Topic: Questions, Discussions and Experiences with your Ambient Weather WS-1000-WIFI

[JohnN]

I'll look for the manual to see of I can find anything about the console's update rate and Wunderground updating frequency. I thought I knew how to change the Wunderground frequency, but it turns out that's archive interval, not update interval.

OK, here's the manual: http://site.ambientweatherstore.com/Manuals/ws1000wifi.pdf
The outdoor sensor (Wind, Temp, Humidity, Rainfall) updates every 16 seconds. The indoor sensor (Temp, Humidity, Pressure) updates every 64 seconds. I don't see an option to change Wunderground update frequency, so I think you are stuck with whatever Ambient Weather set it at.

[CWaffles]

Thanks so much for the info John!

I guess when I was seeing other peoples PWS and how quickly they were updating on WUnderground, I did not realize that the WS-1000 did not have that same sort of update frequency.

So far it seems like a pretty cool station for beginners like we are.  I hunch I will end up upgrading to different equipment over time.   

[JohnN]

I thought there was a setting to change the Wunderground update interval, but according to the manual it just changes the archive interval.

[GTXJackBauer]

I'll have to send an email to them. Right from when I first got this (it's the beta version) it would work fine. Every once in a while I'd update it, and everything would be fine. This time, I updated to 1.12, and suddenly the internet settings are gone. Just like how one of the updates removed the UV index.

I just sent off the email, looking forward to the response.

Well that would explain the issues.  It appears you have software issues though being beta you might not have the full features of the finalized product. 

I also noticed your OS Software is different than my station.  You have OS 1.0.2 while I am assuming all the finalized retail versions have 1.0.3 as my station does.  The updates seem to conflict with yours and having a different OS version says a lot.  I would go backwards and find the update that had all your features enabled.  That's the downfall of having beta.  I am guessing you'll have to purchase a retail version to have up to date fixes and features unless ambient is kind enough to give you an update for your OS and than be able to update to the latest firmware and hope that resolves your issues.  Of course that's also depends if all the hardware remained the same since beta and the only changes were software related.

So I just got my WS-1000 setup a couple of days ago and have a few questions.

How quickly should the display panel update the wind direction and such?  I thought when I first hooked everything up, I was seeing the display panel update wind direction, etc "live".  In other words, I thought I could watch it and see the speed, direction, etc change as the wind did.  Now it seems to only update every 5-10 seconds or so.  Am I missing a setting or something?

Another question is when you look at my station here - http://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KTXLEAND40 it seems to only be updating every 4-5 minutes, whereas other stations in my area update much more frequently (such as this one - http://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KTXLEAND5).

Sorry if these are very "noob" questions, this is my first PWS and I just want to make sure I have everything setup correctly and I'm not having problems with the station reporting to the panel and such.

Thanks!

My station changes fairly quickly.  I can honestly say anywhere from 5 secs to 15 secs when it comes to changes but most of the time it really feels like 5 sec intervals.  It's not instant change if that's what you're asking.

To answer your next question, you need to make sure you have "Rapid Fire" Enabled in Wunderground profile/account.  That basically makes it almost instant to what your station displays.  It's really great.

Also, don't forget there is free software that can be used on our PC's as well while having our Wunderground browsers open with our stations. It has some nice features especially alerts.  Here's the link.  http://www.ambientweather.com/freedownload.html

Before I forget, there is a more recent update 1.12.1 that has been released a few days ago.  I just updated the station and reconnected to the Wu network.  (I love the fact of not having to setup the station to my home wifi network everytime I shut it off and update it.) 

Firmware update 1.12.1 - https://ambientweather.wikispaces.com/ws1000-wifi

[JohnN]

I know the UV index has nothing to do with it being a beta station, because that is not listed as a feature of the WS-1000 any more. Still waiting for a response from Ambient about the internet settings.

[GTXJackBauer]

When you mean the UV feature you mean the 3 left to right brightness and on off switches?

[JohnN]

Here's exactly what I mean by UV Index.

