APRS Data from Ultimeter 2100 (Raw Format Posted to findu.com)

Brian, I exchanged some email with Steve Dimse at findu.com.

Steve suggested that I use the Data Logger format from my Peet Bros Weather station. This format has !! as the first two characters of the header. findu.com is working with both the $ULTW header and the !! header. The peet bros station only sends the ULTW header data once every 5 minutes, and the Data Logger data format is sent out about 90 times per minute. This gets a better sample on the 5 minute boundry that I will be transmitting at via APRS. Plus I could increase the transmit time to a lower value if desired.

So here we go with the !! data format, it’s a little different than the $ULTW format, but it’s still 4 byte fields formated in hex. In a perfect world, WD would decode the $ULTW format or the !! format. It’s just more work for you and I understand your constraints.

Header = !! (from http://www.peetbros.com/HTML_Pages/faqs.htm#Q5)
Data Fields

  1. Wind Speed (0.1 kph)
  2. Wind Direction (0-255)
  3. Outdoor Temp (0.1 deg F)
  4. Rain* Long Term Total (0.01 inches)
  5. Barometer (0.1 mbar)
  6. Indoor Temp (0.1 deg F)
  7. Outdoor Humidity (0.1%)
  8. Indoor Humidity (0.1%)
  9. Date (day of year)
  10. Time (minute of day)
  11. Today’s Rain Total (0.01 inches)*
  12. 1 Minute Wind Speed Average (0.1kph)*
    Carriage Return & Line Feed
    *Some instruments may not include field 12, some may not include 11 or 12. Please contact Peet Bros. if this presents any problem.
    Total size: 40, 44 or 48 characters (hex digits) + header, carriage return and line feed.

Here is data from my APRS station using the !! format… make sure and scroll to the bottom of the page to see the !! data: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/rawwx.cgi?call=ke7cxv

Do you think it’s a possibility to handle both formats?

mg NG7M

that 2nd format is what I already do, so its easy to handle

*Some instruments may not include field 12, some may not include 11 or 12. Please contact Peet Bros. if this presents any problem. Total size: 40, 44 or 48 characters (hex digits) + header, carriage return and line feed.

its this sort of chop and changinig from different ultimeter models that causes probs

yes, i should be able to support both formats

so, this is going to be good in the wider community, adding this support?

Yes, this would be a good thing for the Amateur Radio / APRS community. Supporting both Peet Bros formats along with standard APRS format that you have working now would be a big plus. Especially knowing that findu.com is supporting all three formats now.

The big advantage that the Peet Bros Ultimeter 2100 station has is that it directly supports a serial connection to a TNC. You can setup a weather station with no computer in the loop. The weather station is connected directly to the TNC, which is connected to a radio that transmits the APRS packets. The Peet Bros station was designed to send the data out to the TNC in a format that works with the APRS features in the TNC. They document and support a direct TNC connection.

The next level of WD support would be to parse the weather data packets directly from a APRS Internet Server Telnet connection… I mentioned this in another message. This would get findu.com out of the mix here. But, we better take it one step at a time.

Thanks for helping me out again on this Brian… :smiley:

mg

Brian, I’m actully going to setup my weather station at the remote site this evening. I’m going to leave it setup to log the APRS weather data using the Peet Bros !! format. I can change it easily, but it will require a trip to the remote site to change it back to the $ULTW format. Just a heads up on this… the data will be available at findu.com using the callsign KE7CXV. http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxpage.cgi?call=KE7CXV&last=12

It sounds like you will be able to implement the !! format sooner than the $ULTW due to the fact that you are parsing the !! format directly from the serial feed on a Peet Bros station now.

mg NG7M

Brian, after having my station remote for 12 hours now, I’m thinking the $ULTW format is the way to go due to the fact that I’m only going to be transmitting the data every 5 minutes. The !! format always transmits the current data at the time the sample was taken and there is a field for 1 minute wind speed average, but the $ULTW format has the wind speed peak over the last 5 minutes as field #1.

Without using the field for wind speed peak over the last 5 minutes, I could miss a lot of light wind activity and wind direction changes. Steve Dimse’s suggestion on using the !! is a good one if you are transmitting the data on a short interval. The Amateur community wouldn’t be happy if I tied up the frequency transmitting my weather data every 30 seconds (for example)

What are you thoughts? If I’m going to transmit the data at 5 minute intervals, I think we will get better useable data with the $ULTW format. Then again, if you support the !! format and the $ULTW formats, the user can then decide.

Now that I have the station at the site and live, I’m watching the data pretty close. 8O

mg NG7M

i have this working,via findu.com (for now) using the !! format, updating every 10 seconds or so
(how often is the data updated?)
also , i have asummed

http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/raw.cgi?call=KE7CXV
, the data in the first line is the most up to date, is that correct?

download a new 10.23c zip in about 1 hour
(or from here if you are quick:
http://www.weather-display.com/uploads/WeatherD.zip

then you can tick to use the raw ultimeter data in the aprs internet client/server setup

Hi Brian, No, the most up todate data is in the LAST line on that link: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/raw.cgi?call=KE7CXV (newest data is at the END of the data returned on the http request)

I’m actually back to the $ULTW format (as you can see), because it keeps the wind average over the last 5 minutes. At this point, I think the $ULTW format is the best way to go.

I’m transmitting the data about every 4 to 5 minutes right now. I don’t think I’ll make this any shorter in the future.

