Ive seen there are more ways to connect to the Campbell station.
Which one to choose/is best?
how do you mean by more ways exactly?
compared to?
there has been no change …so I am a bit confused?
I connect to my Campbell Scientific station. As far as I am aware there is only one way, via Loggernet. Not perfect, but it has worked well for a number of years. I too would be interested to hear what other ways are apparently available.
Ive heard this software can be used with or without Campbells Loggernet.
Thats why i posted this post:)
Do you use live data or stored data every x minutes from loggernet?
I use the live data which is read from the CS file by the setup in WD. It does need to have the file deleted when it nears 3 mb as it will stop working after that. But that data goes first to the program which i created using loggernet, and that creates the file read by WD. Fairly bomb proof over the years. you can use the 208 program I believe instead but it is nowhere near what loggernet can do.
embayweather:
Thanks for the report on how you did it, and that it works.
Loggernet is pretty expensive for the hobbyist, and there is a ‘used’ version on eBay which still is $400 US, and an old version. Campbell Scientific says they will not honor the serial number for an upgrade (which combined makes it almost as expensive as a new purchase right from Campbell).
Can you take the time to fill us interested parties in on the structure of the data table that you create, with the field names and sizes type of info? I know WD is precise about how the fields are structured. Was this info in the WD documentation somewhere that I’ve missed? Brian was excellent at helping another user and I get the RM Young 28600 going, but if there is information you might furnish, it would be a place for me to start. I just got a CR3000 used and am trying to figure out how to get it up and running, and of course then attach to WD, so your success is encouraging and would appreciate any info you might wish to share with us, very much so!
Dale
Thanks embayweather.
…and is weatherdisplay able to read back data from the period weatherdisplay wasnt running?
Like it does with the Davis stations/loggers?
@ Dale Reid:
Nice piece of hardware you have there, that Professional stuff isnt it?
I created the data tables and things with loggernet as it does everything for you. So I am not sure I can help much there. The 208 software is free and will do much the same although it is nowhere near as versatile. Once the program was running in the CS software I then simply followed the setup in WD which was really very quick and easy. It then worked very easily. I will try and do something more specific when i can but my PC is away at the moment, so when it returns I can try the 208 software and see what its like. I should add though that if you want a cheaper alternative then use Labjack. i built a Labjack weather station running all my high end sensors very easily and cheaply. Currently it will not fully integrate with WD, but i am syre Brian may be able to extend its suitability for you.
Meteo Mark, it will happily read back data from when WD is not running, if you keep the data logger working. SO far I have found it will not load into WD though. As this is not a problem for me I have never bothered to pursue it, but Brian is the expert here he might be able to advise if its possible. I run a CS10X myself which has proved moved than enough for my needs, so it need not be too expensive.
Hi embayweather,
Appreciate your reply, thanks.
I want weatherdisplay to use as my main weather software, but you say it cant read back missed data from Campbell when weatherdisplay hasnt been running…
embayweather:
" I then simply followed the setup in WD which was really very quick and easy"
I am just getting to the part of figuring out which sensors to connect and how to configure them.
I wonder if you were able to choose the data table file headers with any name and size you want (just to get me started) and the quote above implies that WD can look at that table.
But the part I’m unclear on is if the names of the data elements in that table have to be in a certain order, and whether the names are of importance at all, just the sequence in which they are in each record?
Thanks for any clarification. Dale
Oh, Mark, yeah this piece of hardware is pretty amazing and the ability to digitize signals is way far beyond what I could use for ‘just’ weather stuff. The CR1000 was what I was hoping for, and one participant here was able to snag one for a few hundred bucks. I’ve been looking since the first of the year and a 3000 wasn’t moving and the seller made a huge discount offer which opened the door for me to get one to fiddle with.
