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Weather Software => Station Software Development => Topic started by: Josiah on May 12, 2014, 10:47:20 AM

Title: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on May 12, 2014, 10:47:20 AM
Edit: 2/4/2015
This thread is for the Original version of my software that I am no longer working on.
The thread for the new version can be found here: http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=24359.0 (http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=24359.0)
For the latest on whats going on check the new thread.
You can also visit the website for the new version: www.addinwx.net

Thanks all,
Josiah


Hello WXforum,

About 3 years ago we purchased our first real weather station (an Ultimeter 2100 from PeetBros with pro sensors) and shortly thereafter started looking at software to interface to it. What we were looking for was something that would display the data in a nice/easy to read way while still having a few good features. We started with the "WeatherText Tools" software that came with the Station then moved to software (Of which i don't remember the name of) that was originally available at N3FJP's website back in 2010. We then tried "Weather Display" and "Cumulus" neither of which we liked. After that we tried 3 or 4 other pieces of software before finally giving up. Our biggest complaint with the existing software was that they either didn't display the Station data very well or the configuration was at best a complete mess.

Being relatively new to programing at that time I started working on my own software to interface to our Station and since then it has evolved into this (see attached screenshots).

Here is a rundown of some the features:
It supports the following Weather Stations:
PeetBros. Ultimeter models 2100, 800 and 100 (2005 and later)
Davis Vantage Vue, Pro and Pro2.

Other Features include:
CWOP and WUnderground Uploads.
Weather station Data Logging (Currently no way to see the logged data, waiting for a brain storm on a good way to display it.)
And a Text-To-Speech engine. (Activated by tapping the Space key.)

Networking:  (You can have it connected to a weather station with one PC then view the station data from software running on other PCs connected via LAN, and I think it will work over internet assuming port-forwarding is configured. Haven't had a chance to try this though.) This has been temporarily disabled. (I want to rethink how I want it to function.)

I would like to add support for more stations but my budget doesn't allow me to purchase any more. This is where I need your help, I'm looking for beta testers, suggestions and any information you guys can provide me with to make this even better.


Here's a Download Link for those who want to give it a try.
https://app.box.com/s/1wmunmzt5awgyu18tl9w (https://app.box.com/s/1wmunmzt5awgyu18tl9w)

It Does require the Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile which can be found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24872 (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24872)
If your unsure of which version of the .NET Framework you have, Try this: https://app.box.com/s/6y1g2zdjkv4pijq93iam (https://app.box.com/s/6y1g2zdjkv4pijq93iam) Its a program that I wrote for Listing all the versions of the .net Framework that are installed on the local PC.

Just for those wondering if it will run on a Mac or Linux OS, I'm sorry but it won't.
I've been a Microsoft OS guy pretty much my entire life so that is the OS I'm developing on and for right now. Support for other OSes may come at a later date, however I'm not guaranteeing anything. For right now I want to focus on adding features, support for more WX stations, and bug fixes.

As a side note, please let me know what you think. For those who do give it a try, I would be very grateful to hear about any software bugs you encounter, anything you would like to see changed or added and what your experiences with it are. The more feedback I get, the better I'll be able to make it, and the faster I'll be able to fix bugs.

I decided to start posting a change log for those who want to see what has been done with it between each version.

Current major Bugs include: (These are ongoing problems that I've been working on resolving.)

SOLVED (version [1.3]): CRC checking still not functioning for Davis Stations.
SOLVED (version [1.3]): Software was receiving Bad Data at Random from Davis Stations.


Version [1.3]  7/31/2014
Changed a Few miscellaneous things relating to whats displayed.
Fixed the Dewpoint Uploads to Weather Underground.
Added the Solar Radiation and UV Index to the display.
Fixed the Altitude adjusted pressure for CWOP uploads. (New Formulas) Special Thanks to Steve Hatchett From SoftWx for the use of his Code Snippets.
Fixed a Bug in the "Tomorrows" Sunrise/Sunset times.


Version [1.2]   7/27/2014
So I've decided to set the barometric pressure for the CWOP uploads to use whatever the Console is set to output until I get this figured-out.
I've also combined the Heat-Index and Wind-Chill into the same box. The program will switch between the Outside Temp, Wind-Chill and Heat-Index as appropriate. The label will also update to show which one its currently displaying. (I did this because I wanted to free-up some space in preparation for adding the UV-Index and Solar Radiation. Also, you never need the Wind-Chill and Heat-Index at the same time anyway, so I figured this was the best way to go.)
I've fixed the Sunrise Sunset times so now they adjust properly for the local time offset.


Version [1.1]
Added an Option to choose what format the station Coordinates are entered in.
Fixed the Barometric Pressure for the CWOP uploads so it uses a Altitude adjusted pressure instead of the raw station pressure. (I'm still working in this one)
Added a Station Elevation Input. (ASL or above Sea Level)
Added an elapsed time since last data was received from the station.
Added CRC Checking on Data from Davis Stations.
Added Examples to the Station Location input.


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.


Version [7.17.2014]
Added WUnderground Uploads.
BugFix another bug not allowing connections to Davis Stations Via TCP.
BugFix Program was throwing errors when attempting to load settings out of an older Settings file.
BugFix Program would throw error messages if the PC didn't have any Serial ports.
Serial Connection errors are now logged to a file.
Added a Connection Status Line to the Main Screen. (This was to prevent alot of message boxes from popping up and suspending program execution.)
There was also other small bug fixes.


Version: 7/14/2014
Moved       The CWOP upload options are now set per individual station via the WX Station Editor.
Moved       The Station Lat./Long. boxes are now on the WX Station Editor.
Change      The Station Lat. and Long. Input boxes are now separate.
Added        Davis Vantage Vue, Davis Vantage Pro and Davis Vantage Pro2 weather Stations connection via LAN Setting is now on the Station Editor Window.
Added        Support for Davis Stations Connected Via Serial.
Moved       Station Hosting Options are now set per individual Station.(Not Fully implemented yet)
Moved       Station Logging option is now on the WX Station Editor.
Change      The system for saving station settings to a file has been changed.
Added        Support for using a HAM Callsign and password for uploading to CWOP.
Change      The selections for the Displayed units are now in drop down lists.
Change      Rearranged the Options window.
Added        hpa is now an option for the Displayed Barometric Pressure Units.
Added        TCP connection errors are now logged to a text file.
Added        There is now a 2 second delay between LOOP packet requests from Davis stations.
Added        If it encounters a Error while connecting to a Davis Station it will now wait 30 seconds before reattempting a connection. (This was mainly to prevent Message-box Spamming the user.)
BugFix        Fixed a Major bug not allowing a TCP connection to Davis Stations.
BugFix        Fixed a bug that would prevent Serial Connections to PeetBros. Ultimeter 800 and 100 stations.


For those who are reading this thread for the first time, You can probably skip over most of the posts. They are mostly conversations about bugs that have been worked on. Unless of course you want to take the time to read all 150+ posts.

If you are not interested in whats going on between software updates but still want to bring yourself up-to-date on whats been done, I would suggest keeping on eye on this post (The first post in the thread). I will try to keep this one updated whenever I release a new version.

However, these are only suggestions, so read whatever you like.


Edit: 2/4/2015
This thread is for the Original version of my software that I am no longer working on.
The thread for the new version can be found here: http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=24359.0 (http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=24359.0)
For the latest on whats going on check the new thread.
You can also visit the website for the new version: www.addinwx.net

Thanks all,
Josiah
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: George Richardson on May 12, 2014, 11:18:45 AM
I think Dropbox would serve your needs.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: smorris on May 12, 2014, 06:03:18 PM
This is where I need your help, I'm looking for beta testers

I can help you test the Macintosh version on a Davis VP2+ w/FARS and Soil Station.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on May 13, 2014, 07:54:07 PM
Thanks for the replies,

George Richardson,
I think Dropbox would serve your needs.
Its not a very big file, uncompressed all files sit at 2.12 MB while dropped in a .zip file the size is 0.98 MB.

smorris,
This is where I need your help, I'm looking for beta testers

I can help you test the Macintosh version on a Davis VP2+ w/FARS and Soil Station.

Thanks for your offer to try it on a mac. Although, since all my PCs have run Windows of one version or another my experience with Mac or Linux based operating systems is lacking. Combine that with the original intent was for our own use (i.e. I wasn't originally thinking of running it on anything but Microsoft OSes) + I'm currently writing it in VB.Net and 'presto', I windup with a program that is probably unportable. Now I'm not saying that it can't be done, I'm just saying that if you want to help you may need a little bit of patience while I figure out cross-platform compatibility.

If you are you still interested, do you have any thoughts on how I might be able to port this?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on June 15, 2014, 08:53:21 PM
Your Weather Software looks convincing. does this supports multiple weather stations and downloading raw data from station thru data loggers? I have 20 Davis Vantage pro2 plus w/ IP/TCP data loggers.
Can I download it so I can test it? So that I can suggest and give some comment?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Bushman on June 15, 2014, 08:59:05 PM
Looks nice and clean.  Streamlined.  LMK where I can try a copy.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on June 18, 2014, 02:04:49 PM
Sorry I couldn't reply sooner, My internet was down since last Thursday.

Thanks for the interest, I'm still looking for someplace where I can put It so people like you guys can give it a try.

Any suggestions?

It does support multiple weather stations connected Simultaneously. I have it set to create another tab for each additional Station.

Currently it only supports the PeetBros series of weather stations, but i would like to add support for others, I just needed to find someone to suggest which one they would like me to add. Since that seems to be you with your 20 (if i'm reading that right) Davis Vantage pro2 plus stations, That looks like the next one to add.  :grin:

I'll look into the Davis VP2 Stations and TCP/IP Data loggers to see what information I can dig up.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on June 18, 2014, 02:42:43 PM
Ok, So I've Uploaded the file to a BOX account, Here's the link to it: https://app.box.com/s/1wmunmzt5awgyu18tl9w (ftp://app.box.com/s/1wmunmzt5awgyu18tl9w)

I'm new to the file hosting sites so if the link doesn't work let me know.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on June 18, 2014, 06:39:19 PM
I've been digging around and found the Communications documentation for the WeatherLinkIP DataLoggers.

So the next thing I need is several raw data packets from a Davis VP2, it would also be helpful if the weather values that the console or other WX Software was displaying at the time the data packets were collected could be passed along.

Can anybody help me with this?

According to the datasheet (starting at page 12) it looks like to get data from the station it may need a "LOOP n" command where n is the number of data packets to send.
Link to DataSheet: http://www.davisnet.com/support/weather/downloads/software_dllsdk.asp (http://www.davisnet.com/support/weather/downloads/software_dllsdk.asp)

QUOTING:
"2. Current Data commands
"LOOP <number of LOOP packets to send-decimal>"
It sends the specified number of LOOP packets, 1 every 2 seconds. Console sleeps between each packet sent. The station responds with an <ACK> then with binary data packet every 2 seconds."

END QUOTE

The Serial communication parameters are on page 5 of the datasheet and are as follows:
QUOTING:

"8 data bits, 1 start bit, 1 stop bit, and no parity.
Default baud rate is 19200. User selectable between 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 14400, and 19200 baud."

END QUOTE

And a few notes from the data sheet:
(End of page 6 through top of page 7)

QUOTING:
"V. Waking up the Console
In order to conserve battery power, the console spends as much time “asleep” as possible, waking up only when required. Receiving a character on the serial port will cause the console to wake up, but it might not wake up fast enough to read the first character correctly. Because of this, you should always perform a wakeup procedure before sending commands to the console:
Console Wakeup procedure:
1. Send a Line Feed character, ‘\n’ (decimal 10, hex 0x0A).
2. Listen for a returned response of Line Feed and Carriage Return characters, (‘\n\r’).
3. If there is no response within a reasonable interval (say 1.2 seconds), then try steps 1 and 2 again up to a total of 3 attempts.
4. If the console has not woken up after 3 attempts, then signal a connection error
After the console has woken up, it will remain awake for 2 minutes. Every time the Vantage receives another character, the 2 minute timer will be reset.

Please note that this is NOT TRUE for the LOOP command. In the LOOP mode, we expect that the Vantage will be sending LOOP packets over time, so it will go to sleep immediately between each packet."

END QUOTE

Also from page 7:

QUOTING:
"VII. Command Formats
The command strings given in the following sections must be followed by a Line Feed characters (‘\n’ or 0x0A or decimal 10) before the console will execute the command.
There are 3 different types of numbers that can be used as command parameters: decimal, hexadecimal and binary. Command parameters are shown with “<parameter name-decimal>”, “<parameter name-hex>”, or “<parameter name-binary>” to indicate which format should be used in each case.
Please note that using the correct number of spaces is very important. For example the command "LOOP <number of LOOP packets to send-decimal>" should be realized with the string "LOOP 4" (i.e. a single space between the "P" and the "4").
There are several different types of command responses. These responses come before any other returned data values.
1. ACK response: when this command is recognized, the console responds with an ASCII ACK (0x06) character. If the command parameters are invalid, a Not Acknowledge response of (0x21) is used. If a block of data is sent with a CRC code, the response CANCEL (0x18) means that the data did not pass the CRC check.
Note: The DMP and DMPAFT commands can use the character <0x15> for negative acknoledgements. See the detailed documentation of these commands in Section XI Download Protocol below for more details.
2. “OK” response: when this command is recognized, the console responds with the character string “\n\rOK\n\r”.
3. “DONE” response: Some commands take some time to complete their operation. For example the command “CLRGRA” will clear all the console graph points. The Vantage will respond with an “OK” when it receives the command, and “DONE” when it is finished. Do not attempt to send any commands to the console until the “DONE\n\r” response has been received."

END QUOTE

If someone can provide me with the RAW data packets the I can probably get it going within a week of receiving the info.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: yojlirpa22 on June 18, 2014, 08:52:34 PM
Ok, So I've Uploaded the file to a BOX account, Here's the link to it: https://app.box.com/s/1wmunmzt5awgyu18tl9w (ftp://app.box.com/s/1wmunmzt5awgyu18tl9w)

I'm new to the file hosting sites so if the link doesn't work let me know.

Hi Josiah,

Your link doesn't work. Can you send another link?

This is interesting.  =D&gt;
Where can we possibly download your software? I think this might help us in our problem with the WeatherLink Software.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: johnd on June 19, 2014, 04:07:06 AM
If someone can provide me with the RAW data packets the I can probably get it going within a week of receiving the info.

Just read further into the Serial Tech Ref document. All of the binary formats for the various data records are described there. In any event, the raw data packets are not normally saved in their native format - they're processed and then saved into whatever database-type structure the software might be using. It's feasible of course for someone to write some code to save, for example, one or more raw LOOP packets to a binary file but I'm not aware of any such utility.

TBH you're probably going to struggle if you don't have a Davis station and logger to experiment with - there are too many details in the retrieval and decoding of eg the LOOP packets to reasonably expect get something working 100% from the paper documentation alone. And if you do have a Davis setup then just write some code to retrieve some packets and experiment with decoding them.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on June 19, 2014, 08:03:10 AM
Your link doesn't work. Can you send another link?
Thanks for letting me know, I must have chosen the wrong link type when I posted it.
Here's a new link. https://app.box.com/s/1wmunmzt5awgyu18tl9w (https://app.box.com/s/1wmunmzt5awgyu18tl9w)


Just read further into the Serial Tech Ref document. All of the binary formats for the various data records are described there.

I've read most of the Serial Tech Ref document last night and am going to finish reading the rest of it later today. I don't 'absolutely have to have' any raw LOOP packets to get started on coding because everything I really need is in that document. However, it still would be nice to have some raw data packets around because I don't have any Davis equipment and it would give me the ability to test the incoming WX station data portion of my code before posting the updated software. Or put simply, It would allow me to test and debug that portion of my code quicker and easier.


It's feasible of course for someone to write some code to save, for example, one or more raw LOOP packets to a binary file but I'm not aware of any such utility.

I'm thinking about writing a utility to do just that. I think it will be helpful for others + It'll be the first step into getting my software working with the Davis Stations. What do you guys think?

The other possibility of-course, is to use a Terminal Emulation program like HyperTerminal (was in Windows 7 & I believe it was also in XP) or Symantec's Procomm Plus (Not sure where to find this one anymore).

To sum things up, having raw LOOP packets is not a hard requirement, but would make things quite-a-bit easier.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: johnd on June 19, 2014, 08:51:40 AM
I'm thinking about writing a utility to do just that. I think it will be helpful for others + It'll be the first step into getting my software working with the Davis Stations. What do you guys think?

Honestly? I think that anyone seriously wanting to write code for Davis stations is going to need access to a Davis station. I don't think you can expect other users to try to debug code that hasn't even been alpha tested by the author. So I'm not really sure who else would find such a utility of any value. If you haven't already got one, buy (used, if necessary) or somehow get access to a Davis station would be my advice. You'll find writing code for it dramatically easier IMHO.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on June 19, 2014, 12:03:04 PM

Honestly? I think that anyone seriously wanting to write code for Davis stations is going to need access to a Davis station. I don't think you can expect other users to try to debug code that hasn't even been alpha tested by the author. So I'm not really sure who else would find such a utility of any value. If you haven't already got one, buy (used, if necessary) or somehow get access to a Davis station would be my advice. You'll find writing code for it dramatically easier IMHO.


