Acurite is coming out with its new 01050C station in October. Not only does it include a solar-aspirated 5 in 1 system, and a really cool console, but will also include a wireless internet bridge, which will support at least Wunderground and probably more servers as well. I was wondering if there are any plans for Weather Display to support this system. The cost will be roughly in the 150-200 dollar range, and I think alot more people will get into the hobby given this price. Testing of these systems show good quality data as well.
Hi
I have been in contact with Rhino on wxforum.net
and he was open to the idea of sending me a hardware sample when its released
so hopefully that happens
This weather station is being sold at Costco in Canada for a extremely good price.
I have one I am testing, and would be interested in know the status of supporting
this device.
C
Hi
there is no information available on how to support the station at this stage
the data is sent directly to the acurite server from the internet bridge
one person has done a hack job by intercepting that data stream and then getting that data into WD’s clientraw file format (or was it the universal data file format) and set WD to use
there is a thread on wxforum about that
Yeah, not a third party software friendly device. Also referring to that wxforum thread it, it seems a bit odd for there to be beta test users, but the thing is already on sale in costco :?
there was beta testers for the direct (closed system) data to the accurite servers
I hope they cooperate and get you a sample station and docs on their communication protocols quickly. I just bought a 01025 station and it is exceeding my expectations thus far. Plus it has a very nicely designed console and instrument pack. I made a post on their forums about getting you what you need to support their stations and FWIW they said they would. I know you have been talking to Rhino already but I figured mentions from their customers could only help.
I have been using WD for a long time but the anemometer on my Oregon Scientific WMR-918 died and the cheapest replacement I could find cost $80 so I decided it was time to replace it. It will sure be nice to get WD working with the 01025. While I am waiting I have left the WMR-918 in service for CWOP and for my website but switched Wunderground over to the 01025 since my wind data is non-existent withe the 918 now.
Let me know if I can help with the effort in anyway, testing, data collection, etc.
I did get an email from them months ago
they were more picking my brains about what would be the best way to get data from it
but I have not heard any more
I am ready when they are 
Hey Brian - here is the response they posted on their support forum to my post urging them to get you a unit and docs…
"Here’s the response from the product development team:
Yes, we have a relationship with the developers of weather display and a couple of other software packages. I will handle getting them what they need to support our products. We are waiting on some documentation that will let them do that.
Thanks,
Jeff "
I hope they complete their tech docs and get them to you quickly.
S
sounds good
I finally got one of these units for beta-testing and they are really nice. The bridge works well for the most part, and the data is very representative for my area, close to my Oregon Scientific unit and the local ASOS 5 miles away. The only real issue I have seen is with the pressure, but I’m told that after the unit goes through its 14 day learning mode, this too will correct itself. I am a professional meteorologist with the National Weather Service, so I will give this unit a nice test. I wonder if Brian has heard from the Acu-Rite people yet? I’d love to see it supported by Weather Display, because I think this unit has alot of potential and its lower price will get alot of people into the hobby.
Chris
moreheadcityweather.com
yes I have and they are going to send me
I am surprised you are wanting WD to support this station though, as you have openly been a non supporter of WD on wxforum
I have no issue with Weather Display. I have been a registered WD issue for many years and I appreciate everything you do with the software. My thinking with the Acu-rite 01050 systems, is that as they improve these units, at the relatively low cost, I think they are going to get alot of people into the hobby and the more options for support, then all the better for everyone.
ctccbc: Do you have an idea how the auto calibrating baro works? I read the doc and it sounds like it just adjusts the baro over time so that the averaged reading is equal to some arbitrary “correct” average, but it’s not very clear :?
Niko,
I wrote to them about that today, because while all of the other data is pretty representative, the barometer is way way off (i.e. reporting 29.83 when it should be around 30.30 in/Hg). They said there are three options. One is to let it finish its 14-day learning period to see if it re-adjusts. Second, they said a learning period of 33 days is actually better, because the calibration algorithm runs for 4000 12-minute samples or approximately 33.3333333 days. However, they said the best way is to find a day when the pressure is around 29.92, pull out the batteries to reset and put them back in, then it should be pretty close to right. Seems like a strange way to calibrate an instrument to me. I suggested that they add a method to calibrate temperature/wind/pressure data in the acu-link software, before shipping it to Weather Underground, or let us calibrate within the console, which I believe you can for temperature and humidity. Overall, I’m pretty pleased with the system, except for the pressure readings, and no ability to link with any third-party software and having Weather Underground uploads limited to 15 minutes.
Hope this helps,
Chris
I thought the learning period was in relation to the Forecast Icon
It does, but apparently it is also calibrating the pressure readings in the process. The email I received from Acurite stated “the calibration algorithm runs for 4000 12-minute samples or approximately 33.3333333 days.” He went on to state that this “learning period” may help to adjust the pressure, but if not, I can remove the batteries when the pressure gets to around 29.92. Again, this seems like a round-a-bout way to calibrate the pressure, there should be some sort of build-in mechanism to do so.
Hmmm, so it basically does what I thought, thanks for the info 
I would have to agree, seems like a lot of hassle for the firmware compared to the regular altitude based setting process :?
I have a acurtie 01025 station which uses the same 5-1 sensor package as the 1050c station. I also experienced the same issue with the barometer auto calibration routine to have failed to properly compensate for altitude and so ended up with about a 6 mb error after 15 days of letting it run. Fortunately we are under an area of low pressure now and the barometer did fall to 29.92 inHg or 1013 mb and so I reset the console and so far after 2 days it seems to be holding its accuracy.
I asked them about the auto calibration and they said it computed some sort of average barometric pressure for your location over the calibration period and then compared that to 29.92 inHg and then used the difference between those two numbers to calculate the adjustment necessary for your altitude. I agree that this seems like a complicated way to try and solve a problem that has already been solved by just letting end users enter their altitude.
The hardware seems to be very nice for the prices they are charging as I have been carefully comparing my readings from both my old station as well as other nearby stations on WU and it seems to be very accurate. The anemometer is very sensitive to light winds and so picks up even very faint breezes.
Their software on the other hand is a disaster. The usb driver that you run on the host computer has the most primitive user interface and doesn’t even give feedback that you have successfully connected to the console. It also doesn’t save any settings entered into it, so if you restart your computer you have to re-enter the MAC address of the console and then check the mark to tell it to send data to their “My Backyard Weather” (MBW) server before it works online again.
MBW is full of bugs and just about daily reports that that the high temp for the day was 163 degree F, that humidity dropped to zero and that the barometer read something like 48.34 inHg. Fortunately it does not pass this bad data onto WU. BTW the only way currently to get data to WU is by using their MBW server. You can also reset the high and low readings on MBW when you do see these wild readings. There are also other bugs with it as well though it does more or less work much of the time. There are also android and iPhone apps to let you see your MBW page which is actually a fairly nice feature.
Anyway given the alpha state of their software I can’t wait to get support for their stations in Weather Display. It will be so nice to be able to use robust software with this station. I bug them weekly about getting a SDK to Brian and they said on Sunday that they should be able to get them out this week. I have to say they do have pretty good tech support for their customers at least online (never had to call their tech support so don’t know about that). They respond to all comers and usually in a very timely fashion.
ah, the penny has dropped…
its trying to get the average barometer reading over a period of weeks
to then work out the altitude…
that will work if over those weeks a series of highs and lows pass through but overall the barometer reading is near average (1013 for sea level)
but if you are stuck under a high…