Update: I just noticed the lightning detector is found (see below) but i dont get the message from WD stating it is allocated like when using a USB adapter. Is this why i am not seeing the lightning strikes??? I’m using 10.37p-28
6/21 - I’m now getting vp2 temp spikes - read below
I am having a problem with my lightning sensor. Initially i purchased 7 temp sensors with a usb adapter and had everything working great with my Weather Display software. I then purchased a lightning sensor and added it to my star network and started having problems. Everything would run fine for a few hours then the network would flat line like the software no longer saw the sensors. I then thought maybe my network is too big (long) for all the sensors so i pulled 4 temp sensors out and the remaining temp sensors and lightning sensor worked flawlessly.
So i ordered the 6 channel hub with built in serial port adapter recently and just installed. Put all 7 temp sensors on one port, and the lightning sensor by itself on another. The weather display software sees all the Temp sensors on the hub, and sees the lightning sensor on the 2nd port. I thought i was good to go as the temp data was registering with the software. A storm went through and the software registered no strikes - however the sensor is still seen by the software and appears to be polled by the lights on the hub.
I went back to the original 4 temp sensors and 1 lightning detector config that works with the usb adapter and put them into a hub port with nothing else connected into any other hub port. Once again the software sees the 4 temp sensors and lightning sensor, and is polling correctly but the lightning detector never registers strikes.
Does anyone know how the lightning sensor works?? Does it hold the strike data until polled, or does it send the data as soon as it sees it. It almost seems like i’m missing the data being sent by the sensor because it is sent to the hub between polls but i could be totally wrong.
any ideas as it works fine using the 4 temp sensors and lightning sensor and usb configuration but not when incorporating the hub.
Any suggestions as i’m at a loss. The Dallas 1 Wire setup page data is below:
**Searching for Weather station sensors
**Searching for Weather station sensors part 2
Hub i-button found: 8D0000000856AC1F
***#1 Hub i-button allocated ID 8D0000000856AC1F
Hub i-button found: FD000000086A611F
***#2 Hub i-button allocated ID FD000000086A611F
Hub i-button found: F70000000857091F
***#3 Hub i-button allocated ID F70000000857091F
**Searching on main HUB A port
**Searching on aux HUB A port
**Searching on main HUB B port
Temperature i-button found, ID AA0008019479A810
***4th Extra temperature i button allocated to AA0008019479A810
Temperature i-button found, ID 1E00080194973410
***2nd Extra temperature i button allocated to 1E00080194973410
Temperature i-button found, ID 81000801949F3C10
***6th Extra temperature i button allocated to 81000801949F3C10
Temperature i-button found, ID 16000801948C1210
***Extra temperature i button allocated to 16000801948C1210
Temperature i-button found, ID 5100080194606D10
***7th Extra temperature i button allocated to 5100080194606D10
Temperature i-button found, ID 44000801946DE310
***3rd Extra temperature i button allocated to 44000801946DE310
Temperature i-button found, ID 0E000801949C4F10
***5th Extra temperature i button allocated to 0E000801949C4F10
**Searching on aux HUB B port
**Searching on main HUB C port
Switch (windspeed or rain or lightening counter) i-button found ID A90000000C8E1D1D
**Searching on aux HUB C port
The lightning sensor is essentially a counting device. Each lightning pulse just increments the counter value. When WD polls the detector it will be asking for the current count. A strike (or strikes) would be indicated by an increase in the count since the last poll.
Does that make sense?
It does make sense. I was already under the impression the device would hold the counts in its register until polled but didn’t know for sure. For the life of me I can’t figure out why when i use the hub WD doesn’t see the anything in its register. Please understand i’m not blaming WD as it clearly could be a hub to sensor issue. Is there any way to debug what WD see’s from the hub or if there is any type of error going on between the hub and WD?
I ask as the usb adapter and lightning sensor seem to play fine together with WD.
Thoughts anyone???
Update: I just noticed the lightning detector is found (see above) but i dont get the message from WD stating it is allocated like when using a USB adapter. Is this why i am not seeing the lightning strikes??? I’m using 10.37p-28
hi john…
I went to check your lighteninggraph.gif image here:
…but dont see it showing anything??
go to WD>View tab…then click on 1wire/Nexstorm-Lightning counts Icon near bottom right to set it up.
You also need to go to the Overrides/upload section of WD and make sure that the Lighteninggraph.gif is set to upload at regular intervals. It is the file on setup page number 2 named lighteninggraph of the upload/creation overrides times section.
…chris
The problem is not displaying the graph as it can be seen at the bottom of http://www.auburnweatherlive.com/wxgr3radar.php
or on the main screen http://www.auburnweatherlive.com
I believe the problem is the lightning detector is found (see above) but i dont get the message from WD stating it is allocated like when using a USB adapter. All the other sensors are allocated as well as found. Is this why i am not seeing the lightning strikes??? I’m using 10.37p-28
WD states: Switch (windspeed or rain or lightening counter) i-button found ID A90000000C8E1D1D
but never gives me the “allocated” message.
make sure you have ticked that you have one, in the 1 wire setup
Hey Brian. Thanks for the response. I had the box checked that says “i have a lightning detector”. I unchecked the box saved it thinking i’ll try setting it again and as soon as i saved it “NOT CHECKED”, WD came back and said ***Lightening detector found and allocated: A90000000C8E1D1D
Not sure if it is going to record strikes since i don’t have the box checked any more but it definately came back with the allocated line.
Thoughts?