If you checked for new data every minute, that would be fine. Do you think you could support the $ULTW format?

mg

i have the hex format working…
just need to get it to use the last data on the findu.com page////tomorrow…bed time here

i got it working, from what i can see, to use the last data on that page…
so try a new 10.23c zip :slight_smile:

I’ll give it a shot! :smiley:

The test site will be running at http://nurcacwx.qrq.com and then I’ll move things over to http://www.nurcac.org

mg

looks to be working
amazing 8)

Yes, it’s working! But it looks like there are some tweaks to make. Humitity is not working and it’s not picking up the Wind Gusts, it’s using wind gusts as the normal wind speed. Plus, something happed that is really strange on the Temperature? It jumped into the 70 degree range and didn’t get fixed until I restarted WD. http://nurcacwx.qrq.com Take a look at the findu.com data.

Here is the raw $ULTW data where the newest data is at the end of the page: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/rawwx.cgi?call=KE7CXV I think this is the URL you are using to get the data right?

Also, look at the data in a table form, where the newest data is at the top of the page: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wx.cgi?call=KE7CXV

You can see in the table format that you can get the wind speed and the gust. Here is a break down of some actual data:

KE7CXV>APRS,TRACE3-3,qAR,KD7GIZ-10:$ULTW005600B501F9000027DFFFFCC64E000102610040042900000041

Header $ULTW

Field #1 0056 = Wind Speed Peak over last 5 min. (reported as 0.1 kph increments) 56 hex = 86 decimal * .1 = 8.6 kph This wind gust speed over the last 5 minutes.

Field #2 00B5 Wind Direction of Wind Speed Peak (0-255) B5 = 181 Decimal.

Field #3 01F9 Current Outdoor Temp (reported as 0.1 deg F increments) i.e. 01F9 = 505 decimal * 0.1 = 50.5 deg F This appears to be working, but the display went goofy on my test site for some reason? http://nurcacwx.qrq.com

Field #4 0000 Rain Long Term Total (reported in 0.01 in. increments) 0.00 inches in this example

Field #5 27DF Current Barometer (reported in 0.1 mbar increments) 27DF= 10207 decimal = 1020.7, this looks good in WD now.

Field #6 FFFC Barometer Delta Value(reported in 0.1 mbar increments) Probably not used by WD?

Field #7 C64E Barometer Corr. Factor(LSW) Probably not used by WD?

Field #8 0001 Barometer Corr. Factor(MSW) Probably not used by WD?

Field #9 0261 Current Outdoor Humidity (reported in 0.1% increments) 0261 hex = 609 decimal * .1 = 60.9% (this is not working right now, see my site: http://nurcacwx.qrq.com)

Field #10 0040 Date (day of year since January 1) 58 decimal in this case… it was February 28th, 30 + 28 for Jan and Feb. Probably not used by WD?

Field #11 0429 Time (minute of day) 1295 in this case after conversion to decimal. Not used by WD?

Field #12 0000 Today’s Rain Total (reported as 0.01 inch increments)* 0.00 inches in this example (rain since midnight)

Field #13 0041 1 Minute Wind Speed Average (reported in 0.1kph increments) This is the Current Windspeed. 0041 dex = 65 decimal * .1 = 6.5 kph

I think it’s really close Brian! :slight_smile: Wind speed and wind gusts need to be fixed and the Humidity needs to be fixed.

How often are you polling for the data? Thanks again for working on this! :slight_smile:

mg NG7M

ok, it was the baro corrections that was the problem
uploading a new 10.23c zip (yes, again, LOL),.now

Nice! It’s amazing how fast you get things done Brian. I have the latest version running again with a clean database. http://nurcacwx.qrq.com Let’s keep any eye on it and see how it’s working. There is no wind at the site right now, so I’ll take a look at the gust and average once the wind starts blowing again.

Matt, NG7M

i was running it too, the last few hours
I dont think i have the windspeed correct yet, as it was constant 2.5 knots
but the humidity is working well!
will investigate the windspeed

i found the problem with the temperature glitch, i think, too
uploading another new 10.23c zip where the windspeed and direction should work ok now
(pitty there is no wind to check)

Yes, the wind is dead right now… I’ll get the new one installed.

The Wind Gust is in Field #1 and the current wind speed average is in Field #13. Is this how you fixed it? I’ll install the new version right now. :slight_smile:

mg

I have the latest version installed and the wind has picked up at the site. I also deleted all the WD data to get a clean start / reference with this lastest build.

As I mentioned in my previous message, it looks like you are using the same field for the current wind speed and the gusts. If you look on findu.com, it’s showing gusts. http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxpage.cgi?call=KE7CXV&last=6 I’m sure findu.com is using Field #1 for the gust data and Field #13 for the current wind speed. You can see in the Wind graph that the top of the bars are lighter to show the gust speed for that 5 minute sample. The raw data in table format will show this too (latest data at the top of table): http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wx.cgi?call=KE7CXV

The other data is looking good so far. :slight_smile:

Matt NG7M

Brian, another observation… the wind in the chart is not dropping down to zero after going up from zero. Right now the wind is zero, but the wind chart at http://nurcacwx.qrq.com is showing a flat line. You can see that the findu.com chart is back to zero for the wind: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxpage.cgi?call=KE7CXV&last=6

Matt NG7M

i am uploading a new 10.23c zip now where it will use the max gust line (should do in theory)