Author Topic: Hello from Detroit  (Read 3039 times)

glasserp

  • Guest
Hello from Detroit
« on: January 09, 2017, 01:50:38 AM »
Hi all,

My name is Paul and I live in Detroit, MI. I'm a geologist and self-proclaimed weather enthusiast. I have an Ambient Weather WS1400-IP that lives here: https://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KMIDETRO27#history. I'm a trained spotter and CoCoRaHS member (Station #MI-WY-115). I'm a data/stats/graphs junkie and would love to upgrade to a Davis VP2 someday with fancy leaf & soil moisture/temperature sensors.

Anyway, one of the main reasons I'm here is because I'd like to participate in CWOP. I'm on a Mac and would like to know the best way to start sending data that way. Could someone kindly please point me in the direction of a guide, topic, or better yet walk me through this?

Thank you!

xairbusdriver

  • Storm
  • *****
  • Posts: 3126
    • EW7115 (E7115)
    • KTNGERMA20
    • Mid-South Weather
  • Station Details: Davis VP2 wireless + remote Anemometer/2014 Mac min - 10.15.7/WC 3.0.5
Re: Hello from Detroit
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2017, 02:11:37 PM »
Only "help" I can offer is that Weather Cat supports several Fine Offset stations. Notes in The Manual say that many FO stations are sold under "a variety of brands such as Ambient (WS1080/2080), Watson W-8681, Maplin, National Geographic, Elecsa 6975/76 and many others." I assume you may have already read that and tried WC without success (it has a free use time period). The WC Dev may be along soon (it's a busy time of the year for him and his 'day' job!) or someone else using your hardware will offer some real help.

In the meantime:
Welcome AboaRd, glasserp!
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system


elagache

  • Global Moderator
  • Storm
  • *****
  • Posts: 6494
    • DW3835
    • KCAORIND10
    • Canebas Weather
  • Station Details: Davis Vantage Pro-2, Mac mini (2018), macOS 10.14.3, WeatherCat 3
Welcome! (Re: Hello from Detroit)
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2017, 12:50:46 AM »
Dear Paul, X-Air, and WeatherCat welcome wagon, . . . .

My name is Paul and I live in Detroit, MI. I'm a geologist and self-proclaimed weather enthusiast.

So by all means!  Welcome Paul to the WeatherCat forum!

I'm a data/stats/graphs junkie and would love to upgrade to a Davis VP2 someday with fancy leaf & soil moisture/temperature sensors.

Not belittle your present station, but it sounds like you really have da' Davis itch . . . .   Should that itch start to really nag at you, let us know and we can tell you were to buy for a Davis station at some serious discounts!

Anyway, one of the main reasons I'm here is because I'd like to participate in CWOP. I'm on a Mac and would like to know the best way to start sending data that way. Could someone kindly please point me in the direction of a guide, topic, or better yet walk me through this?

Well, as you might expect - there is more than one way to skin a catfish!  (Yes, that was the original version of the saying.)  Of course WeatherCat will work with your present station (and Davis) and it will easily upload data to CWOP.  However, there is one obvious caveat - your Mac has to run 24/7 in order to serve as the uploading platform.  Most of us hard core "WeatherCatters" leave our computers running 24/7 because WeatherCat can do so many things if you do this.  In addition to submitting data to CWOP you can submit to data to Weather Underground and at least 6 other data services.

However, there is another mousetrap.  There is a modest hardware box based on a Meteobridge design that you can put in between your weather station and your computer.  There is the website of the open source project:

http://www.meteobridge.com/wiki/index.php/Home

You can have these small hardware boxes run 24/7 and have it do the submission to CWOP.  In addition, Meteobridge has expanded its offering and can upload to apparently all the services that WeatherCat can upload to.  There is one down side to this approach.  Your station isn't presently supported by Meteobridge.  Of course that could be an excuse to upgrade to that Davis - or not!

The big issue basically boils down to whether or not you have any problems running your Mac 24/7 and/or if you want to put up a custom website.  WeatherCat will easily do what you want, but if you don't want to have to run your Mac 24/7, Meteobridge might be worth considering.

Sorry if that muddies up the waters a bit, but they keep telling me knowledge is power.  Alas, when it comes to "toys for big-boys" though, it seems to me that knowledge tends to lead to painful credit card statements!   lol(1)

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

Blicj11

  • Storm
  • *****
  • Posts: 3941
    • EW3808
    • KUTHEBER6
    • Timber Lakes Weather
  • Station Details: Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus | WeatherLinkIP Data Logger | iMac (2019), 3.6 GHz Intel Core i9, 40 GB RAM, macOS Ventura 13.6 | Sharx SCNC2900 Webcam | WeatherCat 3.3 | Supportive Wife
Re: Hello from Detroit
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2017, 02:49:20 AM »
Welcome Paul! I've never had a problem leaving my iMac on 24/7. I let the screen go dark but just run the HD all the time. Follow the instructions on CWOP about setting up an account and then just let WeatherCat upload the data for you. You can always add Meteobridge later if that's the route you want to take.

I went to Detroit once so we are practically good friends already. Keep up the good work.
Blick


glasserp

  • Guest
Re: Hello from Detroit
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2017, 12:19:47 AM »
Thank you all for the welcome and replies. Looks like I have a little research to do this weekend. Be back soon with more questions  [tup]

wurzelmac

  • Storm
  • *****
  • Posts: 1361
    • ITIROLPR2
    • Wetterstation Pr?graten am Gro?venediger
  • Station Details: Davis Vantage PRO2 Plus (24h fan aspirated, wireless) with UV/Solar | Weather Envoy Data Logger | Mac mini 2023 M2 8/256 | 1x Canon EOS 1300D | macOS Sonoma 14.2
Re: Hello from Detroit
« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2017, 11:50:51 AM »
Hello Paul - welcome aboard!
Reinhard