Having recently purchased HW WS3600 I’m now faced with the best way to transfer the data from the console to PC/server.
Reading thru the threads here I understand that due to the way the HW software is configured there will be problems d/loading it if I don’t plug it directly into an RS232 serial port?
The WS3600 is some distance from my house and PC so I was thinking of trying to download the data wirelessly to the PC.
The port/socket from the HW console uses a RJ-11? socket/plug. The lead supplied has the RJ-11 plug on one end and a RS232 plug on the other.
Is there any reason why I can’t remove the RS232 plug and replace it with another RJ-11?
The reason for this is so that I could plug it into a Wireless Access Point or Wireless Router (configured as an Access Point).
I am hoping that this will be possible?
All the HW sensors are cabled to the console which is powered by mains power. I have had it running for a week and that part of it seems fine.
Will WD be able to read/d/load data from a wireless Access Point?
Does HW 3600 allow WD to access the data this way?
I have not yet installed any software and after going thru various threads will wait until I hear the recommended do’s and don’ts.
If it is not possible to retreive the data wirelessly then it sounds like my best option will be to setup a server with the console and then transmit the data from that to the PC wirelessly - I was hoping to avoid the extra hardware though.
Any suggestions and all help is much appreciated.
If I look ahead and go with a dedicated server which I then could also use with an upgraded Wx in a couple of years time, how many and what type of sockets would I need to have?
Do other Wx download data via a console like HW/Lacrosse or are you able to plug hardware/peripherals into a server and use software to take readings? #-o
Such a n00b, so much to learn and no-one wants to touch this thread with a 10ft pole :?
Hi Maelstrom,
ah, the old ‘can i do it Wirelessly’ question. Short answer is no, not really, with out large amounts of money and equipment. Using an RJ11 connector as such means the signal from sensor/station to PC is analog, and to effectively do this wirelessly, you’d need a modulator/demodulator pair so that the analog coming in is converted to digital, fed into an access point (thus requiring an ip address), across the air to the router, into a demod. device (ip addressing issues again) to convert back to analog then into the pc. Much equipment, much $$$.
A couple of alternatives for you. you haven’t defined ‘some distance’ which can be a gotcha. If it’s about 100M or less, you could use a series of phone extension cable, plugged into eachother until you get the right length. IIRC the WS series will work with up to 100M of cabling between the station and the PC. 2nd option is to buy a couple of cordless phones, and rewire them ( or the phone and base station) to take the station feed in as "voice’ at one end and ‘earpiece’ at the other and use a wireless bridge like this. Would entail much fiddling around, but is possible - I’ve butchered phones like this to carry a remore alarm sensor, but it was a b*tch to do.
Edit: OOPS - NEVER MIND
I just read this listing more closely, and it states it does not implement modem control, so while it (probably) would work with a 2300 series, it won’t work with a 3600, which, as I understand it, sends its serial data using the modem control handshake bits.
You can get wireless serial extenders. This is the first inexpensive one I found on Google, and is only as an example of what is available. It is NOT a recommendation of this particular unit.
You need to carefully research the unit you purchase:
The frequencies it uses must be legal for use in your country.
Check how they identifiy their mate. Some you have to plug in to a PC to configure. Some detect a nearby one automatically, but may have to be near each other each time you power them up.
Search for the name / model number and see if anybody has posted about their experiences with it. I have read in such posts of some working OK, and some that were problematic.
See if you can download a user’s manual form the manufacturer’s site.
I actually think the console has an RJ45 connection but am not sure RJ11/RJ45 both look the same?
AZ Kiwi thanks for that information. Distance in a straight line is around 30m/100ft. The Wx is mounted from the far side of an old shed and my PC is at the opposite side of the house so actual wiring distance could possibly be 50% longer after going up and down structures etc. Hence the thought to go wirelessly. I do have a spare Dlink Wireless Access Point (DWL 2100AP) which I had hoped to plug the HW WS3600 console into. I had a chuckle at your butchered phone option - you’re a dayum better bloke than I am setting that up and probably out of my league.
Keep tossing those sorts of idea’s this way I do appreciate them and something might click yet.
N7XSQ, thanks for that link. That a very promising solution although I’m a bit apprehensive that Bluetooth would have problems with a signal through one side of a house to the other and outside through to the other side of the shed. It would be an expensive failure or a cheap solution
I have also considered a dedicated server running either Windows XP or Linux. Anyone with advice on these options would also be much appreciated, particularly which Linux OS you’d suggest.
Thanks to the both or you for your support and suggestions so far.
This is a LaCrosse 3600, Right?