Hey Brian I isolated the problem. When i have the box NOT checked that states “i have a lightning detector” and click save - WD came back and said ***Lightening detector found and allocated: A90000000C8E1D1D. I then went to the lightning detector with a lighter and hit it about 30 times, my front ajax page which uses clientraw recorded the hits under “last minute”.
However since i have the box unchecked WD never puts anything into the “last 5, last 30, last 60, or last 12 hour slots.” So WD does see the lightning detector but only when the box is unchecked.
I then went back into WD and put a check next to “i have a lightning detector” and all the fields in WD for “last 30, last 12, and since noon” populated the strikes, however the graph still does not. But again when i hit save, it loses its allocation and no longer records the strikes.
I can’t figure out a work around because as soon as i save it checked - the detector is no longer allocated.
Thoughts?? Again thanks for your help!!!
restart WD after ticking you have a lightning detector and have clicked on save/reset
Hey Brian - IT WORKED!!! Once i checked the “i have a lightning detector” hit save and rebooted the machine, it came back up with the lightning detector found and allocated. I really can’t believe i didn’t reboot earlier after checking and unchecking.
Unchecking the box, hitting save, then checking the box, hitting save, and rebooting did the trick. I’ll check to make sure it registers strikes with a lighter tomorrow but pretty sure I am good to go. One thing i did notice though was when i went in about 30 minutes later and hit save to see what WD can locate again for sensors, it goes back to seeing the lightening sensor but not allocating again. I then unchecked, saved, checked, saved and restarted WD and it allocated so i’m going to leave it alone and see how it runs. Hopefully it continues through time to hold the allocation.
As always - THANKS for your Support Brian !!!.
Temp Spike Problem Now.
With the Unchecking the box, hitting save, then checking the box, hitting save, and rebooting the lightning sensor works great. If i go back into the dallas 1 wire setup about an hour later and hit save again it loses its allocation, but when i uncheck the box the allocation shows up again - which is a problem as it needs to be checked. My plan was to simply reboot with the box checked and let it be as everything was running fine - all 1 wire sensors including the lightning.
However i am now getting temp spikes on my Davis VP2 temp sensor which has nothing to do with the 1 wire network. I have isolated it down where if i have the box checked that i have a lightning detector i get periodic spikes (only about 10-12 degrees higher).
Once i uncheck the box that i have a lightning detector, i get the allocation message for the lightning detector, and the spikes on the VP2 go away.
This is really weird but i am positive this spike issue clears when i uncheck the lightning sensor box - which then shows the sensor allocated. I think the problem is something in that piece of the code as it should be allocated with it checked, not unchecked.
I have included some data showing the spikes as recorded on Weather Underground in an excel file and highlighted in red some spikes - i likely missed some. File can be seen at http://www.auburnweatherlive.com/spikes.xls These spikes started immediately after messing with the 1 wire lightning and hub arrangement.
You can see the spikes cleared as soon as i unchecked the box last night and have been running clean for over 24 hrs at the following CWOP quality page - CWOP Information for CW5897 in Auburn, MA, US
Thoughts??
for the problem with the lightning ROM allocated, use the latest .zip update, ready now
I download the latest 10.37p-37 and getting the same message. I rebooted and the same result. When i reboot with the box checked it sees the allocation. however if i hit save on the 1 wire screen i again lose the allocation. As soon as i uncheck the box click save it allocates.
It seems to be no different. Once i hit save i get the following with no allocation:
**Searching for Weather station sensors
**Searching for Weather station sensors part 2
Hub i-button found: 8D0000000856AC1F
***#1 Hub i-button allocated ID 8D0000000856AC1F
Hub i-button found: FD000000086A611F
***#2 Hub i-button allocated ID FD000000086A611F
Hub i-button found: F70000000857091F
***#3 Hub i-button allocated ID F70000000857091F
**Searching on main HUB A port
**Searching on aux HUB A port
**Searching on main HUB B port
Temperature i-button found, ID AA0008019479A810
***4th Extra temperature i button allocated to AA0008019479A810
Temperature i-button found, ID 1E00080194973410
***2nd Extra temperature i button allocated to 1E00080194973410
Temperature i-button found, ID 81000801949F3C10
***6th Extra temperature i button allocated to 81000801949F3C10
Temperature i-button found, ID 16000801948C1210
***Extra temperature i button allocated to 16000801948C1210
Temperature i-button found, ID 5100080194606D10
***7th Extra temperature i button allocated to 5100080194606D10
Temperature i-button found, ID 44000801946DE310
***3rd Extra temperature i button allocated to 44000801946DE310
Temperature i-button found, ID 0E000801949C4F10
***5th Extra temperature i button allocated to 0E000801949C4F10
**Searching on aux HUB B port
**Searching on main HUB C port
Switch (windspeed or rain or lightening counter) i-button found ID A90000000C8E1D1D
**Searching on aux HUB C port
are you sure its an update you got?
(check the file modified date/time)
i just downloaded the file from http://www.weather-display.com/downloadfiles/wdisplay32.exe and tried it again. Is there any other location as this is the only place i know to get the file.
properties of the file are : Today, June 22, 2010, 9:38:57 PM
Still no changes
but its the zip file update that you needed to download
(see my post)
not the full install, that you have downloaded
Sorry i had never loaded the zip release before. I just downloaded and installed, and the lightning detector allocated perfectly.
Thanks for this fix, i’ll watch to see if i get anymore spikes but expect everything is working great now.
Thanks for the support!!!
John