Dale
The names are important, as is the sequence. I cannot give specifics as my PC is still on its holidays and it is many years since it was set up. However, I am a great believer in doing things as simply as possible. SO with loggernet you plug in the sensors where they get set up, as you design the program. The set up app tells you where each sensor cable is plugged in and it works right from the start. That applies only to sensors in the list in the app. If you are using say, a 4-20 ma sensor then you will need to design the circuit yourself. Again that is not hard. You need no more than a knowledge of Ohms Law and some cable of course. I managed and I am colour blind. Start with one sensor and see where it takes you. You can try that with the free software from Campbell before committing to buying loggernet. Brian could advise you if WD can get data from the 208 software. I would also make sure you have all the necessary data sheets for the sensors you wish to connect. Can you give me an idea of which sensors you are wanting to use. Are they, from CS or Vaisala or just generic?
Hi embayweather,
Thanks for your advice.
So i need to ask Brain for a possible option to read back data from a, for example, 1 minute data table about this.
I can provide a data example of it if needed.
Can i post this question here?
The programs from CS , like loggernet already provide the necessary facility, and you need to simply go into the WD stations setup section to find CS and set up the recording into WD. You will need to have a functioning to create the necessary data files that WD can read. But it really is very simple.
Hi embayweather,
So thats easy then
But it cant read back data from the time weatherdisplay wasnt running?
Thats my the most important 
Embay:
Sorry for the tardy response.
In general, I have an RM 5103 for wind information.
I’d like to hook up a Met One 043b for another wind input, just as something to do.
I would use a Vaisala barometric pressure unit
I would use an HMP60 for temperature and humidity
Rain would be one of my tipping bucket 0.01 inch/tip units, probably the Texas Electronics gold and white unit.
I have a LiCor pyranometer to use for solar.
I have an Campbell SR50A for snow depth determination if I get that far.
I will see if the CS 200 quick set up software will be able to write the general program for it.
The part I’m most hoping for guidance on is the specifications for the order of the table so WD can read the correct values in and assign them to the right inputs for use.
Do you recall if there was some sort of instruction or guidance on which order to generate the entries? I know that when I set up an RM Young 28600 there were specific fields for each one, and blank entries needed to be in the output stream so wind direction was in a certain place in the string, Humidity, etc. I assume from what you are saying is that WD looks into the table and pulls the current values in, rather than reads a space or comma delimited string?
Dale
As far as i know you have to assign a number in weatherdisplay which correspond with the position in the datastring.
And loggernet or Campbell software has to run simultanious with weatherdisplay, but i could be wrong…
A guidance would be great indeed
@Dale:
Are you going to use a public table (live data) or table data (e.g. one minute data)?
Thinking about the use of a minute table, it depends on at what precise time weatherdisplay writes data from the source.
It would be a matter of a second. When the data source writes the data at exactly on top of the minute (when using a minute table) and weatherdisplay or Campbell is a second, or a fraction of it, late, you will have , or new data, or previous data again…
I think when using live data (public table), this isnt the case…
Mark,
You raise an interesting question. For me, hearing the ‘weather’ on the farm on Wisconsin Public Radio a couple times a day was sufficient, although I was always wondering where the gust speeds in wind came from. I have seen those meters where a resetable pointer was pushed up by a meter pointer and would accumulate the highest gust, but I’m not sure how much that resistance interfered with the real value.
So to get minute by minute reports is probably good enough, missing the gusts’ peaks with once a minute sampling. I know the Peet Bros and the Texas Weather Instruments native code and the RMYoung programming I did put streams out every second, so gust are pretty accurate and seldom missed.
I wonder if those folks who have rolled their own stations, with Arduino and RaspPi and other hardware have a solution or a general philosophy on this? I’ll post a question about it since I’m pretty certain there are few reading this thread.
I’m about to dig into this, having found out during retirement that I have far more projects than energy I did 30 years ago when I thought I’d be looking for old movies and new books to read after getting my pile of stuff taken care of.
Dale
Hi Dale,
You can set in your one minute table to have next to the average windspeed the max windspeed also.
(Although officially the average windspeed is calculated as a 10 minute average)
But i dont know if weatherdisplay has 2 settings for “windspeed” and “max windspeed” to read from the source…
The most ideal situation would be to use live data as a source for weatherdisplay (public table) and let weatherdisplay do its calculations and use a minute table data source as a back up from where weatherdisplay can read data back from the period weatherdisplay wasnt running for whatever reason.
e.g. a period setup within weatherdisplay to select “from” and “till” from the minute datasource to fill in the missing data…