Author Topic: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?  (Read 4134 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Jack Bowman

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 305
  • Ambient Weather WS-2000
    • KCOFORTC421 - Hanna Farm
Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« on: January 29, 2019, 11:49:20 AM »
I am still using Kevin's software and it behaves flawlessly. Acurite will discontinue support of the old hub in February. Kevin's software is dependent on the feed from that hub on it's way to the AcuraLink site. What happens when that connection goes away. Will the packets just continue to flow and be capturable? Do I have to spoof the AcuraLink server connection, and if so what information do I have to echo back to the hub to keep it working? Is a line in my Windows Host/ LMHOST file redirecting the host to a local IP on my home network enough to keep the packets flowing? Everything is working so well. I would like to keep using my current hardware.
Ambient Weather WS-2000 Weather Station

Home Weather Server:
http://kcofortc421.dynu.net/WD/wx.html

Weather Underground Link:
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCOFORTC421

PWS Weather Link:
https://www.pwsweather.com/obs/KCOFORTC421.html

Offline gardengrub

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 26
    • KNEVALPA2
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2019, 02:21:47 PM »
I am still using Kevin's software and it behaves flawlessly. Acurite will discontinue support of the old hub in February. Kevin's software is dependent on the feed from that hub on it's way to the AcuraLink site. What happens when that connection goes away. Will the packets just continue to flow and be capturable? Do I have to spoof the AcuraLink server connection, and if so what information do I have to echo back to the hub to keep it working? Is a line in my Windows Host/ LMHOST file redirecting the host to a local IP on my home network enough to keep the packets flowing? Everything is working so well. I would like to keep using my current hardware.

I'm in the same boat here except that I use Meteobridge. I've been thinking about what to do before the smartHUB end-of-service date arrives.  I'd consider moving to another brand that is compatible with Meteobridge except that I've invested in seven Acurite sensors plus Meteobridge and it works perfectly and does exactly what I want.  I'd like to stick with my Acurite sensors if there was a suitable upgrade path (Access and Meteobridge) but know better than to wait for that to happen.

I'm starting to think that the best solution for me will be to figure out how to redirect the smartHub uploads on my local network and respond to the smartHUB so that it "stays happy."  I think other people have accomplished that but I don't have a good understanding of all that would be required to accomplish it. I'm with you, I'd really like to stick to my current hardware!


Offline Bushman

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 7549
    • Eagle Bay Weather
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #2 on: January 29, 2019, 02:34:50 PM »
Same here and I think I am going to bundle up a build for an RPi to do this redirect.  It does not look that tough.
Need low cost IP monitoring?  http://wirelesstag.net/wta.aspx?link=NisJxz6FhUa4V67/cwCRWA or PM me for 50% off Wirelesstags!!

Offline WonderWX

  • Senior Member
  • **
  • Posts: 56
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2019, 06:41:37 PM »
Will the packets just continue to flow and be capturable?
No -  If the Hub doesn't receive the response it needs from the server, it will try a few times, and then go into a standby mode where it will only try every few minutes to connect.
Do I have to spoof the AcuraLink server connection, and if so what information do I have to echo back to the hub to keep it working?
Yes - you need to set something up to answer the smarthub and give it the time. See an example script in https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=30915.0
The key line for the hub is {\"localtime\":\"$time\",\"checkversion\":\"224\"}"  but keep in mind that Kevin's reader is looking for a consistent packet contents / length. I had best results with whats attached there and was offline from myacurite for years.

Is a line in my Windows Host/ LMHOST file redirecting the host to a local IP on my home network enough to keep the packets flowing?
No - the SmartHub needs to look up hubapi.myacurite.com  and get a different IP (the one you have set up your responder service on) not Acurites real internet IP.   

Offline Jack Bowman

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 305
  • Ambient Weather WS-2000
    • KCOFORTC421 - Hanna Farm
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2019, 07:29:04 PM »
When it goes into standby mode and tries every few minutes will it be sending the necessary string to parse current weather information from, or just attempting a connect?
Ambient Weather WS-2000 Weather Station

Home Weather Server:
http://kcofortc421.dynu.net/WD/wx.html

Weather Underground Link:
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCOFORTC421

PWS Weather Link:
https://www.pwsweather.com/obs/KCOFORTC421.html

Offline Bushman

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 7549
    • Eagle Bay Weather
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2019, 07:29:20 PM »
Need low cost IP monitoring?  http://wirelesstag.net/wta.aspx?link=NisJxz6FhUa4V67/cwCRWA or PM me for 50% off Wirelesstags!!

