Author Topic: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced  (Read 41033 times)

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Offline ocala

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #125 on: December 31, 2017, 07:00:01 PM »
It goes to WU. Something like every 3 seconds I believe.
But don't use it. As it is the software locks up when doing updates to where ever.
If you select that you literally cannot view any graphs or do anything because it's constantly updating. It took me several tries to disable that function before it performed another update.
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Offline Aardvark

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #126 on: December 31, 2017, 10:18:41 PM »
because the problem is, the xml data feed from the 2.0 data,  does not seem to be working

I think this was discussed upthread (or maybe in a related thread). Requests for an XML response are still recognised by WLC2 but the response doesn't seem to be populated with actual data.

AFAIK the XML interface was only ever unofficial (or maybe provisional or unsupported is a better word), eg it was never included as an official method in the Serial Tech Ref document in the same way Web Download is. So I wouldn't be surprised to see it disappear, but who knows? Don't people use JSON these days anyway, rather than XML?

But somewhere in the WLC2 announcements there's mention of a future feature to allow users to build their own web page presentation, so this will possibly (depending on exactly how it's implemented) need a data feed of some kind, which I guess could be a JSON object. But who knows when that feature might appear - the developers are probably quite busy at present finishing off the initial features, organising the migration, squashing bugs etc  and details like format, frequency, possible cost etc are 100% unclear. So it's probably a feature for WLC2.1 or some such designation and maybe not expected for 6-12 months.

Maybe for sellers of Davis equipment it is not a big deal, maybe neither for people using wl.com as their only web-presence.

But there are numerous users who bought a WLIP
1.  to upload to wl.com
AND
2. who use that wl.com data (xml) to get the weather-data to their site.

WLIP  is far more extensive compared to a Davis USB logger.  But with wl.com 1.0 that higher price included the upload and data storage at WL.com.
Especially in rural areas where it is not easy to have a PC-like device 24/7 doing those upload tasks. In the past I often advised to use a WL-IP as that device gives you multiple upload-paths to the web.  At least 2 different paths: Most owners of a WL-IP I am aware of use another weather-program  and most of those programs  (WD Cumulus a.s.o.) allow the WLIP to continue to upload to wl.com also. And 3 different upload-paths when using a MB with a WLIP, it allows the use of one other weather-program concurrently.

I myself use a WL-IP as a WU upload and backup device, although the normal website uploads are done with a MB. Only 1 setting switches immediately the website-data  from WL.com to MB and vice-versa.

If Davis is really going to drop the xml feed, the current WLIP + XML users have to find another solution, such as a Meteobridge?

For new users: Buying a WLIP today will give you a nice website where you can have  a "look only to"  view of your data. Nice but useless if you want your own website, f.i. if you want to see yesterdays weather-values such min-max temps, amount of rain. Weatherlink -> Weatherlink.com does not store yesterdays values. Never did and 6.0.3 is the final release, never will.

Just some calculations for new buyers of a Davis logger who do not "need to have" wl.com 2.0:
WLIP 280€ versus USB 160€ = -/- 120€. Davis to "clone" logger another 60€ in the pocket?.
Meteobridge DIY costs less than 100€, Meteobridge ready made 130€
And do you really need that expensive console+logger?  Or is a Meteostick+MB, or Mesteostick-Raspb or MB-Pro-red a better solution?

A lot of "better" (=debatable) choices, so in my opinion, Davis should continue to supply the wl.com aggregated weather-values. And it does not matter if it is json or xml, that difference is a 1 or 2 lines in a script change only.
Data in EXCEL type csv format is useless as that is only a list of past weather-measurements every so many minutes, no aggregated data.

Wim
I sent Davis support an email today about this issue and hope that someone will wake up and respond.   I did fire up Weathercat and  changed my data settings for a few minutes on the template.  Yes it works and that is one of my aces in the hole.  the other  would be to go about building a website, using the WL2.0 image as imbedded.    That would work but not entirely as beautiful as Wim's templates.    Oh there is a third option,  abandon  everything and put in a permanent forwarding from my web service and let that be that.  Then after  my contract expires, just stop the whole thing. 

See options. However  nothing until Davis figures out what they are doing.

