Topic: Weather station software options?

[davito629]

Hi everyone - Perused this site a bit and have tried a few different options but have seem to strike out thus far. Thanks in advance for any guidance or recommendations:

I have an Ambient WS-5000 with 2 indoor temp/RH sensors (and of course the outdoor sensors for wind, UV, temp, RH, precip, etc.

Issue I am trying to solve:
The Ambient Weather app is clunky to say the least.
Reviewing my historical data - I only have 5 min resolution - and that is in tabular form. The graphs smooth the data out to daily resolution.
Reviewing the 5-min tabular data misses min/max. For example - I have a High (Tmax) on 7/5/22 of 88.9 at 12:41 (per the daily summary report), but if I export the available CSV data from the 5-min resolution data, it tells me the Tmax was 88.5 at 12:40.

What I'd like:
The ability to review my historical data, and trend/overlay it to see patterns (mostly for fun/amateur curiosity purposes)
I also want the ability to review my historical data of my indoor sensors (the third party API options I use - e.g. Wunderground and PWS only show the outdoor sensor data). Seeing how the temperature changes inside at the 2 different locations relative to the outdoor conditions is of interest to me - it gives me insight into the energy efficiency impacts and how to best optimize the HVAC system in the house in winter vs summer for example.

Are there solutions out there that others are using to address these needs? I'm willing to pay a reasonable monthly subscription - I know software development isn't free!, but I don't have the coding skills to make this myself!

Thanks in advance

[JeffCharger]

Check out weather display at https://www.weather-display.com/

[chief-david]

ditto weather display.   does all and more

[broadstairs]

Don't discount CumulusMX (https://www.cumuluswiki.org/a/Software) just becuase it's free. Yes Weather Display is very extensive in it's ability but so is CumulusMX and has one advantage that the same executable runs under Linux (using Mono) and Wndows (using .net) and has a ready made Raspberry Pi install.

Just to be clear I use both 

Stuart

[Gyvate]

and you have the (free) weewx, the jack of all trades weather program with all its available extensions.
But it's also very complex and you need to be familiar with the Linux operating system and have some database knowledge if you want to go beyond simple standard weather data.

I'm using both CumulusMX and weewx in parallel - each for special purposes.
Have a look at my weather landing page (see signature).

Depending on what you want, there are also customizable templates like Weather34, PWS-Dashboard, Meteotemplate ....
you can also have a look at Meteobridge (best on a RPi4B-2GB imo - comes with a license fee) which is for most purposes easy to handle without being a computer adept.

[gjr80]

...
But it's also very complex and you need to be familiar with the Linux operating system and have some database knowledge if you want to go beyond simple standard weather data.
...

I think I would characterise WeeWX a little differently. To install and operate WeeWX with a supported weather station you need some basic linux skills such as changing file permissions, running commands, starting services and perhaps editing a config file. Similar requirements if you wish to extend WeeWX using a WeeWX extension. If you wish to customise WeeWX further then you may require some python and/or database knowledge depending on what you wish to do. These requirements are summarised in the Required skills section of the WeeWX User's Guide.

Gary

[Gyvate]

@Gary:
I agree - we only have two different ways how to phrase it   
But just "out-of-the-box" weewx is a more demanding piece of software to install than e.g. CumulusMX - and computer savvy people easily forget the perspective of an average computer user.
A TV control with just an on/off and a +/- channel selection button is less complex than a fully fledged TV remote control with 15+ buttons.

I personally adore weewx for its many features, a fantastic piece of software (thanks to Tom, Matt and also yourself - and others) - but I myself also had to make quite a Linux deep(er) dive to come to grips with it - and I can claim to be an IT professional who, however, had VERY basic Linux skills before - and in a way thanks to weewx I learnt a lot about it.
Still I'm afraid that the average computer user is easily over-challenged already by the permission concept of Linux which is rather complex for a novice - and most users prefer to remain novices  . That's not a fault of weewx, but it comes with the operationg system it runs on.

[SnowHiker]

Coming from Windows and never having used Linux before, one of my requirements was to get weather station software that would work.  WeeWX documentation is very thorough, and even though it looked very confusing to me, I was able to follow it step-by-step and get it up and running, and even do significant customization.  I really appreciate not just all the software itself can do, but all the time and effort that went into the extensive documentation that even I could follow.

I also agree that using it has helped me to learn some about Linux, and apparently Python.

Maybe I should try CumulusMX again, but when I did try I had a harder time trying to figure out how to get it to do what I wanted to do.  I may not be like average users in that I don't publish to the web or even keep my station connected full time, I use the software to download the datalogger periodically to keep archives and produce reports.

Another minor detail for me is that I consider WeeWX to be "more free"; as far as I'm aware there are no restrictions on use.  I guess in practice it wouldn't matter as I don't fall under the restrictions for use for CumulusMX anyway, but I still like the idea of no limitations.  That's one reason I came to Linux.

[Gyvate]

Maybe I should try CumulusMX again, but when I did try I had a harder time trying to figure out how to get it to do what I wanted to do.  I may not be like average users in that I don't publish to the web or even keep my station connected full time, I use the software to download the datalogger periodically to keep archives and produce reports.

Another minor detail for me is that I consider WeeWX to be "more free"; as far as I'm aware there are no restrictions on use.  I guess in practice it wouldn't matter as I don't fall under the restrictions for use for CumulusMX anyway, but I still like the idea of no limitations.  That's one reason I came to Linux.

as usual - it depends ....
and no limitations with Linux is a myth that many people like to hear and believe - just that the limitations are in other places 
CMX runs under Linux, MacOS and Windows. It's programmed under Windows and runs with the help of the mono library on other operating systems. The CumulusMX WiKi is sometimes a bit difficult to read - "typical" specialists' tunnel view is quite noticeable at times ...
If you have a Fine Offset/Ecowitt (clone) station and post your data to ecowitt.net - CMX has a nice backfill option that downloads the data collected there (in the Ecowitt cloud) since your last shutdown of CMX - so you don't need to run your computer 24/7 and still have you data updated - in a 5 minute interval. Great feature.
Of course, if you even disconnect your station from any type of data logging, nothing will be there for the gap 
in a nutshell
CMX = rather simple to handle and still powerful
weewx - very powerful but can also be(come) very complex
both are great weather software

[SnowHiker]

Well, obviously other's experiences may differ. I just gave mine.

That's why it may be a good idea for everyone to try both and see what works for them.