Thank you for putting it bluntly, It wasn't what I wanted to hear but I did need to hear that from somebody. I was trying to spend as little $ on this as I could, But your absolutely right, I really do need to get access to or just purchase a Davis Station in order to do this right. And yes, it would make writing code a lot easier.

I going to look around for a Davis Station.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 04, 2014, 07:42:31 AM
Ok, So I've been a little busier than usual lately, Meaning that I haven't had a chance to sit down and get very much programming done.

I've been doing quite a bit of thinking though and have come up with one option for connecting to a Davis station while not having direct access to the console. My idea is, if someone with a Davis and WeatherLinkIP is willing to pass me the IP address of their Station, then I would be able to alpha test code I write before passing it to anyone else for beta testing.

I do understand that it may not be as good as having direct access to a Davis Console, but it should still work.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 09, 2014, 01:25:06 PM
Here's the status so far,

Over this last weekend I was able to gain access to a Davis Vantage Vue with a WeatherLinkIP Data Logger. I was able to get my software to connect and process a data string. However I did not have enough time to solve a problem with the software not auto refreshing. I got it to the point of when the software starts it will connect and get a set of data from the station but was not getting anything after that. I've been going over my code since then, and believe I've fixed that bug.
If someone with a WeatherLinkIP could give it a try that would be very helpful.

I've added a link to the software in my first post and will keep it Up-To-Date whenever I upload a new version.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 10, 2014, 08:06:59 PM
Here's the status so far,

Over this last weekend I was able to gain access to a Davis Vantage Vue with a WeatherLinkIP Data Logger. I was able to get my software to connect and process a data string. However I did not have enough time to solve a problem with the software not auto refreshing. I got it to the point of when the software starts it will connect and get a set of data from the station but was not getting anything after that. I've been going over my code since then, and believe I've fixed that bug.
If someone with a WeatherLinkIP could give it a try that would be very helpful.

I've added a link to the software in my first post and will keep it Up-To-Date whenever I upload a new version.


Josiah,

I will try this and give you feedback this day. Thanks 
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 10, 2014, 08:53:46 PM
Josiah,

I already tried it and this is what I've observed;

1. If it encounters network error or if you set to a wrong network, the weather stations you add will be all cleared and you will again add a station.

2. I cannot connect. I mean, I think I am connected because there is no network error popping out but the station is not receiving any data from the station but the dew point and cloud base has a value same from other station.

Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 11, 2014, 09:05:50 AM
dean,

Here's a couple things to try.
If you want to change the configuration for a Station, try selecting it from the list. This will enable the Edit and Remove buttons.
Also Verify that you have the Correct IP Address and Port Number. By default, Davis sets the Port Number to 22222 on all their WeatherLinkIPs. The IP Address It gets automatically from a DHCP server such as DSL modem.
When I need to find an IP address of a networked device that I can't log into directly (ie. a PC), I will use an IP scanning program like this: http://www.advanced-ip-scanner.com/ (http://www.advanced-ip-scanner.com/) or this: http://angryip.org/ (http://angryip.org/).

One Note about the Dew point and Cloud base, These values are calculated on the PC side so they aren't a good reference to see if the program was actually able to connect to a Weather Station.

Hope this helps.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 13, 2014, 08:23:53 PM
dean,

Here's a couple things to try.
If you want to change the configuration for a Station, try selecting it from the list. This will enable the Edit and Remove buttons.
Also Verify that you have the Correct IP Address and Port Number. By default, Davis sets the Port Number to 22222 on all their WeatherLinkIPs. The IP Address It gets automatically from a DHCP server such as DSL modem.
When I need to find an IP address of a networked device that I can't log into directly (ie. a PC), I will use an IP scanning program like this: http://www.advanced-ip-scanner.com/ (http://www.advanced-ip-scanner.com/) or this: http://angryip.org/ (http://angryip.org/).

One Note about the Dew point and Cloud base, These values are calculated on the PC side so they aren't a good reference to see if the program was actually able to connect to a Weather Station.

Hope this helps.


yes. I know the IP address of our weather stations. we set it to static IP and we have a listed all of it. All port number are on 22222. Why I can't connect? I can use Cumulus and Weatherlink software and it connects well. I think there still bug on your software connecting to Davis AWS.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 13, 2014, 08:40:09 PM
Also, you should include options for additional sensors like solar and uv sensor because we have that on davis Vantage pro 2 plus.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 13, 2014, 09:05:39 PM
dean,

Ok, Thank you for continuing to give me feedback. Its going to help with getting it working how it should.

Also, you should include options for additional sensors like solar and uv sensor because we have that on davis Vantage pro 2 plus.

I was just thinking about that the other day.. I will add those as well.. For now I want to focus on getting it working properly with the Davis Stations.


dean,

Here's a couple things to try.
If you want to change the configuration for a Station, try selecting it from the list. This will enable the Edit and Remove buttons.
Also Verify that you have the Correct IP Address and Port Number. By default, Davis sets the Port Number to 22222 on all their WeatherLinkIPs. The IP Address It gets automatically from a DHCP server such as DSL modem.
When I need to find an IP address of a networked device that I can't log into directly (ie. a PC), I will use an IP scanning program like this: http://www.advanced-ip-scanner.com/ (http://www.advanced-ip-scanner.com/) or this: http://angryip.org/ (http://angryip.org/).

One Note about the Dew point and Cloud base, These values are calculated on the PC side so they aren't a good reference to see if the program was actually able to connect to a Weather Station.

Hope this helps.


yes. I know the IP address of our weather stations. we set it to static IP and we have a lists of it. All port number are on 22222. Why I can't connect? I can use Cumulus and Weatherlink software and it connects well. I think there still bug on your software connecting to Davis AWS.
I'm working on a few other things with it right now but I will definitely look into it.
In the mean time, are you trying to connect to just one station or are you adding multiple? If you've added multiple stations to the Station List, try checking the other Tabs that show up on the main screen. Also If restating the program doesn't get it going, try starting it with Administrative Privileges.
Another thought is that your firewall might be blocking it..

Anyway, Let me know how it goes.

[EDIT]
By the way, what sensors do you have hooked up to you Station?
[END EDIT]
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 13, 2014, 09:43:07 PM
[EDIT]
By the way, what sensors do you have hooked up to you Station?
[END EDIT]

Jos,

Sensors we have on our AWS are Wind(speed and direction), temperature, humidity, rain, barometer, Solar, and UV. One of our DAVIS AWS also have leaf moisture sensor and we're planning to add soil moisture sensor in the future.

By the way, I also suggest to include hPa(hectopascal) for Barometer Unit in the software because we prefer hPa for pressure measurement.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 13, 2014, 10:09:26 PM

I'm working on a few other things with it right now but I will definitely look into it.
In the mean time, are you trying to connect to just one station or are you adding multiple? If you've added multiple stations to the Station List, try checking the other Tabs that show up on the main screen. Also If restating the program doesn't get it going, try starting it with Administrative Privileges.
Another thought is that your firewall might be blocking it..

Anyway, Let me know how it goes.


Jos,

I already add the software from firewall to allow connections and I also allowed TCP port 22222. I turned off the firewall to make sure no blocking of connection during testing but still no readings from the station. I tried 1 station to 2 station at a time.

Have you tried using the cumulus software? I am sure you can get a lot of information there for connection settings and as well as other advance connection such as pushing the readings to weather underground site.

I will keep in-touch with you in this project.

Thank you.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 14, 2014, 08:53:28 AM

Have you tried using the cumulus software? I am sure you can get a lot of information there for connection settings and as well as other advance connection such as pushing the readings to weather underground site.


dean,

Its been awhile since I've tried using the cumulus software, however I'll take a look at it again.

Uploading to Weather Underground is also on my todo list. I'll add hpa to the Barometer Units selection as well.
Give me a few days to work on it.

Thanks for giving me a hand.

I do have a question though, it shouldn't make a difference but have you been trying to have it connect over a local LAN or the Internet?

[EDIT]
One thing I just remembered, I heard somewhere (I don't recall where..) that the 'WeatherLinkIP' could only support one client connection at a time. I don't know whether or not this is true. Can anybody verify this?
[END EDIT]
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 14, 2014, 02:28:42 PM
dean,

I figured the connection issue was a problem with my software but wanted to make sure. What was confusing me is that I was able to get it to connect to a Vantage Vue and pull data. Granted it would grab just the first data packet, but it was connecting. So I was digging through my email conversations with a Tech Representative from Davis and the documentation on the communications protocols to see what I missed about differences between the Vue, Pro and Pro2. Based on my research they all use the same communications protocols, the difference they do have is in the actual contents of the LOOP packet.  ](*,)
So I started going through my code line by line when I discovered that I had been checking to see if the TCP connection was connected before actually initializing the TCP connection object. And because I had setup my error handling in such a way that it would suppress error messages, I didn't see it earlier.  #-o

So it should be fixed now..

[EDIT]
Also while adding the hpa option to the Displayed unit options for the Barometric Pressure, I discovered that its the same as mbar or mbr. Interesting..
That's one of the reason I've enjoyed developing this software. I'm always learning something new...
[END EDIT]
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 14, 2014, 10:07:38 PM

Have you tried using the cumulus software? I am sure you can get a lot of information there for connection settings and as well as other advance connection such as pushing the readings to weather underground site.


dean,

Its been awhile since I've tried using the cumulus software, however I'll take a look at it again.

Uploading to Weather Underground is also on my todo list. I'll add hpa to the Barometer Units selection as well.
Give me a few days to work on it.

Thanks for giving me a hand.

I do have a question though, it shouldn't make a difference but have you been trying to have it connect over a local LAN or the Internet?



You're welcome.

Jos,

That would be great, you should include WUnderground because as far as i know, I think more than 60% of the user that has personal weather station preferred to send their data continuously to WU to get detailed local forecast from their AWS, and I am one of them. Let me know if the connection issue of your software is fixed.

I almost forgot to tell you, I am controlling and monitoring my stations remotely. We have a Private/local network connection(Intranet), 20 Davis VP2 stations are setup to different areas remotely, each AWS IP has internet connection to send data to weatherlink.com so that we can use their mobile app (WeatherLink mobile) in android and iOS to see our stations thru mobile. So I am connected to my stations thru LAN by intranet.

Quote
[EDIT]
Also while adding the hpa option to the Displayed unit options for the Barometric Pressure, I discovered that its the same as mbar or mbr. Interesting..
That's one of the reason I've enjoyed developing this software. I'm always learning something new...
[END EDIT]

Yes. 1 hPa = 1 mbar. Anyway, That Degree days of yours, Is it the growing degree days? what is the default threshold of that? you should also include assigning the threshold of degree day for the users. I think Cumulus don't have degree day. this can be an advantage in your software.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 14, 2014, 10:51:53 PM
dean,

I figured the connection issue was a problem with my software but wanted to make sure. What was confusing me is that I was able to get it to connect to a Vantage Vue and pull data. Granted it would grab just the first data packet, but it was connecting. So I was digging through my email conversations with a Tech Representative from Davis and the documentation on the communications protocols to see what I missed about differences between the Vue, Pro and Pro2. Based on my research they all use the same communications protocols, the difference they do have is in the actual contents of the LOOP packet.  ](*,)
So I started going through my code line by line when I discovered that I had been checking to see if the TCP connection was connected before actually initializing the TCP connection object. And because I had setup my error handling in such a way that it would suppress error messages, I didn't see it earlier.  #-o

So it should be fixed now..


I think they have the same communications protocols because the TCP/IP data loggers of davis are compatible to Vue, Pro and Pro2. By the way, I also have 1 Vue, setup in the same connection with the VP2.

Quote
[EDIT]
One thing I just remembered, I heard somewhere (I don't recall where..) that the 'WeatherLinkIP' could only support one client connection at a time. I don't know whether or not this is true. Can anybody verify this?
[END EDIT]

Jos,

actually old versions of firmware of weatherlinkIP can support multiple client connection at a time using Virtual VP. that is how it is until VirtualVP is no longer compatible with the latest version of Davis' Weatherlink software since 2012. Kindly see reference link http://www.softwx.com/purchase.html  . Now, data can't be downloaded from weatherlink software if you will use Cumulus to connect to WUnderground at the same time. what I did is I scheduled the downloading,I close Cumuls during downloading and resume cumulus after downloading. Hope this information might help.

Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: PaulMy on July 15, 2014, 12:14:31 AM
Quote
Posted by: dean.martin« on: Yesterday at 10:07:38 PM »
I think Cumulus don't have degree day. this can be an advantage in your software.
From the Cumulus Wiki:
Quote
<#heatdegdays> Today's heating degree days (http://wiki.sandaysoft.com/a/Heat/cold_degree_days_and_Chill_hours) n/a
<#cooldegdays> Today's cooling degree days (http://wiki.sandaysoft.com/a/Heat/cold_degree_days_and_Chill_hours) n/a

Paul
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 15, 2014, 12:24:40 AM
Quote
Posted by: dean.martin« on: Yesterday at 10:07:38 PM »
I think Cumulus don't have degree day. this can be an advantage in your software.
From the Cumulus Wiki:
Quote
<#heatdegdays> Today's heating degree days (http://wiki.sandaysoft.com/a/Heat/cold_degree_days_and_Chill_hours) n/a
<#cooldegdays> Today's cooling degree days (http://wiki.sandaysoft.com/a/Heat/cold_degree_days_and_Chill_hours) n/a

Paul

Paul,

Thanks for the info but calculation procedure of cool degree days and growing days are the same. You can try it on your own.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 15, 2014, 12:30:25 AM
Quote
Posted by: dean.martin« on: Yesterday at 10:07:38 PM »
I think Cumulus don't have degree day. this can be an advantage in your software.
From the Cumulus Wiki:
Quote
<#heatdegdays> Today's heating degree days (http://wiki.sandaysoft.com/a/Heat/cold_degree_days_and_Chill_hours) n/a
<#cooldegdays> Today's cooling degree days (http://wiki.sandaysoft.com/a/Heat/cold_degree_days_and_Chill_hours) n/a

Paul

I did not notice Cumulus has that. My bad.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 15, 2014, 09:40:05 AM
Yes. 1 hPa = 1 mbar. Anyway, That Degree days of yours, Is it the growing degree days? what is the default threshold of that? you should also include assigning the threshold of degree day for the users.

The Degree days and Cumulative 2-day rainfall are left over from a rewrite a did. If i can remember correctly the degree days was Heating Degree days with a threshold of 72 F. The 2 day rainfall I've been thinking about replacing with Yesterday's rainfall or adding it separately.
The link you provided for calculating Heating and Cooling Degree Days was interesting. I'll add it to my bookmarks list.

I think they have the same communications protocols because the TCP/IP data loggers of davis are compatible to Vue, Pro and Pro2.

Based on the Info I've found that was the conclusion I came to.
Its interesting looking at the Davis and PeetBros WX Stations from a programming standpoint because all of their stations use the same communications protocols. To me, it just makes sense to use the same firmware for your next station as a starting point then add the code to handle the features that you want to add.



Quote
[EDIT]
One thing I just remembered, I heard somewhere (I don't recall where..) that the 'WeatherLinkIP' could only support one client connection at a time. I don't know whether or not this is true. Can anybody verify this?
[END EDIT]

Jos,

actually old versions of firmware of weatherlinkIP can support multiple client connection at a time using Virtual VP. that is how it is until VirtualVP is no longer compatible with the latest version of Davis' Weatherlink software since 2012. Kindly see reference link http://www.softwx.com/purchase.html  . Now, data can't be downloaded from weatherlink software if you will use Cumulus to connect to WUnderground at the same time. what I did is I scheduled the downloading,I close Cumuls during downloading and resume cumulus after downloading. Hope this information might help.


This information is helpful.
If I'm understanding you correctly, your running Cumulus as the main program then when you want to download the data records from the 'WeatherLinkIP Dataloggers' you close Cumulus and start Davis' WeatherLink software? Are you saving the data to the local HardDisk, or uploading to a server somewhere? If your saving the data to somewhere besides the Weatherlink.com servers, I'm wondering if adding the ability to download logged data from the WeatherLinkIP's would be helpful, Let me know and I will add it to my todo list.

Thinking about logging data, Right now I have my software setup to log to a SQLCE Database, But was wondering if logging it to a comma separated (CSV) or Tab separated file would be useful. Or maybe add a utility to export specified records from the SQL database into a CSV format might be better.
Any thoughts?


Have you tried using the cumulus software? I am sure you can get a lot of information there for connection settings and as well as other advance connection such as pushing the readings to weather underground site.


dean,

Its been awhile since I've tried using the cumulus software, however I'll take a look at it again.

Uploading to Weather Underground is also on my todo list. I'll add hpa to the Barometer Units selection as well.
Give me a few days to work on it.

Thanks for giving me a hand.

I do have a question though, it shouldn't make a difference but have you been trying to have it connect over a local LAN or the Internet?



You're welcome.

Jos,

That would be great, you should include WUnderground because as far as i know, I think more than 60% of the user that has personal weather station preferred to send their data continuously to WU to get detailed local forecast from their AWS, and I am one of them. Let me know if the connection issue of your software is fixed.