[GTXJackBauer]

Oh my.  I don't have that feature either.  Was it suppose to have it?  Now you got me wondering. lol

[JohnN]

When the beta was released, UV Index was one of the features. Somewhere along the line, it quietly got removed. You'll notice there's no mention of UV on their website or their current manual. I'll try to dig up my manual to see if UV sensor is mentioned.

[CWaffles]

To answer your next question, you need to make sure you have "Rapid Fire" Enabled in Wunderground profile/account.  That basically makes it almost instant to what your station displays.  It's really great.

Also, don't forget there is free software that can be used on our PC's as well while having our Wunderground browsers open with our stations. It has some nice features especially alerts.  Here's the link.  http://www.ambientweather.com/freedownload.html

Before I forget, there is a more recent update 1.12.1 that has been released a few days ago.  I just updated the station and reconnected to the Wu network.  (I love the fact of not having to setup the station to my home wifi network everytime I shut it off and update it.) 

Firmware update 1.12.1 - https://ambientweather.wikispaces.com/ws1000-wifi

Ok, I've looked all over, where is it I'm supposed to enable the "Rapid Fire".  I dont see it in my settings.  Thanks for the info on 1.12.1, that is the current firmware I am running.

[JohnN]

I dug out my manual, and UV is mentioned frequently.

[JohnN]

Here's the other mentions.

[drew]

I wish UV would be put back on the display, along with an option to show the forecast or the graph.

[Dr Obbins]

When the beta was released, UV Index was one of the features. Somewhere along the line, it quietly got removed. You'll notice there's no mention of UV on their website or their current manual. I'll try to dig up my manual to see if UV sensor is mentioned.

I still have one of the original beta consoles with the UV. It's readings seem very low, like a 3 when it should be a 10 or something. Maybe they could not get it working right in that price range so they dropped it.

[JohnN]

It's funny that yours reads low. Mine, and others, read high, as evidenced by this post, and this one. I bet you're right, they probably couldn't get UV right for <$250.

On another note, here are similar problems to what I'm having now.

UPDATE: I just unplugged and replugged the console, and the settings are back. Odd.

UPDATE 2: Just got the confirmation from Wunderground that my station is reporting. I let Ambient know everything is working, and in my followup email I asked about UV. I'll let you know if I hear anything.

[JohnN]

Ed just got back to me, and he said there are plans to reintroduce the UV Index. He said the first sensor had issues.

[CWaffles]

Well, according to when I look here - http://www.wunderground.com/weather-forecast/zmw:78642.1.99999 and scroll down towards the bottom in the nearby stations list, it shows that I am already updating using Rapid Fire.

But, when I go here - http://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KTXLEAND40 and look it only updates this page every 4-5 minutes.  So, I'm basically just confused.

On a completely different note, when you bring up my station (KTXLEAND40) on the iPhone WUnderground App or the WUndermap, it shows my city as "Flying H Ranch, TX".  I have no idea where it got that or why it brings it up that way.  I'd like it to say Leander, TX as that is where I live.  Right now, to find my station (named Summerlyn) you have to search on the zip code 78642, which is not my zip code (nor the zip code I entered when getting this all setup).  I live RIGHT on the boarder of the 78642 (Liberty Hill, TX) and 78641 (Leander, TX) zip code, but I would like my station to come up in the 78641 search.  Anybody know of anyway to fix this on my end (the name and how it comes up in the zip code search), or do I need to contact WUnderground?

[txweather.org]

Well, according to when I look here - http://www.wunderground.com/weather-forecast/zmw:78642.1.99999 and scroll down towards the bottom in the nearby stations list, it shows that I am already updating using Rapid Fire.

But, when I go here - http://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KTXLEAND40 and look it only updates this page every 4-5 minutes.  So, I'm basically just confused.

On a completely different note, when you bring up my station (KTXLEAND40) on the iPhone WUnderground App or the WUndermap, it shows my city as "Flying H Ranch, TX".  I have no idea where it got that or why it brings it up that way.  I'd like it to say Leander, TX as that is where I live.  Right now, to find my station (named Summerlyn) you have to search on the zip code 78642, which is not my zip code (nor the zip code I entered when getting this all setup).  I live RIGHT on the boarder of the 78642 (Liberty Hill, TX) and 78641 (Leander, TX) zip code, but I would like my station to come up in the 78641 search.  Anybody know of anyway to fix this on my end (the name and how it comes up in the zip code search), or do I need to contact WUnderground?

