Author Topic: New Weather Software  (Read 64344 times)

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Offline Josiah

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #51 on: July 20, 2014, 03:13:32 PM »
Thanks for the screenshot.

it is temporarily working     but crashes if I make any changes

Does the display update to show changes in the local weather?

The Leading Zeros thing for the station coordinates is something I'll add to the todo list. Actually, I need to change how the coordinates are entered just so other people don't need to ask the same question.

Offline Beaudog

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #52 on: July 20, 2014, 03:19:05 PM »
It is working and updating.

But, here is what appears to be happening.     I am using Virtual VP. It is on another computer and I am connecting across the network.   You can see that in the screen shot.

When I try to make any change   after I click the apply changes button the program appears to close and try to make the changes but they do not appear to take.    The program also appears to disconnect from VVP during that time.    When it restarts it will not connect back to VVP.   VVP thinks that the program never disconnected and will not allow it to reconnect.   I think you need to have the program drop the TCP connection (tell VVP it is disconnecting and then reconnect) while it is the save changes mode.

Offline Beaudog

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #53 on: July 20, 2014, 03:31:23 PM »
Here is something else that it is doing. Most irritating.   When I close the program it does not tell VVP that it is disconnecting.    Thus when I restart the program VVP will not allow it to connect it thinks it is already connected.     I have to close VVP and restart it before your program can reconnect.

That makes it kinda hard for me to trouble shoot as doing that requires me to restart all of the other programs I have running off of VVP

Offline Josiah

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #54 on: July 20, 2014, 03:37:30 PM »
It is working and updating.

But, here is what appears to be happening.     I am using Virtual VP. It is on another computer and I am connecting across the network.   You can see that in the screen shot.

When I try to make any change   after I click the apply changes button the program appears to close and try to make the changes but they do not appear to take.    The program also appears to disconnect from VVP during that time.    When it restarts it will not connect back to VVP.   VVP thinks that the program never disconnected and will not allow it to reconnect.   I think you need to have the program drop the TCP connection (tell VVP it is disconnecting and then reconnect) while it is the save changes mode.

Your very perceptive. That is whats going on. I wanted to get the connection and updating working before worrying about having it close TCP connections. Give me about 15min to half-an-hour to make the need change. I'll let you know when I get done.

The fact that it is connecting and updating though is a success in my book.

The Davis station part is Finally working!!! \:D/ \:D/ \:D/

Although before i get too excited, is it possible for you to try it with a direct TCP connection to a Davis station? (i.e. not connecting through VVP.) Actually, maybe you should wait on this till after I have it properly closing the TCP connection.

The coordinates are in ddmm.hh -- i.e. degrees, minutes and hundreths of minutes. The Longitude has three digits of degrees and leading zero digits cannot be omitted.


Offline Josiah

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #55 on: July 20, 2014, 03:50:51 PM »
OK, Just uploaded a new version.

The only thing I did with it was make it close any TCP connections.

[EDIT]
Let me know how it goes.
[END EDIT]
« Last Edit: July 20, 2014, 04:17:54 PM by Josiah »

Offline Beaudog

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #56 on: July 20, 2014, 05:39:03 PM »
I do believe that you have it fixed.    I have it connecting both across the network as last time and also connecting locally thru 127.0.0.1    both are working and both will restart properly or at least appear to.

Offline Josiah

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #57 on: July 20, 2014, 05:43:21 PM »
I do believe that you have it fixed.    I have it connecting both across the network as last time and also connecting locally thru 127.0.0.1    both are working and both will restart properly or at least appear to.
So is it working with a direct TCP connection to a Davis Station?

Just an FYI, my software saves its configuration to a folder labeled "Weather Program" located in your Documents folder. Depending on your Operating System your Documents folder may be labeled "My Documents" or "Documents".


[EDIT]
dean,

So it sounds like it now is working with Davis Stations.

Could you give it another try then let me know if its working for you?
[END EDIT]
« Last Edit: July 20, 2014, 09:03:10 PM by Josiah »

Offline dean.martin

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #58 on: July 20, 2014, 09:46:46 PM »
Jos,

It seems working now. =D> the software is now receiving data from the station. \:D/ I have tried connecting 3 stations and all 3 received data but one of the station named "Mawab" has this statement showing "cannot connect to vantage weatherstation" on the upper part of the display even if it is receiving data. #-o why is that? see attached "Mawab.png" file.

