I am looking into buying the WeatherLink Live software for my Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station. I have a few questions about the package:
Can I store a historical record of my weather data?
I am confused about the subscriptions offered by Davis, what is the different between the various levels? I see the basic level talks about 15 minutes? Does that mean that the app updates every 15 minutes? Or what? https://www.davisinstruments.com/weatherlink/
I would like to upload my data onto weather wunderground, would a basic package be an issue?
The WeatherLink Live (WLL) is not software. It is a physical device. It receives data from your ISS and any extra transmitters that you may have with their sensors.
The WLL will connect to your network via Ethernet cable or WiFi. Your choice. It doesn’t plug into your display console. The WLL is a stand alone device. Some people have just the outdoor ISS and a WLL without a display console.
The WLL only uploads to Weatherlink.com.* But it does have an extra feature that does let you do more. I’ll cover that in a second. But by itself the WLL will only upload to Weatherlink.com based on the plan that you have with Davis Weatherlink.com. The basic free plan only uploads every 15 minutes. This means that your data is only made available online every 15 minutes. If you use Weatherlink.com to upload to services like Weather Underground and CWOP then the data can only make it there in 15 minute increments. If you pay for one of the other plans then you can reduce this. But it will never be live (no rapidfire to WU).
Okay so I said that the WLL did have an extra feature. It is a logger very much like the prior USB and IP loggers. It has storage and will keep the most recent data and depending on its internal logging interval will last a given amount of days. You can change its internal logging interval. But the WLL also has a local network API which means it has a way to communicate with software on your network that ask it for data. This API is not limited to any subscription plan limitations of Weatherlink.com. This API can be used to get instant live data from the WLL. The Weather-Display software is compatible with the WLL and it will continually poll the WLL for live data. Then Weather-Display can upload live data to Weather Underground and to other places that support faster data uploads.
To sum it up; the WLL uploads to Weatherlink.com based on the plan you select. If you use the WLL alone then you are limited to sending data to other places based on the plan you select. However if you run software locally like Weather-Display then you can get live data from the WLL directly with no subscription costs.
The uploaded data from WLL or ip logger to weatherlink.com is every minute data though based on my ip logger it uploads 60 minutes of data on the hour and the dashboard shows every minute data.
the 15 minute part relates to 3rd party uploads ie if you want to send your data to wunderground or WOW or weathercloud from weatherlink.com it can only be done every 15 minutes on the basic free plan
Thanks. I want to clarify that I will be in the market to buy the WeatherLink Live software. I have just read your comment about the update times being slow and having the ability of doing it live without paying anything? Could you please explain how you would do that?
My main goal is to upload my station data on Wunderground and perhaps WOW with real time data. I also want to keep a record of my weather conditions of the years to be able to go back over it.
Is there a cheaper method of doing all of this without buying the WeatherLink?
Well you missed what I said in my previous post. WeatherLInk Live is not software. The WeatherLink Live is a physical device.
WeatherLink Live = WiFi/Ethernet logger gateway device Weatherlink.com = Davis online website to upload your data and see it and manage other places to send (WU, CWOP, GLOBE)
Weatherlink USB = a USB logger that plugs into the back of the display console and provides data via USB
Weatherlink IP = an Ethernet logger that plugs into the back of the display console and provides data via Ethernet cable (discontinued)
Weatherlink Serial = a Serial port logger that plugs into the back of the display console and provides data via Serial port connection
Weatherlink for Windows = A software program that is discontinued that would accept data from one of the loggers to then upload to Weatherlink.com and also show you data on the computer
You can’t use just the term “Weatherlink” in a sentence without clarifying what you are talking about. When you say buy Weatherlink…that just doesn’t mean anything. Weatherlink what? The service? One of the loggers? The software that is discontinued but still available that used to cost money but is now free?
Thanks! It would appear that all options are expensive! I will have to get the WeatherLink Live eventually, I was hoping to find a cheaper deal and method of uploading data online.
The cheapest way is also the most complex and requires a lot of investment in learning what SDR is and how to use an RTL-SDR adapter. For about less than $30 in an adapter and some open source free software you can basically create a receiver / logger / and upload data to just about any service. No programing required, no hardware building, only an adapter and installing and configuring software. But that is out of the scope of this forum that deals with Weather-Display software. But now you’ve got a lead to follow.
There are cheaper ways to do it. For example using a Raspberry Pi and Weather Display would get your data uploaded for about £100 compared to over £200 for WeatherLink Live.
Is it?? The forum is the main location for support of Weather Display, but it’s not exclusively so. Many other software and hardware items are discussed and some are supported here too. There is no reason not to discuss the use of SDR technology with respect to the weather in the forum, although not in this specific board.
That is wonderful Chris. I did not realize that. I always saw this as just a Weather-Display exclusive forum. Discussing SDR could bring in talk about other software that could be considered competition with Weather-Display. Out of respect I would not have ever considered this.
I don’t see it that way. WLL is a logger that has limited functionality. Weather-Display supports getting data from WLL in order to expand the capabilities of a weather station. You can’t use WD without the WLL (or some other logger for a Davis station). WD can’t replace WLL.
ConsoleWD on a Raspberry Pi isn’t difficult to set up. The Pi setup process is well documented and it takes me about 15 minutes (including writing a new SD card) to do now, or 25 minutes if I’m putting it into a case. You can see how to set up consolewd here… HOWTO: ConsoleWD for Raspberry PI - Setup Instructions - New version
There are plenty of people on the forum who use this combination and can offer help/advice in setting it up. I’d say that it’s better than WeatherLink Live because you’re not tied to the Davis cloud infrastructure. There’s a lot you can do with Weather Display (aka consolewd on Linux) that WLL can’t do, or requires additional software to achieve, and the Raspberry Pi is low power so not expensive to be left on all the time.