Need Help - Connecting a PWS to a dedicated website

mayo.mick · 08-12-2022 5:20pm #1

Hi guys, apologies first off (if this has been covered before).

I'm at my wits end, have searched everywhere, and the more I look the more confused I'm getting! I want to set up my weather station on its own website. I've tried this a year or 2 ago, to no avail, well kind of.

I have a PWS set up for the last 15 years or so. A couple of years ago I got a newer one, a Fine Offset WH 3000 SE. I have it reporting to wunderground, weathercloud and Ecowitt. I also have set up its own twitter page, https://twitter.com/SwinfordWeather

I have managed to bodge a solution for displaying it on my own website through an i/frame tag, but this is not ideal, https://michaelmaye.com/swinford-weather-station/

What I want to do is set it up and reporting on its own website, eg swinfordweather.com

My issue is trying to connect the data to the website. I've tried variuos plugins, none work with my station or by using API's. I have a NAS which runs 24/7 and the weather station connects to the console through wifi and has its own fixed IP on the network.

Weather BOFH · 08-12-2022 6:18pm

You could have a look at WeeWX and the Interceptor Driver which supports both the wunderground and ecowitt protocols, it's not that simple to setup but it works pretty well.

Danno · 08-12-2022 6:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058275094/need-help-connecting-a-pws-to-a-dedicated-website

You need software such as Cumulus ideally. Software - Cumulus Wiki which is what I have on an old PC out in the shed uploading to Laois County Weather Online - Home (laoisweather.com) with some nice templates.

A good example of the raw Cumulus output from the old 1.94 version is here: JohnstownKK weather (laoisweather.com)

Alternatively a MeteoPlug: Introduction - meteoplug

I'm not sure if MeteoPlug is compatible with your make/model of station but I do know @StratoQ who runs www.KilkennyWeather.com uses one - he is probably best found on Twitter: Profile / Twitter

I hope this helps!

mayo.mick · 10-12-2022 5:48pm

Thanks for the helpful replies. It seems my existing console is not compatable. I cant find a way to grab the data from it.

I'm thinking now about upgrading to the Davis Vantage Vue with the the weather link live. I'll see if santy can find one in his sack of goodies! Its still not very clear to me on how to get it uploading to my own www..weatherstation.ie domain.

mayo.mick · 15-12-2022 12:43pm

Just a quick update on my progress (or lack of) so far.

I;ve done lots and lots of searching and what I've found is nothing is compatible with my current setup. So, after a bit of thinking I decided to buy a Davis vantage vue and set it up through the new weatherlink live system they have introduced. While I was waiting for the new weather station to arrive, I set up a new domain on my hosting account.

Station arrived on Tuesday afternoon, spent most of that night setting it up (connecting everything, will put up in place when weather improves). As of midnight last night, I've spent about 10hrs solid trying to get the weatherlink software working and connecting to the website. What I have now found out after yet more research, is the weatherlink software is being discontinued, and is going to their own cloud based system.

So now I've had to change track, and decided to go back to Cumulus that I had used 10yrs ago. This would involve using Weather Display (one off payment) and use that to upload to my own website. After downloading the programme (which is extensive and covers lots of stations) its going to be another steep learning curve. From what I can see, Weather Display works with my existing station, it also can pull in data through API's from Ecowitt and Weather Cloud which I am already uploading data to.

I am very surprised at the lack of info for all this, for anyone wanting to set up their own website. I could understand it 10yrs ago when I first thought of doing it, but surely not nowadays?

Weather BOFH · 15-12-2022 1:18pm

It's not simple if you're looking to do your own thing, as you said, even Davis now push you towards their cloud solution.

I've been using WeeWx for years and it supports pretty much everything out there but it's not straightforward to setup and requires a bit of knowledge of Linux, etc. to get up and running but it's fantastic once it's done. There's lots of guides out there for setting it up on a Raspberry Pi, etc.

There's a WeatherLink Live driver available for it, with a full setup guide here:

https://github.com/michael-slx/weewx-weatherlink-live

Danno · 15-12-2022 8:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119999566#Comment_119999566

Cumulus can take the Vantage Vue data directly and upload as long as you're using a PC/Laptop running 24/7. I suggest one of those Windows 10 TV boxes (get one with 128Gb storage or at least 64gb)

Weather Station outdoors ---> Indoor Console Box ---> Connect to Windows device running Cumulus via USB ---> WiFi ---> Your website via FTP upload direct from Cumulus

mayo.mick · 18-12-2022 5:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120001401#Comment_120001401

Thanks Danno, this info is getting me nearer what I want to achieve!

I'd dismissed cumulus at the start as I knew it needed a laptop to run 24/7. I had thought about a rasberry pi, but I don't think they can be got now due to chip shortages. I have never heard of a windows 10 tv box! I do have an android tv box that I run my media through from my Nas.

I went back and looked at cumulus and have now downloaded it and have it connected to my new station. Its reporting to the laptop now no problem. I have to set up the station in position in the next day or 2 when the weather improves a bit. I have a windows 10 box on order but it will be the new year befor it arrives. It gives me chance to set up the website, which will be another bit of an ordeal, as I'm used to working with wordpress and not hard coding pages.

When I reregistered with the cumulus forum, I logged into my existing 10yr old account, and found the last posts I'd made. Back in 2014, asking the same questions trying to set up my own website!

Danno · 18-12-2022 7:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120011149#Comment_120011149

Good stuff, Cumulus is fairly good in fairness, old fare but it works!

joujoujou · 01-01-2023 11:23am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120011875#Comment_120011875

Aye, same here. Old Cumulus (not the MX one they insist on using instead), 24/7 laptop (it runs 24/7 anyway), uploading data via ftp every 5 minutes, works flawlessly. :-)

Supercell · 04-01-2023 4:28pm

I've been using WeeWX using Raspberry Pi running dietpi and a Vantage Vue, for years and years now -> see my signature for link.

They have a very active Google Group where there is loads of people that help if needed. I found it easier than Cumulus (to get my website up and running) with far more skins which are a lot more up to date. The Belchertown one is quite popular for example - https://github.com/poblabs/weewx-belchertown

Personally that's the route i would recommend.

mayo.mick · 07-01-2023 2:44pm

I meant to update before now, on progress to date.

I finally got the website up and running! www.swinfordweather.com

I was having issues uploading to the site but I later found out a contributing factor was issues with my ISP service dropping packets. Some files were not completing the Ftp. Anyway, after lots of tooing and froing I finally got everything working, more or less. I still have issues with the gauges page which I'm trying to sort out. https://www.swinfordweather.com/gauges.htm

I'm using Cumulus MX and I have to say, although a little complicated and old school, it works brilliantly! As someone suggested, to get a windows 10 tv box and run it from that. The box should be here Monday so I'll transfer Cumulus over to that to run 24/7 instead of the laptop. The software is updating the website every 15 min now.

I hhave an AirLink on the way too which I will be adding to the weather station. All in all, after a lot of initial confusion, I have everything up and running more or less how I wanted.

My next hair puller project is to try and get the last couple of years historical data from my other weather station into Cumulus. Also if I could pull the solar and UV data from that station and display it through cumulus. The solar sensors for the Davis are about €500 bucks 😮

Need Help - Connecting a PWS to a dedicated website

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