True enough. On Mon, May 18, 2020 at 12:53 PM Luc Heijst <[email protected]> wrote:
> 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]> wrote: >> >>> "'Ben Luria' via weewx-user" <[email protected]> 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]. >>> 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 > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/weewx-user/de297a01-e8e5-48b7-a80f-a321b035b1e3%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "weewx-user" group. 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