I almost forgot to tell you, I am controlling and monitoring my stations remotely. We have a Private/local network connection(Intranet), 20 Davis VP2 stations are setup to different areas remotely, each AWS IP has internet connection to send data to weatherlink.com so that we can use their mobile app (WeatherLink mobile) in android and iOS to see our stations thru mobile. So I am connected to my stations thru LAN by intranet.


Since we use WUnderground for our forecasts I've been thinking about uploading to them as well. Because of this, WUnderground uploads have been moved closer to the top of my ToDo List.

The TCP connection Issue should be fixed now. If you could to give it a try again that would be very helpful.

When I first got my software connecting to a Vue, I had it going through a local LAN. The only reason I can see there being any difficulty connecting over the internet would be if Port forwarding was not configured properly. Since you've already gotten Cumulus working with your setup you shouldn't need to change anything for my software.


Thanks once again for your help.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 16, 2014, 03:45:34 AM
The Degree days and Cumulative 2-day rainfall are left over from a rewrite a did. If i can remember correctly the degree days was Heating Degree days with a threshold of 72 F. The 2 day rainfall I've been thinking about replacing with Yesterday's rainfall or adding it separately.
The link you provided for calculating Heating and Cooling Degree Days was interesting. I'll add it to my bookmarks list.

Jos,

Better if Just 1 day (yesterday) cumulative rainfall, and include also another display for cumulative rainfall for today (display right below yesterday’s rainfall I suggest). For degree day, you should include a setup to set threshold value and a selection of what to view in the display (heating or cooling degree day). This degree day display should be based on yesterday’s data.


Based on the Info I've found that was the conclusion I came to.
Its interesting looking at the Davis and PeetBros WX Stations from a programming standpoint because all of their stations use the same communications protocols. To me, it just makes sense to use the same firmware for your next station as a starting point then add the code to handle the features that you want to add.

Yeah, and you should include placing versions to your software for development to trace improvements and fixed bugs.


This information is helpful.
If I'm understanding you correctly, your running Cumulus as the main program then when you want to download the data records from the 'WeatherLinkIP Dataloggers' you close Cumulus and start Davis' WeatherLink software? Are you saving the data to the local HardDisk, or uploading to a server somewhere? If your saving the data to somewhere besides the Weatherlink.com servers, I'm wondering if adding the ability to download logged data from the WeatherLinkIP's would be helpful, Let me know and I will add it to my todo list.

Thinking about logging data, Right now I have my software setup to log to a SQLCE Database, But was wondering if logging it to a comma separated (CSV) or Tab separated file would be useful. Or maybe add a utility to export specified records from the SQL database into a CSV format might be better.
Any thoughts?

Yes, that’s exactly what we’ve been doing. Cumulus as main program for sending data to WU and WeatherLink software for downloading data. We are uploading the data to Microsoft SQL server 2012. Adding the ability to download logged data from the WeatherLinkIP's and the ability to upload to WU without problem would be helpful. It would be like a combination of Cumulus and WeatherLink software. One more thing, I think you should include a way to logged to data to your software ignoring Time. I mean, if your software received data, it should ignore the time of that data received and use the time of your computer (sync software time and desktop time) because there are instances that the console is delayed in time due to power outage and it will cause to logged right data to a wrong time.
I think this is possible in logging realtime data from the stations, logging realtime data using the computer’s time.

Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 16, 2014, 11:53:23 AM

Better if Just 1 day (yesterday) cumulative rainfall, and include also another display for cumulative rainfall for today (display right below yesterday’s rainfall I suggest). For degree day, you should include a setup to set threshold value and a selection of what to view in the display (heating or cooling degree day). This degree day display should be based on yesterday’s data.

Cumulative rainfall for today is in the Main "Rain / Humidity" Box.
Those are good ideas for the degree day.

Quote
Yeah, and you should include placing versions to your software for development to trace improvements and fixed bugs.

Are you thinking along the lines of both a "change log" and maybe separate download links for each successive version? I've also started to display the version number (currently as a Date) in the software itself.


This information is helpful.
If I'm understanding you correctly, your running Cumulus as the main program then when you want to download the data records from the 'WeatherLinkIP Dataloggers' you close Cumulus and start Davis' WeatherLink software? Are you saving the data to the local HardDisk, or uploading to a server somewhere? If your saving the data to somewhere besides the Weatherlink.com servers, I'm wondering if adding the ability to download logged data from the WeatherLinkIP's would be helpful, Let me know and I will add it to my todo list.

Thinking about logging data, Right now I have my software setup to log to a SQLCE Database, But was wondering if logging it to a comma separated (CSV) or Tab separated file would be useful. Or maybe add a utility to export specified records from the SQL database into a CSV format might be better.
Any thoughts?

Yes, that’s exactly what we’ve been doing. Cumulus as main program for sending data to WU and WeatherLink software for downloading data. We are uploading the data to Microsoft SQL server 2012. Adding the ability to download logged data from the WeatherLinkIP's and the ability to upload to WU without problem would be helpful. It would be like a combination of Cumulus and WeatherLink software. One more thing, I think you should include a way to logged to data to your software ignoring Time. I mean, if your software received data, it should ignore the time of that data received and use the time of your computer (sync software time and desktop time) because there are instances that the console is delayed in time due to power outage and it will cause to logged right data to a wrong time.
I think this is possible in logging realtime data from the stations, logging realtime data using the computer’s time.

With how I've got it setup right now, whenever it adds data to the database it uses the current time from the system clock. The data it uses for logging is from the real-time output (eg. For Davis Stations it would use Data from the "LOOP" packet).
I'll add an option to select which database to log to for each station, either as a connection string (for those who are familiar with the SQL syntax) or as a list where the user can simply select the database. I want to make it as simple as possible while still enabling the user to create their own custom database. hmm... I'll need to think about this one for awhile.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 16, 2014, 12:11:56 PM
Status Update,

WUnderground Uploads should be in the next version, I'm in the testing phase right now.

Also, for those who are testing it, I've updated the first post with a new version. I've also added a list of changes that have been made.
Davis Stations should work Via TCP and Serial connections. However, I still need someone to give me feedback on if its actually getting any data from a Davis Station.

If anybody else wants to help test it, or give suggestions on what they would like to see added, please let me know. I'm open to any suggestions.

I also want to come-up with a good name for it, if anyone has any ideas feel free to share.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 16, 2014, 02:05:22 PM
I am trying to make it work via TCP and it is a no go.

When I click to add a station I get this error.

When I try to save the station info I get the second error.

I have the station set up like three.    I know the location is wrong I was trying to keep as many things the same as possible for testing.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 16, 2014, 04:54:58 PM
Beaudog,

Thanks for providing Screenshots with your description of the problem. It really helped me figure out what was going on.

The error messages that your seeing are a result of your PC not having any Serial Ports on it. Since all of the PCs that I've tested it on so far have had at least one Serial Port, this is something I did not run into before. I've added it to my todo list, I will work on it and should have it resolved in the next version.

If in the mean time you still want to test the TCP connection to a Davis Station, you could try plugging in a USB to Serial adapter. Otherwise just wait a couple of days for the new update.

Thanks for trying it.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 16, 2014, 05:31:54 PM
OK I tried to set it up again.   Station 1 is on com 9, station 2  on 127.0.0.1   22222.

I get this error in the log.  Both stations.

No data from either one.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 16, 2014, 09:08:32 PM
Jos,

I have been trying it but encounters error.

error after opening the software and error after adding a station then applying changes.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 17, 2014, 09:10:48 AM
Beaudog,

Can you send me the "Error_Log.txt" file, maybe as an attachment.
Also do you have a Station connected to the Serial Port, or at that IP address? And what type of stations are you trying to connect to?



dean,

It looks like its trying to load settings from the old Version.
Sorry, I forgot to mention this earlier, but I had to rewrite how the software saves settings which means those old files are no longer compatible.
Try browsing to your "Documents" or "My Documents" folder and deleting the "Weather Program" Folder. Doing this will reset everything to its defaults which should solve that problem.

I think its time to add a version number to the settings file just to prevent this from happening again. Or add any new settings to the end of the file instead of trying to keep it organized by inserting them right next-to related settings. hmm....



I Really appreciate both of your guys' help with this.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 17, 2014, 10:06:30 AM
It was a Davis VP2 connected via USB to com 9.        ANd by 127.0.0.1   which should also work.

This is the entire error log same entry all the time.


At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:20:19 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:20:22 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:20:23 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:20:24 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:20:25 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:20:26 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:20:26 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:20:27 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:20:28 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:20:28 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:20:28 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:20:28 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:20:29 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:20:30 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:20:42 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:21:25 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:21:58 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:23:23 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:23:28 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:23:30 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:24:17 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:24:19 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:24:21 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:26:22 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
At Data Updater  7/16/2014 2:26:24 PM
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 17, 2014, 11:40:33 AM
OK, Thanks for the complete Error_Log.
I think I know whats going on, I'll work on it and will hopefully have fixed in the next version.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 17, 2014, 09:16:07 PM

dean,

It looks like its trying to load settings from the old Version.
Sorry, I forgot to mention this earlier, but I had to rewrite how the software saves settings which means those old files are no longer compatible.
Try browsing to your "Documents" or "My Documents" folder and deleting the "Weather Program" Folder. Doing this will reset everything to its defaults which should solve that problem.

I think its time to add a version number to the settings file just to prevent this from happening again. Or add any new settings to the end of the file instead of trying to keep it organized by inserting them right next-to related settings. hmm....



I Really appreciate both of your guys' help with this.

Resolved. =D&gt; Thanks. So then, I was trying to connect to one of my AWS and here's another error communicating with the device.
 :???:

here is the error_log.txt content;

At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:31:10 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context
At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:31:27 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context
At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:31:41 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context
At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:32:11 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context
At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:35:04 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context
At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:35:23 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context


The Communication status of that device I was trying to connect is good
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CXnNiaPydak/U8h0WDHErkI/AAAAAAAAABw/Y8ktOeui7dg/w962-h541-no/station+connection+status.png)
but your software encounters error connecting.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 17, 2014, 10:11:14 PM

Resolved. =D&gt; Thanks. So then, I was trying to connect to one of my AWS and here's another error communicating with the device.
 :???:

here is the error_log.txt content;

At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:31:10 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context
At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:31:27 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context
At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:31:41 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context
At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:32:11 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context
At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:35:04 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context
At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:35:23 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context


The Communication status of that device I was trying to connect is good

but your software encounters error connecting.


dean,

Thanks for the error_Log.
I think I ran into that one a couple of days ago and fixed it.

I just uploaded an updated version, And Here's some of the things I've done with it.

Version [7.17.2014]
Added WUnderground Uploads. (As a matter of fact I just got this one going about 4 hours ago.  \:D/ )
BugFix another bug not allowing connections to Davis Stations Via TCP.
BugFix Program was throwing errors when attempting to load settings out of an older Settings file.
BugFix Program would throw error messages if the PC didn't have any Serial ports.
Serial Connection errors are now logged to a file.
Added a Connection Status Line to the Main Screen. (This was to prevent alot of message boxes from popping up and suspending program execution.)
There was also other small bug fixes.


Since I wanted to keep a better Change Log I needed to come up with a version Number, so for now I've decided to use the date of release. Its a simple method and will do the job until I come up with something else. Or.... maybe not...
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 17, 2014, 10:28:15 PM

Resolved. =D&gt; Thanks. So then, I was trying to connect to one of my AWS and here's another error communicating with the device.
 :???:

here is the error_log.txt content;

At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:31:10 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context
At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:31:27 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context
At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:31:41 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context
At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:32:11 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context
At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:35:04 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context
At Open TCP Connection  7/18/2014 8:35:23 AM
The requested address is not valid in its context


The Communication status of that device I was trying to connect is good

but your software encounters error connecting.


dean,

Thanks for the error_Log.
I think I ran into that one a couple of days ago and fixed it.

I just uploaded an updated version, And Here's some of the things I've done with it.

Version [7.17.2014]
Added WUnderground Uploads. (As a matter of fact I just got this one going about 4 hours ago.  \:D/ )
BugFix another bug not allowing connections to Davis Stations Via TCP.
BugFix Program was throwing errors when attempting to load settings out of an older Settings file.
BugFix Program would throw error messages if the PC didn't have any Serial ports.
Serial Connection errors are now logged to a file.
Added a Connection Status Line to the Main Screen. (This was to prevent alot of message boxes from popping up and suspending program execution.)
There was also other small bug fixes.


Since I wanted to keep a better Change Log I needed to come up with a version Number, so for now I've decided to use the date of release. Its a simple method and will do the job until I come up with something else. Or.... maybe not...

Jos,

I've downloaded  your updated software, still another error occuring after adding station then applying settings. ](*,) Please see attached files.

you should should come up with a new version number if it can successfully connects to a TCP/IP VP2 station ;)
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 18, 2014, 08:31:49 AM

I've downloaded  your updated software, still another error occuring after adding station then applying settings. ](*,) Please see attached files.

you should should come up with a new version number if it can successfully connects to a TCP/IP VP2 station ;)


dean,

It looks like its trying to load settings from an older Settings file again. I thought I fixed that.  :roll:  I'll take another look at it.
[EDIT]
Was this showing up when you click the "Apply Settings" button, or was this popping up when you start the program? Because Everything looks good here, and it is working for me. Did you try deleting the "Weather Program" folder?
[END EDIT]


"Unable to write data to the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host."
This is interesting.. It sounds like the TCP connection is being closed by the WX Station. That's a new one..

Did you get anything from the station before getting this message? About how long from when the program starts does it take for this to show up?
Do you have any other software connected to that station, or was my program the only one?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 19, 2014, 10:33:25 PM

I've downloaded  your updated software, still another error occuring after adding station then applying settings. ](*,) Please see attached files.

you should should come up with a new version number if it can successfully connects to a TCP/IP VP2 station ;)


dean,

It looks like its trying to load settings from an older Settings file again. I thought I fixed that.  :roll:  I'll take another look at it.
[EDIT]
Was this showing up when you click the "Apply Settings" button, or was this popping up when you start the program? Because Everything looks good here, and it is working for me. Did you try deleting the "Weather Program" folder?
[END EDIT]


"Unable to write data to the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host."
This is interesting.. It sounds like the TCP connection is being closed by the WX Station. That's a new one..

Did you get anything from the station before getting this message? About how long from when the program starts does it take for this to show up?
Do you have any other software connected to that station, or was my program the only one?

Jos,

I have tried deleting "Weather Program" folder every time I try run your software. but that error i attached keep on showing up right after I click the "apply settings" button. No data received from the station.  I close other programs connected to the station when every time I run your software.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 20, 2014, 02:12:45 PM
dean,

If you could you send me a zipped copy of your ""Weather Program" folder the next time it comes up with that error, that would be helpful. There's a few things in it I would like to take a look at.

Also, I just uploaded the latest version. If you could give that a try and Let me know how it goes I would be most appreciative.

Since the Message box error looks like its related to saving or loading settings, One thing to do is to click on the Continue button the next time it comes up with that message. However, it may come up with another one right after that but you should be able to tell that one to continue as well. Just let me know if it does pop up again.

I've been assuming that you are talking about the message box, but just to clarify, When you say,
but that error i attached keep on showing up right after I click the "apply settings" button.
Are you referring to the message box that keeps showing up, or the error in the "Error_Log"?

I'm sorry to keep ending my posts with more questions, but I want to get as much information about a problem before I start changing things. I hope you understand.

[EDIT]
Beaudog,
Are you experiencing these problems? And what version of OS have you been trying it on?

I'm curious to know if its a problem that's only showing up when the program is run under a Windows 7 OS. I've tested my software under Windows 8 and XP, and neither has given me that message box error. Although, regardless of whether that's the case I still want to resolve it.
[END EDIT]
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 20, 2014, 02:52:36 PM
The program appears to be saving the setup information to someplace other than the weather station folder.       

I delete the whole folder and redownload the zip file and when I open the program it still has all the settings from before I deleted the folder and there is no way to edit them the edit does not take place.


It was working until I tried to enter coordinates.   What format do the coordinates need to be in.    After that it will not allow me to edit the station.


At Wake TCP Station  7/20/2014 11:55:31 AM
Unable to write data to the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.
At Wake TCP Station  7/20/2014 11:55:31 AM
Unable to write data to the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.
At Wake TCP Station  7/20/2014 11:55:32 AM
Unable to write data to the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.
At Wake TCP Station  7/20/2014 11:55:33 AM
Unable to write data to the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.
At Wake TCP Station  7/20/2014 11:55:34 AM
Unable to write data to the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.
At Wake TCP Station  7/20/2014 11:55:35 AM
Unable to write data to the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.
At Wake TCP Station  7/20/2014 11:55:36 AM
Unable to write data to the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.
At Wake TCP Station  7/20/2014 11:55:37 AM
Unable to write data to the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.
At Wake TCP Station  7/20/2014 11:55:38 AM
Unable to write data to the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.
At Wake TCP Station  7/20/2014 11:55:39 AM
Unable to write data to the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.
At Wake TCP Station  7/20/2014 11:55:40 AM
Unable to write data to the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.
At Wake TCP Station  7/20/2014 11:55:41 AM
Unable to write data to the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.


Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 20, 2014, 02:58:51 PM
The coordinates need to be in the format used for CWOP uploads. I forget what that is though. Let me look it up.
Also can you post a screenshot for me.

[EDIT]
Your location. This is ddmm.hh -- i.e. degrees, minutes and hundreths of minutes. The Longitude has three digits of degrees and leading zero digits cannot be omitted.
[END EDIT]

Your IP Address and Port number are valid, right?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 20, 2014, 03:04:10 PM
it is temporarily working     but crashes if I make any changes
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah 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.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog 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.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog 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
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah 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.

Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah 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]
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog 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.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah 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]
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 20, 2014, 09:46:46 PM
Jos,

It seems working now. =D&gt; 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.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah 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!!
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: drew 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
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah 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!!
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah 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.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: SLOweather 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!
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah 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]
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog 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.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah 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]
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog 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.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah 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.  :-)
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog 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.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah 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]
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin 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.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin 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.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin 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.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin 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.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-AddWD2GuA1w/U836JDYHQWI/AAAAAAAAAEU/ESfFP8ptxpk/w298-h146-no/weather+underground+widget.png) 

Thanks =D&gt;
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 22, 2014, 03:47:18 AM
Jos,

I tried to remove the connection between the Davis Console(receiver) and the ISS(transmitter).

FYI.
The Console has these sensors;
  Inside temperature
  Barometer
  Inside Humidity

While, the ISS has these sensors;
  Rain
  Wind
  Outside Temperature
  Outside Humidity
  UV sensor
  Solar sensor

And this is what will happen, of-course the console will no longer receive the data from the ISS. no rain,wind, out temp and so on. So then, the data was archived in the datalogger on the console with out data from the ISS. I then tried running your software to see the data from the console only but this is what appears
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wxLNxmZZQHk/U836Gr3do8I/AAAAAAAAADo/DsQWOMD3n0I/w962-h541-no/6.png)

It appears that Temperature and wind speed has readings in the display even no data came from the ISS and the values are very untrue. The Barometer and Inside Temperature are correct and updating but the wind and temperature remain and won't disappear. Also, I would like to ask, the Humidity in the display, is it inside or outside humidity? it is showing also wrong value.

Sometimes, Some of our station also showing wrong values for a few seconds then will update the display back to normal readings. Please see attached files. I also attached my "Weather Program" folder.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 22, 2014, 08:22:40 AM
Lots of good ideas.

I was wondering what would happen when the console quit receiving data from a sensor. I guess that answers that question.. I experienced problems in the past with our PeetBros Station when it would loose a connection with a sensor, but at least they set it up where it would not effect the length of the data string by replacing the sensor value with special characters. Since we are on the topic, That's actually what the connected sensors list was for. I would use what sensors the user told my software was supposed to be connected to be able to tell if the sensor failed or if it wasn't there in the first place.

I still need to implement CRC checking and data string length verification on the Data from the Console. I suspect that's whats going on. Also, I think what I'll have it do when it encounters an error connecting to the station I'll have it clear the current values, this should also prevent errors showing up elsewhere. If that still doesn't solve that problem, then what I'll do is start adding bad data thresholds, where if for example the temperature exceeds say 150F it will be considered as a bad reading. Or maybe a rate of change threshold, where if the temperature changes by more than say 1.5F between readings it would be considered as bad.

The Displayed humidity is outside. Its interesting that its displaying 255, that's the highest value that can be stored in a single byte.

For a software name, 'WeatherView' is out because its been taken by other software.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 22, 2014, 09:45:06 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.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-AddWD2GuA1w/U836JDYHQWI/AAAAAAAAAEU/ESfFP8ptxpk/w298-h146-no/weather+underground+widget.png) 

Thanks =D&gt;

1. I actually had them named that way in the past, However when I changed the way my software manages settings I wanted them to be loaded back into the program in the same order that the user had added them, hence to sequential numbering. If your thinking about being able to modify their contents with a text editor such as notepad or wordpad, right now you won't be able to. The reason is because of the way they are written to the HardDisk, Their wrote using a binary record based system. So modification of any of the contents will screwup those records and thus ruin the file. Now that I think about it, I can switch to a text based method, like the one for the main "settings.txt" file.
2. Reference ET, It would be calculated, yes. Anything that can be calculated would not be logged to a database just to help keep the total size down.
3. I believe the Feels-Like value is actually the Heat-Index when the temperature is at or above 80F and and is the Wind-Chill when the temperature is at or below 50F. My software has Both the Heat-index and Wind-Chill just to the right of the Outside Temperature. I've been thinking about combining them into a Feels-Like value, but am still not sure about it.
4. Yes, It is possible to add something like that. Maybe an auto download option...
5. That would be a good idea. It would not be hard to do either.

Thanks for the suggestions.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: griffo42 on July 23, 2014, 02:44:52 AM
In you last post you seem to be saying that you will make a broad approximation to use for apparent temperature.

There is a detailed article on this subject with a number of references to technical papers on the Australian Government Bureau of Meterology web site at :

http://www.bom.gov.au/info/thermal_stress/

Perhaps you might like to consider using the formulae there to calculate this value to use in your suite of programs.

I have used these formulae on my website (http://www.kstwx.net/index.php) and my calcs line up exactly with those quoted on the BOM website for many weather stations in Queensland.

with best wishes

griffo42 (Keith Griffin)
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 23, 2014, 10:20:07 AM
Keith,
Thanks for the links.

Yes, I was making a broad approximation. Its a good thing I haven't combined the Heat-Index and Wind-Chill in the way i was thinking about doing it. I usually research the formulas behind the values, However I hadn't looked this one up yet. Thanks for making my work a little easier!

<Thinking out load> With the Heat-Index and Wind-Chill there, I'm not sure how useful having an approximation of the WBGT (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature) would actually be. Well, Aside from taking into account the Solar Radiation.

Anyway, I'm not ready to remove it from my todo list yet, but it has been pushed further down by other things. Like for example, Handling the case of a lost connection between the ISS and Console.

I like how the page you linked gives a brief history and explanation of the formulas.

Looking closer at the formulas, It looks like I could practically do a "Copy - Paste" right into my code. That really simplifies things.



For those who are wondering what the status of the next update is,
I'm working on it.
Amongst other things I've decided to change how the Station location is stored to make it easier to convert between different formats. This is of course is taking longer than expected. In the process I've discovered a bug effecting the Sunrise and sunset times leftover from when I shifted it to the Station Editor window.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 23, 2014, 12:47:01 PM
I like the program. I think the large screen easy read of the data is great.

I would hate to see you reduce the size of the data by very much.

Next. I caution not to fall into the trap that Weather Display and to some extent Cumulus have in trying to make the program do everything that every possible user might want.

I personally use WUHU as my main program just because it is simple and uses very little resources.

Every WX program has to find it's own nitch.     I think yours is gona be the large screen and the fact that in can gather and display data from multiple stations no matter the brand.  Assuming you stay on that track.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Bushman on July 23, 2014, 04:38:03 PM
How are you storing your data?  Database?  Flat file?

Also, for a name, how about YAWSS  (Yet Another Weather Station Software).  :)  Seriously, with Cumulus on sabbatical and the source for WeatherDisplay  AWOL, you are the new ranger in town!
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: PaulMy on July 23, 2014, 05:54:53 PM
Quote
Seriously, with Cumulus on sabbatical and the source for WeatherDisplay  AWOL, you are the new ranger in town!
Not quite current!
Quote
Latest Cumulus release v1.9.4 (build 1097) - Jun 20 2014
and full active ongoing support.
 
Paul
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 23, 2014, 06:24:08 PM
I like the program. I think the large screen easy read of the data is great.

Thanks, I'm glad you like it.


I would hate to see you reduce the size of the data by very much.

Next. I caution not to fall into the trap that Weather Display and to some extent Cumulus have in trying to make the program do everything that every possible user might want.

I have no plans on reducing the size of any of the data. I like it the way it is, and that's really the motivating force behind working on this. I'm also adding things that I would find useful, if other people like it, Great, if they don't, well that's their decision.

I like getting suggestions and ideas from other people because someone will inevitably suggest something that I didn't think of, yet I would still find useful.


Every WX program has to find it's own nitch.     I think yours is gona be the large screen and the fact that in can gather and display data from multiple stations no matter the brand.  Assuming you stay on that track.

I agree with you there. Really the only thing that makes my software stand out from the rest is the way things are displayed. If I where to abandon that my program wouldn't really have anything left to stand on.


How are you storing your data?  Database?  Flat file?

Also, for a name, how about YAWSS  (Yet Another Weather Station Software).  :)  Seriously, with Cumulus on sabbatical and the source for WeatherDisplay  AWOL, you are the new ranger in town!

Data is being stored to an SQLce Database. That part still needs work. I plan to really overhaul it later, but for now its functional.


LOL: I will admit that yes, it is another Weather Station program, however I'm not going to abandon it mostly because I've enjoyed working on it. It's also really been a learning experience. By programming for weather stations I've had to research what goes into formulas and in the process am learning considerably more about weather then I believe I would have just looking at a console. no offense anyone.
I do get your point though. There are a lot of other programs out there for communicating with Weather Stations.
Maybe I could go with YAWSP  (Yet Another Weather Station Program).  :-) :-) Seriously, that might not be a bad name. I think its sorta catchy.




Quick Status update,

I'm still testing the altimeter adjusted barometer for the CWOP uploads. However, here are a few things you guys can look for in the next update once I upload it. Unfortunately, since I've changed what format the station coordinates are stored in, the old settings files will generate errors. (I know, I thought I fixed that.)

Added an Option to choose what format the station Coordinates are entered in.
Fixed the Barometric Pressure for the CWOP uploads so it uses a Altitude adjusted pressure instead of the raw station pressure. (Again, I'm still working in this one)
Added a Station Elevation Input. (ASL or above Sea Level)
Added an elapsed time since last data was received from the station.
Added CRC Checking on Data from Davis Stations to the program. (Since I don't have a Davis Station I'm Not sure if this works.)
Added Examples to the Station Location input.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Bushman on July 23, 2014, 07:18:11 PM
JAWSS!!  JUST Another Weather Station Software.  :)  I'll take a peek at SQLce
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: griffo42 on July 23, 2014, 07:23:09 PM
Josiah

My station uses a Davis VantageVue and does have UV or solar radiation sensors. 

Anyway, here is the code which calculates Apparent Temperature and is now part of my system: use it how you like but do please make sure it does what you want it to.  I use the temperature, windspeed and humidity values which the system observes.


               $TC = $temperature;
               $HU = $humidity;
               $AWS = $avgspd;
                  if ($TC == 0) {
                     $TC = 0.01; }
                  if ($HU == 0) {
                     $HU = 0.01; }
                  if ($AWS == 0) {    
                     $AWS = 0.01; }
               $EXXP = (17.27*$TC/(237.7 + $TC));      
               $POWR = pow(M_E, $EXXP);
               $EEE = ($HU/100*6.105*$POWR);
               $ATEMP = ($TC + 0.33*$EEE - 0.7*($AWS*1000/3600) - 4);
               $ATEMPR = round($ATEMP, 0);
               $feelslike = $ATEMPR;

best wishes with this and please do let me know how it all works out by a post later.

Keith Griffin,
Brisbane Australia
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 23, 2014, 07:28:13 PM
JAWSS!!  JUST Another Weather Station Software.  :)  I'll take a peek at SQLce

LOL That's a good one. Although people might get the name confused with the movie "Jaws".
SQLce (SQL Compact Edition) is basically a portable version of SQL. The reason I chose SQLce instead of a full SQL was I wanted to remove the requirement of having a full SQL server installation, while still being able to use the SQL database system.




Keith,
Thanks for the code, although I do have a question, What programming language is that in?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Bushman on July 23, 2014, 07:31:37 PM
JAWSS... Just when you thought it was safe to go outside...  LOL  SQLce is fine; same API as the full version (I just realized I have a copy on my SS2008 box!).  Maybe down the road have an SQL  option for the Linux crowd.  But keep going.  You might even get me to rethink my move over to Meteobridge!
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 23, 2014, 08:10:51 PM
arrrrrgh.....
Wish I had a barometer that actually gave me the local pressure, instead of one that's a "Set the starting pressure, and it measures how much it changes".
So basically at this point I have no way of telling if the Elevation Corrected Barometric Pressure formula is working.

It does look like everything else that I can test is working though.

I've uploaded my latest work, Version [1.1].
For those connecting it to Davis Stations, Let me know If you start getting 'CRC check failed' messages.



JAWSS... Just when you thought it was safe to go outside...  LOL  SQLce is fine; same API as the full version (I just realized I have a copy on my SS2008 box!).  Maybe down the road have an SQL  option for the Linux crowd.  But keep going.  You might even get me to rethink my move over to Meteobridge!


What I was getting at with the SQLce and portability is I can send all the SQL files needed to work with databases (SQLce only though) with my program, meaning that users have one less thing to have to install and manage. This started since I didn't want to install a full SQL server on my Weather PC just to be able to log weather data. So it made things easier for me and I'm sure others would appreciate that as well. I'm not even going to get started on the "License Agreements" of both the SQLce vs SQL and the programming software I'm using just to be able to let people try my software. ugh...

It does have its limitations though. Databases are limited to like 4GB in size. Which for logging Weather data, that's still a good amount. When I was thinking about porting my software onto a micro-controller, I think I figured I could get around 12-15 years into 1GB. Interestingly, I would be able to expand that to upwards of 16 or 32GB if I can remember correctly.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 23, 2014, 08:23:51 PM
I Just remembered that I need to Change the text on the Tool Tips for the Station Location formats. So for now just ignore them.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: griffo42 on July 23, 2014, 08:35:48 PM
Josiah

It is in PHP - easy!!!

Keith
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 23, 2014, 09:32:43 PM
Jos,

For a name. What about AWSI (Advance/Automatic Weather Station Interactive Software)? because it now allows flow of information between different stations and your software specially with the Davis Stations although it was not yet tested in Vantage Pro. I will try to test it on VP maybe next week and on Vantage vue with a USB data logger.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 23, 2014, 09:56:43 PM
Josiah

It is in PHP - easy!!!

Keith

Thanks, Unfortunately I'm not familiar with the PHP language. However, that won't stop me from figuring it out.  :grin:



Jos,

For a name. What about AWSI (Advance/Automatic Weather Station Interactive Software)? because it now allows flow of information between different stations and your software specially with the Davis Stations although it was not yet tested in Vantage Pro.

AWSI (Advance/Automatic Weather Station Interactive Software) :-k   Interesting... Maybe AIWSS (Advanced Interaction Weather Station Software) or drop the word 'Station'.



I will try to test it on VP maybe next week and on Vantage vue with a USB data logger.

That would be great if you could do that. Thanks!


By the way, Has anyone tried the latest Version [1.1] with a Davis Station yet? If you have, is it coming up with any 'CRC Check errors'? You might have to check the "Error_Log.txt" file to find them.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 23, 2014, 10:23:17 PM
AWSI (Advance/Automatic Weather Station Interactive Software) :-k   Interesting... Maybe AIWSS (Advanced Interaction Weather Station Software) or drop the word 'Station'.

"AIW Software" would be nice or Ad-InWx Software (Advance Interaction Weather Software) it's like ADding-IN a weather station to your software- a double meaning  \:D/


By the way, Has anyone tried the latest Version [1.1] with a Davis Station yet? If you have, is it coming up with any 'CRC Check errors'? You might have to check the "Error_Log.txt" file to find them.

Jos, tried the latest version [1.1] with 3 VP2 and it says CRC Check failed on the 2 station and Lost connection to the other one station. I attached the "Error_log.txt" file
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 23, 2014, 10:54:37 PM
AWSI (Advance/Automatic Weather Station Interactive Software) :-k   Interesting... Maybe AIWSS (Advanced Interaction Weather Station Software) or drop the word 'Station'.

"AIW Software" would be nice or Ad-InWx Software (Advance Interaction Weather Software) it's like ADding-IN a weather station to your software- a double meaning  \:D/

Ad-InWx , That would probably be better.


By the way, Has anyone tried the latest Version [1.1] with a Davis Station yet? If you have, is it coming up with any 'CRC Check errors'? You might have to check the "Error_Log.txt" file to find them.

Jos, tried the latest version [1.1] with 3 VP2 and it says CRC Check failed on the 2 station and Lost connection to the other one station. I attached the "Error_log.txt" file

That's what i thought might happen. The Documentation provided by Davis wasn't very clear on how to implement it.
Thanks for the Error_Log.

I'll work on it tomorrow. It's like 11pm here right now.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 23, 2014, 11:08:54 PM
AWSI (Advance/Automatic Weather Station Interactive Software) :-k   Interesting... Maybe AIWSS (Advanced Interaction Weather Station Software) or drop the word 'Station'.

"AIW Software" would be nice or Ad-InWx Software (Advance Interaction Weather Software) it's like ADding-IN a weather station to your software- a double meaning  \:D/

Ad-InWx , That would probably be better.

