Tom, The data protocol of their (not so cheap) data-loggers is publiced by Davis, but I know from first hand that the raw data the sensors send to the console is not public. I have put a lot of time in decoding the signals (among others) and still we don’t know the full protocol yet.
Luc On Sunday, 17 May 2020 21:34:27 UTC-3, Tom Keffer wrote: > > Just to correct the record, the Vantage protocol was not reverse > engineered. They are one of the few vendors who have published their > protocol > <https://support.davisinstruments.com/article/rbzgl0rh6k-vantage-pro-pro-2-and-vue-communications-reference-2-6-1-any-os>, > > and have for many years. > > On Sun, May 17, 2020 at 5:13 PM Greg Troxel <[email protected] <javascript:>> > wrote: > >> "'Ben Luria' via weewx-user" <[email protected] <javascript:>> >> writes: >> >> > apologies if this topic came up before or in case I am off-topic here. >> I'm >> > toying with SDR and home automation on a Raspberry Pi and would like to >> add >> > weather data via WeeWX and a weather station. Is there any particular >> brand >> > / model I should go for or maybe avoid? Am looking for something solar >> > powered optimally, but that is not a must. >> >> You put "open" in quotes, which means that I don't know what you mean by >> that word :-) >> >> There are a few things you could mean: >> >> 1) well-understood interfaces and existing drivers so that you can get >> at the weather data and use it, and not have problems due to closed >> interfaces >> >> 2) open protocol, or perhaps reverse-engineered protocols, for the >> sensor suite (outside part) to talk to the console (inside, that you >> look at, and that usually is interfaced to a computer), so that you >> can sniff it with an SDR instead of using the console receiver. >> >> 3) being able to get at the weather data locally, without the device >> talking to some cloud service (not under your control, subject to the >> company stopping it, and likely run with proprietary software) >> >> 3A) separately from transport via cloud, can the local station produce >> observations by itself, or does it need a (perhaps implemented with >> proprietary software) cloud service to do that? >> >> 4) firmware/software for the weather station equipment being open source >> >> 5) an open hardware design for the station, even if it uses proprietary >> chips >> >> 6) full-on open, meaning open licenses for all silicon in the station, >> including CPUs and sensors, which leads you to RISC-V and for >> temp/humidity I'm really not sure what. >> >> >> You mentioned home automation, so I would recommend you check out the >> mqtt extension, which is I think what most use to bridge weewx data into >> an automation system (such as Home Assistant, which is the natural >> choice for weewx fans, being open source and python). >> https://github.com/weewx/weewx/wiki/mqtt >> >> >> For 1, there are lots of choices, and basically you should look at what >> weewx supports. >> >> For 2, I am not really aware of anything open, except for build-your-own >> kinds of stations. But maybe weatherflow is UDP over IP and counts >> here. The Davis VP2 protocol has been reverse engineered and there is >> rtldavis. However, the Davis datalogger/interface in the console has >> the really nice property that when your computer goes down, it keeps >> storing data, and then when you straighten out your computer from the >> botched upgrade, or you get power back, weewx reads the data and your >> historical record is 100% fine, as if you never went down. So I don't >> really want to get my data with an SDR on a unix computer, even though >> I'd like to try that, because I really like it that I haven't lost data >> the probably 6 times I've had an issue in about 2.5 years. >> >> For 3, Davis is fine, and some acurite setups have local USB. Various >> other systems have "interceptor" drivers that snoop the data going to >> the cloud, and I have the impression that sometimes people fetch their >> own data back from the cloud because that's all they can do. >> >> For 3a, note Vince's comments about weatherflow and rain. (I think >> weatherflow is really interesting and don't mean to knock them. I just >> find the notion that you don't know how much rain you got without the >> internet quite curious. On the other hand sometimes with Davis it rains >> and you conclude from the readings that you have a bird's nest, wasp's >> nest or pine needles in your rain collector or blocking the tipping >> bucket from tipping.) >> >> For 4, and even more so for 5, I'm not aware of any contenders, other >> than build-your-own with arduino and e.g. i2c sensors. But this is >> very interesting and may qualify: >> >> https://www.tinkerforge.com/en/doc/Kits/WeatherStation/WeatherStation.html >> https://www.tinkerforge.com/en/shop/bricklets/sensors.html >> However, I don't see rain and wind. >> >> For 6, my impresssion is that I will be viewed as crazy just for >> bringing it up. >> >> >> That leaves you with all the other considerations, which is that Davis >> is expensive but otherwise viewed favorably by most, and that various >> cheap stations are cheap and tend to fail. And weatherflow seems to >> turn everyone who plays with one into a fan, which is a very positive >> comment. >> >> >> There are surely DIY/maker projects out there to do rain gauges and >> maybe wind. Temp is fairly easy, but you need to build a radiation >> shield. So I'd say this is for "my hobby is building a weather station >> from parts" vs "I want to get weather data into my home assistant setup >> and I don't want anything too egregious". >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "weewx-user" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] <javascript:>. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/weewx-user/rmisgfy14on.fsf%40s1.lexort.com >> . >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "weewx-user" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/weewx-user/de297a01-e8e5-48b7-a80f-a321b035b1e3%40googlegroups.com.
