download historical data from weather station OrScWMR200A

[jpwvw]

Hello, I am new to WC.  I hooked up to my Mac.  It showed that it was downloading data from the Oregon Sci WMR200A.  It took over 1/2 hour to download it all.  WC is recording current data, but it is not showing the historical data from my weather station.  The graphs show a flat line until I booted up WC for the first time.  Will WC be able to display any of the data that was stored by my weather station?

Also, I do not run my computer 24/7.  Can WC display data collected while the computer is shut down?

MacMini OS 10.8
Thanks.

[elagache]

Dear jpwvw and WeatherCat fans,

Hello, I am new to WC. 

Well then welcome to the WeatherCat forum!!

I hooked up to my Mac.  It showed that it was downloading data from the Oregon Sci WMR200A.  It took over 1/2 hour to download it all.  WC is recording current data, but it is not showing the historical data from my weather station.  The graphs show a flat line until I booted up WC for the first time.  Will WC be able to display any of the data that was stored by my weather station?

Also, I do not run my computer 24/7.  Can WC display data collected while the computer is shut down?

Well the short answer is that you should be seeing the historical data that is being downloaded.  You can check to see if indeed the data has been downloaded correctly by using the Data Viewer/Editor which is accessible from the Tools menu.

Support for the WMR200 was just recently added so there could be a bug or perhaps there is something about WMR200A that is different somehow from the WMR200.  I'm afraid you'll just have to wait for Stuart Ball (the WeatherCat developer) to get back to you on this question.  He has been on vacation, but will be back on deck by Wednesday at the latest.

Cheers, Edouard 

[PrivatePilot]

The WMR200 and WMR200A are functionally and operationally identical apparently, the only difference is the "A" version is set to synchronize to USA based atomic clocks, whereas the Non-A version is for the rest of the world and has a switch to set it to retrieve the atomic clock time from either the UK, or Europe.

[jpwvw]

Hello,
Looking at the Data/Viewer, there is no data before I installed WC.  Or at least it is blank (no values).  I can scroll back to Jan. 1, 2013, but there is no data before I started running WC.  I'll wait to hear if it is a WC issue or if I need to redo something.  It seemed that it was downloading something when if first ran WC.  It took at least 30 minutes to update.
Thanks for the info.
Cheers.

[WCDev]

Hello folks,
Just back from holiday so sorry for the late reply. WeatherCat will not use any data from the logger prior to it's first run - it needs to get a 'stick in the sand' as it were. After that, it will download data from the logger for the periods it wasn't running.

The reason you see this on a WMR200 is because the console decides when to send data, not WeatherCat - with most hardware it's WeatherCat that requests it from the logger, but a WMR200 will send it as soon as it detects a connection.

Cheers,
Stu.

[jpwvw]

What would happen if I changed the computer date to Jan. 1 and then reinstalled WC?  Or does WC check for date and time elsewhere?

Or is there a way to manually import data?  If so, what format would it need to be in?
Thanks.

[WCDev]

Don't do that - at best you'll end up with current data with the wrong date on it. Once the console has sent the data it won't send it again, there's nothing that can be done to get the data in before the date WeatherCat first run (unless you have the data in other software, then you may be able to get it into the format WeatherCat wants - see the section 'WeatherCat and Data' in the manual).

Cheers,
Stu.

[jpwvw]

Another question.  We do not leave our computers on 24/7.  WC records data from the time it was off.  I can see it in the DataViewer.  However, the graphs don't seem to find the data.  Is there a way to ask WC to redraw the graphs?

Also, if the computer is off for an extended period, will WC retreive that data as well?
Thanks.

[jpwvw]

Looking at my DataViewer, I see that during one 24 hour period while the computer was off, some sensor data remained relatively unchanged.  The graphs show a straight line for that period of time. WC seems to be graphing what is in the DataViewer. 
Is this an issue with the collector unit or is this something about how WC deals with longer periods of computer off line?

Also, if the computer is off for an extended period, will WC retreive that data as well?
Thanks.

Still would like to know this.

Thanks.

[WCDev]

Yep, no data available from the logger for that period so WeatherCat has interpolated a straight line. Check your logging period on the console and that the date and time on the console matches that of the computer.

WeatherCat will accept all the data for the period it was off assuming it exists in the logger.

Also note that using a WMR200 with other weather software will clear the logger - the console will only send the data once, so if you connect it to other software then connect it up to WeatherCat, it won't see the data downloaded by the other software.

Cheers,
Stu.

[jpwvw]

Sorry for this question:  Where do I find the window to check the logging period in WC?  I found it awhile ago, but do not seem to be able to find it now.  Also, what is a reasonable period to set it for?  I don't need massive amounts of data, but enough to see what's going on.  How close do they need to be if there is no exact match?  Is 5 and 15 minutes too far apart? or 15 and 30?
Thanks.

[WCDev]

Hi jpwvw,
There's no way to set the logging period from software - it is set on the console, check with your manual.

There is no relationship between the console data logger period and WeatherCat's sampling rate. I would suggest 5 minutes for the data logger gives a good trade off between resolution of the data in the logger and amount of data that it can store.

Cheers,
Stu.

[jpwvw]

Thank you.  I've set my console for 5 minutes.  We'll see how this goes.  So far, I like WC better than any other software I've tried.  And the support has been tops.

[jpwvw]

I've run a few tests and I find that WC gets stuck when the computer goes to sleep.  The data values do not change while the computer is asleep.  Now I'm going to test what happens when it is shut down.

[PrivatePilot]

I think that the WMR200 assumes that as long as it has a USB connection (even if it's just plugged in but not actually doing anything) that something is reading the data ? and accordingly it doesn't record anything to the data logger.   

Often when a computer is asleep versus shutdown, power remains at the USB ports, therefore it's possible that the wmr200 is simply not recording any data for WeatherCat to log when the computer comes out of sleep mode.    A full shutdown that cuts USB power all together should trigger the console to start logging.   

I'm going to run a few tests to confirm this theory myself in the coming days, as like yourself I've had similar situations where it seems like the console should be logging data, but actually wasn't after-the-fact.