Topic: WS-2902 Data Collection

[ndcube]

Hello, New to this forum.


I've been collecting data from my WS-2080 for about four years now.  I directly pull it from the memory of the display unit.  Well, it seems that the display unit stopped working recently.  I only get a valid data point each time I power cycle the display.

Anyway.  I decided to pick up a WS-2902 and an ObserverIP.  From what I've googled the best way to get the data is to have ObserverIP set to WS-1600-IP and point to a local server rather than Wunderground.  I have downloaded the 4.2.1 firmware so I can log into it and set this up w/o messing around with another router.

Does this seem to be the way to go for this station?  I haven't found a way to directly pull data from the console.

Thanks,

[galfert]

I did the same thing. Just got a WS-2902A and an ObserverIP. I don't have it working yet as I'm looking into a few mounting options and I haven't decided yet which way to go. From what I've read you can set up WeeWX software and use the Interceptor driver to get data. You don't even need the ObserverIP to do this. But the ObserverIP has a few advantages, like updating to Wunderground more frequently and best of all the ObserverIP let's you connect a Meteobridge device to then connect your station to more online services. The Meteobridge also let's you connect to your own server SQL database or FTP. Lots more options with the Meteobridge via the ObserverIP. I think there might be even a way to connect the weather software called Weather Display. You can also set up custom weather websites via various templates using Meteobridge. I know nothing about the details of making all these things I mentioned work. I've just read enough to know it's possible given these components.

About the only thing that won't work with the WS-2902 is running Cumulus (or Cumulus MX). But that is only because nobody has built an extractor to pull weather data from the WS-2902 and output to easyweather.dat format.

I'm going to start off slow and just do the ObserverIP and the Meteobridge and then in a few months look into databases, web templates, and PC software. The first software will be WeeWX and then Weather Display. Hopefully I'll be happy. But if things start to go wrong I might be forced into upgading to a Vantage Pro2+.

The WS-2902A has certainly become the most popular selling weather station on Amazon (according to their sales rank). So I'm almost certain that pretty soon (within a year) we will start to see more options to do more with this station. Not that it isn't already very capable.

PS - to anyone reading this and thinking of adding an ObserverIP to your WS-2902 you should know that you'll also need a WS-1000-BTH.

[VinnyRI]

I did the same thing. Just got a WS-2902A and an ObserverIP. I don't have it working yet as I'm looking into a few mounting options and I haven't decided yet which way to go. From what I've read you can set up weeWx software and use the Interceptor driver to get data. You don't even need the ObserverIP to do this. But the ObserverIP has a few advantages, like updating to Wunderground more frequently and best of all the ObserverIP let's you connect a Meteobridge device to then connect your station to more online services. The Meteobridge also let's you connect to your own server SQL database or FTP. Lots more options with the Meteobridge via the ObserverIP. I think there might be even a way to connect the weather software called Weather Display. You can also set up custom weather websites via various templates using Meteobridge. I know nothing about the details of making all these things I mentioned work. I've just read enough to know it's possible given these components.

About the only thing that won't work with the WS-2902 is running Cumulus (or Cumulus MX). But that is only because nobody has built an extractor to pull weather data from the WS-2902 and output to easyweather.dat format.

I'm going to start off slow and just do the ObserverIP and the Meteobridge and then in a few months look into databases, web templates, and PC software. The first software will be weeWX and then Weather Display. Hopefully I'll be happy. But if things start to go wrong I might be forced into upgading to a Vantage Pro2+.

The WS-2902A has certainly become the most popular selling weather station on Amazon (according to their sales rank). So I'm almost certain that pretty soon (within a year) we will start to see more options to do more with this station. Not that it isn't already very capable.

PS - to anyone reading this and thinking of adding an ObserverIP to your WS-2902 you should know that you'll also need a WS-1000-BTH.

