know what the display did at the time.  Its such a glaring difference you can see it in the graphs for sure...  I'm at work right now so I can't look at the console data.

[galfert]

I would venture to guess that you have configured Ambientweather.net to upload to not just PWSweather.com to also to Weather Underground. If you have done this at Ambientweather.net you should undo this. Do not use Ambientweather.net to upload to Weather Underground. It is okay to use Ambientweather.net to upload to PWSweather.com though. Just don't give Ambientweather.net your WU Station ID stuff.

Reason being that you should only have one device uploading to Weather Underground. The best device to upload to Weather Underground is your console. The console is capable of uploading directly to Weather Underground and directly to Ambientweather.net. But the console is not capable of directly uploading to PWSweather.com. Therefore the only way (with just the console) that you can upload to PWSweather.com is to use the conduit via Ambientweather.net. If you configure Ambientweather.net to upload to Weather Ungrerground at the same time as the console is uploading directly to Weather Underground you are bound to get all kinds of problems and unreliability. This is because it isn't direct and any problems with Ambientweather.net will just be reflected over to Weather Underground.com. It is always best to just upload directly to any service whenever possible. And you should never have two console or software uploading to the exact same station ID on any service as they will just be fighting each other and there is bound to be timing delays between each.

My thinking is that something happened with Ambientweather.net which is not uncommon and then that issue replicated itself to the other services that you have Ambientweather.net sending data to. The problem is likely Ambientweather.net. But you won't know for sure unless you can compare that data with data being sent elsewhere directly. Keep an eye on this and see if it happens again after you fix and remove the Weather Underground upload via Ambientweather.net.

You could do a comparison now with your console data. The display console has tables and graphs that you can reference. If you had an SD card inserted in the display console then there will be a data file with your weather data. I recommend putting an SD card in and leaving it there. You need one anyway to upgrade the firmware. Which reminds me to let you know that you should be running the latest firmware to rule out bugs. But new bugs are found all the time and new features are added so keep an eye out for the newest version from Ambient's website:
https://ambientweather.net/help/ambient-weather-ws-2000-firmware-download-center/

You should also run the awnet app and check for WiFi firmware updates. The WS-2000 has two different firmware to upgrade ....the Revision firmware via the SD card that you download form the Ambient website, and the WiFi firmware that is done via the awnet mobile app.

[K5GHS]

I will take a look at the console data when I get home.

I do know I did not tell Ambientweather.net to upload to WU because I saw the warning about it, so its not configured to do so.  I'm having the console itself do it, which is how it should be going.  Its only sharing to PWS.  I did just read another post about the app that you use to configure it while on the LAN (awnet) being able to upload to another weather site in fact, but I haven't configured it to do so yet.  Although it may or may not affect it I do have the Alexa integration in use as well (via Ambient Weather's site).

I do have a SD card in it since I have 3 extra sensors (so far) and I wanted those logged too.  I did update the firmware and wifi last week as well.  It's just a really odd error, its the first time I saw it.  I don't believe its done it any other time, but I'm going to check my logs to see if its done it any other time.  But I don't see anything glaring on my graphs like this one was for sure, which leapt out at me when I got up this morning and checked my graphs....

Let me look at the data at home and I'll see if it shows on there also, but it won't be till tomorrow, I'm on a 12 hour overnight currently.

[galfert]

I did just read another post about the app that you use to configure it while on the LAN (awnet) being able to upload to another weather site in fact, but I haven't configured it to do so yet.  Although it may or may not affect it I do have the Alexa integration in use as well (via Ambient Weather's site).

The WS-2000 can only upload to the following:
- Weather Underground
- Ambientweather.net
- WeatherCloud
- PWSweather (via Ambientweather.net)

That is it all the WS-2000 can do to send data without adding other hardware/software options. If you read about "Customized" server upload setting that is only for other Fine Offset branded hardware consoles. You can though add an Ecowitt GW1000 console to your existing WS-2000 and it will pick up all your existing sensors and then you'll gain these added capabilities. Not just the "Customized" server upload but the build in API support for other weather software; Cumulus MX, Meteobridge, Weather-Display. Soon WeeWx should be able to also, but for now WeeWx is supported via "Customized" settings on the consoles that have that (unless you jump though other hoops to intercept Weather Underground data).

