Topic: weewx and Weatherlink Live

[johnd]

Could Tom or someone please comment on the status of using Davis Weatherlink Live with weewx. I note that WLL still doesn't appear on the list of compatible stations/loggers on the weewx website, but I'm sure I've seen posts where people are using WLL+weewx quite happily so presumably a driver of some kind does exist.

Basically, I need to be able to answer the question 'can I use weewx with WLL? '. What I'm not sure about is whether the answer is (a) a straight yes in that WLL is now a standard weewx option; or (b) a qualified yes in the sense that it does work but you need to jump through some extra hoops eg to find where a WLL driver might be found and how to configure it or perhaps support is still in beta?

Thanks.

[galfert]

WeeWX supports WeatherLink Live by use of what are called extension drivers. There are at least 5 of these that support the WLL.

WeeWX list of extensions (for a lot of things, not just drivers):
https://github.com/weewx/weewx/wiki

From that main WeeWX list of extensions link you'll find these 5 WLL drivers:
https://github.com/vinceskahan/weewx-weatherlinklive-json
https://github.com/jonotaegi/weewx-wll
https://github.com/grebleem/weewx-weatherlinkliveudp
https://github.com/michael-slx/weewx-weatherlink-live
https://github.com/Drealine/weatherlinklive-driver-weewx

[johnd]

OK, many thanks. But that does rather sound like there's not an 'official' or 'recommended' or 'preferred' driver. Why are there 5 drivers and what's the difference between them. (Just thinking out aloud, not expecting an answer!)

What's in my mind is: for a new user then how easy will it be for them to get WLL + weewx up and running? I guess anyone who's thinking of using weewx at all must be assumed to have a certain level of software knowledge and competence.

But if you're starting from scratch with weewx and maybe trying eg a Raspberry Pi and Linux for the first time then any extra element of uncertainty (eg which WLL driver should I use and how do I configure it) just steepens the learning curve still further. Might there be eg a forum post somewhere that describes a recommended way of getting WLL + weewx up and running? (I know there are readme's for the individual drivers on github, but I'm thinking of more of an overview.)

NB Just to be clear, I'm not trying to set this up myself, but I do get asked this specific question (ie WLL+weewx) at least once or twice a week and I need to work out some form of words to feed back to users..

[galfert]

I would say because of how easy it is to modify WeeWX with extensions that these various options evolved by various individuals. They may not have known of each other's efforts before they published and shared their solution. In some cases some of these are forks because someone thought they could do better. Again such is the nature of open source software. Also WLL can be used in different ways to get data...and some of these drivers use various methods, some integrate Weatherlink.com and some not. Users will also have their WLL configured with different sensor options and it is possible that a different driver option works best for some and another for others.

[Dufthummel]

From that main WeeWX list of extensions link you'll find these 5 WLL drivers:
https://github.com/michael-slx/weewx-weatherlink-live

Thank you, that helped me a lot. I didn't even know that I had to use a different driver.

[vinceskahan]

As the author of one of the WLL drivers (that I totally forgot I ever wrote), there are multiple because of timing or feature-set or sheer adventure on the part of the author.

Looking back at my gmail archives, I wrote mine in early 2020 while helping a weewx-user google group user try to get his setup on the air and published the driver to github and the weewx wiki to point others there since at that time I don't think there were any other alternatives.  I marked my repo in 2021 'do not use' due to much better alternatives that popped up after that time.

Lastly - all 'official' drivers are in the code weewx product (example - Vantage).  If it's not in weewx natively, it's not 'official' although it might be 100% perfect, 100% supported by the author, and essentially is the customary driver/extension most people use.   Really comes down to your support expectations.

Re: my driver, my very hazy recollection is it worked fine.  There are just later/better more supported options now.