I also found out that the error showing up last time I tried the software is due to the units selected for barometer. InHg, which is the default setting for Barometer, is the only unit working. the other two units (hPa and mBar) are not working. When I select for example, hPa or mBar, after clicking "Apply Changes" button, it then tries to load the stations about 5 seconds then an error message will show up. see attached "Error.png" file.

I also attached my "Weather Program" folder.

Jos,

I suggest to add Solar radiation and UV index in the display for VP2 stations.

Thanks.

Offline Josiah

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #59 on: July 20, 2014, 10:25:06 PM »
OK, Thanks for figuring out the problem with the mbar and hpa was. When you mentioned that the only barometer unit working was the InHg, I realized what was going on. If your a programmer you will understand what I'm about to say. I inadvertently used an 'Or' conditional in a 'Select Case' (or in C#, Switch Case I believe) statement. This of course makes neither of the statements valid and instead generates an error. Dumb me, I've done this several times already. I'll have it fixed in for the next update.

The "cannot connect to vantage weatherstation" on the upper part of the display your seeing is a result of not clearing the connection error message when it starts receiving data again. In other words, It had encountered an error while connecting to the station then was able to reestablish a connection and start getting data.

Now that the connections to Davis stations are working, I'll add Solar radiation and UV index to the software as per your suggestion. Where do you think is a good place to display it?


After i get webcam support going I've been tossing around an Idea to add a fully customizable display. I'm thinking of setting it up where the user can set which values they want on the screen, where they are displayed, how large, and what color. The idea is if someone decides they don't like the default, they would be able to lay things out the way they want it. With something like this you could use the webcam image as a background for the rest of the displayed units while still allowing the best contrast ratio for the current conditions. What are you thoughts on this?



Thanks for your help getting this going with the Davis Vantage Pro2. I would also like to extend my thanks to Beaudog for his help as well.

Thanks Guys!!

Offline drew

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #60 on: July 20, 2014, 11:36:04 PM »
Thanks so much for the  awesome work! I have it running perfect with my Davis Vantage Vue! I love the large display and being able to read the values from across the room.

I'm excited to see if what features you add next!

Drew Richards
-Drew Richards

Offline Josiah

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #61 on: July 21, 2014, 07:51:23 AM »
I have it running perfect with my Davis Vantage Vue! I love the large display and being able to read the values from across the room.

I will add the Vantage Vue to the Officially supported list. Thanks!!
That's one of the reasons why things are organized and sized the way they are. We wanted to be able to see things from clear across the room as well.

Thanks for the feedback!!

Offline Josiah

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #62 on: July 21, 2014, 12:11:42 PM »
For anyone reading this thread,
Which location format do you think would be better, "Decimal Degrees" or ddmm.hh -- i.e. degrees, minutes and hundredths of minutes?
Although, I could just add an option to specify which format the user enters it in, come to think of it, this would probably be the best way to go. Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

Also, if you have any ideas, comments or suggestions, please share. Even if its related to something you don't want to see in the software. I say this because I'm sure there's people out there like us that have tried using several different programs and have seen good and bad ways of doing stuff. If you know of something that would be useful (maybe a utility, feature or function) let me hear about it. I do have a list of things I would like to add, however it would be nice integrate other people's ideas as well.


And here's a Status update.

I've just uploaded a new version.

Version [1.0] "The Davis Update" 7/21/2014

The connection error message will now clear when it successfully reconnects to the station.
mbar and hpa options for the Barometric pressure are now working.
Thanks to the debugging help from Forum users dean.martin and Beaudog, Davis Stations are now supported. Vantage Pro2 and Vue have been confirmed to be working. Pro1 stations should also work but have not been confirmed.

Offline SLOweather

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #63 on: July 21, 2014, 12:37:47 PM »
Josiah,

You might consider making a signature on this forum with the download link. That would save newly interested people like me from having so search for it.

Thanks!