Alexa integration does not affect weather data anomaly you in data you experienced. Alexa doesn't have access to change data...just to view it.

Look at your console's data and let us know. If you truly aren't uploading to WU via Ambientweather.net then it seems like you console had a weird glitch that I've never seen anyone else report.

[K5GHS]

Yes the one I was talking about was WeatherCloud.  I don't have it doing that currently, but I'll probably add it after I get this solved.
I just re-verified on Ambientweather.net that I'm not uploading to WU via it.  Only green checkmarks for Ambient Weather, PWS, and Alexa as it should be.  No userid or password is present for WU as it should be.  I know that I have seen the WU icon on the "tablet" at home and I remember having fun putting the information for it into the tablet as well (as well as names for the extra sensors and such).

I'll report my findings probably tomorrow afternoon after I get up for work again.  Be interesting to see if it does it tomorrow as well, I haven't reset it or touched it at all, just noticed the odd data for exactly a hour.

[K5GHS]

Screenshots from PWS for reference, will post data from the SDCard tomorrow, in case anyone else has seen something similar.  I have cut out the portion where it remained the same.  Anyone can view the entire log if they want to see it on the website, just go to the link for PWS data and select 1/9/2020....

First screenshot is when it started, second when it ended (and didn't report the data for one minute, then it went back to reporting the proper data).

[K5GHS]

So I just checked the SD Card (backed up from memory to it) and it shows that the station memory also did the exact same thing.....
2020/1/9   9:32   69.8   41   58.5   91   55.9   58.5   2.2   3.4   111   29.26   30.03   23.8
2020/1/9   9:33   69.8   41   58.5   91   55.9   58.5   2.5   4.5   150   29.25   30.02   29.8
2020/1/9   9:34   69.6   41   58.5   91   55.9   58.5   1.3   2.2   153   29.25   30.02   27.6
2020/1/9   9:35   69.6   41   82   63   68.2   84.9   3.4   4.5   135   29.25   30.02   24.7
2020/1/9   9:36   69.6   41   82   63   68.2   84.9   2.2   2.2   133   29.25   30.02   22.8
2020/1/9   9:37   69.6   41   82   63   68.2   84.9   1.1   1.1   134   29.26   30.03   25.5
2020/1/9   9:38   69.6   41   82   63   68.2   84.9   2.2   3.4   139   29.25   30.02   25.9
2020/1/9   9:39   69.6   41   82   63   68.2   84.9   2.5   3.4   143   29.26   30.03   35.9
....
2020/1/9   10:32   69.6   41   82   63   68.2   84.9   3.6   4.5   144   29.24   30.01   45
2020/1/9   10:33   69.6   41   82   63   68.2   84.9   2.5   3.4   147   29.24   30.01   36.8
2020/1/9   10:34   69.8   41   82   63   68.2   84.9   2.7   3.4   151   29.25   30.02   36.8
2020/1/9   10:35   70   41   59.2   91   56.7   59.2   1.3   2.2   137   29.25   30.02   45.5
2020/1/9   10:36   70   41   59.2   91   56.7   59.2   3.8   4.5   159   29.25   30.02   58.4
2020/1/9   10:37   70.2   41   59.2   91   56.7   59.2   3.1   4.5   138   29.24   30.01   61.1

At 9:35 it starts showing the incorrect figures (jumps from 58.5 to 82 degrees, the humidity goes from 91 to 63, Dew point 55.9 to 68.2) then at 10:35 we're back to 59.2, humidity 91, and 56.7, which was correct as far as I know (was cloudy, humid, chance of thunderstorms).  Lasts for one hour precisely, just as it shows on PWS.  I do have it set to record once a minute instead of the 5 minute default.

Head scratcher for sure.  I'll check back later in the PM before I go to work, or when I get to work.  Since I had to pull the SD card after backing up to it, I did have to cut power, so if it does it again this morning I'll let you know, but that ruined the uptime, obviously, so if its something that happens after a while it probably won't reproduce it now.

[galfert]

Then it seems like a real event that caused the temperature sensor to behave that way. Either the temp sensor is acting up and needs replacing or some event caused it to raise up like that. For example...where is the outdoor temperature sensor located? Is it up on your roof? If it is on the roof, could your clothes dryer have been running and maybe you placed your station too close to the dryer vent on the roof? Or maybe there is an ornament or window (yours or a neighbors) that acts like a lens at that time of day for the current sun position and it hit the temperature sensor just right to cause it to spike up? Maybe a neighbor fired up the grill or decided to burn some leaves right next to your station? Or something else, that could be difficult to come up with?

