Trixology
WeatherCat => WeatherCat General Discussion => Topic started by: LeadDog on January 06, 2013, 04:04:17 AM
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Weather Cat started making all my graphs look like this starting about Monday at 12AM. I'm not sure what is going on. Does anyone have any idea? Check the attacked screen shot. Looks like a bunch of spikes that follows the curve of the regular graph. I upgraded to Version 1.12 Build 45 (1.1.2) today and it is still making the same weird graphs.
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Hi LeadDog,
Here's a couple of questions/suggestions that might help.
First reboot the machine and use disk utility to check permissions and the disk.
Check the time of the computer against the time at the console.
Check your comms quality to the station.
Is the data recorded live or out of the logger (or it doesn't make any difference) and how does the data look in the data editor/viewer.
Try with a new prefs file (quit WeatherCat, rename ~/Library/Preferences/com.trixology.weathercat.plist to something like com.trixology.weathercat_old.plist then boot WeatherCat, it'll create a new prefs file).
If you think it has the data in the logger, quit WeatherCat, rename the January data file (~/Library/WeatherCatData/Location1/2013/1_WeatherCatData.cat to 1_WeatherCatData_old.cat) then launch WeatherCat and let it download the data from the logger).
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Hi LeadDog,
Here's a couple of questions/suggestions that might help.
First reboot the machine and use disk utility to check permissions and the disk.
Check the time of the computer against the time at the console.
Check your comms quality to the station.
Is the data recorded live or out of the logger (or it doesn't make any difference) and how does the data look in the data editor/viewer.
Try with a new prefs file (quit WeatherCat, rename ~/Library/Preferences/com.trixology.weathercat.plist to something like com.trixology.weathercat_old.plist then boot WeatherCat, it'll create a new prefs file).
If you think it has the data in the logger, quit WeatherCat, rename the January data file (~/Library/WeatherCatData/Location1/2013/1_WeatherCatData.cat to 1_WeatherCatData_old.cat) then launch WeatherCat and let it download the data from the logger).
I rebooted the machine and repaired the permissions. It seems that is still doing the same thing.
The console is the console.app of the Mac OS? I didn't see how to check the time with it.
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LeadDog
What Stu is asking is the time on your weather station console the same as it is on your computer?
And the spikes are usually caused by low batteries that was my case any way
And what kind of serial to usb adapter are you using?
Hope this helps
[cheers1]
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LeadDog
What Stu is asking is the time on your weather station console the same as it is on your computer?
And the spikes are usually caused by low batteries that was my case any way
And what kind of serial to usb adapter are you using?
Hope this helps
[cheers1]
The time on the weather station and the computer agree. The weather station is powered by AC so low batteries shouldn't be the problem but I'll check.
The serial to USB adapter is one I have used for years. I have quit WeatherCat for like 8 hours and when it updates with the data from the station the graphs look normal. I'm mystified as to why it is doing this. The graphics went to spikes at midnight when no person was using the computer and there wasn't any software changes. I think Stu has a few more steps that I can work thru that hopeful fix whatever happened.
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I unplugged the AC power from the station and the batteries kept it running so I think they are good. I unplugged the USB adaptor from the computer and WeatherCat told me that COMMs had failed so I figure that is working right. I have forced it to create a new prefs file so I'll see what that does.
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Is the data recorded live or out of the logger (or it doesn't make any difference) and how does the data look in the data editor/viewer.
I believe it is live and it doesn't look right to me. I'll see what creating new prefs did and if that doesn't fix the problem I'll upload a sample from the data editor/viewer to see what you think.
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I'm still getting the same graphs after all of the above. Here is a screen shot of the Data Viewer.
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Hmm, that doesn't look right at all. So some more things to try/answer:-
1. How's your comms quality figures? (Gauges window or Status from the Tools menu).
2. If you quit WeatherCat, then rename the current data file (~/Library/WeatherCatData/Location1/2013/1_WeatherCatData.cat (where ~ is your home directory)) to something like 1_WeatherCatData_old.cat then boot WeatherCat (it'll create a new data file and download any data from your logger) does the problem still exist? Note on 10.7 or later, the ~/Library folder is hidden by default - enter:
chflags nohidden ~/Library/into the terminal to make it visible.
3. Check the console log for any diagnostic messages from WeatherCat (Applications->Utilities->Console.app)
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Hmm, that doesn't look right at all. So some more things to try/answer:-
1. How's your comms quality figures? (Gauges window or Status from the Tools menu).
2. If you quit WeatherCat, then rename the current data file (~/Library/WeatherCatData/Location1/2013/1_WeatherCatData.cat (where ~ is your home directory)) to something like 1_WeatherCatData_old.cat then boot WeatherCat (it'll create a new data file and download any data from your logger) does the problem still exist? Note on 10.7 or later, the ~/Library folder is hidden by default - enter:
chflags nohidden ~/Library/into the terminal to make it visible.
3. Check the console log for any diagnostic messages from WeatherCat (Applications->Utilities->Console.app)
1. Comms quality is 100%. Comms error is 0 Sensor error is 0 Good data is 69635
3. There is a user diagnostic report for WeatherCat on 1/7/2013
2. WeatherCat download two days of data from the weather station and the graphs made from that looks good. I have done a similar thing in the past and the graphs start spiking as the graphs are made in real time. I'll see what happens this time.