Offline Jack Bowman

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 305
  • Ambient Weather WS-2000
    • KCOFORTC421 - Hanna Farm
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2019, 07:34:37 PM »
I hope there is a solution. I would like to continue using Acurite. If there is no solution I will shoot the old weather station off the pole where it has resided for many years with my 12 Gauge, and find a different company.  8-)
Ambient Weather WS-2000 Weather Station

Home Weather Server:
http://kcofortc421.dynu.net/WD/wx.html

Weather Underground Link:
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCOFORTC421

PWS Weather Link:
https://www.pwsweather.com/obs/KCOFORTC421.html

Offline mwall

  • Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 135
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #7 on: January 29, 2019, 11:26:40 PM »
I hope there is a solution. I would like to continue using Acurite.

weewx with the weewx-interceptor driver will keep your data flowing:

https://github.com/matthewwall/weewx-interceptor

you'll want to use it in listen mode, not sniff mode, so that the bridge/smarthub gets the response that makes it happy.

fwiw, the interceptor will also let you continue to use other hardware where the vendor has shut down their online services, including the oregon scientific lw30x stations and the lacrosse stations that use the gw1000u gateway.

m

Offline Jack Bowman

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 305
  • Ambient Weather WS-2000
    • KCOFORTC421 - Hanna Farm
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #8 on: February 14, 2019, 11:13:41 AM »
Kevin, If you are watching this feed, Is there a chance of your software sending the proper response to the Acurite Hub to keep it broadcasting weather data?
Ambient Weather WS-2000 Weather Station

Home Weather Server:
http://kcofortc421.dynu.net/WD/wx.html

Weather Underground Link:
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCOFORTC421

PWS Weather Link:
https://www.pwsweather.com/obs/KCOFORTC421.html

Offline Jack Bowman

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 305
  • Ambient Weather WS-2000
    • KCOFORTC421 - Hanna Farm
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #9 on: February 14, 2019, 11:28:57 AM »
I just sent a detailed message to Kevin.
Ambient Weather WS-2000 Weather Station

Home Weather Server:
http://kcofortc421.dynu.net/WD/wx.html

Weather Underground Link:
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCOFORTC421

PWS Weather Link:
https://www.pwsweather.com/obs/KCOFORTC421.html

Offline Jack Bowman

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 305
  • Ambient Weather WS-2000
    • KCOFORTC421 - Hanna Farm
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #10 on: February 16, 2019, 04:59:41 PM »
Does anyone actually know how long the Aculink hub will broadcast weather data before it times out? If it is an hour or longer then a simple timer to reboot the hub within the timespan would be an easy fix. Any thoughts? I guess this is easy enough to find out through experimenting in the debug mode of Kevin's software. Unless Acurite does something to change that timeout limit?
Ambient Weather WS-2000 Weather Station

Home Weather Server:
http://kcofortc421.dynu.net/WD/wx.html

Weather Underground Link:
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCOFORTC421

PWS Weather Link:
https://www.pwsweather.com/obs/KCOFORTC421.html

Offline Jack Bowman

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 305
  • Ambient Weather WS-2000
    • KCOFORTC421 - Hanna Farm
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #11 on: February 21, 2019, 12:12:02 PM »
I just got a reply from Kevin. He is looking into whether it is possible to the software to give a proper response to the hub to keep it running.
Ambient Weather WS-2000 Weather Station

Home Weather Server:
http://kcofortc421.dynu.net/WD/wx.html

Weather Underground Link:
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCOFORTC421

PWS Weather Link:
https://www.pwsweather.com/obs/KCOFORTC421.html

Offline curiousgeorge58

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 7
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #12 on: February 28, 2019, 02:40:55 PM »
I rebooted my PC this morning and the software is no longer working.  I got an email yesterday from Acurite saying Feb 28th would be last day for SmartHub support.

Offline justfrfun

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #13 on: February 28, 2019, 03:21:47 PM »
Acurite didn’t waist any time shutting down the smart hub. My Acurite last updated at 6:30am. However WU continues to update. So far.

Offline Jack Bowman

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 305
  • Ambient Weather WS-2000
    • KCOFORTC421 - Hanna Farm
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #14 on: March 01, 2019, 02:05:28 PM »
Yes, My Acurite dashboard is not functional but Kevin's software continues to pull data from the old hubs outbound traffic. It is, however, updating once a second. So the hub is working overtime trying to establish a connection. The data is correct and my web site, Weather Underground and other selected web destinations are being updated properly. So it looks like I am ok for now with Kevin's software. I have not seen the hub try and reboot once.
Ambient Weather WS-2000 Weather Station

Home Weather Server:
http://kcofortc421.dynu.net/WD/wx.html

Weather Underground Link:
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCOFORTC421

PWS Weather Link:
https://www.pwsweather.com/obs/KCOFORTC421.html

Offline curiousgeorge58

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 7
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #15 on: March 09, 2019, 12:18:16 PM »
I can confirm that Kevin’s new release is communicating again!  I am very excited about this.  Thank you Kevin for your great software! 

Offline Jack Bowman

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 305
  • Ambient Weather WS-2000
    • KCOFORTC421 - Hanna Farm
Re: Kevin's Software still working well. What happens in February?
« Reply #16 on: March 10, 2019, 04:42:18 PM »
I can confirm that Kevin’s new release is communicating again!  I am very excited about this.  Thank you Kevin for your great software!

Yes, it is a wonderful thing. There is another thread that is full of the timeline on Kevin's software revision. This and many other software/hardware solutions are helping a lot of folks get more usage out of their existing Acurite equipment. I  am thankful for a second life, but I have already started planning my next configuration. This will last as long as the hardware holds out though! Everything changes! it would be a boring world if it didn't. Glad you have a solution for now!
Ambient Weather WS-2000 Weather Station

Home Weather Server:
http://kcofortc421.dynu.net/WD/wx.html

Weather Underground Link:
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCOFORTC421

PWS Weather Link:
https://www.pwsweather.com/obs/KCOFORTC421.html

 

anything