Offline wicked

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #127 on: January 04, 2018, 07:11:12 PM »
Not sure if this is the right topic for my question.

But Have a David Vantage Pro2 up and running for a month now.  New user so been on the 2.0 (weatherlink.com) platform since installation (via Weatherlink IP logger).

Things have been good - one thing I cannot find is on the "data" tab my increments are 30 minutes.  When I look at the Davis youtube overview of the weatherlink.com site their "data" tab info shows 5 minute intervals.

Does anyone know how to change this to a lower interval than 30 minutes?

Offline Mattk

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #128 on: January 05, 2018, 02:39:06 AM »
Data upload interval to WeatherLink.com is the same as per the interval you have set in WeatherLink

Offline johnd

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #129 on: January 05, 2018, 03:11:07 AM »
Data upload interval to WeatherLink.com is the same as per the interval you have set in WeatherLink

Not quite. From an IP logger 'current conditions' data uploads every minute. Then the archive data, which is what you see on the Data tab for example and as per your image, uploads data once an hour.

The number of archive records uploaded every hour then depends on the archive interval you have set for the logger. IIRC the default is 30 minutes, which is presumably what you're currently seeing. You need to connect to the IP logger via a local copy of the Weatherlink program to change this archive interval to eg 5 minutes, if that's what you prefer, to configure the unit such that each new batch of 12 x 5-minute records will upload once per hour.
« Last Edit: January 05, 2018, 04:07:01 AM by johnd »
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Offline Mattk

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #130 on: January 05, 2018, 04:14:24 AM »
Data upload interval to WeatherLink.com is the same as per the interval you have set in WeatherLink

Not quite. From an IP logger 'current conditions' data uploads every minute. Then the archive data, which is what you see on the Data tab for example and as per your image, uploads data once an hour.

The number of archive records uploaded every hour then depends on the archive interval you have set for the logger. IIRC the default is 30 minutes, which is presumably what you're currently seeing. You need to connect to the IP logger via a local copy of the Weatherlink program to change this archive interval to eg 5 minutes, if that's what you prefer, to configure the unit such that each new batch of 12 x 5-minute records will upload once per hour.

Gee woopie might have to check then double check every thing that is written along with the dotting of the I' and crossing the t's but that has nothing to do with this subject

wicked wasn't talking about the near realtime upload he was talking about the archive interval, did I give a wrong response regard that? 

Offline wicked

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #131 on: January 05, 2018, 11:09:25 AM »
Thanks for the replies. Didn’t realize I had to hook this up to a local copy of the software.

When I spoke with Davis before buying this I asked them since I’m a Mac guy and their software is windows only.

Bummer. Guess ill spin up a VM of windows and see if I can change the interval.

Hopefully the interval setting is easy to find.

I’ll report back!

Offline VaJim

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #132 on: January 05, 2018, 11:14:47 AM »
my Vue is feeding weatherlink (older version).  Got an email from davis about their Pro version.

Can't seem to find out how to convert my basic older version of weatherlink to the 2.0 version.

Offline wicked

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #133 on: January 05, 2018, 03:57:49 PM »

I got the VM setup and software installed.  I also realized that to adjust interval settings you must connect via local device ID mode (which did not work for me likely due to local DHCP issues) or remote IP address (this worked) not web download.

Once I got over that hurdle I was able to set the interval.

I then called Davis support to see how long they would store data on a paid Pro account for WL2.0 and their answer was "not sure" - but he did say he would email me back a better answer.

The feedback I gave them was if I was going to pay $4 a month they better keep it in perpetuity, if not they should send archive files directly (or ability to schedule them) to the user since they are EOL the local software for new WL2.0.

Asked him if this interval setting will be built into the WL2.0 vs doing it through local software - his answer was "I don't know" but he did add that he assumes it will since the local software is going EOL.

- also reported a bug on their WL2.0 bulletin page - weather rose only showing daily info, goes blank on weekly and monthly (support tech confirmed this)
- my other question was how often the chart and data tab was updated on the WL2.0 site.  He said on the top of every hour and this is unconfigurable.