Better I think also. But still its up to you. I hope we could come up with fix name for the software to avoid confusion.

By the way, Has anyone tried the latest Version [1.1] with a Davis Station yet? If you have, is it coming up with any 'CRC Check errors'? You might have to check the "Error_Log.txt" file to find them.

Jos, tried the latest version [1.1] with 3 VP2 and it says CRC Check failed on the 2 station and Lost connection to the other one station. I attached the "Error_log.txt" file

That's what i thought might happen. The Documentation provided by Davis wasn't very clear on how to implement it.
Thanks for the Error_Log.

I'll work on it tomorrow. It's like 11pm here right now.

Oh I see. And It's like 11am here right now. By the way, your welcome. I will keep on looking forward to your software updates. Thanks.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: yojlirpa22 on July 24, 2014, 01:56:00 AM
Hi Joshia,

Already tried your new weather software and it's AWESOME  :grin: It really helped us, weather software users, to view and monitor the current conditions of weather stations in just one window. Super great job  =D&gt;

But, there is one minor detail, the feature LOG DATA FROM THIS STATION is not working. How can we view the logged data from our weather stations using your software? And, maybe, in my opinion, you should also add a feature that could automatically insert the logged data into a database, if this is possible.

Thanks  :-)
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 24, 2014, 08:22:42 AM
dean,
I'll decided on a name later, for now I just wanted to get a few more ideas for naming it. Who knows, If I get enough suggestions and I can't decided between some of them, I might put it to a vote. we'll see.

I will keep on looking forward to your software updates. Thanks.

I'm glad hear your looking forward to my updates.
I've really appreciated you help with this.



Hi Joshia,

Already tried your new weather software and it's AWESOME  :grin: It really helped us, weather software users, to view and monitor the current conditions of weather stations in just one window. Super great job  =D&gt;

But, there is one minor detail, the feature LOG DATA FROM THIS STATION is not working. How can we view the logged data from our weather stations using your software? And, maybe, in my opinion, you should also add a feature that could automatically insert the logged data into a database, if this is possible.

Thanks  :-)


yojlirpa22,
Thanks, I'm glad you like it.

The LOG DATA FROM THIS STATION should be logging data to an SQLce Database in a folder labeled 'LoggedData' that's located in your 'Documents/Weather Program' folder.
Your Documents folder may be labeled 'My Documents' or 'Documents' depending on what Version of Windows your running.

Currently I do not have a way to view the data. I'm planning on overhauling the data logging portion of my software, so be prepared for things to really change. The things I have in mind could render old Databases incompatible.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 24, 2014, 11:43:46 AM
I am getting the CRC error with my Davis VP
here is no error log file

Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Bushman on July 24, 2014, 01:25:22 PM
There are lots of SQL viewers out there.  Like this one for SQLce:  http://sourceforge.net/projects/compactview/
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 24, 2014, 01:44:21 PM
I am getting the CRC error with my Davis VP
here is no error log file

Thanks for letting me know.

The "Error_Log.txt" file gets saved to the same directory as the .exe for the program.



I've just uploaded a new version. Could someone check to see if this works?

Thanks
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 24, 2014, 02:25:02 PM
Status of the update,
So In my attempt to get the CRC working I set it where if the data from the Console did not pass the CRC check then my program wouldn't process it any further.
I've just changed that so it will still do a CRC check on the data string and process the data whether-or-not the data string passed the CRC check. Doing this will keep the program usable with the Davis WX Stations while still allowing me to work on data integrity verification.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 24, 2014, 03:10:58 PM
It is working and no error.

But,    It will not accept changes      I tried to change my elevation and turn on CWOP.     When I click apply changes the screen drops out and it appears to be doing something but the changes are not there when it comes back up.

another glitch.   Sunrise sunset is way off. it is showing 08:30    10:22     when it should be more like
05:30      7:21

It will not send CWOP data using my callsign  unless I enter a passcode  in other programs I can enter-1 and it goes thru.  Not a big deal.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 24, 2014, 04:08:39 PM
Beaudog,

It won't except changes... hmmm...  :-k  I had to add more items to the Station settings file for the Station Elevation. I wonder if that's effecting it. If you haven't already, try restarting the program, If that doesn't work, try deleting or moving the settings files. Let me know what happens.

Sunrise Sunset times are way off. Fixing that is on my todo list. I need to have my software get the time offset for the local time. Right now I've got it defaulted to -4 which is the offset for here. Thanks for bringing it back to my attention.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 24, 2014, 10:34:15 PM
Jos,

I think CRC Check is still not working. I still see bad data in Humidity (255%) temperature(-17.8 ) and Barometer (-589.5). But the elapsed time since last data was received from the station is now updating which is good. =D&gt;
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 25, 2014, 09:38:07 AM
Jos,

I think CRC Check is still not working. I still see bad data in Humidity (255%) temperature(-17.8 ) and Barometer (-589.5). But the elapsed time since last data was received from the station is now updating which is good. =D&gt;


Right now I've got it setup in such a way that even if the data from the Console does not pass the CRC checking it will still get processed. This is because I wanted to get the CRC checking part working while still keeping the program useable. It may not make much sense until you look at how the CRC checking is done. Basicly it applies an Accumulator on each byte of the data and the CRC code sent from the console. How I can tell if its working is, If the Accumulator returns a 0 then the data has passed the CRC Check, any other number and it failed the CRC Check. So if the Accumulator is always returning something other than a 0, then I know there's a problem with my code.

Are you (or anybody else) getting any "CRC Check failed" messages?

Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 25, 2014, 10:08:28 AM
I am no longer getting the crc error
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 25, 2014, 01:41:22 PM
I am no longer getting the crc error

That's good to hear.

So, once I switch it back to where if the Data from the console does not pass the CRC check it won't process it further, that should take care of data integrity between the Console and PC. The next step is going too be in handling the connection between the Console and ISS. This could be accomplished easily if Davis set their Consoles to output the signal strength from the ISS in the LOOP packet. When I get a chance I'll look into this. (I've had several things come up that I have to take care of. I might not be able to do much programming until like Monday. :( )


But,    It will not accept changes      I tried to change my elevation and turn on CWOP.     When I click apply changes the screen drops out and it appears to be doing something but the changes are not there when it comes back up.

Is it taking setting changes again?


It will not send CWOP data using my callsign  unless I enter a passcode  in other programs I can enter-1 and it goes thru.  Not a big deal.

Just saw this, sorry.
CWOP uses a separate set of passcode protected servers for those using their callsign. I've setup my program to look at the first 2 letters in the UserID to determine which set of servers to try to upload to. Basically it works like this, If the UserID starts with a CW EW or DW then it uses the normal servers, otherwise the UserID is assumed to be a Callsign and it attempts to upload to the passcode protected servers dedicated for HAM use.



One other thing,
For those who have it uploading to CWOP, Does the Barometric Pressure look like its adjusting for the Elevation properly?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 25, 2014, 04:49:52 PM
The barometric is way of it is showing 1202  for me right now and it should be more like 1019

N4DMS  0.0   00:00:00:13  94 5 9 134 0  0 22 1202.3
DW1254  0.0  S 00:00:02:24  93 4 8 66 0  0 24 1019.4



Also there are random data sends that are way off  (spikes)

Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 25, 2014, 05:12:04 PM
Beaudog,

Is the displayed Barometric pressure in my software correct?

The random data sends being way off is something that I'm working on. When I mentioned the Data Integrity between the Console and ISS, that's what I was referring to.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 25, 2014, 06:16:23 PM
The barometer is the same on the console as the screen
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 25, 2014, 06:21:53 PM
OK,
Thanks

So I've just uploaded a new version.
I've reset the CRC checking so if the Station Data doesn't pass the CRC check it won't get processed.

The Data integrity checks between the Console and ISS are going to take a little longer. Looking through the documentation provided by Davis it doesn't appear that a connection status between the ISS and Console are output in the LOOP packets. So I've sent Davis an email to see if I can get any information from them. It may be awhile before they reply though.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 27, 2014, 04:15:43 PM
Hey guys,

I was able to get some time this afternoon to work on my software and since I'm still waiting for information from Davis on a couple of things I decided to use the time to look at the Barometric pressure Correction for Altitude that CWOP wants.

I've triple checked the formula that I'm using to make the Barometer correction, and it looks right. However I would like to put more data through it just to verify and compare it to what other software is doing. Could a few of you guys send me the Displayed Barometric Pressure, Station Elevation (ASL), and the Barometric Pressure that's being uploaded to CWOP by another program (ie Cumulus or whatever else you use)?

Thanks in advance.

Also, are you still getting random bad data?


[EDIT]
This is an interesting comparison between Barometric Pressure and Altitude: http://www.sablesys.com/baro-altitude.html (http://www.sablesys.com/baro-altitude.html)
[END EDIT]
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 27, 2014, 05:17:06 PM
I think this has everything you ask for

This might be useful   http://www.softwx.com/weather/vppressurecalc.html


Where it is showing 10.20   yours is still showing 1204. way high.


I am still getting crazy high temp spikes
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 27, 2014, 06:12:25 PM
Beaudog,

Thanks for the link!

Based on your station data, my formula is coming up with 30.157. That's a lot closer than it was earlier.


Where it is showing 10.20   yours is still showing 1204. way high.
I've done some work on the formula and have it running in a separate program just to make it easier to test and debug. That's why my software is still calculating it way to high.


I am still getting crazy high temp spikes
Thanks for letting me know. That confirms that the CRC checking is only good at handling poor connections between the PC and Console. Next step on that is going to have to wait for Davis to respond to my email. Right now I could start writing code to try to handle that, but I want to wait to see what Davis suggests.

Just curious, how frequently are you getting these temp spikes?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 27, 2014, 06:48:20 PM
Beaudog,

Thanks for the link!


Just curious, how frequently are you getting these temp spikes?

I don't know I only run it for 30 minutes or so just to see if it works   but it spiked in less than that    I would have to try and watch it which is kinda hard.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 27, 2014, 07:06:09 PM
Beaudog,

Thanks for the link!


Just curious, how frequently are you getting these temp spikes?

I don't know I only run it for 30 minutes or so just to see if it works   but it spiked in less than that    I would have to try and watch it which is kinda hard.
Don't bother watching it, unless you really want to. I was wondering more out of curiosity's sake than anything else.


For anyone out there,
Do you happen to know if the Barometric pressure output via the Serial or TCP on the Davis Stations is the raw Station Pressure or if its corrected for temp, humidity and elevation?
Because I was just noticing a comment for the "VP SL Pressure" in the "VantagePro Pressure Calculator" that Beaudog linked stating that "This is the pressure reported by the Vantage Pro Console. It is a temp/humidity/elevation adjusted sea level pressure.". Can anybody confirm this?
[EDIT]
It looks like the output is user selectable.
I just found a forum post that answers my question: http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=19787.0 (http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=19787.0)
It also answers the next question I would've had.
[END EDIT]
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 27, 2014, 09:31:07 PM
So I'm pretty sure that I've got the Altimeter calculation for the CWOP uploads working correctly.  \:D/
Its calculating it based of the Raw station pressure which adds another complication. I need to figure out how to calculate the SLP (Sea Level Pressure) from the raw station pressure or need to figure out how to 'reverse calculate' the SLP output by the Console to get the raw station pressure.. ugh... The later would not be the best option.

Reading through forum threads in the CWOP Topic, It looks like the problem I've encountered with the Barometric Pressure uploads to CWOP is not anything new. It appears that CWOP is really the oddball when it comes to what they want the Barometric pressure adjusted to.


Status update,

I've uploaded a new version
Version [1.2]

So I've decided to set the barometric pressure for the CWOP uploads to use whatever the Console is set to output until I get this figured-out.
I've also combined the Heat-Index and Wind-Chill into the same box. The program will switch between the Outside Temp, Wind-Chill and Heat-Index as appropriate. The label will also update to show which one its currently displaying. (I did this because I wanted to free-up some space in preparation for adding the UV-Index and Solar Radiation. Also, you never need the Wind-Chill and Heat-Index at the same time anyway, so I figured this was the best way to go.)
I've fixed the Sunrise Sunset times so now they adjust properly for the local time offset.

Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: griffo42 on July 28, 2014, 01:18:09 AM
Josiah

Here are 3 pages from my David VantageVue handbook re Barometric Pressure.  Hope it helps you.

Best wishes

Keith Griffin

Brisbane, Australia
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 28, 2014, 08:46:15 AM
Keith,

Thanks, Those help to confirm that the output from the Console can be set manually.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 28, 2014, 10:26:54 AM
Now this is really helpful. http://www.softwx.com/weather/uwxutils.html (http://www.softwx.com/weather/uwxutils.html)
It contains all the formulas I need to work with the Barometric Pressure output by the Davis Consoles. And then some.. Whats more is that its source code, which means that all I need to do is convert the needed portions to the appropriate programming language. of course I'm still going to figure out how the formulas work.  :grin:

My days of digging around on the internet have finally paid off.
Thanks Steve Hatchett at SoftWx, Inc!!!

 =D&gt; =D&gt; =D&gt; \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 28, 2014, 10:31:27 AM
AKK You beat me to it.


Gobble de gook to me but may mean something to you.

Utilities by the author of VPLive   and Virtual VP   As I read it it gives formulas that he used to write VPLive.    I think the first one contains the barometer formulas.

http://www.softwx.com/weather/vptools/uwxutils.zip
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 28, 2014, 10:52:16 AM
Wow,
That's really helpful as well.
That's the source code files that were used to create the webpage I linked.

Thanks!
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 31, 2014, 03:24:39 PM
Hey guys,

I've been busy getting ready for a couple of HAMfests this weekend so I haven't had much time to get programming done. Fortunately, I was able to scrounge some time here-and-there so here's another update.

I'm still waiting to hear back from Davis in regard to the random bad data problem. I do have an idea on what might be causing it though and if they still haven't responded by Monday or Tuesday then I'll start implementing it.

Version [1.3]
Changed a Few miscellaneous things relating to whats displayed.
Fixed the Dewpoint Uploads to Weather Underground.
Added the Solar Radiation and UV Index to the display.
Fixed the Altitude adjusted pressure for CWOP uploads. (New Formulas) Special Thanks to Steve Hatchett From SoftWx for the use of his Code Snippets.
Fixed a Bug in the "Tomorrows" Sunrise/Sunset times.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 31, 2014, 03:56:56 PM
I can not get to connect I get this error.

At Data Processing  7/31/2014 12:52:53 PM
CRC Check Failed. CRC=33768 Data String=LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  ��  �� �,      �������                  -|

LOO�  mt,+ � ���������������5�������  �� 
LOO                -|

        -|

         
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 31, 2014, 04:04:45 PM
The CRC check is failing again...  :-k hmm...
It was working in the previous version, Right?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 31, 2014, 04:31:50 PM
yes
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 31, 2014, 05:00:19 PM
That's odd...
I'm trying to think of what could be causing it to start having CRC checking trouble.. I haven't changed anything in the CRC checking portion of my code.  :-k

Your setting it up with the same connection settings and station as you had in the previous version [1.2], Correct?
Is it showing anything from the station?

Just a random thought. If you haven't done so already, try moving or deleting the station settings file. This shouldn't make a difference, but it might get it going.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 31, 2014, 05:47:22 PM
It is giving this error in VVP when it tries to connect.

14:45:52:926 Warning      - Virtual Console5: Socket error: The virtual circuit has been reset by the partner (10054)
14:45:52:988 Warning      - Virtual Console5: Socket error: The virtual circuit has been reset by the partner (10054)
14:45:53:051 Warning      - Virtual Console5: Socket error: The virtual circuit has been reset by the partner (10054)
14:45:53:113 Warning      - Virtual Console5: Socket error: The virtual circuit has been reset by the partner (10054)
14:45:53:176 Warning      - Virtual Console5: Socket error: The virtual circuit has been reset by the partner (10054)
14:45:53:238 Warning      - Virtual Console5: Socket error: The virtual circuit has been reset by the partner (10054)
14:45:53:300 Warning      - Virtual Console5: Socket error: The virtual circuit has been reset by the partner (10054)
14:45:53:363 Warning      - Virtual Console5: Socket error: The virtual circuit has been reset by the partner (10054)
14:45:53:425 Warning      - Virtual Console5: Socket error: The virtual circuit has been reset by the partner (10054)
14:45:53:488 Warning      - Virtual Console5: Socket error: The virtual circuit has been reset by the partner (10054)
14:45:53:488 Error        - Virtual Console5: Too many consecutive socket errors. Will try to reconnect.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 31, 2014, 06:40:31 PM
OK,
I've been looking Through my code and found + fixed a major bug. Can you see if it works now?

Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 31, 2014, 06:45:44 PM
no go same errro
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 31, 2014, 06:56:14 PM
OK,
Noticed a bug with the CRC checking. I don't know how I've managed to miss spotting it so many times.
Would you mind trying it again?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 31, 2014, 09:12:57 PM
it is receiving data but...
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 31, 2014, 09:29:21 PM
OK,
Thanks for trying it again.
I see a couple of things... The barometer is wrong... And I can't quite tell from the screen shot, but it looks like the 'Last Data Received' at the top of the window is messed up as well. I'll work on them, give me a few minutes.