Offline Josiah

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #64 on: July 21, 2014, 01:58:54 PM »
Josiah,

You might consider making a signature on this forum with the download link. That would save newly interested people like me from having so search for it.

Thanks!

Although I've keeping my first post in this thread up to date, That's a good idea.. and Done..

[EDIT]
Maybe I should add a screenshot as well..
[END EDIT]
« Last Edit: July 21, 2014, 02:01:14 PM by Josiah »

Offline Beaudog

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #65 on: July 21, 2014, 02:02:41 PM »
I really think that degrees hours and minutes is the beat way to go although decimal is OK just some people are not aware of the different ways to do coordinates.     

It is the format to enter it in that is currently confusing. I entered 31 43 02 W    but that does not seem to work so I don't know now if it should be 31.43.02 W    or jut  314302W.   A simple example under the coordinates block would help greatly.

Offline Josiah

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #66 on: July 21, 2014, 02:27:39 PM »
I really think that degrees hours and minutes is the beat way to go although decimal is OK just some people are not aware of the different ways to do coordinates.     

It is the format to enter it in that is currently confusing. I entered 31 43 02 W    but that does not seem to work so I don't know now if it should be 31.43.02 W    or jut  314302W.   A simple example under the coordinates block would help greatly.

Your response is an example of why I wanted to simplify it. Right now its dd.mmhh for latitude, and ddd.mmhh for Longitude. where d = degrees, m = minutes and h = hundredths of minutes. Leading zeros cannot be omitted, Latitude is followed by either N (For North) or S (For South), Longitude is followed by E (East) or W (West). Example: Latitude 3646.47N, Longitude 07938.39W.
I hope this helps.

Where this comes from is when I first started using coordinates in my software they were used for CWOP uploads, so the simplest thing for me to do at that time was to enter them in that format. Now I would like to change that to make it easier to understand.

[EDIT]
Oh, adding examples to the software is a good idea. I'll do that.
[END EDIT]
« Last Edit: July 21, 2014, 02:30:34 PM by Josiah »

Offline Beaudog

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #67 on: July 21, 2014, 04:12:31 PM »
Yours is the first program I have seen that would take data from multiple diffirent brands of stations at the same time.    I see a use for that.

A spare time enhancement.   Have the ability to auto rotate between stations. User sets time interval and color of the screen.   Thus say once every two minutes stations change. Station ones is blue station two is green and so on.

Offline Josiah

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #68 on: July 21, 2014, 04:34:12 PM »
Yours is the first program I have seen that would take data from multiple diffirent brands of stations at the same time.    I see a use for that.

A spare time enhancement.   Have the ability to auto rotate between stations. User sets time interval and color of the screen.   Thus say once every two minutes stations change. Station ones is blue station two is green and so on.

Its the first that I'm aware of that will allow data from multiple stations of any type.

Auto rotating between stations... hmm... <thinking> That's a good idea. and..... There, Its now on my todo list.  :-)

Offline Beaudog

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #69 on: July 21, 2014, 05:57:21 PM »
I tested the CWOP upload it works, but, It does not appear to be adjusting for and sending altimeter.  It looks to be sea level to me as it is the same as the console sea level reading.

You are going to need to put in some sort of tweak settings also so each parameter can be tweaked up and down as needed . 

See how simple things get hard right fast.

Offline Josiah

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #70 on: July 21, 2014, 06:31:55 PM »
I tested the CWOP upload it works, but, It does not appear to be adjusting for and sending altimeter.  It looks to be sea level to me as it is the same as the console sea level reading.

You are going to need to put in some sort of tweak settings also so each parameter can be tweaked up and down as needed . 

See how simple things get hard right fast.

Oops, Your right!! Looking back through the CWOP data format I've been uploading the wrong Barometric pressure readings.  :oops: :oops:
That's going to be a priority fix... Thanks for catching that.

Tweak settings for each parameter... Another good idea. That's also something we would find helpful.


[EDIT]
You don't happen to know where I can find a formula for calculating this, do you? The ones I've found so far have the temperature compensation in them.
Can you tell me what the adjusted reading should be?
[END EDIT]
« Last Edit: July 21, 2014, 08:46:16 PM by Josiah »

Offline dean.martin

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #71 on: July 22, 2014, 12:03:03 AM »
I also want to come-up with a good name for it, if anyone has any ideas feel free to share.