The product description for the 2902A says Monitor indoor and outdoor conditions, including wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, UV, solar radiation, barometric pressure, indoor temperature, indoor humidity, dew point, heat index, wind chill and more. Haven't confirmed that the A version does in fact monitor barometric pressure. I'm pretty much set on this station as I'm so done with Acurite. Davis is way to expensive to get set up online and not way more accurate enough to justify the much higher price. I already have a meteobridge set up and running. One thing I don't like about Ambient is if you didn't buy their version of meteobridge you have to pay a one time $150.00 fee to use ambientweather.net. That's not cool at all. Almost as bad as WU promising an android version of wunderstation and not following through.

Vinny

[galfert]

The A version and original both include barometric sensors.

The A version is the exact same hardware console running newly modified firmware to make it easier to set up for people with dual band (2.4 and 5 GHz) WiFi. It doesn't add support for 5 GHz but rather what it does is make the pairing/setup process different by it creating a MiFi network that is only used during configuration. And a WS-2902 can be converted into a WS-2902A if so desired. But if your WS-2902 is already configured there isn't much of a point.

Here is the instructions to convert to the A version.
https://ambientweather.net/help/how-do-i-convert-my-console-from-a-ws-2902-to-ws-2902a/

And you can use your Meteobridge just fine for all services except AmbientWeather.net and then just use the WS-2902A or the ObserverIP to sent to AmbientWeather.net. Frankly it would probably be a better option to have the ObserverIP do this regardless if your Meteobridge had the Ambient license or not as it would be more direct and is more powerful than the console.

I also disagree that it isn't it cool for Ambient require you purchase a license. The WeatherBridge which is a their version of the Meteobridge is quite expensive and covers this license. Running servers and cloud infrastructure cost money. Can you imagine the investment Ambient would have to make if everyone with a Meteobridge started using AmbientWeather.net for free? On the Internet when something is free then you are the product (with some exceptions like open source software, but even then donating is appreciated and makes a difference). If Ambient figures out the way to monetize the data that you are sending then maybe they can make it free. But if monetizing requires ads then how do you think people that buy an Ambient station would feel like if AmbientWeather.net started carrying ads?  Maybe the solution for them to consider is to show ads only to those using the unlicensed Meteobridge.

[VinnyRI]

I have a perfectly functioning meteobridge that's been running fine for over 3 years. I will most likely be purchasing the WS-2000 or the 2902 if the 2000 takes to long to get in stock by the end of the summer along with the ObserverIP and WS-1000-BTH. Until then when I won't need to pay $150.00 to get into ambientweather.net no way in hell I'm paying $150.00 to get into it. They are far from the only online weather data sight to upload to. Yes there is no doubt a high cost involved to run it but they're not making a big dent in the cost to run it with sales from WEATHERBRIDGE. What does their version do that a self set up meteobridge can't that justifies a $200.00 price tag. I set mine up for $79.00.

The A version and original both include barometric sensors.

The A version is the exact same hardware console running newly modified firmware to make it easier to set up for people with dual band (2.4 and 5 GHz) WiFi. It doesn't add support for 5 GHz but rather what it does is make the pairing/setup process different by it creating a MiFi network that is only used during configuration. And a WS-2902 can be converted into a WS-2902A if so desired. But if your WS-2902 is already configured there isn't much of a point.

Here is the instructions to convert to the A version.
https://ambientweather.net/help/how-do-i-convert-my-console-from-a-ws-2902-to-ws-2902a/

And you can use your Meteobridge just fine for all services except AmbientWeather.net and then just use the WS-2902A or the ObserverIP to sent to AmbientWeather.net. Frankly it would probably be a better option to have the ObserverIP do this regardless if your Meteobridge had the Ambient license or not as it would be more direct and is more powerful than the console.

I also disagree that it isn't it cool for Ambient require you purchase a license. The WeatherBridge which is a their version of the Meteobridge is quite expensive and covers this license. Running servers and cloud infrastructure cost money. Can you imagine the investment Ambient would have to make if everyone with a Meteobridge started using AmbientWeather.net for free? On the Internet when something is free then you are the product (with some exceptions like open source software, but even then donating is appreciated and makes a difference). If Ambient figures out the way to monetize the data that you are sending then maybe they can make it free. But if monetizing requires ads then how do you think people that buy an Ambient station would feel like if AmbientWeather.net started carrying ads?  Maybe the solution for them to consider is to show ads only to those using the unlicensed Meteobridge.