It is good to know that the CRC checking is working though.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on July 31, 2014, 09:44:24 PM
Yea well it's really wrong
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 31, 2014, 09:50:57 PM
OK,
I've just uploaded a new version. See if that fixes the Barometer and 'Last Data Received' time.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on August 01, 2014, 11:49:23 AM
It says it is updating every second but barometer is still screwy.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 01, 2014, 12:18:37 PM
Can you post a screen shot or tell me what the current barometer and high barometer are showing?
Thanks
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on August 01, 2014, 01:31:32 PM
here you go
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 01, 2014, 03:11:17 PM
Thanks for the Screenshot.

I've just uploaded an update.
I think I've got the problem fixed now. Could you try it and see if the barometric pressure is working?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on August 01, 2014, 03:54:41 PM
Still no go
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 01, 2014, 04:02:20 PM
OK,
Thanks for trying it again.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 01, 2014, 04:34:25 PM
OK,
It looks like I wasn't having it convert the Barometric pressure back into InHg.  #-o
Now it should be working. Let me know if its still off.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on August 01, 2014, 04:56:37 PM
fixed    will be a few minutes before it uploads to cwop so I can't check that right away.    You might consider putting a send now option in the setup area.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on August 01, 2014, 05:05:51 PM
Looks like its in the ball park
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on August 01, 2014, 05:28:07 PM
Don't know if you know it but your density altitude is also way off. It is showing 18,440   should be more like 7800
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 01, 2014, 05:41:18 PM
You might consider putting a send now option in the setup area.
That would be useful. I'm thinking, add one for each site it uploads to so that the user can manually have it upload to one site while continuing to upload to the others on its normal interval. I guess you could call it a forced upload option.


Looks like its in the ball park
I'm glad the Barometric pressure is finally working how it should.


I'm going to be busy this weekend so I'll look into the density altitude on Monday, or if I have a chance tomorrow afternoon and I'm not to tired then I'll look at it then.


I'm curious, are you still getting the random temp spikes?
I'm not sure if the CRC checking will filter those out, but it would be interesting to know.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on August 01, 2014, 05:47:28 PM
I am not seeing the temp spikes right now. I will leave it running and see if any show up.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 01, 2014, 06:36:16 PM
OK,
Thanks!
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on August 02, 2014, 10:59:28 AM
Ran all night no spikes.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 02, 2014, 04:41:38 PM
Ran all night no spikes.
That's great to hear! That's one more thing on my ToDo list that I can check off.
Thanks!

The next thing is going to be handling the data output when the Console losses a connection to the ISS. Speaking of which, If anyone is willing to try forcing a lost connection from the ISS, I would like to hear what happens.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 06, 2014, 09:13:53 PM
Hey guys,

I've been doing some thinking since Beaudog mentioned this:
I caution not to fall into the trap that Weather Display and to some extent Cumulus have in trying to make the program do everything that every possible user might want.
I think a lot of WX software developers fall into the same trap. I can see how adding more features will attract more people to the software, but what inevitably happens is the configuration for them turns into a mess. The other thing that happens is that every user winds up with features they don't use, which wouldn't be a problem if they didn't contribute to the cluttering of the configuration window/windows.

I believe that any program can get to the point of having so many features that it actually becomes unusable, or at the very least difficult to get the most basic of things setup. I think this is especially true for someone who is new to the software.

As a former user of Weather Display and Cumulus I've seen that happen. Its actually one of the contributing factors to what made me move to other software, and I don't want to do the same to mine. I will admit that I've actually caught myself starting to fall into that trap.

So I've gotten the idea to start utilizing addons for features instead of hard coding them in. This would allow people to have just the features they want, resulting in fewer unnecessary configuration settings cluttering up things. I also think that it would really open-up my software by allowing other people to create their own features if they don't already exist.

Now I've never created any addons or programs that use them for that matter, and was wondering if anybody around here has any experience with designing a program to utilize plugins and would be willing to give a few pointers on implementing them?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 10, 2014, 10:58:30 AM
Hey Guys,

Just wanted to let you guys know whats going on.

I've decided to enable Plugin/Addon support to my program. I want to redesign my software around the plugins.
I'm planning on setting them up in a way where the program will be able to dynamically load/unload them while its running. If I do it right, this will open up new ways to expand the capabilities of my software. However, to do this properly is going to require a major overhaul of my program. So don't expect to see an update for awhile.
The overhaul should also allow stations to be added or removed without the program needing to restart.

I'm leaning towards Ad-InWX for a software name. With Addons/Plugin support I think this would be appropriate. However, I'm still open to names so If anyone out there has any ideas, feel free to post them.

I'm also going to start keeping 2 options for downloading my software, one would be a Stable Build, while the other is a Dev Build. The Stable Build will hopefully be bug free, while the Dev Build would have the latest features that I'm working on.

Here's some of the new things you can expect to see in the next release.
Support for Plugins/Addons.
Options to tweak the values for each station. Kind of a set "Calibration" settings.
The *.stn setting files use the same format as the Config.txt setting file. They can now be edited manually with a text editor if need be.
A " < 1 Second ago " to the Update Status Display.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 24, 2014, 09:43:13 AM
Hey guys,

Just thought I'd let you know whats going on.

Once again I've been busy getting ready for hamfests, so I've not had much time to program lately. I've been working on my software when I do get the chance though, However I'm not going to have the next update ready for a while yet.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: blizzardof78 on August 26, 2014, 09:28:05 PM
Can someone post a few screen shots on how tro get this program working? I'm having a heck of a time. Do you need to break communications with the Weather Link program to open the com port to communicate with the program? I can't get anything to communicate. Thanks!
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 26, 2014, 09:45:38 PM
blizzardof78,

Yes, you do need to close the Weatherlink software to get my software to work.

Serial ports can only be opened and used by one program at a time, so thats why people have made software that allows virtual Serial ports. The idea is that the virtual serial ports can be bridged to the real Serial port thus allowing multiple programs to communicate over the real port.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: blizzardof78 on August 26, 2014, 09:49:59 PM
Thank you for the quick reply. I'll give it a shot!!

Don in Ohio
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 26, 2014, 09:54:41 PM
Don,

Let me know how it goes.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: blizzardof78 on August 26, 2014, 09:58:51 PM
Didn't work. I got an error message it couldn't open the serial port, even after I disconnected the Weather Link from communicating with the weather station. Thanks.

Don
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 26, 2014, 10:02:16 PM
Don,

It sounds like the serial port is not being closed properly. Did you close the Weatherlink software completely?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: blizzardof78 on August 26, 2014, 10:10:16 PM
Well I thought I did lol. Maybe I'm forgetting something? LOL I manually changed the com port to 1 so it wouldn't try to go through 4. Hmmm, maybe it's been too long since I've done this lol. Ideas?

Don
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on August 26, 2014, 10:15:53 PM
Hi Jos,

It's been a while. How was the overhauling of your program? I tried your latest program. it still has values on station that has no communication to ISS. but no spikes on other stations that has complete in communication. the >1seconds ago is working.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 26, 2014, 10:39:34 PM
Don,

Make sure you have the correct serial port and Serial Port Speed selected. If those are correct, then start looking at other software thats using that serial port.
I think the default serial speed for the Davis Weather Stations is 19200.



dean,

I'm still working on it. Like i said, I really haven't had much time to work on it lately so progress is slow.
What I have been doing is to make my software more dependent on the plugins. The Idea is if someone wants to add support for a weather station thats not currently supported (Maybe they have a home-made Station), then all they have to do is write the code to interface to the station. Or if they want to add other features, they would be able to do that easily as-well.
So basically, what I'm doing is getting my software setup for this. Then what I'm going to do is to start adding features using the going-to-be-new Plugin capabilities of my software.

Its still a work in progress.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 26, 2014, 10:55:16 PM
I tried your latest program. it still has values on station that has no communication to ISS.

I'm not clear on what you mean. When the Connection between the ISS and console is lost, does my software start showing random data, or does it keep showing older data (i.e. the last data that was received from the console)?

Thanks for the feedback.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 27, 2014, 09:17:52 AM
Don,

Another thought, are you using just the weatherlink software, or are you running multiple programs? If your using multiple programs would you mind sharing how you have them configured? i.e. Which programs are connected to what ports.

Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Beaudog on August 27, 2014, 10:27:13 AM
Mine is pretty complicated vplive running on netbook with all the wx data        and another instance running on a desktop
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: blizzardof78 on August 27, 2014, 03:06:47 PM
Don,

Another thought, are you using just the weatherlink software, or are you running multiple programs? If your using multiple programs would you mind sharing how you have them configured? i.e. Which programs are connected to what ports.

Using WL software on port 4 and also WUHU which also gets the signal from port 4 (which I'm assuming it's pulling it straight from the WL software).

Don
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: blizzardof78 on August 27, 2014, 06:24:23 PM
I'm getting an error log message of "Error opening a Serial Port connection with station (x) At Retrieve Seriasl Data 8/27/2014 6:12:05 PM The port is closed."  ](*,)

Don
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on August 27, 2014, 08:27:34 PM
I tried your latest program. it still has values on station that has no communication to ISS.

I'm not clear on what you mean. When the Connection between the ISS and console is lost, does my software start showing random data, or does it keep showing older data (i.e. the last data that was received from the console)?

Thanks for the feedback.

In the first place, I set it up to no connection between the ISS and console before running your program.

What I mean is, the station is updating but still showing data on temperature and wind speed. I tried to delete the "weather" folder and resetting up the stations to see if that value showing is an old data but still showing the same values on the ISS for temperature and wind speed.

see attached image
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on August 27, 2014, 08:57:52 PM
dean,

I'm still working on it. Like i said, I really haven't had much time to work on it lately so progress is slow.
What I have been doing is to make my software more dependent on the plugins. The Idea is if someone wants to add support for a weather station thats not currently supported (Maybe they have a home-made Station), then all they have to do is write the code to interface to the station. Or if they want to add other features, they would be able to do that easily as-well.
So basically, what I'm doing is getting my software setup for this. Then what I'm going to do is to start adding features using the going-to-be-new Plugin capabilities of my software.

Its still a work in progress.


Yes, I am aware of what you're tying to do. It is more like that on PSP , adding plugins to add support/functionality to the program that is not supported but you may know WeatherLink software already has that. An "expansion module". I tried using one to send data to WUnderground.  You can view this topic for expansion modules that has been made (http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=7723.0). and if I'm not mistaken, I think only 2 modules for WU compatibility and 1 for VP. no other modules has been made even there is an SDK toolkit for that. I'm afraid the same thing could happen to your program you're trying to rebuild but we never know.   
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 28, 2014, 11:45:36 AM
Don,

Can you send me the Error log file as an attachment.

Also, are you using the USB or the Serial version of the Davis Data logger?

You could try shutting down both the WL and WUHU software, then starting my software. This should work, if it doesn't try leaving WL running but close WUHU then try my software like that.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 28, 2014, 12:02:22 PM
Dean,

Thanks for the screenshot.
I have an idea on whats going on, but just to confirm, do the Temp and Wind Speed values change when my software updates, or do they stay the same?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on August 28, 2014, 08:43:19 PM
Dean,

Thanks for the screenshot.
I have an idea on whats going on, but just to confirm, do the Temp and Wind Speed values change when my software updates, or do they stay the same?

Jos,

Values in Temp and Wind Speed stay the same when your software updates.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 28, 2014, 09:06:13 PM
Dean,

Thanks for confirming this.

Here's whats going on...
Since the Data String coming from the Davis Console is supposed to be fixed in length (I think it was around 99 bytes) what the console does is to substitute missing data (in this case Outdoor Temp and Wind Speed among others) with a default value. And that is what your seeing.

This answers a question I had earlier about a way to tell if a: (the sensor failed) or b: (the connection was lost between the Console and the ISS). Adding it to my TODO List...
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on August 28, 2014, 09:40:51 PM
Jos,

I also notice that the UV index and Solar radiation are just displaying N/A.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 28, 2014, 10:09:18 PM
Dean,
Do you have Solar Radiation and UV sensors connected to the weather Station?
What type of Weather Station is it?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on August 28, 2014, 10:16:13 PM
Dean,
Do you have Solar Radiation and UV sensors connected to the weather Station?
What type of Weather Station is it?


Yes. It is a Vantage Pro 2 plus, and I have also Vantage Pro 2 that has Leaf Moisture sensor.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on August 28, 2014, 10:43:18 PM
Jos,

Sorry for that, Davis Vantage Pro 2 has no UV and Solar Sensor. I forgot to enable the UV and Solar Senor in the station setup under Options. You should include Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus with UV and Solar sensors included as default enabled sensors in your Model options and include additional sensors for Leaf and Soil Moisture sensors.

I tried running WL and your program at the same time and they are updating alternately.
See attached image. I notice that UV index was showing wrong values but Solar Radiation is correct.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 28, 2014, 10:58:43 PM
Dean,
Thanks for the Correction and the Side-by-Side screen shot of the 2 programs.
The UV index on my software is 75 compared to on the WL Software its 7.5. That's simple, I missed a "Divide the Solar radiation by 10" operation.

I appreciate you finding these things..


You should include Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus with UV and Solar sensors included as default enabled sensors in your Model options and include additional sensors for Leaf and Soil Moisture sensors.
I'll do that..


I tried running WL and your program at the same time and they are updating alternately.
Are they connected via TCP/IP or Serial?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on August 28, 2014, 11:11:25 PM
Jos,


You're welcome. For now, All of my stations are connected via TCP/IP connection.

Jos, I'm just curious. How did you come-up with a Sky Conditions?
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 28, 2014, 11:25:14 PM
Dean,
TCP/IP... OK


Jos, I'm just curious. How did you come-up with a Sky Conditions?
Believe it or not, I came across someones work that they had done when I was looking for a Cloud Base formula.
The funny part about it is the fact that what My software does to figure it, could easily be done in your head. Its just a few "If..ElseIf" statements.
Which reminds me, one of the things it uses is an "Average Barometric Pressure", which right now is a number that's hard-coded in. I need to have My Software figure that out and then the Sky Conditions should be more accurate.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on August 28, 2014, 11:32:24 PM
Dean,
TCP/IP... OK


Jos, I'm just curious. How did you come-up with a Sky Conditions?
Believe it or not, I came across someones work that they had done when I was looking for a Cloud Base formula.
The funny part about it is the fact that what My software does to figure it, could easily be done in your head. Its just a few "If..ElseIf" statements.
Which reminds me, one of the things it uses is an "Average Barometric Pressure", which right now is a number that's hard-coded in. I need to have My Software figure that out and then the Sky Conditions should be more accurate.

That's great! you should include also forecasting like Fog forecasting later if your interested. I think things like that will be an advantage to any other weather station program as of this time.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 29, 2014, 12:01:00 AM
Dean,

Actually.....
I've been planning on adding a likelihood of precip. to the software. It would be something like "Rain likely later today" or "Precip. Imminent soon".

My original plan was to have it percent based, but quickly came to the conclusion that doing it that way would:
1: Be very very very difficult to get anywhere near accurate without having access to multiple databases of Weather Data from around the local region. Not to mention the fact that if the local weather forecast channel can't get it accurate with the database access and advanced computer algorithms that they have access to, I'm almost guaranteed too fail.
and:
2: If people want to get a percentage based hourly forecast, there's plenty of web sites out there like Wunderground.
Which brings me to:
3: Instead of spending my time trying to Reinvent-the-wheel on something that I will probably fail at, I think my time would be better spent on adding another Idea I've had, and that's to add (as a plugin) the ability to get the Local Weather Radar and a Weather forecast from a site like Wunderground.


Fog Forecasting... Hmm...
That might not be hard to do either. If I already know what conditions are required to detect fog, then all I should need to figure out is how is far from those conditions it is now...

Another one added to my TODO list.
Dean, Your giving me too many ideas. LOL My TODO list is expanding faster than I can implement stuff. LOL At this point maybe I should start calling it my "Dream On" List. LOL
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on August 29, 2014, 01:58:15 AM
Jos,

You're right. That is impossible to do alone without having access to any database of weather data.

3: Instead of spending my time trying to Reinvent-the-wheel on something that I will probably fail at, I think my time would be better spent on adding another Idea I've had, and that's to add (as a plugin) the ability to get the Local Weather Radar and a Weather forecast from a site like Wunderground.

This is the best thing to do. This would be great. :grin: I hope WUnderground has a quantitative forecast for rainfall amount just like that on MeteoGroup not just Percentage of rain chance. If you have this plugin to get forecast from WU, maybe you can base on that then fog forecasting will be easy. There's this software called BUFKIT, it can forecast fog and they have a complete tutorial on how to use their software and how does it work. Fog forecasting is very useful to airports and Highway roads. But for me Bufkit is very complicated to use for a simple station user.