I am pretty sure that it only has a serial connection, and one with a non-standard implementation at that.
You cannot plug the computer port modular connector on the console directly into any kind of network connection.
It will not work, and may very well damage the console or the network device.
Just because it has an RJ11/45 connector on it does not mean it has a network connection.
They use the phone/network modular connectors because they are small, inexpensive, and can be mounted on the circuit board. The DB-9 connectors that are commonly used for serial are too costly and big for a console.
My LaCrosse 2308 has a modular connector on it for the computer connection. But the signals that are on this connector’s pins are serial signals, not network, which has entirely different signaling characteristics. The serial cable that comes with it is merely a wiring adapter that connects the serial signals on the modular plug end to the correct pins on the DB-9 end.
My Wx is actually a Heavy Weather WS3600 but is exactly the same as the Lacrosse. They both come out of the same factory in China
What I really need then is a serial-to-network adaptor with RJxx to RJxx connectors … if one exists.(thanks for the connector warning N7XSQ)
Currently then, my option are:
Phonecord, cross country from Wx to PC.
Wireless Serial Extenders, worth a try if I can return them back to the shop if it doesn’t work.
Dedicated Server, but still looking for a recommendation for an OS, preferably a Linux version/type but if Windows is the go will use that. I’m also interested what type and quantity of sockets people using a dedicated server have to cater for all the Wx hardware or if instead it all plugs into a console which then plugs into the server.
Phonecord would be the easiest but not the tidiest. I should give that a shot this w/end just to make a start.
Thanks for your help so far.
Again, this is just the first one of these I found Googling serial extender.
It is not a recommendation or an endorsement.
You can also get adapters that extend serial ports via the net.
Notes:
While this one uses network cable to connect the two boxes, it is not sending network type signals, and cannot be connected directly in to a network. They are sending their own proprietary signals using network type cable becasuse it is plentiful and cheap.
ANY of these kinds of devices might not work with your 3600. A normal serial connection uses the TXD (transmit data) and RXD (receive data) to carry the serial data. There are some other lines that are used as traffic control flags to signal things like that the transmitter is ready to send data or the receiver is ready to receive data. It is not mandatory to use these handshaking signal lines, provided the receiver is always capable of keeping up with the transmitter’s data rate.
It is my understanding that the 3600 is wierd. (Unless I have this confused with a different model.) It does not send the serial data on the TXD and RXD lines, but uses the handshaking lines to actually transmit the data, instead of using them as flow control lines. Windy has reported that he had a difficult time making it work reliably with Weather Display. Since this is not a normal way to transmit data over a serial connection, the way these extender devices handle the handshaking lines, if at all, may not be adequate to handle the way the 3600 is using them.
From what I’ve read the WS3600 is weird with the way it transmits the data … if it’s used the way it was designed for then there’s no problem at all - but it needs to be very near a PC which isn’t always practical. I’ll try the using a phone cord extension just to see if a signal can go the distance without corruption, that’ll be a start anyway.
The server still interests me as I can use a smaller box with less hardware and have it running a lot more efficiently than my PC.
What does everyone else do to be able to download their data and host it 24/7?
If you are going to post to the web 24/7, you are going to want a dedicated pc anyway. Most everybody eventually chooses this solution. Often it is the old PC they retired when they upgraded to their current whiz-bang machine.
Just be careful with phone cables. I believe some of them reverse the wiring order from one end to the other. If you are unable to independently verify that the pinouts are correct, I would recommend a purpose built extension cable, with a plug on one end, and a jack on the other.
Yes you’re right, phone cables are reversed. I’d forgotten. I’ll replace one of the connectors.
[i]posted by[/i][b]N7XSQ[/b]
Often it is the old PC they retired when they upgraded to their current whiz-bang machine.
So It seems most people are using Windows as the OS for their server. I'm keen to try a Linux version of some sort but it's not important, Windows would be fine.
I'll have to sift through some more threads here to see setups for different Wx's to servers as I haven't found whether other Wx's also send data via a console or if they use a direct input from each sensor.
Thanks for the help so far.
Weather Dispaly has a Linux version, with a free trial period to try it out.
It does not yet support 1-wire instruments, which is a big drawback for many.
I don’t know about the 3600, but I suspect that it is supported.
Weather Display has a remote client option, at least in the Windows version, where you run WD on one machine, and can display the current readings on another machine by running the remote client.
There is a section of this forum devoted to the Linux flavor of Weather Display.
