* Although this is a continuation of an earlier discussion (
http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=1600.0), I decided to start a new thread with a more specific Subject line...
To summarize: I'm running a Lacrosse 2315 hooked up to an 5 year-old emachines laptop running XP Home. Most recently I've been running Cumulus software, but I've tried several other programs (WD, WU, VWS, HW) with identical results. The
"errors" I’m trying to get rid of are erroneous wind readings that show up every 2-7 minutes. The most common erroneous readings are 14.1, 28.4, 71.3 and 85.1 mph. The readings show up both on the 2315 console and the software display, but only occur when the console is hooked up to the laptop.
I originally thought the problem was in the cabling between the sensors and the console, so I replaced all of that cabling with CAT-5. I’ve used several different serial-USB adapters, and most recently bought and tried out a PCMCIA RS232 serial card. Finally, I bought some ferrite chokes and installed these on the cables thinking RF interference might be the culprit. But none of these attempted “fixes” eliminated the erroneous readings.
But last night I had a "breakthrough" of sorts. I decided to run the laptop from battery power only and the erroneous readings stopped (or at least for 10 minutes before the battery died since it is old and I never run the laptop from battery power). When the AC adapter cord was plugged in, the erroneous readings reappeared with 2-3 minutes. So I think it’s safe to say that the
problem involves the AC adapter cord—or at least something involving the AC powering of the laptop.
Incidentally, I've tried all sorts of combinations of plugging in both the 2315 console and the laptop to different outlets around my house, both with and without basic power strips. It *seemed* that plugging the laptop into an outlet farther away from the outlet into which the 2315 was plugged reduced the frequency of the readings, but it did not eliminate them… I live in a rural area in a late 1940s house with some but not all of the wiring updated, and our rural power supplier has been known to have issues now and then with minor “spikes,” etc. (although I’ve never had any other problems with the rest of my electronic equipment).
So…. any ideas on the best next step in light of this “discovery”? Should I be exploring some kind of “cleaner” or regulated power supply, or maybe some kind of more sophisticated power strip with “filtering” capabilities? The AC adapter that came with the laptop looks pretty typical, with a rectangular “block” in the middle and a detachable power cord out of one side and a cord with a small choke on it that runs to the laptop plug. The specs are 18.5V 1.5A output (Lite-ON model PA-1900-05).
Any advice on what might solve the problem? Thanks for your time-