Offline johnd

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #134 on: January 05, 2018, 04:16:29 PM »
Unfortunately, if you talk to Davis frontline support, you don't always get someone with huge experience. But the answers to your questions are:

The Pro a/c will store archive data indefinitely. The free version stores the most recent 10,240 records (approx 4 weeks at 5min interval). For either plan the archive data is downloadable on request to the Windows software (which is not going to disappear at all AIUI, it's just not going to be actively developed so it's only EOL in that narrow sense).

weatherlink.com cannot set the interval on the local logger, at least on present software architectures, because there is no back-channel from cloud to local logger. (Connect and EM units are a different matter.)

The chart and data tab cannot update more often than hourly because they run off the archive data and that's currently how often the archive data is uploaded, so the two things are tied together. I guess it's possible that this could be changed in the future but would require some firmware updates to console and probably IP logger.
« Last Edit: January 05, 2018, 04:31:24 PM by johnd »
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Offline wicked

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #135 on: January 05, 2018, 05:46:48 PM »
Excellent info and follow up John. Thank you!!

Offline Mattk

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #136 on: January 05, 2018, 05:53:43 PM »
Some how I feel an imposition coming on  :-k

Offline Joel

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #137 on: January 06, 2018, 07:47:14 AM »
Excellent info and follow up John. Thank you!!

+1 John, your comments are very much appreciated

Offline wicked

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #138 on: January 06, 2018, 12:45:09 PM »
One quick update. It seems when I changed my interval all historical data before the change either gets lost or erased - because it’s no longer there on the WL2.0 site when I go to view chart or data history.   :sad:

Not sure why this is but just a warning to folks out there.
« Last Edit: January 06, 2018, 03:49:45 PM by wicked »

Offline eee3

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #139 on: January 06, 2018, 03:01:24 PM »
so maybe the upload is that same 52 byte archive record?

Why not? I can imagine the thought process that if you already have a concise format for all the key data that your weather station can generate then why reinvent the wheel, especially when you have C++  (or whatever) modules on-hand that already build and parse the records. BICBW.

The binary upload format resembles the station formats but isn't quite the same.  Uploading from 3rd party software is very doable but how Davis would react to that is unclear.

All uploads are HTTP PUT's and include an 11 byte header that contains the packet type and authentication info.  There are packet types for setup, loops, archive records, hilows, etc.

I would describe an upload loop packet as "loop 1.5".  It's a total of 120 bytes and consists of the header, nearly an entire unmodified station loop 1 packet (just a few useless leading and trailing bytes stripped) and the unique fields from a station loop 2 packet picked out.

An upload archive packet is very straight forward.  It's the header, 1 byte indicating the number of records being sent, and the 52 byte records follow.

I'm really tempted to write a stand-alone uploader...

Offline waiukuweather

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #140 on: January 06, 2018, 04:39:21 PM »
great info
how did you work that out? (info about loop data )
if you could get this to work, would be great if you could share with me :)

Offline Mattk

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #141 on: January 06, 2018, 05:32:08 PM »
....I'm really tempted to write a stand-alone uploader...

Oh yeah just great, put Davis into another crazed "green dot" type situation

Offline waiukuweather

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #142 on: January 06, 2018, 05:47:30 PM »
Davis have indicted they are going to making available an API in a few months anyway though
but not sure if that would be to upload data , maybe just to get data to use in different ways

Offline eee3

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #143 on: January 06, 2018, 05:58:07 PM »
great info
how did you work that out? (info about loop data )
if you could get this to work, would be great if you could share with me :)

I had previously written a Davis station protocol emulator per the published specification.  Using that to feed specific observations and looking at what gets sent makes it pretty easy to work though.

Oh yeah just great, put Davis into another crazed "green dot" type situation

I get the reference but can't tell if you're really concerned or joking?  I do this type of stuff because I find it interesting and fun, certainly not to cause trouble.  I can back off.

Offline Mattk

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #144 on: January 06, 2018, 06:05:29 PM »
great info
how did you work that out? (info about loop data )
if you could get this to work, would be great if you could share with me :)

I had previously written a Davis station protocol emulator per the published specification.  Using that to feed specific observations and looking at what gets sent makes it pretty easy to work though.

Oh yeah just great, put Davis into another crazed "green dot" type situation

I get the reference but can't tell if you're really concerned or joking?  I do this type of stuff because I find it interesting and fun, certainly not to cause trouble.  I can back off.