Depending on how long you've had the station and how close you are from being without warranty, I would say to keep an eye out for it and see what happens. You can set an alarm in Ambientweather.net to be alerted if the temperature gets that high again. That way you don't need to watch it manually.

[K5GHS]

Although possible, since it was overcast yesterday (and the fact I only got about 40% of my usual charge off my solar panels) I'm doubting its environmental.  Its on a fenceline between me and my neighbors houses, ~36 feet above the ground.  Never had this issue once in 2 years 10 months with my old WS-1002 sensor suite in the exact same location.  None of the factors you mention would be happening in that area either, my backyard is what the fence is enclosing, and since its sloped not much can happen there.  And the fact it lasted for precisely one hour pretty much tells me its probably the sensor suite or something weird happened software/hardware wise.  The station is new, been out of the box and in the air approaching day 9 there now.  Got it from Amazon. 

May very well have to do with it what I did with my WS-1002.  It liked to lose the internet connection after about 3-4 days all the time, so I put it on a timer to reset at 12:01am daily.  Never had an issue with it dropping again.  I'll time it and see if it happens again in roughly 7d. With the outside temp at the time being under 60 degrees, and no sunshine and a good 3-5 mph wind at the time with gusts to 14+ according to my data, even if there was some magical source at 36 feet in the open air for precisely a hour, the wind should have affected it.  Possible, sure, but I'm highly doubtful of it at this point.

So I'll monitor it and see if it crops up again in a few days.  Today has been fine, and it was fine for 7 days, so I'll see if it does it in the same time frame, if it does, then I'll put a timer on it and see.

Thanks for your assistance though, we'll see if it does it again.  If so, I'll have to file a warranty claim for that sensor suite with Ambient via Amazon I guess.  I'll report back if it happens again for sure, especially if it happens in the same span of time, roughly.  Since it was a 20 degree excursion for exactly an hour, I'll be able to pinpoint it easily when it happens again.  Won't be the first time I've ordered something and had an issue with it, that's for sure, though I believe this would only be my third return with them for a failure issue.  But it happens.   Hasn't done it since my reset at roughly 6:30am this morning though.

I'll report back if it happens again.  Thanks for your help!

[FreewindRider]

Any updates to this issue?

My HP1000SE (similar to WS-2000) has also been reporting erroneous temperature and humidity readings and has also been showing dashes at seemingly random occasions. The first time it happened it displayed a temperature of -12F until I restarted the console (actual outdoor temperature was 35F). The second time it displayed 90F (actual outdoor temp was 28F), but since this was in the middle of the night and I didn`t notice it, it had reset itself after an hour. In addition to this it has also been showing dashes for temp and humidity on three occasions, always for exactly an hour until it resets and start displaying correct values.

All the above within one month and with two different sets of fresh batteries (first alkaline, then lithium). The weather hasn`t been extreme in any way and all other values such as wind and solar radiation have been correctly reported. The data and errors are the same on the console as well as online. When I looked at the display showing the erroneous -12F then also the low battery icon was shown, so I`m wondering if there might be a battery problem after all or if the temperature sensor in the array has gone bad. It`s still under warranty, so maybe I`ll contact the supplier.

[sky_watcher]

Anyone heard of this? 

This morning my WS-2000 went to 85.0 degrees between 0934 am and 1033 am.  At 1034 am it didn't report the temp for that entry in PWS, then at 1035 it went back to normal.

I have a Pantech HP2550. The other day I was looking at the display and the external temperature jumped from about 17 Celsius to 40.5 Celsius. I went to the console and re-synced the external sensors and the temperature went back to the expected value immediately - I did not power-cycle the console. Two readings from the weather station were affected. I assumed that the console must have locked onto something else, but I haven't seen it happen again.

[K5GHS]

As an update, it hasn't happened again since (at least from what I've seen).

I'm in the security industry and with everything closing down and people staying at home, we're actually more busy now checking on locked down buildings and similar, and as a mobile supervisor, such duties fall to me, so I haven't been home nearly as much.

But I have been checking my graphs as often as I can and I don't see anywhere that its done something like this since.

Must have been some kind of odd gremlin....