[galfert]

I have a perfectly functioning meteobridge that's been running fine for over 3 years. I will most likely be purchasing the WS-2000 or the 2902 if the 2000 takes to long to get in stock by the end of the summer along with the ObserverIP and WS-1000-BTH. Until then when I won't need to pay $150.00 to get into ambientweather.net no way in hell I'm paying $150.00 to get into it. They are far from the only online weather data sight to upload to. Yes there is no doubt a high cost involved to run it but they're not making a big dent in the cost to run it with sales from WEATHERBRIDGE. What does their version do that a self set up meteobridge can't that justifies a $200.00 price tag. I set mine up for $79.00.

WOW Neat. WS-2000. I had not seen that yet. Thanks! Very nice improved console. Looks like it has buttons for contrast adjustment too maybe. It looks like it is a proper quality LCD display hopefully without the view angle issues of the WS-2902A console. The good news is that these all use the same outdoor array. So the consoles will surely be compatible I'm almost willing to bet. And another good thing is that Ambient Weather sells parts at reasonable replacement cost. So  if my calculations are correct the WS-2000 console could probably be purchased for around $140 (I subtracted the price of the outdoor array to get this price). I was almost considering getting a second WS-2902A display....but what I'll do now is just get the WS-2000 display when it is out. Thank you! (Looks like the WS-2000 display also needs a different indoor module for temp/hum/pressure than the WS-1000-BTH from the pictures...but that was calculated in the price difference I did).

I hope that WS-2000 console also does some charts. I didn't see that in the product picture they are showing. I see the buttons can change function depending on what is on the screen as they are labeled on the screen. So hopefully that means that screen and the software running it is versatile.

So how did you find out about the WS-2000? If you just browse the Ambient Weather website I don't see it listed. The only way I found it was to do a search on their site.

I hope Ambient Weather changes the name of it before they release it. WS-2000 is a model number that was already used by Rainwise.

As for the WeatherBridge....well $200 - $79 = $121. So they are making $121 to go toward ambientweather.net development costs, maintenance, and hosting costs. Now that ambientweather.net exists the cost of running it is low. But there was a considerable expense that went into software design and coding and implementing. Ambient Weather needs to recover that expense by new sales of WeatherBridge, ObserverIP and other weather stations. But I really don't see the point in your disappointment for the $150 license. Just use the ObserverIP or console to upload to ambientweather.net. Then use your Meteobridge for everything else. You only need one device to be the uploader. Even if your Meteobridge somehow had a free license for ambientweather.net my point is that maybe you are better off with the ObserverIP or console doing this as it is more direct as that is the device that is reading data from the outdoor array.

[galfert]

Well I was able to download the manual for the WS-2000.

Bad news is that it seems the display only shows you what you can already see except for a History button that includes Min/Max and some data tables. It records! It has a slot for a memory card. It has a USB port too. So sadly seems it does not produce any charts. Well still looks like an improvement over the WS-2902A console.

Another good news is that it looks like it can support up to 8 indoor/outdoor Temperature and humidity sensors. Seems like those sensors are just temp and humidity. The pressure sensor must be built into the console.

I did find a typo in the manual. It use the term WS-3000 when referring to the product one time. This was in the section about channel pairing the temp/hum sensor. I think that is a mistake and was probably because that section was copied from the WS-3000 which uses these sensors and supports multiple of them.

What Ambient Weather Should have done is used the WS-3000 display as I saw another manufacture Ecowitt use that screen and it does do charts.