Well we certainly know what happened with the loggers and for some reason I just can't imagine Davis wearing a third party upload to WeatherLink.com without some flack. And oh no I'm not joking, every time I get caught out with a bloody logger not working with an envoy or console I grit my teeth, especially when you have quite a few of these things but nothing now is totally interchangeable. it only takes a minority of so called smart people to stuff it up for the majority.

Offline saratogaWX

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #145 on: January 06, 2018, 06:17:34 PM »
Davis have indicted they are going to making available an API in a few months anyway though
but not sure if that would be to upload data , maybe just to get data to use in different ways
A JSON query for the data (like the current V1.0 XML query) would be very useful.  I have a WLCOM plugin to the Saratoga templates (as does Wim's Leuven template) that depends on the XML currently available on the V1.0 site.  So far, the V2.0 site offers only the following paltry JSON from their map
Quote
{
   "sStation": "SaratogaWX VP2+",
   "temperature": "55",
   "temperatureUnit": "°F",
   "windSpeed": "0",
   "windSpeedUnit": "mph",
   "windDirection": "--",
   "barometer": "30.19",
   "barometerUnit": "in Hg",
   "barometerTrend": 0,
   "humidity": "92",
   "dailyRain": "0.06",
   "rainUnit": "in",
   "isDavisStation": false,
   "links": {
      "details": "/bulletin/57dd6b71-9f50-4607-8d6b-ab7918067c4c"
   },
   "lastUpdatedAt": "Jan 06, 2018/ 4:44 AM",
   "ageInSeconds": 52,
   "zonedDateTime": 1515242641.000000000
}
and that's not really enough to display on a website other than the 'now' conditions.  :(

The XML feed on 1.0 returned a wealth of info (including extra sensors, and all the 'tags' that WeatherLink software would return).

Their V2.0 Data page offers a 'download' of a CSV, but.. you have to specify the date range, then they'll send you an email with a link to do the download.  Not at all helpful for a near realtime query.  Grrrr.
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Offline johnd

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #146 on: January 07, 2018, 03:45:20 AM »
Well we certainly know what happened with the loggers and for some reason I just can't imagine Davis wearing a third party upload to WeatherLink.com without some flack.

I'd echo that 100%. It's an interesting coding exercise to replicate the 2.0 uploads, but I really can't imagine that Davis would welcome any serious attempt to use it across multiple accounts - wl.com is very much a Davis only platform and what mileage would there be for Davis in opening it up to all-comers? My guess is very much that:

1. There's presumably at least some level of authentication in the upload packets - presumably at least at the DID/MAC address level. At a guess you couldn't use an existing DID nor one that hadn't been allocated by Davis, so that's one hurdle to start with.

2. If you do find a way around [1] then I'd guess that a v6.1 of the WL program would happen quite quickly with enhanced authentication. (I think it's only the WL program uploads that this is relevant to, and not WLIP/Connect/EM).
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Offline SLOweather

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #147 on: January 07, 2018, 08:43:57 AM »

I'd echo that 100%. It's an interesting coding exercise to replicate the 2.0 uploads, but I really can't imagine that Davis would welcome any serious attempt to use it across multiple accounts - wl.com is very much a Davis only platform and what mileage would there be for Davis in opening it up to all-comers?

Agreed. I think that's the main problem with Wunderground... Making an upload protocol public and then letting anyone do it, with any POS "weather station". For our project, we control the uploading hardware and protocol, and have server side authentication via public unit ID and private passcode. Plus, we can change a remote unit's update timer at the time of an update. (and turn the console back light on and off if we want. :))

Offline SLOweather

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #148 on: January 07, 2018, 08:58:17 AM »

I'm really tempted to write a stand-alone uploader...

If you want to write one, you could try one for https://www.grovestreams.com. There you can upload any data, and they have a free plan. I searched the forum and didn't get any hits on grovestreams.com.

I'm going to try my hand at a simple one "Real Soon Now".

Offline Aardvark

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Re: Weatherlink.com 2.0 announced
« Reply #149 on: January 07, 2018, 10:34:24 AM »
For storing historical ,  I presently use :  https://www.setcronjob.com

It isn't free, but so far it does the job.

 

anything