Are your coordinates correct?

[PaulMy]

http://www.komokaweather.com/weather/wu/wu-rapidfire.html

I believe updating and WU historical saving of your data are two different things.  I too am Rapid Fire updating http://www.komokaweather.com/weather/wu/wu-rapidfire.html but my saved data is about every 5 minutes http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=IONTARIO226, like most stations.
 
Paul

[GTXJackBauer]

Ed just got back to me, and he said there are plans to reintroduce the UV Index. He said the first sensor had issues.

Awesome.  Thanks for your extensive investigation on the UV index. 

I know I've read about this around here on another thread and wasn't sure what happened to it.  I believe it was you who brought it up to attention.  I just hope the beta models had the issue and not the final retail version which most of us have already purchased.    I just hope we were fortunate enough to have the included working UV sensor which just hasn't been enabled via software as of yet.  Funny thing is I do remember being excited earlier this year prior to my purchase of many of the features including the UV sensor.  Didn't realize it was gone, etc.

Well, according to when I look here - http://www.wunderground.com/weather-forecast/zmw:78642.1.99999 and scroll down towards the bottom in the nearby stations list, it shows that I am already updating using Rapid Fire.

But, when I go here - http://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KTXLEAND40 and look it only updates this page every 4-5 minutes.  So, I'm basically just confused.

On a completely different note, when you bring up my station (KTXLEAND40) on the iPhone WUnderground App or the WUndermap, it shows my city as "Flying H Ranch, TX".  I have no idea where it got that or why it brings it up that way.  I'd like it to say Leander, TX as that is where I live.  Right now, to find my station (named Summerlyn) you have to search on the zip code 78642, which is not my zip code (nor the zip code I entered when getting this all setup).  I live RIGHT on the boarder of the 78642 (Liberty Hill, TX) and 78641 (Leander, TX) zip code, but I would like my station to come up in the 78641 search.  Anybody know of anyway to fix this on my end (the name and how it comes up in the zip code search), or do I need to contact WUnderground?

Make sure your date and time settings are accurate to your specific time zone and also make sure you sync with Time.nist.gov server using the base.  I believe your settings aren't correct as I had the same issue once before and once I had the correct settings it was resolved.

[GTXJackBauer]

For those that don't know where the Rapid Fire setting is.  Go to Wunderground.  Sign in and go to the top most right setting tab, (Left of it is the profile tab drop down list to your weather station).  Under the "settings tab", drop down to "More Settings".  Make sure the Check Box for "Enabled Rapid Fire" is checked in.

Again, this will all work if your stations have the right time zone, date and time and are sync'd properly. 

[JohnN]

How is everyone's outdoor humidity reading on the WS-1000? Mine always seems to read low. Currently, it is reading 35%, and my Davis Vantage Vue is reading 41%. I have no way of knowing how accurate my Vue is, but when I look at Wundermap I tend to believe the 41% reading. Anyone else experience this?

[JohnN]

Now the difference is even worse... WS-1000 43%, Davis 51%

[Dr Obbins]

WS-1000 Spec:
   Outdoor Humidity Range: 10 to 99%
   Outdoor Humidity Accuracy: ± 5%
   Outdoor Humidity Resolution: 1 %

Davis VP2 Spec:
   Resolution and Units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1%
   Range. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 to 100% RH
   Accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ±3% (0 to 90% RH), ±4% (90 to 100% RH)

So in the worst case if the humidity was 70%, the WS-1000 could read as low as 65% while the Davis is reading as high as  73% for a total difference of 8%.

Currently my WS1000 is reading 56% and the VP2 is 59%.

[JohnN]

If only I knew the actual humidity, then I would be able to tell f the WS-1000 is in spec or not. I guess it's even possible that my Vue is out of spec, but I'll never know. This is why it's better to only have one weather station, because then you're not second guessing everything. Or maybe I should get a 3rd, so I can get a better idea of what the humidity really is. If 2 out of 3 say something, that must be it...