Author Topic: Greetings from Northern California  (Read 3827 times)

Commodore

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Greetings from Northern California
« on: July 30, 2013, 05:26:15 AM »
I live in the Capay Valley area of California, which is northwest of Sacramento.  I don't have a weather station yet. I am seriously considering buying a Davis Vantage Pro2 Wireless Weather Station. One reason that I am considering the Pro2 over the Vue is that I may want to get some soil sensors in the future.

I was planning on getting WeatherLinkIP because the computer I want to use is a 27" iMac that is in my office on the second floor of my house; however, I have read that the IP device doesn't update as often as the USB solution and there is no control over how frequently it transfers data. Is that true?

I have debated about just getting the Pro2 ISS and using an Envoy instead of having a console. Is there any downside to going without a console? Can WC be my "console?"

I am hoping to upload my weather data, current conditions and historical, to WU and my own web site. I'll start with WU, and I want to upload via WC.

I have a 27" iMac that is my primary "desktop" for the household, a relatively new Mac mini, a MacBook Air for travel, an extra 27" monitor, and a 17" Dell Inspiron. My Macs are running the latest version of Mac OS and the Dell is running Windows 7. I would very much prefer to use one or two of my Macs. I have also thought about setting up the Mac mini as a dedicated weather system. The Mac mini is idle. It needs a job. :-)

If you have any suggestions or ideas on my future configuration, I would love to hear them!

Aside from my interest in weather, which originally came from flying in the US military, I enjoy golf, gardening, fly fishing, and following MLB baseball - particularly, the SF Giants.

Thank you for letting me join the forum!

Mark
Alas, I don't have a weather station...but I'm going to have one real soon now.  :-(

WCDev

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Re: Greetings from Northern California
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2013, 04:55:59 PM »
Hi Mark,
First, welcome to the forum.

With regards to the Envoy, yes, but you'll need the WeatherLink software to set it up first (barometric pressure offset, date/time and station designations). After that it'll work fine with WeatherCat - search the forum for Envoy for more info. MAybe an Envoy owner can chip in here.

elagache

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Welcome "neighbor" (Re: Greetings from Northern California)
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2013, 09:43:05 PM »
Dear Mark, Stu, and WeatherCat forum welcoming committee,

First, welcome indeed Mark to the forum!!

I'm in the San Francisco East Bay hills not to far from Berkeley.  Not literally neighbors, but a lot closer than many other folks on this forum.

I have debated about just getting the Pro2 ISS and using an Envoy instead of having a console. Is there any downside to going without a console? Can WC be my "console?"

Actually we have instructions on how to get Weather Envoy calibrated using WeatherLink software on the WeatherCat Wiki:

http://wiki.trixology.com/index.php/Correcting_erroneous_barometric_pressure_readings_from_Davis_Weather_Envoys

Honestly, I would recommend that you get a console if you can afford it.  Unless your computer is in a public part of the household, it is really convenience to be able check on the current weather conditions from a central part of the house like say a kitchen or nook area.  Normally computers are squirreled away in dens or bedrooms and could be a real hassle to go there just to find out how hot it is outside or how heavy the rain is falling right now.

Something for you to think about.

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

Commodore

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Re: Greetings from Northern California
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2013, 03:36:36 AM »
Hi Mark,
First, welcome to the forum.

With regards to the Envoy, yes, but you'll need the WeatherLink software to set it up first (barometric pressure offset, date/time and station designations). After that it'll work fine with WeatherCat - search the forum for Envoy for more info. MAybe an Envoy owner can chip in here.

Hi Stu,

Thank you for the welcome! I'm still on the fence about getting the Envoy versus a console for exactly the reason Edouard noted below...although I do have a Mac mini and a 27" monitor that I am not using so I suppose I could set them up in the kitchen. I'll keep thinking on it and listening to advice and suggestions of those who comment on it. With regard to the software, it's a shame to pay so much for the software that will be used once but I figure it's just part of the price of admission with the Davis equipment. Correct me if I am wrong, but I will need it for the USB or IP connection to my Mac anyway.

If anybody can give me the details on logging rates for connecting with WeatherLinkIP versus USB, I'd be obliged. I want to use IP but don't want to have less control and/or slower data feeds than with the USB configuration.

Regards,
Mark
Alas, I don't have a weather station...but I'm going to have one real soon now.  :-(

Commodore

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Re: Welcome "neighbor" (Re: Greetings from Northern California)
« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2013, 03:49:01 AM »
Quote
I'm in the San Francisco East Bay hills not to far from Berkeley.  Not literally neighbors, but a lot closer than many other folks on this forum.

Hi Edouard,

Thanks for the welcome, advice on the Envoy, and the link to the configuration info! I don't get to the Berkeley hills much these days. I went to school at UC Berkeley and UC Davis. For a long time after school, I still hit the bookstores on Telegraph about once a month. That was back before the Internet and Amazon. I loved going to Cody's, Moe's, Shakespeare, etc. I've eaten more than my share of Blondie's pizza slices too.

These days, I work in Sacramento 4 days a week and in the San Jose area one day a week. I usually take I-680 into the valley. I get to SF at least once or twice a month for a ballgame (AT&T), the de Young, or just to visit my favorite coffee shops (I am a coffee geek) and restaurants (and a serious foodie too).

Regards,
Mark
Alas, I don't have a weather station...but I'm going to have one real soon now.  :-(

WCDev

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Re: Greetings from Northern California
« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2013, 05:23:03 PM »
Hi Mark,
First, welcome to the forum.

With regards to the Envoy, yes, but you'll need the WeatherLink software to set it up first (barometric pressure offset, date/time and station designations). After that it'll work fine with WeatherCat - search the forum for Envoy for more info. MAybe an Envoy owner can chip in here.

Hi Stu,

Thank you for the welcome! I'm still on the fence about getting the Envoy versus a console for exactly the reason Edouard noted below...although I do have a Mac mini and a 27" monitor that I am not using so I suppose I could set them up in the kitchen. I'll keep thinking on it and listening to advice and suggestions of those who comment on it. With regard to the software, it's a shame to pay so much for the software that will be used once but I figure it's just part of the price of admission with the Davis equipment. Correct me if I am wrong, but I will need it for the USB or IP connection to my Mac anyway.

If anybody can give me the details on logging rates for connecting with WeatherLinkIP versus USB, I'd be obliged. I want to use IP but don't want to have less control and/or slower data feeds than with the USB configuration.

Regards,
Mark

Hi Mark,
WeatherCat will poll both the USB and IP based logger at the same rate - so in theory there shouldn't be any difference in the data rate to WeatherCat. But in practice I find the IP logger to be slightly slower than the USB variant (I don't know why, having no knowledge of the internal architecture of the IP logger).

You'll only need the WeatherLink software to set up an Envoy - both the Envoy and Console will need the installation of the USB drivers if using the USB logger.

With regards to viewing the real time data, you can always fire up the WeatherCat client on any Mac/iPhone on your network to get at the current data (works over the internet as well with some port forwarding on your router, so wherever you are in the world you can quickly get at the live data) - the OS X client replicates WeatherCat's gauges window, the iOS client uses linear bar indicators to display the current data.
 

Commodore

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Re: Greetings from Northern California
« Reply #6 on: August 01, 2013, 11:29:28 PM »
Thanks, Stu! That's good news about WC polling and the IP logger, so I am back to using the IP logger. I'm still on the fence about getting a console or an Envoy but now that I have downloaded and installed and played around with WC, I am leaning toward the Envoy.
Alas, I don't have a weather station...but I'm going to have one real soon now.  :-(