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The graphs are back to normal. Thanks very much.
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Thanks for letting me know. If you still have the old file, could you zip it up and email it to me for analysis please?
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The file is on its way. I think I saw the problem as I was zipping up the file. The file said it had a creation date of 1/31/13. I wonder how that happened?
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The weird graphs are back they started at midnight 2/1/13. Is this a first of the month problem? It never happened before 1/1/13 so I'm not sure.
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Strange, I have no reports of this happening to anyone else. If you have the time, zip up and send me your January and February data files so I can load them up here to see if I can spot anything. Also send me your WeatherCat preferences file (~/Library/Preferences/com.trixology.weathercat.plist).
Many thanks.
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Got the files thanks but I need the February file as well - can you send that through please?
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I have a possibly similar problem which began at exactly the same time!? All of my temp graphs show a spurious min temp of 32?F on Feb 1. However, the data is clean, and the statistical reports do not show this spike. I'm repairing permissions now, and renamed the pref files so it re-imported recent data. No change. I'm using a Vantage Vue via WeatherlinkIP and the times match. Any ideas? Here's a sample chart:
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Dear shelt and WeatherCat fans,
I have a possibly similar problem which began at exactly the same time!?
It does look like exactly the same bug. It is purely cosmetic and your data isn't corrupted at all. As Stu has already said, this one is slated for extermination soon.
Cheers, Edouard [cheers1]
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Got the files thanks but I need the February file as well - can you send that through please?
I just sent you the February files.
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Got it thanks - I should get a look at it over the next few days.
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Funny thing, the graphs have now gone back to being normal on March 1st. I hope this is the end of this problem.
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I am having my first bout with weird graphs issues also. Though it is not related to the end of month problem. I have a dropped extra sensor, a strange instant fall in temperature which affected humidity & cloud base, a fluctuation in wind direction & barometer, and the addition of precipitation totals while logging a zero rain rate. :o
All at the same time.
Forcing a refetch of the logger by changing the data.cat file name produced better results except the dropped extra sensor. However my logger frequency is short so I would loose the majority of March.
A permissions rebuild fixed the dropped sensor and all graphs appear back to normal save a spike on all temp graphs at the moment of returning to the original data.cat file.
None of the wired events appear in the WeatherCat stats, on the Davis Console, nor the Weatherlink for windows side of things (I run VMWare and fetch weekly to maintain it) so the oddities seem to be only with the graphs. Super odd and disappointing.
This has not happened since the systems installment back in Nov/Dec. so I'm stumped as to why it's suddenly happening now. I thought this thing was doing fine. My trust level has dropped significantly.
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I take that last back. I am still getting a rain total increase with zero rain rate as I write this.
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Dear KP3 and WeatherCat fans,
I am having my first bout with weird graphs issues also.
Unfortunately, Stuart Ball, the WeatherCat developer is on vacation so won't be able to respond to your question for about a week.
There are a number of cosmetic graph display issues that are known, but what you are describing doesn't sound consistent with those issues. Unfortunately, I don't fully understand what is happening to your graphs. Could you post some examples to help us see exactly the errors?
You have an unusual configuration of a Davis Station with your extra sensors, so you may have uncovered a real bug in WeatherCat. Fortunately, Stu is very prompt in fixing this sort of thing. Surely you can understand that Stu cannot have every possible station configuration and - surprises do pop up.
Cheers, Edouard [cheers1]
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I understand. I can wait. It sure is odd whatever happened. it appears across most elements except wind. Here are some screenshots for a better understanding.
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For what it might be worth, note the black line "Shed Temp (4)" is the sensor which WL's datalogger cannot log. Recall, as WL said, regarding extra sensors, it can only log a) 1 temp/hum and 2 temps, b) 2 temp/hum's and 1 temp, or c) three temps. I have 'b'. the 'one temp' is the garage. which IS logged, the shed is the first sensor beyond W:'s capability.
This station sends data to weather underground. The Wunderground data does nor contain these anomalies. Likewise, the WC stats don't appear to be reflecting the graphs behavior.
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Dear KP3 and WeatherCat fans,
I understand. I can wait. It sure is odd whatever happened. it appears across most elements except wind. Here are some screenshots for a better understanding.
I'm not aware of anything like this happening to any other WeatherCat user. I'm afraid Stu is the only person who might be able to give you some idea of what is going here.
Cheers, Edouard [cheers1]
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Hi kp3,
Sorry for the delay in getting to you. This isn't something I've seen before so we'll have to check a few things to figure it out.
Firstly, open WeatherCat's Log window and check there for any error messages the next time you see it doing this. To make it easier if you go to WeatherCat's 'Advanced' preferences and turn on 'Copy Log Entries To Console Log' - this will cause the log messages to appear in the console log so you can check through it later in time (Applications->Utilities->Console.app).
Secondly, check for comms and/or sensor errors - open the 'Live Data View' from the Tools menu, primary sensor errors are displayed alongside each variable there. It looks like some sensors are dropping out and or becoming erratic (WeatherCat will protect Wunderground from these drop outs by refusing to send if there's an issue with the data - it looks from your graphs as if the data is becoming valid then invalid over a short period of time).
Finally, check your console voltage (Tools->Station Hardware Options) - low/dead batteries can cause strange problems - if the batteries aren't known to be new replace them for a fresh set (the Console voltage should be 4.5V or better).