Another one added to my TODO list.
Dean, Your giving me too many ideas. LOL My TODO list is expanding faster than I can implement stuff. LOL At this point maybe I should start calling it my "Dream On" List. LOL

Sorry for my bad English. LOL. So far, Your software improves a lot from your first version and it is very comfy to use, not so complicated. plugin is a good idea. I am very excited to your next program version update. You should make a list of plugins you're working-in and plugins your planning to make. And a your "Dream On" list to attract other users here.LOL :lol:
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 29, 2014, 10:43:58 AM
BUFKIT...
I took a Quick glance over it and it does appear to be able to do a lot of stuff. But as you said its to complex for a simple weather station user.
The Fog prediction I had in mind was more of a general amount (ie really heavy to no fog).


You should make a list of plugins you're working-in and plugins your planning to make. And a your "Dream On" list to attract other users here.LOL :lol:

Maybe I should post a list. Hmm... Right now my software can't do a whole lot, but I do have quite a list of things I would like to add. Granted, most of those things are smaller items, but still other people might be interested in what I've got tentatively planned. I'll have to cleanup the list a bit, But I might post it as a "Here's some of the things I would like to do with it in the future, but they aren't guaranteed to be added".

Once I get Plugin support going, other people could start expanding the software on their own. Thinking of which, are there any programers out there that would be interested in creating plugins for my software?
The way-in-which the plugins are implemented (ie what is accessible to the plugins) will probably change as Plugins are created, just to make it even simpler and easier to create even more.
I think I'm like most people out there, I want it to be as simple and easy as possible to be able to do what I would like to do, And that's one of the reasons that I planning on creating Plugins Myself. If it becomes difficult for me (the very person who created the software and the one who knows how the program works internally) to create a plugin, then I would know that it would be very difficult for someone else.
So Yeah, if your reading this and you would like to create a plugin, let me know. I would like to work with you to get My software setup to make it even easier for you to work with it.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on September 03, 2014, 04:36:01 PM
Well, the overhaul of my program has turned into a complete rewrite. Fortunately, the last time I rewrote it I split things into separate classes based on functionality so it should be easier this time.

So-far I've got very basic Plugin support working and will expand/revise it as needed. I've been designing it in such a way that makes just about everything a plugin (UI elements and WX Station types included). This will allow for the most flexibility when it comes to users being able add to it later.

I'm not planning on releasing it until I've gotten it to the point where the previous version was as-far-as features, WX Station support and reliability. I will let you guys know when i get it to that point. Depending on available time, Hopefully that will be by this weekend or early next week. hopefully...

I've decided on AD-InWx for a name, so that's what it will be called starting with the next release.

And since I'm talking about the "going to be" new AD-inWx software, here's a list of Plugins that are tentatively planned. Some of these may not get created, but they're here anyway. Also, others may be added later.

Tentatively planned Plugins: (These are in no particular order)
   SQL DataBase Connectivity for Data Logging / Graphing
   WUnderground Radar and Forecast
   Fully Customizable Display
   USB / TCP/IP Webcam Support
   Ocean Tide Forecasts
   Re-hosting of Weather Stations over TCP/IP (ie. if you have a Serial Connection to the WX Station, then this would allow TCP/IP Connections to be made to the Station)
   Virtual Serial Port Emulation
   Weather Alarms
   Extended Calculations (These could be almost anything from CloudBase to MoonPhase.) "The Sky's the limit!" well.... maybe it isn't...  :grin:
       Fog prediction would probably windup in the Extended Calculations plugin if I can't get an "Official" forecast from somewhere like the NWS or WUnderground.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on September 09, 2014, 10:02:41 AM
Hey guys,

Development has been delayed again... arrrrgh :(
I've been working on it when I get time and will continue to do so, however at this point I'm not sure when I'll have the next release ready.

Sorry guys.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on September 12, 2014, 08:39:23 AM
Hey guys,

It occurred to me that since I'm rewriting a good portion of my software, I should take this opportunity to make it capable of running not only on Windows but Linux and MAC osX as-well. So I'm researching that now.

It looks like I may need to switch my Development IDE to a program called MonoDevelop in-order to do this.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on September 20, 2014, 06:40:50 PM
Well, the Good news is:
I've had some time to look into Developing my AD-InWX software using MonoDevelop/Xamarin Studio and it looks fairly strait-forward. Thank goodness... :)

However the Bad news is:
I'm going to need to rethink how the Plugins are Implemented. In fact, the whole Plugin Idea may not be a good idea if i go with the Cross-Platform compatibility route. In order to create the program so it runs on Windows, Linux and MAC OS X I'll have to follow certain guidelines which would potentially make it harder for others to create their own Plugins.

So its beginning to look like it's either Plugin Support or Cross-Platform compatibility. bummer... I was hoping that I could do both. Maybe later on down the road i could do both, but for now I'm tossing around which one to drop. If I go with adding support for Plugins now, it would be harder to do the Cross-Platform compatibility later-on because I would have to completely redo the Plugin system. On the other hand, I really haven't had many requests for MAC or Linux compatibility plus I've already got a list of Plugins to create. So I'm not sure if I should even go with the Cross-Platform capability in the first place. And If I did add MAC/Linux support it would mean I wouldn't be able to utilize all of the capabilities that are available to normal "Windows Only" programs.

hmm.... :-k

So, Windows OSes only + Plugins, or Windows, Mac and Linux but no Plugins. :-k
I'm kinda Leaning towards the Windows OSes only + Plugins Option since that was my original plan.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on September 21, 2014, 04:01:22 PM
Ah,
Just Discovered WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation). It looks like a more up-to-date version of the standard Windows Forms that I was using earlier.
It supports more advanced things like graphics effects and playing animations. The big thing that WPF allows for is Hardware Acceleration, meaning that I could even play videos (an example case would be playing back a recording from a Weather Cam).

I'm pretty excited about how it would allow me to do some of the things that I've wanted to do and the new possibilities that it would give me.  :D =D&gt; \:D/
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on September 22, 2014, 08:28:29 PM
Can't wait to try the next update. Just Windows OSes only + Plugins  :lol:
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on September 27, 2014, 03:46:44 PM
Hey Guys,

Since its been awhile since my last post I've decided to show you what I've been up-to in regards to Add-InWx.
If you liked the previous version then I think you will like what the new software looks like.


I'm still trying to figure out how to do a couple of things in WPF, so that's why the text is the same in across the 4 data boxes.

Just remember, this is an early alpha version screenshot so some of it may change.


Check this out:
(http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums/ag274/Ben_J/NewAdd-InWxMainScreenPreview_zps911d669a.png) (http://s1370.photobucket.com/user/Ben_J/media/NewAdd-InWxMainScreenPreview_zps911d669a.png.html)
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: drew on September 27, 2014, 03:51:13 PM
Wow! That looks great! I can't wait to try it out.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on September 28, 2014, 10:27:42 PM
Jos,

Good to see the display, that's great. It might be good to add a summary (as to what station has the highest/lowest temp, wind speed, highest temp, etc) of the weather stations' reading. I assume you already had this feature/plugin  :lol:

ahhhm, regarding on the plugin, Please consider also creating a plugin that can integrate add-Inwx to this weather map (http://earth.nullschool.net). This is the most promising weather map for me. It features overlay of wind,temp,RH,Total precitable water,total cloud water,mean sea level pressure, and the Misery Index (Heat index) as well as forecast (+3hrs and +24hrs) within 4days of the said parameters. The best part is, you can also adjust the elevation from sea surface up to 10Hpa. Try it, and see if it would be more useful than WUmap. Just saying  :grin:
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on September 29, 2014, 09:05:54 AM
dean,
The Multi-Station Summary was on my list, Thanks for mentioning it though.  :grin: You've given me a few ideas on the layout.  :grin:

ahhhm, regarding on the plugin, Please consider also creating a plugin that can integrate add-Inwx to this weather map (http://earth.nullschool.net).

Now that's a neat map :grin:
I will need to look into it, but at first glance it looks like its written in Java so I'm not sure how thats going to work. For now I'll put it on my ToDo list and look deeper into later.

Thanks for the Suggestion.


Since I'm creating a post anyway, :)
I've been talking with Forum Member kaymann (aka Randall Kayfes, Some of you may know him by the amazing weather Photos he takes), and he has given me the go-ahead on using a couple of his photos as backdrops for Add-InWx.  :grin: :grin: Now i just need to decide which ones i want to use, LOL He's got so many good ones that its going to be hard narrowing them down.

In the process of talking with him another Idea for a feature has arisen: Changing the backdrop based on the local weather conditions e.g. if its Raining, Snowing, Thunderstorms, High Temp or Wind speeds, maybe cloud cover, barometric pressure, etc. I could also have it pick different ones based on the current Season as well. So say for example its Fall and its Raining, Add-InWx would pick a Photo from a set that's been marked as being Fall Season photos then from there it would pick one that's marked as a Rain photo.

As a side note, I've also figured-out how to add Scrolling Text, so that's going to be interesting.

Anyway... Thats what I've been Up-to over the weekend.  :grin:
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on October 09, 2014, 08:32:28 AM
Hey Guys,

I'm Getting close to another release.
Here's where I'm at right now:
I've got the Weather Station Types Plugin system going and I've figured out what I needed to do in WPF to get the Display updating. I'm working on the Configuration of each Weather Station, the Saving/Loading of Settings and the Davis Weather Station Plugin.

I'm planning on creating a Second Plugin system for stuff like uploading to websites, Database Access, retrieving WUnderground Forecasts, etc. So I haven't started working on making it upload to WU or CWOP yet.

It's getting very close...  :grin:

It's funny... :lol:
While I've been working on this, one of the things I do is run it every once in a while to make sure that things are functioning properly, So I'm beginning to get used to seeing the new version. I've still got my older version (1.3) running on my weather PC and every time I look at it I find myself thinking "Wow... That's sooo ugly...".  :lol:
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on October 17, 2014, 08:18:17 AM
So I bit the bullet and ordered a Wireless Davis VP2 Plus with Solar Radiation and UV sensors.
With it I will be able extend the Davis plugin to to support downloading stored data from the logger and configuring the console from Add-InWx. These won't be in the initial release, but they will be added...
I also purchased a USB datalogger for it so I can add support for that as well. I may be ordering a TCP datalogger in the near future just to optimize that type of connection.

I'm having problems getting the Davis Plugin to connect to a station (again...), so thats waiting on the VP2 to arrive.
Looking at the UPS tracking, it should be arriving this weekend or early next week.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on October 19, 2014, 01:05:52 AM
To remotely configure the console using Add-InWx? Wow!. that is great. I no longer need weatherlink software then.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on October 19, 2014, 09:40:54 AM
To remotely configure the console using Add-InWx? Wow!. that is great. I no longer need weatherlink software then.

That's the Idea.. :grin:
Ok, I'll say it now... I've had this Idea for awhile now, What I want to do eventually is remove the need for Davis' WeatherLink software. Reading through forum posts here, I've noticed that the only things people seem to keep Davis' software around for is 1.) to configure the Station and 2.) the Graphing that it can do.

While I've been Studying the Communication Docs for the Dataloggers, I was noticing that all the Console settings can be changed from a Software Program. The thing is, Nobody has taken advantage of that capability. The only things that's keeping Davis' program from becoming obsolete is those two, Which anybody can implement into their software.

Over all, I'm pretty excited about having the ability to push a Weather Station Manufacture's Software into becoming completely obsolete.  :grin:
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: George Richardson on October 19, 2014, 10:28:25 AM
"Over all, I'm pretty excited about having the ability to push a Weather Station Manufacture's Software into becoming completely obsolete."

If this is your goal, I think your software will need to read, and import data from WeatherLink.

George
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on October 19, 2014, 04:54:25 PM
If this is your goal, I think your software will need to read, and import data from WeatherLink.

George

If you are referring to the WeatherLink.com Servers, That's one thing I won't be able to do.
So I guess that the old WeatherLink software will still have a use.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: George Richardson on October 19, 2014, 06:01:48 PM
Actually speaking of converting .wlk files. I would expect many, if not most users of Davis USB and Serial Dataloggers would have a lot of records under the WeatherLink software.

George
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on October 19, 2014, 07:20:15 PM
Oh, That's what you where referring to.
I believe i could set it up to convert .wlk files and then drop them into some form of SQL Database. I'll have to look back through the Docs, But I believe Davis did publish the needed information for reading the .wlk files.

I'm glad you mentioned this. Its something I hadn't thought of.
I had been thinking along the lines of downloading the data from the DataLogger, and logging the current conditions. It hadn't occurred to me that people might have years of logged data saved to their Hard-disk.  #-o
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on October 26, 2014, 05:19:02 PM
Hey guys,
I Just got the VP2 ISS up.
I already like it much more than my PeetBros station. The graphing on the console is a big plus, in my opinion.

Now, on to getting Add-InWx to connect to the USB DataLogger.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Bushman on October 26, 2014, 07:07:25 PM
Oh, That's what you where referring to.
I believe i could set it up to convert .wlk files and then drop them into some form of SQL Database. I'll have to look back through the Docs, But I believe Davis did publish the needed information for reading the .wlk files.

I'm glad you mentioned this. Its something I hadn't thought of.
I had been thinking along the lines of downloading the data from the DataLogger, and logging the current conditions. It hadn't occurred to me that people might have years of logged data saved to their Hard-disk.  #-o

jruys can probably help you here.  http://www.narsters.com/WLKReaderWriter/Default.aspx
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on October 27, 2014, 08:07:16 AM
Thanks for the Link. I'll have to get a hold of the developer later, and ask if he has any suggestions on reading the .wlk files. For now I'm focusing on the basic Station connections, Thinking of which...

I Just got the USB connection working, Its actually the same as the Serial, so that should work as well.

I need to figure out some way of getting a list a the Virtual Serial Ports on the local PC, or I may go with a "Auto Detect the Connection" for the USB dataLogger. The method I've been using to get a List of the Normal serial ports does not retrieve any Virtual ports. go figure... :roll:
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on November 12, 2014, 04:21:32 AM
jos,

FYI. You might be interested in this.

http://www.smartbedded.com/wiki/index.php/Meteostick

USB device that acts as a data receiver from Davis ISS.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 12, 2014, 08:59:33 AM
That might be an interesting one to add support for.


I finally figured out how to get a List of the Virtual Serial ports on the PC, Yay!!
Also, I was fiddling around and discovered that i can make the main display area fill the entire screen. Needless to say, I've added a button to toggle between the normal maximized window mode and the full screen mode.

Here's the latest screenshot.

(http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums/ag274/Ben_J/Add-InWxFullScreenmode_zpsf0bf350a.png)
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: NETO on November 12, 2014, 10:29:26 AM
Hello Josiah

Please forgive me.
Have you any plans to add anothers stations ?
I was thinking about the FINE OFFSET WIFI HP1000 or the AMBIENT WEATHER SOLAR WIFI OBSERVER.
They are almost the same and they do provide data directly to internet ( weather underground ).
They do not have any chance to be read on the laptop , unless you conect to www.wunderground.com
My idea is with the available IP and Password try to establish a connection with the laptop not to store just to SEE.
I do use the same LAN but has no way to see the actual data unless acessing the internet or ... going to see the screen on the weather station.
So if there is a chance and with this information available ... http://wiki.wunderground.com/index.php/PWS_-_Upload_Protocol ... maybe you can consider to create this new station (just WIFI no serial or usb port)
Tanks and great job
JMCN
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 12, 2014, 11:35:55 AM
NETO,

I do want to add more stations but don't have any specific ones planned.

I can add any station that supports a connection to a computer, Whether that's by Serial, USB, TCP/IP etc.

Correct me if I'm wrong but, taking a brief look at the documentation on the station, it doesn't look like it supports any type of Connection to a computer. So I don't know if its even possible.


Once I get some of the other things on my list done I'll look into further, and see what I can do.

Thanks for the suggestion.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: NETO on November 12, 2014, 12:03:40 PM
Hello Josiah
Tanks for the quick reply
OK I do not understand nothing about comunications but I am sure the station do not has any conection to the pc.
No usb port or serial port or wifidirect ( just wifi to the router and then to wunderground.com )
I know that it is on the same local area network running and i got the IP and password to the network and to conect with wunderground.
When I see you can conect via IP I start thinking you can try to conect to ths one but like I said I am not an expert on this staf.
So maybe others with the same station can explain any more.
For my side I just would like to be able to look for the actual values ( wind-temp-rain-and so on ) on the PC wthout needing to be connected to the wunderground every time. As the station has all the identification and is running OK may be an interrogation at every minute or else and prsent the display could be possible.
Anyway if you got time and interest on it you can please try to achieve a way and I will tanks for all.
Best regards
JMCN
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 13, 2014, 12:43:54 PM
Has anybody who's used/ is using my software ever tried the Text-To-Speech feature?
I'm curious to know if its even worth adding to Add-InWx.


NETO,
I will look into in more detail later, For now I want to get Add-InWx released first.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: swyman18 on November 13, 2014, 03:52:57 PM
I've been curious to give this software a try, but I've been banging my head against the wall trying to get it to communicate with my Davis VP2.  My setup is pretty straightforward:

-WinXP
-Davis console connected via Davis Serial Datalogger to COM3
-Rebooted PC and made sure no other software is running and utilizing the COM ports.

When I launch the software and configure a station to use COM3, baud rate 19200, the main screen comes up and it says "Cannot connect to Vantage Weatherstation" at the top.

No entries are created in the Error_log.txt file.