You should also consider what other applications you might want to run on your network posting box. Some of the other weather enthusiasts who frequent this forum post output from, among other things, the Boltek lightning detector system, the GRLevel3 NEXRAD radar interactive viewer, and/or the WXSim modeling and forcasting application. I am an amateur radio operator. I run an application that monitors a worldwide high frequency automatic beacon system, and regularly posts a graphical picture of the radio propagation conditions from my location to various parts of the world. All of these are Windows programs.
There really is no universal “best” way, but rather what best fulfills your needs and desires.
I haven't found whether other Wx's also send data via a console or if they use a direct input from each sensor
Pretty much all of the commercial weather stations have a console, which is really their main focus. Connecting to a computer is added as a side feature. Some do not have the capability at all, some have it built in, and others require the purchase of additional components to connect the console to a computer.
You can also build a system from 1-wire components. The 1-wire bus attaches to a serial port with an adapter, you attach whatever 1-wire instruments you want to the bus, and there is no console. Many people have built or expanded their systems this way. The Windows version of Weather Display has extensive support for 1-wire instruments, unfortunately not in the Linux version.
Excellent, thanks again for all that info and the link. The idea for adding other applications sounds good as well.
My WS3600 runs, what I need to do next is get it to fly. I’ll be happy enough just to be able to d/load data to start with. My PC doesn’t run 24/7 anyway so downloading data from the console once or twice a day will be the only way to start with.
It just occurred to me that there’s another option:- running WD from an online host?
As long as I have a fixed IP broadband connection and am able to install WD at the host it should work the same as if I was running it on a dedicated server?
All the articles so far sound like people download straight to their own boxes, not straight to a (online)host.
How are you going to get the serial data from your console to the host?
Weather Display is an application that is designed to run on a local machine, not as a network service.
It is not impossible to have something that formats and displays your weather data that runs on the server, but it is not Weather Display, and you would still need some kind of hardware and software locally to read the data out of the console and send it to the server.
Running Weather Display on a local machine is a VERY good and quite flexible way to achieve your stated goal of posting your observations to the web. Just look at the varied web sites of the folks around here. I would recommend thst once you get your station installed, talking to your computer, and operating with whatever software that came with it, you download Weather Display and give it a spin.
N7XSQ, I intend to use WD. I hadn’t realised that it was not able to be used as a network service, it was a last minute idea without much thought or research put into it … but you never know if you don’t ask the question!
kv-swe, the weather station wireless barely reaches the other end of the shed (8m/25ft). My PC is not only further away than that but also on the opposite side of the house. A serial bluetooth option has been suggested by N7XSQ which could be feasible, it certainly has the range but I’m not sure if it would travel through both the shed and my house.
To go wireless it seems my best option is a dedicated server mounted at the console which sends the data wireless to the PC via the home wireless network. I only need to extend the wireless area which I can already do by using a spare Wireless Access Point I already have.
Thanks for the suggestion though - keep the idea’s coming!
Hi again
If it only reaches 8m something must be wrong 8O maybe the batteries in the thermo-hygro?
My WS3600 reaches ~80m and trough a wall
Note: Commonly the radio communication between receiver and
transmitter in the open field reaches distances of at least
100 meter providing that there are no interfering obstacles
such as buildings, trees, vehicles, high voltage lines, etc.
Radio interferences as they are created by PC screens,
radios or TV sets can in bad cases entirely cut off radio
communication. Please take this into consideration when
choosing standing or mounting locations.
From the manual at [http://www.heavyweather.info/new_english_uk/3600pdf/WS3600uk_manual.pdf](http://www.heavyweather.info/new_english_uk/3600pdf/WS3600uk_manual.pdf)
Is it going through a wall?
Stucco walls typically have a layer of chicken wire mesh under the stucco, which will effectively block the signals.
Some walls have aluminum foil backed insulation in them which will also interfere with the signals.
Try re-orienting the transmitter/console boxes. They have antennas inside them, which have a sharp null in their signal response in one direction. If the antennas are at right angles to each other (like this | - , where the dashes represent the internal antennas) they won’t receive very well at all. If the internal antennas are oriented paralell to each other ( | | ), they will receive much better.
hmmm … interesting comments. Both the Transmitter (i.e. the thermo-hydro sensor which the Wind sensor and the rain gauge plug into) and the Receiver (console/base station) are mounted vertically. The shed has no walls i.e. it is open sided. The roof has gabled ends which is where the Transmitter is mounted, on the outside facing outwards in a vertical position.
My house is a high set weatherboard house i.e. a house on stilts. The internal walls are also timber. You couldn’t get a more wireless-friendly type of house.
I’ll check again on the weekend maybe it is the batteries or something like that. Thanks for those suggestions.
Krister