Communication problems with new Davis Envoy

[yardy]

Hi, Recently my Davis Envoy died and although the replacement unit 'works' in interfacing weather data to my Mac computer, when I open the "Station Hardware Options" (HSO) window communications stops and the 'Gauges' window will open but does not display data. I suspect this is because communications have stopped. Having opened the HSO window I tried to test the supply voltages and that is non functional. Looking at the log I can see that the Power Test starts but never completes. The only way to get everything working again is to close WeatherCat and restart. Has anyone else seen these communication problems with recent versions Davis Envoys ? Any suggested solutions ? I am running WeatherCat 3.1.3.   

[xairbusdriver]

Is the new Envoy still set to the same ISS ID?

[elagache]

Dear yardy, X-Air, and WeatherCat troubleshooters,

Hi, Recently my Davis Envoy died and although the replacement unit 'works' in interfacing weather data to my Mac computer, when I open the "Station Hardware Options" (HSO) window communications stops and the 'Gauges' window will open but does not display data. I suspect this is because communications have stopped. Having opened the HSO window I tried to test the supply voltages and that is non functional.
. . . . .

I just checked my own WeatherCat installation and I can open the Station Hardware Options window and test the batteries without any communications loss.  So I would expect there is some sort of a hardware issue.  How old is the Davis station that your Envoy is connected to?  There was a firmware upgrade somewhere around 2015 that might be interfering with your station.

Cheers, Edouard

[yardy]

Hi Edouard, I have been working through this issue with Davis Support and while at first they denied any changes to the Envoy that would affect reporting the battery status they are now look seriously at the issue. They have asked that I ask you what command is sent when checking the battery status on the 'Vantage Hardware Options' pop-up window and then clicking on the 'Test Power System' button. I have sent them the WeatherCat User Manual 3.0.2 but it seems that the commands are not detailed in there. (I am not a programmer so cannot help). When the 'Vantage Hardware Options' Pop-Up window opens I do get two bar graphs for 'Transmitter Battery Status' and 'Console Voltage' but am not sure these are the latest data which is why I wanted to 'Test the Power System'

It is pressing the 'Test Power System' button which used to get a response from the 2014 version Envoy that now with the 2022 Envoy (Manf Data  AD210211065) a) does not return data and b) appears to hang WeatherCat as it never returns to normal operation without being restarted. This suggests that maybe the Command Timeout for the 'Test Power System' is not working for some reason.

You say there was a firmware upgrade in 2015 - was that to the Envoy ? If not where was it ?  Everything else seems to work OK it is just the Power System Test that seems to be a problem.

This is a long message I know but I am trying to give you all the details I can so that you can possible help Davis support look for a possible problem on their side.

Thanks for your support.

Ray Yardy

[elagache]

Dear Ray and WeatherCat Troubleshooters,

Hi Edouard, I have been working through this issue with Davis Support and while at first they denied any changes to the Envoy that would affect reporting the battery status they are now look seriously at the issue.

Okay, it is a surprise that Davis wouldn't able to answer these sorts of questions definitively without too much effort on their part.

They have asked that I ask you what command is sent when checking the battery status on the 'Vantage Hardware Options' pop-up window and then clicking on the 'Test Power System' button. I have sent them the WeatherCat User Manual 3.0.2 but it seems that the commands are not detailed in there.

Unfortunately, I am only a long-time WeatherCat user and don't know the answer either.  You would need to contact WeatherCat technical support directly to find out that sort of information.  The contact information is on this Trixology webpage.

https://trixology.com/contact-us/

You say there was a firmware upgrade in 2015 - was that to the Envoy ? If not where was it ?  Everything else seems to work OK it is just the Power System Test that seems to be a problem.

I replaced my Weather Envoy in 2015 and needed to request a new data logger from Davis because my old data logger (from 2010) was incompatible with 2015 Envoy.  So I don't know exactly when the Envoy was changed but by 2015 there was new hardware. 

Also, there was a hardware upgrade to the Davis Vantage Pro-2 line in 2016 which included a new Temperature/Humidity probe.  Stations built before won't be able to use this new probe without a adjustment.  You can read up on this at this Scaled Instruments webpage:

https://www.scaledinstruments.com/shop/shop-by-category/temperature-humidity-sensor/davis-7346-070-pro2-digital-temperature-humidity-sensor-sensiron-sht31/

I don't know what other changes Davis did to their station hardware at the time.

This is a long message I know but I am trying to give you all the details I can so that you can possible help Davis support look for a possible problem on their side.

I'm afraid that's all I know on the matter, but will be glad to assist in any other way possible.

Please do keep us posted on what you learn from Davis.

Cheers, Edouard