I do also have Cumulus and Weatherlink installed and they work with no problems when selecting COM3.
I've made sure neither of these are running during my testing, and I've rebooted the PC prior to testing to ensure the COM ports are not in use.

Not a big deal, but just curious if anyone has any other ideas.

Thanks!

-Scott

Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 13, 2014, 04:21:34 PM
swyman18,
Are you sure its a Serial Dataogger and not a USB Datalogger?
There's a bug in the software that won't allow it to connect to USB Dataloggers.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: swyman18 on November 13, 2014, 04:28:20 PM
Hi Josiah,

Yes, definitely the serial logger. Davis model # 6510SER.

When I bought the station I specifically wanted the serial logger since I had read about how the USB loggers are sometimes not as reliable.

Let me know if there is any other troubleshooting you think I can try.

If not, no biggie. Thanks!
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 13, 2014, 04:50:34 PM
Ok,

I'm looking through the source code now..
It looks like the program is opening the serial port, but not getting a reply from the console.

Since I'm working on a new version right now, I'm not really going to try to fix that problem in the old version. However, I do want to get it resolved for Add-InWx. So if you could give the new version a try once i post it for download, that would be helpful.

Thinking of which...
For the initial release, the only thing left is to get it loading the Station's settings from a file.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: swyman18 on November 13, 2014, 04:52:39 PM
Will do, thanks!
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 13, 2014, 06:35:12 PM
I should have Add-InWx ready by tomorrow evening.

The initial release is not going to do very much compared to the last version.
Basically, all its going to do is connect to the Weather Stations and display their Data.

Off the top of my head, Here's a brief list of things that it WILL NOT do yet:
1.) Upload anywhere
2.) allow you to change what units the weather data is displayed in (Fahrenheit/Celsius, MPH/Kph etc.)
3.) I can't think of anything else.

I'll post back when when I've got it uploaded.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: blizzardof78 on November 13, 2014, 06:47:38 PM
I should have Add-InWx ready by tomorrow evening.

The initial release is not going to do very much compared to the last version.
Basically, all its going to do is connect to the Weather Stations and display their Data.

Off the top of my head, Here's a brief list of things that it WILL NOT do yet:
1.) Upload anywhere
2.) allow you to change what units the weather data is displayed in (Fahrenheit/Celsius, MPH/Kph etc.)
3.) I can't think of anything else.

I'll post back when when I've got it uploaded.

Hey Josiah... Don in Ohio here. Will you be able to adjust the barometer reading as we were discussing in our e-mails recently? Thanks!

Don
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 13, 2014, 07:11:21 PM
And here's a link to the Beta Version 1.0.0.2 of Add-InWx: https://app.box.com/s/rz7mife8qsasw7wbxkpl (https://app.box.com/s/rz7mife8qsasw7wbxkpl)
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 is required, the setup will try to download and instal it if you don't have it already.

To get to the list of Stations hover your cursor over the Title bar at the top of the screen.
You can access the Configuration for a station by clicking the little "Gears/Cogs" icon to the right of the stations name.

EDIT: One more thing, To toggle Full-Screen mode click on the icon in the upper right of the display area.


Don,
Not yet.
That's one of the things I'm still getting to. In the mean-time I've set Add-InWx to not Calculate the Sea-level pressure and instead just display whatever the WX Station gives it.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: swyman18 on November 13, 2014, 07:15:00 PM
Wow, tomorrow evening came quick! :)
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: blizzardof78 on November 13, 2014, 07:16:23 PM
And here's a link to the Beta Version 1.0.0.2 of Add-InWx: https://app.box.com/s/rz7mife8qsasw7wbxkpl (https://app.box.com/s/rz7mife8qsasw7wbxkpl)
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 is required, the setup will try to download and instal it if you don't have it already.

To get to the list of Stations hover your cursor over the Title bar at the top of the screen.
You can access the Configuration for a station by clicking the little "Gears/Cogs" icon to the right of the stations name.

EDIT: One more thing, To toggle Full-Screen mode click on the icon in the upper right of the display area.


Don,
Not yet.
That's one of the things I'm still getting to. In the mean-time I've set Add-InWx to not Calculate the Sea-level pressure and instead just display whatever the WX Station gives it.

Thanks Josiah! You 'da man!!!
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 13, 2014, 07:37:57 PM
Wow, tomorrow evening came quick! :)
LOL,
I know, I figured I could get it to the point its at right now within a couple of hours of when I posted that. I just wanted to give myself a little bit of a buffer in case I ran into another wall in development.

Let me know how it goes for you guys.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: swyman18 on November 13, 2014, 07:53:15 PM
Oops, looks like .NET 4.5 will not install on WinXP.  Currently, all my WX software is on an XP system and I've been thinking about juggling some of my PC's around to get everything on Win7.

Hopefully I will be able to do some testing as soon as I get my PC's squared away the way I want them.

Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 13, 2014, 08:23:28 PM
Oops, looks like .NET 4.5 will not install on WinXP.  Currently, all my WX software is on an XP system and I've been thinking about juggling some of my PC's around to get everything on Win7.

Hopefully I will be able to do some testing as soon as I get my PC's squared away the way I want them.

Oops here, Forgot to mention that.
It was a trade-off between being able to take advantage of the new features in the .NET 4.5 framework, or trying to ensure that Add-InWx would run on a No-Longer-Supported Operating System (Windows XP). I do understand that a lot of people still use Win XP so it was a tough decision.
Now, don't anybody get me wrong, Win XP is / was a good OS and i still like it. My opinion is that if the OS is past the official End-Of-Life, I don't really see a good reason to go out of my way to try to develop software for it.
As hard as it may be, I think its time to say our Goodbye's to the old OS (maybe with a *sniffle) and move on.

EDIT: LOL, I'm still Tempted to switch it to the .NET 4 Framework just so it will run on XP. So i guess the decision wasn't final after all. I'll take a look at it in the morning and see what I would have to give-up to get it going.

EDIT 2: Beta Version 1.0.0.3 I've set it to use the .NET 4 Framework so it should run on XP now. Here's the New Link: https://app.box.com/s/314ee7fh02jnhuj4d8lt (https://app.box.com/s/314ee7fh02jnhuj4d8lt)

Anyway that's a topic for another thread.

Back on the topic,
Thanks for your interest, and Let me know once you've had a chance to test it with your setup.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 14, 2014, 09:39:20 AM
Add-InWx Version 1.0.0.3 Beta, is set to target .NET 4, so it should install and run on XP.
Here's the Link: https://app.box.com/s/314ee7fh02jnhuj4d8lt (https://app.box.com/s/314ee7fh02jnhuj4d8lt)
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: swyman18 on November 14, 2014, 02:19:12 PM
Hi,

I actually was able to upgrade my 8 year old Dell desktop to Win7 last night, I had tried a few years ago and it wouldn't take. I'm pretty pumped now, I won't have to juggle around my other Win7 boxes.  Going to work on getting all my WX stuff reinstalled and I will give yours a try today sometime.

Thanks anyway on the .NET4. Hopefully I won't need it :)
I'm sure there are others that will, though.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 14, 2014, 04:21:20 PM
Hey guys,
I've started a new Thread for Add-InWx which can be found here: http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=24359.new#new (http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=24359.new#new)


swyman18,
I will be listening for your reply once you've had a chance to try Add-InWx.
Once again, I appreciate you giving it a try.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: shirsch on November 18, 2014, 12:57:53 PM
So I am new to the thread...what is the name of the program?

Are you still supporting the original?

Thanks

Steve
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 18, 2014, 01:51:56 PM
Steve,
The Name of the New Version is Add-InWx. The old version doesn't really have a name, So I've just been arbitrarily calling it "My Weather Program".

For the time being I'm not planning to release any updates for the old version. The reason for this is that I'm focusing my efforts on Add-InWx.
However, I am still listening to bug reports with the original version. The idea being that if / when a bug / Problem is found I can figure out what the cause is and fix it so the problem doesn't reappear in Add-InWx.

As for features, Add-InWx will have the same and eventually more features than the original Version, its just a matter of implementing them.

Hope this answers your questions,
Josiah


BTW:
I just remembered that I removed the link for the old version from my Signature, so I've added a link just under the image in the thread for Add-InWx.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: shirsch on November 18, 2014, 02:04:34 PM
Great thanks for answering my questions
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 18, 2014, 02:22:30 PM
Great thanks for answering my questions

No Problemo...

If you have any more, feel free to ask.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 18, 2014, 04:00:51 PM
BTW:
I just remembered that I removed the link for the old version from my Signature, so I've added a link just under the image in the thread for Add-InWx.

Sorry guys,
I just realized that I posted the wrong link. I just updated it again so its correct this time.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 19, 2014, 09:48:37 PM
Hello Josiah

Please forgive me.
Have you any plans to add anothers stations ?
I was thinking about the FINE OFFSET WIFI HP1000 or the AMBIENT WEATHER SOLAR WIFI OBSERVER.
They are almost the same and they do provide data directly to internet ( weather underground ).
They do not have any chance to be read on the laptop , unless you conect to www.wunderground.com
My idea is with the available IP and Password try to establish a connection with the laptop not to store just to SEE.
I do use the same LAN but has no way to see the actual data unless acessing the internet or ... going to see the screen on the weather station.
So if there is a chance and with this information available ... http://wiki.wunderground.com/index.php/PWS_-_Upload_Protocol ... maybe you can consider to create this new station (just WIFI no serial or usb port)
Tanks and great job
JMCN


NETO,
Ok, I've had a chance to look into interfacing it to a PC, and the Station doesn't support it directly. I've even looked at other software to see if they support the station, just to get see if someone else was able to get a PC to interface to it, and its not on any of their supported stations lists either.
The only ways of seeing data from this model of weather station is either on the screen the comes with the station, or as you mentioned having a program connect to WUnderground.com and getting the data from there for viewing.
The seconded option (Getting the Data from WUnderground.com) is something that I could do. But from what you wrote, it sounds like you don't want to have the program require an internet connection just to display the weather data.

Now, there is still another sliver of a chance to getting the data a third way.
I was reading the Ambient Weather WS-1001-WiFi OBSERVER Solar Powered Wireless WiFi Weather Station User Manual in PDF form and noticed at the bottom of page 29 in section 6.3.18 Weather Server it says:
The console is configured to send real-time data to wunderground.com® so there is no need to adjust the Server, Server type, and upload type. Enter the Station ID and Password from wunderground.com®. Enter your Station ID and password obtained from wunderground.com®.
I've underlined and highlighted in green the interesting part. What I find interesting from this very brief statement is that the station can be told to upload to somewhere other than WUnderground.com, and in a different format. Unfortunately, that's the only information I have.
If I knew what those settings could be set to, then I would have something to start from.

So, In conclusion, If you could go to the configuration on your weather station and find out what those "Weather Server" settings can be set to, I can pursue it further.

Regards,

Josiah
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: NETO on November 20, 2014, 03:58:41 AM
Hi Josiah

.... may I sugest this information http://wiki.wunderground.com/index.php/PWS_-_Upload_Protocol that could help to understand how do they do it.
... also on the update firmware there is a server.ini file .... like this...
[Menu]
default=www.wunderground.com
web=2
web1=www.wunderground.com
web2=www.***.com

[www.wunderground.com]
Server=rtupdate.wunderground.com
ServerType=php
ServerPort=80
UploadType=Customize
ReadOnly=true

[www.***.com]
Server=
ServerType=jsp
ServerPort=80
UploadType=Default
ReadOnly=false

>>>> I was thinking that we are able to listen to the conversation ( upload to weather underground ) and to print the info in the screen at real time but that means to intercept the transmission to the server ... do not know how to.
Tanks for taking your time to look for it
JMCN
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 20, 2014, 10:05:59 AM
NETO,
Aha!
That's the Info I was hoping to see.
I've emailed Ambient with a couple of questions, one of which is: can the station upload to more that one site at a time? eg. Wundergrund.com and say, a personal website?
This will tell me if the Station could be setup to continue uploads to Wunderground and then upload to a second website which would actually be a plugin for Add-InWx.
Since I know the upload protocol for Wunderground, My plan (if it can upload to multiple sites simultaneously) is to "spoof" the wunderground server as far as what the station expects to see for replies to its uploads. The reason for "spoofing" the Wunderground server is mainly to get the station to upload its data in a known format.  Obviously the Website URL would be different, but it should work.

If the station can only upload to one site then I could do the same thing, the only difference being that the station wouldn't continue to upload to Wunderground while being connected to Add-InWx.

Thanks for posting a link to the wiki page that documents the upload protocol for WUnderground. I've actually seen (and used) that page before when I setup the old version of my program to upload to Wunderground. Nonetheless, I was getting to the point where i need it again for Add-InWx. So, Thank you.

"Listening-in" on a conversation between the station and Wunderground would involve a technique called "Packet Sniffing". I'm not to familiar with the actual implementation, but it looks fairly simple. I would like to use this option as a last resort though.

This is starting to get interesting.... In a good way.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 20, 2014, 11:09:02 AM
NETO,
I've received a reply from Ambient, They said that the station is not capable of uploading to more than one website simultaneously. oh well...
They also sent me this link: http://www.ambientweather.com/amweobsefeco.html (http://www.ambientweather.com/amweobsefeco.html)

I assume that you would prefer not to purchase any more hardware to get this going so that leaves the only other option "Packet-Sniffing".

I'll work on a "Wunderground upload Packet-Sniffer" then let you know what I've come up with.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: mcrossley on November 20, 2014, 11:44:45 AM
Or you pretend to be the WU server (use a local DNS to point to your server), and you capture the data and forward on to WU.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 20, 2014, 12:38:34 PM
Or you pretend to be the WU server (use a local DNS to point to your server), and you capture the data and forward on to WU.
That's what I was originally planning on doing but from what NETO said, it sounds like he doesn't want it setup that way. It really would be the easiest though.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: mcrossley on November 20, 2014, 01:16:37 PM
Packet sniffing will only work if you are on the same hub, if you are connected to a switch you will not see the packets from other devices unless they are directed to you (or broadcast). So it will probably work for most people, but not every one.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on November 20, 2014, 01:56:41 PM
Yeah, That's one of the other things.

I've been thinking and I'm not going to implement Packet Sniffing into Add-InWx. I can still implement what Mark (mcrossley) nicely summed up.
Or you pretend to be the WU server (use a local DNS to point to your server), and you capture the data and forward on to WU.
It does mean that the Station won't be sending data directly to WUnderground. The data would be sent to Add-InWx and then Add-InWx would pass it Wunderground, and in the process use a copy of the data for displaying.

EDIT: Or some additional hardware could be purchased that would allow the Stations data to be uploaded to multiple sites.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: pkavanau on December 22, 2014, 08:11:28 PM
Re sending updates somewhere in  addition to Weather Underground:
I configured my DD-WRT-enabled router to send updates to my local Linux server instead of wunderground by adding this line to its firewall:
   iptables -t nat -I PREROUTING -p tcp -s ! 192.168.1.113 -d 38.102.137.157 --dport 80 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.1.113
192.168.1.113 is my server (note it appears twice), 38.102.137.157 is rtupdate.wunderground.com
It was then simple to have the request forwarded to wunderground with the following lines in weatherstation/updateweatherstation.php on my Apache web server:
   #!/bin/bash                                                                                                                                                               
   echo 'Status: 200'
   echo
   curl "$SERVER_NAME$REQUEST_URI"
(The updates by themselves are available in environmental variable $QUERY_STRING for further processing by this script)
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: dean.martin on July 01, 2016, 03:06:40 AM
Hi Josiah,

It's been a year since I visited your thread. I thought your software was discontinued because I have never received reply notifications from this forum. I checked your latest software and I am amazed on the changes you've made. I have lots of ideas here that you might want to add in your software. We have 22 Davis pro 2 plus now. 17 of it are connecting thru IP/TCP and the 5 other are connecting thru Vantage Connect (using web download). We have also 8 iMetos weather stations. 

I am testing the your latest software. I will email you and give feedbacks.

Regards,
Dean
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on July 02, 2016, 02:45:39 PM
Well... I guess it has been awhile since anything was posted in this thread.

For those who are interested, early in 2016 I launched AddinWx to the Windows 10 App Store. Because I am now working on the Windows 10 version, I really have not had time to go back and look at the older versions (Which I probably won't do, unless there is some strong reason to do so).
Also, because it was yet another rewrite, I decided it would be best to start a new thead for it which can be found here: http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=28176.0 (http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=28176.0)

Dean,
I would still love to hear all of your ideas and will consider adding them to the new Windows 10 version.
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Atlantic21 on November 02, 2017, 05:48:28 PM
How do i get my davis weatherstation to connect to the windows version app
Title: Re: New Weather Software
Post by: Josiah on August 23, 2020, 09:38:00 PM
Hi guys,



I've recently started to receiving requests from people to resume supporting this program. Although It has been a few years since I’ve touched the code for it, it occurred to me that I never found out how much of an impact this software has made.

If you can spare 5 to 10 minutes of your time, I would really appreciate you filling out this survey. The survey is not designed for just those who have used the software. But anyone who meets one or more of the following:




Here is the survey: https://forms.gle/FMpfM9zMsZLUsTtm6

Thank you!