ISS Transmitting Board

[Felix]

Agree with you, X-Air. Exactly the reasons why I use both TM and SD (once per week for a bootable backup of the primary computer).

One thing I like is that multiple computers can be backed up with TM to the same drive. In my case, two laptops, a Mac mini and Mac Pro all to one large external RAID 1 array for redundancy. Of course, doesn't help much if the house burns down but I can only carry that backup paranoia so far. At least a copy of yearly financial records, tax returns and digital photos are stored off site.

[Blicj11]

Since these erros seem to occur at nearly the same time, how about setting your computer to a different time zone for a few weeks or even longer. If the errors still occur at the same 'computer' time, if problem is computer related. However, if the errors occur at a time difference associated with the time zone difference, the cause is most likely external interference (local radio activity) or with the ISS 'day' event. Or, something else.

Thanks for the suggestion, but the problem is between the ISS and console, not between the console and the computer. In any event, haven't had one for a week but that is too soon to tell if changing the ID will address the issue.

[Blicj11]

On my setup, I've incorporated an app called TimeMachineEditor, which forgoes the hourly backups to perform a single early morning one each day.

Just installed this Herb. Set it to daily at 3:00 am. I'm not staying up to see if it works.

[Bull Winkus]

Lol! Can't say as I blame you for that? When I first tested it out, I set it for 8:30 in the morning, hoping to get up and see if it did it's job. Problem was, I kept staying up late. It took me a couple of weeks to actually see it backing up. However before that, when I launched Time Machine, the daily backups were there, so I didn't worry. I set my computer that sleeps to wake up daily, just before the backup. The weather station computer never sleeps, so it wasn't an issue there.

Main reason I use it is because, as the amount of data collected gets really long by the end of the year, the backups get longer and longer as Time Machine checks for changes on more files. With the hourly regime, by the end of the year it was backing up almost all the time. Also, it didn't help that I only had 4 GB of RAM on that computer, which slowed things to the point of frequent spinners during normal WC operations. After adding a 16 GB kit, the spinners disappeared. I had no idea that low RAM was the cause, or I would have fixed it long ago.

 

[elagache]

Dear Blick, Herb, and WeatherCat Davis troubleshooters,

Alas, from around 7:30 pm to 10 pm I once more lost transmission between my console and Weather Envoy.  This is extremely maddening since I can check the console under such circumstances and the data is there.  It simply doesn't make the extra 30 feet to the Envoy and WeatherCat.  In the past, I have power-cycled the Envoy to restore the connection, but this is a bad idea because you lose data like the ET and rainfall for the whole year.

At 10 pm I got fed up and decided to try something else.  I changed the ID that the Envoy was expecting to receive the signal from #8 to #7.  After a moment, I reversed the procedure and put it back at ID #8.  Within a few minutes, the Envoy was once more receiving data.

That suggests to me that the firmware in these Davis devices isn't particularly good at recovering from a loss of transmission caused by some sort of EMI/RF interference.  So if you find yourself in this sort of predicament, you might try "giggling" the IDs of the receiver to see if that gets to try to find the signal more rapidly than if you just waited and hoped.  If your problem is between the console and the ISS, at least this procedure doesn't require going outside to perform it.

Cheers, Edouard

[Blicj11]

So if you find yourself in this sort of predicament, you might try "giggling" the IDs of the receiver to see if that gets to try to find the signal more rapidly than if you just waited and hoped.  If your problem is between the console and the ISS, at least this procedure doesn't require going outside to perform it.

Are you saying that you don't actually change the ID DIP switch on the ISS? You just change the ID in the Console setup and then set it back?

[Felix]

How do you change the ID on the console, Edouard? I haven't fooled with the station IDs for the better part of three years but as I recall, you go "Done-Minus sign" on the console which puts you into Set-Up mode. Then then console finds all your various station IDs (if you have more than one) and that can take a bit of time. When you punch Done again, followed by the Left/Right Arrow keys, you cycle through the various stations. At least as I remember, you don't have a choice about setting the IDs on the console, your only option is to turn each station's ID On/Off using the Up/Down keys.

[Blicj11]

At least as I remember, you don't have a choice about setting the IDs on the console, your only option is to turn each station's ID On/Off using the Up/Down keys.

That is how you do it. You make sure that all of the IDs are off except the one(s) that is the ID you want the console to accept.

[Felix]

Thanks for the confirmation, Blick. So I take it from Edouard's post there is some way on the Envoy to select any of the various Davis wireless station IDs. Because you can't do that on VP II console itself, it only lets you turn On/Off the stations it finds during the first screen search process.

Again, I'm doing this from memory so I could have it wrong.

[Blicj11]

Edouard and I are saying the same thing. You get on the console and turn on the ID you want the console to receive and then turn all other IDs off. I don't think there is any other way to do it. I was just asking him if he changed which ID he was receiving from on the console without changing the DIP switches on the unit, and then changed it back to match the DIP.

