Topic: WeatherLink Live Apps are now actually LIVE!

[TraderGary]

@TraderGary: Just to illustrate, this is what I mean by live:

https://youtu.be/1bK46JUphFg

This is a 2-minute real-time video of wind speed and direction gauges in CumulusMX running on a Raspberry Pi and with data from a WLL I've uploaded. Not specially exciting  but hopefully it does show the point. These gauges are updating to IIRC a 3-second interval. Occasionally the speed or direction will be identical to the last reading and so the dial won't move, but most updates one or the other moves.

NB This is ~x2 enlarged from the original screen resolution (must have missed a setting when recording) so image sharpness isn't great, but hopefully it illustrates the point.

That's the kind of response I want to see! Now the Davis boys need to build that in to their current WeatherLink apps. And you've demonstrated that it is indeed possible! Thanks!

[johnd]

That's the kind of response I want to see! Now the Davis boys need to build that in to their current WeatherLink apps. And you've demonstrated that it is indeed possible! Thanks!

Well, as I say, I'm not expecting to see that from the Davis browser app, at least not any time soon, though of course I could be proved wrong. But I suspect that you really need to add a 3rd party solution like CMX/Pi to get it now.

[twcmaster]

I read through this entire thread, and by the end I am more confused than ever. Can someone answer for me....If I purchase a WLL, am I able to get the same "streaming" readings on a PC laptop web browser through weatherlink.com as are shown on a VP2 console (i.e 2.5 second wind updates and 10 or 30 second (I forget which one) temperature/humidity updates as long as I am connected to the local network. Or is this only in the mobile phone/tablet app and the pc web browser is limited to 1 minute updates no matter what.

Thanks so much for any insight!

[mcrossley]

Or is this only in the mobile phone/tablet app and the pc web browser is limited to 1 minute updates no matter what.

That.

[johnd]

@twcmaster: Right now, the situation is:

1. The browser app (ie what you see on a PC) ONLY gets its data from weatherlink.com and is therefore limited to 1-minute updates.

2. The smartphone (and tablet) apps can see wind and rain data direct from the WLL unit at 2.5 sec update frequency when used in the local network. The iPhone app does this fine, but reports suggest that the current version of the Android app has a bug and will only update less often, eg every 10 secs. I think everyone is waiting for the next version of the Android app, which should restore the correct 2.5sec updates, but it's not clear how long the wait will be.

It's theoretically possible that the browser app (ie [1]) might be updated to give 2.5sec updates as well, but there's no indication from Davis that this is on the roadmap for the near future (but who knows).

[TraderGary]

I have an Android Pixel 3XL phone. After owning it for a little over 2 years I had a total battery failure and Google replaced it with a brand new one. I decided to set it up from scratch and reload all of the apps I use.

This was a week ago and it is interesting that the Android WeatherLink app has worked flawlessly for a week now. We've had a couple of rain storms and LIVE 2.5 second updates for wind and rain worked flawlessly. And if I leave the app running while it is on my Pixel Wireless Charging Stand while I do some work on my PC, the app runs flawlessly and does all its sensor Temp, Humidity, Pressure, Wind, Solar, and UV updates just as it should for hours at a time. The top line of the app says "Last Updated: LIVE".

The Android WeatherLink app version is 2.1.023 released by Davis on Oct 9, 2020.

[TraderGary]

I'm using far fewer apps than I was before.
That might very well have something to do with why it's running so well now.

[twcmaster]

@twcmaster: Right now, the situation is:

1. The browser app (ie what you see on a PC) ONLY gets its data from weatherlink.com and is therefore limited to 1-minute updates.

2. The smartphone (and tablet) apps can see wind and rain data direct from the WLL unit at 2.5 sec update frequency when used in the local network. The iPhone app does this fine, but reports suggest that the current version of the Android app has a bug and will only update less often, eg every 10 secs. I think everyone is waiting for the next version of the Android app, which should restore the correct 2.5sec updates, but it's not clear how long the wait will be.

It's theoretically possible that the browser app (ie [1]) might be updated to give 2.5sec updates as well, but there's no indication from Davis that this is on the roadmap for the near future (but who knows).

Thank you very much for the reply John!

I would be ok with using a tablet as a console as long as the wind and rain update quickly,. I could easily deal with the others updated only once per minute, but the no landscape mode is a non-starter for me. Not to mention the mobile app version is less console looking as there is lot's of scrolling involved unlike the "widgets" in the browser version.

A regular ole browser on a Windows tablet or monitor would work perfectly in full screen since all the widgets auto-scale to the display size. You could even use a browser plugin to reload the page every 5 minutes just in case it got "stuck" updating. I really hope they consider making the browser "live/streaming."

Davis reminds me of a company that I used to work for. They did lots of things right, but they always had to outsource their software development. There were always so many good ideas thrown around at meetings, but they never got off the ground because the people they had to pay to code the software were expensive, time consuming, and just didn't get what we needed since they weren't in our industry. Davis was always able to rely on their great hardware. I hope now that they have new ownership, they realize how important software is to their business and don't make the same mistakes my old company made.

[vladcoroeanu]

Will be amazing if you will find a solution to make live on YouTube with that data.

[Sleuth255]

Getting the browser based weatherlink site to handle 2.5 second updates would be a major undertaking for Davis.  There's a reason why the WLL only broadcasts 2.5 second wind/rain updates via UDP on the local network:  Most home based internet connections are not set up to handle this sort of requirement (high frequency updates where the remote ingest point is an AWS server farm).  Way too many places for the connection to fail based on individual internet setup which in turn would create a support nightmare.  Also, the browser component itself requires a 2.5 second client side refresh, and that alone would bury their servers unless high-performance AWS resources were deployed ($45 pro subscription wouldn't come close to covering this).  That's why I consider the best way is to serve your own because the local WLL APIs are actually very good.  Here's my current implementation (which is open source on gitHub):

WeatherSite in Milwaukee

[darmbrust]

Thanks, John.  I don't plan to use apps like Cumulus that require me to run my PC continuously.  I've recently invested in the most expensive 6163 VP2+ that Davis makes and I'd simply like a way to continuously monitor it reliably on my Windows 10 PC.

You can try out: https://github.com/darmbrust/weatherlink

Works fine, so long at you don't have network issues with the UDP.

Do you have more than one wireless router in your house?  The Davis live app won't typically go live, if you have multiple routers, whenever your phone roams to the router that the WLL isn't connected to - because the second router doesn't re-broadcast the UDP messages.  At least not on my networks....

[darmbrust]

I read through this entire thread, and by the end I am more confused than ever. Can someone answer for me....If I purchase a WLL, am I able to get the same "streaming" readings on a PC laptop web browser through weatherlink.com as are shown on a VP2 console (i.e 2.5 second wind updates and 10 or 30 second (I forget which one) temperature/humidity updates as long as I am connected to the local network. Or is this only in the mobile phone/tablet app and the pc web browser is limited to 1 minute updates no matter what.

Thanks so much for any insight!

If your PC is on the same network as the weather link live, you can view live data with tools like the weather link live gui (re-posted just above).  It updates everything it can every 2.5 seconds, and everything else every 10 seconds.