[VinnyRI]

Ambient has a facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ambientweather/. That's how I found out about it. They pulled it due to a critical bug in the console. Only sold 9 before they became aware of it. I was planning on using the console to upload to ambientweather.net. The disappointment has been from wanting to upload a while ago and finding out about the $150.00 fee to do it. Like you said it won't matter when I buy the 2000 or 2902 but until then!!! Ed posted yesterday that with a new firmware for the ip module you can now add up to 8 additional sensors. I want to pull the trigger now on the 2902 with ip module and WS-1000-BTH but like the 2000 display better. Either of these 2 models with corrected offsets are an absolute bargain for a home PWS. The davis stations are not so much more accurate that they are worth more than double the cost when you include getting the davis stations online. The replacement cost for the sensor array for both is only $36.99.

I have a perfectly functioning meteobridge that's been running fine for over 3 years. I will most likely be purchasing the WS-2000 or the 2902 if the 2000 takes to long to get in stock by the end of the summer along with the ObserverIP and WS-1000-BTH. Until then when I won't need to pay $150.00 to get into ambientweather.net no way in hell I'm paying $150.00 to get into it. They are far from the only online weather data sight to upload to. Yes there is no doubt a high cost involved to run it but they're not making a big dent in the cost to run it with sales from WEATHERBRIDGE. What does their version do that a self set up meteobridge can't that justifies a $200.00 price tag. I set mine up for $79.00.

WOW Neat. WS-2000. I had not seen that yet. Thanks! Very nice improved console. Looks like it has buttons for contrast adjustment too maybe. It looks like it is a proper quality LCD display hopefully without the view angle issues of the WS-2902A console. The good news is that these all use the same outdoor array. So the consoles will surely be compatible I'm almost willing to bet. And another good thing is that Ambient Weather sells parts at reasonable replacement cost. So  if my calculations are correct the WS-2000 console could probably be purchased for around $140 (I subtracted the price of the outdoor array to get this price). I was almost considering getting a second WS-2902A display....but what I'll do now is just get the WS-2000 display when it is out. Thank you! (Looks like the WS-2000 display also needs a different indoor module for temp/hum/pressure than the WS-1000-BTH from the pictures...but that was calculated in the price difference I did).

I hope that WS-2000 console also does some charts. I didn't see that in the product picture they are showing. I see the buttons can change function depending on what is on the screen as they are labeled on the screen. So hopefully that means that screen and the software running it is versatile.

So how did you find out about the WS-2000? If you just browse the Ambient Weather website I don't see it listed. The only way I found it was to do a search on their site.

I hope Ambient Weather changes the name of it before they release it. WS-2000 is a model number that was already used by Rainwise.

As for the WeatherBridge....well $200 - $79 = $121. So they are making $121 to go toward ambientweather.net development costs, maintenance, and hosting costs. Now that ambientweather.net exists the cost of running it is low. But there was a considerable expense that went into software design and coding and implementing. Ambient Weather needs to recover that expense by new sales of WeatherBridge, ObserverIP and other weather stations. But I really don't see the point in your disappointment for the $150 license. Just use the ObserverIP or console to upload to ambientweather.net. Then use your Meteobridge for everything else. You only need one device to be the uploader. Even if your Meteobridge somehow had a free license for ambientweather.net my point is that maybe you are better off with the ObserverIP or console doing this as it is more direct as that is the device that is reading data from the outdoor array.

[KGACLARK30]

About the only thing that won't work with the WS-2902 is running Cumulus (or Cumulus MX). But that is only because nobody has built an extractor to pull weather data from the WS-2902 and output to easyweather.dat format.

I wanted to post my recent findings as this thread often returns as a match when using search engines.

If you update the firmware on those consoles using the awnet app, you have a custom server feature that can send data directly to Cumulus MX [located in the HTTP (Ambient) Settings]. I've updated a 2902 and 2902C successfully this way https://ambientweather.com/faqs/question/view/id/1817/

You could also send directly to Home Assistant using the Ecowitt Weather Station Add On and ecowitt2mqtt using those custom server settings. Of course, another option is having Cumulus MX send the MQTT data to your Home Assistant broker.