[Steve]

If I'm reading your question correctly, you can change the ID channel that the Console looks for the ISS on. Once you get to the screen to turn the ISS ON or OFF, use the < and > buttons to change the channel. It sounds like Edouard changed the ISS channel, closed the setup, then changed it back.

Screen 2: Configuring Transmitter IDs ? Wireless Only
Setup screen 2 allows you to change the ISS transmitter ID and to add or remove optional transmitter stations. The default transmitter ID setting is ?1? (ISS), which works fine for most installations.
   

Screen 2: Transmitter ID configuration
If you have a cabled station, or if you have a wireless station and are using the default transmitter ID setting, press DONE to move to the next screen.
Typically, you can use the default transmitter ID setting of 1 unless you are installing one of the optional transmitter stations or a nearby neighbor has a Vantage Pro2 sta- tion that uses transmitter ID 1 for the ISS.
3. Press the < and > keys to select the transmitter ID.
When you select a transmitter ID, the ID number is displayed on the screen as well as the current configuration.
4. Press the + and - keys to toggle console reception of signals from transmit- ters using that ID on and off.
5. Press GRAPH to change the type of station assigned to each transmitter. Scroll through the station types - ISS, TEMP, HUM, TEMP HUM, WIND, RAIN, LEAF, SOIL, and LEAF/SOIL - until the correct type appears.
6. Press DONE to move to the next screen.
This screen contains functionality for enabling repeaters. If the word ?Repeater? dis- plays in the right corner of the screen and you are not using repeaters as part of your network, see ?Clearing Repeater ID? on page 52. If you are using repeaters as part of your network see ?Wireless Repeater Configuration? (Appendix C) on page 51 for configuring repeaters on the console.

[Felix]

OK guys, when I go to the first screen and wait awhile, it says "Receiving from..." and lists ID #1, 2, 3, 4, 5. #1 is the ISS and the other four are miscellaneous sensors.

So you're saying if I wanted to force the console to re-poll #3 for example, I'd select OFF on ID #3 and turn on #6 for which there is no sensor? Then close everything out to get the weather screen back. And obviously I'll get horizontal lines for the new #6 sensor since there isn't one. Then go back through screen 1 and 2 again and change everything back to the original configuration and close out again?

I was under the impression that when you opened and subsequently closed the Set-Up mode (screen #1) that automatically forced a re-poll anyway. And if screen #1 indicates reception of the station ID you're concerned with, you can rule out a whole host of potential transmitter/console reception problems right off the bat. If the station ID still doesn't show up, then it would seem to me it would be about time to change the station ID on the recalcitrant station transmitter (after flipping Up DIP switch #4 and ensuring the transmitter LED is flashing and putting in a new battery for good measure) followed by reconfiguring the console assuming the new ID is recognized.

And if that didn't work, I guess I'd get the manual out and figure out how to use those diagnostic screens to try and narrow down my problem. At least I would want to know what the troubleshooting guide says before showing my behind to a Davis Technician.

[elagache]

Dear Blick Felix, Steve, and WeatherCat Davis troubleshooters,

Are you saying that you don't actually change the ID DIP switch on the ISS? You just change the ID in the Console setup and then set it back?

In a word yes.  I did it for the Weather Envoy using WeatherLink, but the concept is the same.  Because you have changed the station ID, the console should start searching for the signal.  My impression is that this process can long winded if you wait for the station to find the ISS on its own.  I'm not sure of that though.  This morning I had another one of those "midnight outages," but it lasted only 10-20 minutes.

How do you change the ID on the console, Edouard?

Steve gives most of the answer but the key is realizing that you can select an ID that isn't in use at the moment.  Here is the page in the Davis Console manual about it:

http://www.davisnet.com/product_documents/weather/manuals/07395-234_IM_06312.pdf#page=14

The idea is simply to pick some other ID,  exit of the setup mode for a for a brief period, and then go back and select the ID where the ISS is actually located.  That will cause the console to initiate a search for that device immediately.

I hope that clears things up!

Cheers, Edouard

[Blicj11]

I just had another one of these infuriating "outages." It started at 6:38 this morning and I discovered it about 8:00 am. I did exactly what Edouard described. I changed the ID on the console to a nonexistent ID, waited 5 minutes and then changed it back to the ID matching the DIP switches on the ISS. It immediately started to receive the external sensor data at the console.

This looks like either some kind of electronic interference, a bad transmitter board or something haywire in the console. I happen to have a backup console (long story) so I am going to try swapping consoles and see if that makes any difference.

Edouard, how long do you wait before you switch the console ID back?

[elagache]

Dear Blick and WeatherCat troubleshooters,

I just had another one of these infuriating "outages." It started at 6:38 this morning and I discovered it about 8:00 am.

Bummer dude!  Sure wish I had a clear remedy for this.

Edouard, how long do you wait before you switch the console ID back?

Not long, at most a few seconds.  I just quit out of WeatherLink and launched it again to change the ID back.  The only reason I quit was to make sure I found it at the ID I set it when I returned to WeatherLink.

Cheers, Edouard