Jos,

I Guess StationLink or StationConnect would be appropriate since it is linking/connecting to a single station or multiple stations. Or maybe WeatherView or WeatherSight since the user can view the weather from their station thru your software and they can assign to what weather parameter they want in the display to view as what your planning to add in your software.

By the way, Thank you for the acknowledgement. I appreciate it.
« Last Edit: July 22, 2014, 02:24:42 AM by dean.martin »

Offline dean.martin

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #72 on: July 22, 2014, 02:02:46 AM »
OK, Thanks for figuring out the problem with the mbar and hpa was. When you mentioned that the only barometer unit working was the InHg, I realized what was going on. If your a programmer you will understand what I'm about to say. I inadvertently used an 'Or' conditional in a 'Select Case' (or in C#, Switch Case I believe) statement. This of course makes neither of the statements valid and instead generates an error. Dumb me, I've done this several times already. I'll have it fixed in for the next update.

problem fixed  =D&gt;

Now that the connections to Davis stations are working, I'll add Solar radiation and UV index to the software as per your suggestion. Where do you think is a good place to display it?





After i get webcam support going I've been tossing around an Idea to add a fully customizable display. I'm thinking of setting it up where the user can set which values they want on the screen, where they are displayed, how large, and what color. The idea is if someone decides they don't like the default, they would be able to lay things out the way they want it. With something like this you could use the webcam image as a background for the rest of the displayed units while still allowing the best contrast ratio for the current conditions. What are you thoughts on this?

:-P It seems it does not have enough space for UV and Solar readings in the Display. Customizable display is a great idea for user preferences. I can't wait to see and try this.

Offline dean.martin

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #73 on: July 22, 2014, 02:23:10 AM »
I really think that degrees hours and minutes is the beat way to go although decimal is OK just some people are not aware of the different ways to do coordinates.     

It is the format to enter it in that is currently confusing. I entered 31 43 02 W    but that does not seem to work so I don't know now if it should be 31.43.02 W    or jut  314302W.   A simple example under the coordinates block would help greatly.

Your response is an example of why I wanted to simplify it. Right now its dd.mmhh for latitude, and ddd.mmhh for Longitude. where d = degrees, m = minutes and h = hundredths of minutes. Leading zeros cannot be omitted, Latitude is followed by either N (For North) or S (For South), Longitude is followed by E (East) or W (West). Example: Latitude 3646.47N, Longitude 07938.39W.
I hope this helps.

Where this comes from is when I first started using coordinates in my software they were used for CWOP uploads, so the simplest thing for me to do at that time was to enter them in that format. Now I would like to change that to make it easier to understand.

[EDIT]
Oh, adding examples to the software is a good idea. I'll do that.
[END EDIT]

Jos,

I prefer using Decimal Degrees (WGS84) for station coordinates. This will be less confusing but adding options for different types of coordinate inputs as what you are thinking is a great idea. Coordinate converters will be no longer needed.

Offline dean.martin

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Re: New Weather Software
« Reply #74 on: July 22, 2014, 02:49:02 AM »
Jos,

I have additional suggestions;

1. *.stn files in WxStations Folder in Weather Program Folder should be automatically named based on the station name.
2. Add "Reference ET (Reference Evapotransperation)" in data logs. This can be calculated. You can have this for reference from davis; http://climetua.fis.ua.pt/legacy/main/current_monitor/WLinkExpVar.pdf
3. Add Feels Like(or Heat Index) for temperature in the display.
4. Add Uploading of Historical Data, *.txt file exported from weatherLink software to your software or add a download button to each station to download archived data from Davis TCP/IP data logger and then will update the software logs. In that way, The Data that is not logged during the software is out or not running or the internet connection is out will also be archived to the software logs direct to the database when the software reconnects to the network.  #-o If possible.
5. A time update status of the station. A status in the display informing users how long the station recently received data like this on WUnderground widget (below image) at the bottom part.
 

Thanks =D&gt;
« Last Edit: July 22, 2014, 04:59:07 AM by dean.martin »

 

anything