The 1st Month with CumulusMX
Posted: Thu 07 Feb 2019 11:17 am
I will summarise my experience to date.
I am new to the field of Weather Stations and was bought mine for this past Xmas from my wife. Her only comment would be "what on earth would you want one of those for". As a retired engineer & manager I have always been interested in statistics ("there are lies, damned lies and statistics" ) and what better subject than the weather to look at analysees of.
So I plumped for a Watson W-8681 from Amazon because it was a decent price, had been in production for a long time, had good reviews and importantly sent data by radio frequency transmitter to a console (datalogger) that could be kept in the house. I also liked the idea that you could transfer the data to computer to analyse it. Set up was easy although instructions were minimal but it was up an running with a couple of hours. I had already prepared a suitable rigid 2.4 metre post in my garden to receive it.
The first thing I wouldn't have done now I know better was to connect it to Easyweather, and subsequently CumulusMX , on my PC before purging the erroneous data one gets after it starts logging data points as you handle it. So advice to anyone setting one up. When your station is first working and logging data to your console , make sure that after you're happy with its position and all is working well, that you delete all initial data from your console. Then when you first link to your PC all your data is valid and you won't introduce stupid values of 500mph winds and 25 degree temps outdoors in winter like I did.
Secondly, don't bother with Easyweather if it comes with your station except for the one reason below. Cumulus is much better all-round. Period.
If you do run Easyweather then don't run Cumulus at the same time. On the Watson W-8681 I believe the only way to delete data from memory is to run Easyweather as the function to erase memory is within it so you may want to install and use it at least once as I advised.
If you are a Windows 10 user, be careful to ensure your PC is not doing an update when you start Cumulus. If Cumulus appears to just hang and take ages to start then leave it alone. Quitting may corrupt or cut off your data transfer from your console. Don't quit Cumulus until the window says "normal running" cos it's still transferring data.
I have found the wireless connection from my station to the console in my house rock solid. no interruptions at all in the first month. I am about 20 metres from the station but there are 3 blocks walls directly between station and console.
I have used Cumulus to set up a web page on a domain I own and it displays well. I was looking to put it on to a new domain I have purchased but when I looked for a new free hosting for the site, after uploading the site, on first connection with Cumulus it locked my account !. Evidently many of the free hostings available don't like weather sites because they involve the use of automated scripts and they have detection software that looks for such scripts and stops them. It was actually flagged as fraud !. So I shall continue my search for a free hosting. I know I can afford to pay but I am a bit of a skinflint and I only want a basic site and don't need email and all the bells and whistles you might pay for.
CumulusMX is great. If I wanted improvements I would look for :
1. A way to transfer data out as a csv file so I could import it into MSExcel or OpenOffice for further analysis.
2. A way to print the charts and the pages by clicking a button.
3. An easier way to edit the data files.
So those are my experiences and thoughts. Thank you to the members of this community that have been so helpful .
Regards, Phil
I am new to the field of Weather Stations and was bought mine for this past Xmas from my wife. Her only comment would be "what on earth would you want one of those for". As a retired engineer & manager I have always been interested in statistics ("there are lies, damned lies and statistics" ) and what better subject than the weather to look at analysees of.
So I plumped for a Watson W-8681 from Amazon because it was a decent price, had been in production for a long time, had good reviews and importantly sent data by radio frequency transmitter to a console (datalogger) that could be kept in the house. I also liked the idea that you could transfer the data to computer to analyse it. Set up was easy although instructions were minimal but it was up an running with a couple of hours. I had already prepared a suitable rigid 2.4 metre post in my garden to receive it.
The first thing I wouldn't have done now I know better was to connect it to Easyweather, and subsequently CumulusMX , on my PC before purging the erroneous data one gets after it starts logging data points as you handle it. So advice to anyone setting one up. When your station is first working and logging data to your console , make sure that after you're happy with its position and all is working well, that you delete all initial data from your console. Then when you first link to your PC all your data is valid and you won't introduce stupid values of 500mph winds and 25 degree temps outdoors in winter like I did.
Secondly, don't bother with Easyweather if it comes with your station except for the one reason below. Cumulus is much better all-round. Period.
If you do run Easyweather then don't run Cumulus at the same time. On the Watson W-8681 I believe the only way to delete data from memory is to run Easyweather as the function to erase memory is within it so you may want to install and use it at least once as I advised.
If you are a Windows 10 user, be careful to ensure your PC is not doing an update when you start Cumulus. If Cumulus appears to just hang and take ages to start then leave it alone. Quitting may corrupt or cut off your data transfer from your console. Don't quit Cumulus until the window says "normal running" cos it's still transferring data.
I have found the wireless connection from my station to the console in my house rock solid. no interruptions at all in the first month. I am about 20 metres from the station but there are 3 blocks walls directly between station and console.
I have used Cumulus to set up a web page on a domain I own and it displays well. I was looking to put it on to a new domain I have purchased but when I looked for a new free hosting for the site, after uploading the site, on first connection with Cumulus it locked my account !. Evidently many of the free hostings available don't like weather sites because they involve the use of automated scripts and they have detection software that looks for such scripts and stops them. It was actually flagged as fraud !. So I shall continue my search for a free hosting. I know I can afford to pay but I am a bit of a skinflint and I only want a basic site and don't need email and all the bells and whistles you might pay for.
CumulusMX is great. If I wanted improvements I would look for :
1. A way to transfer data out as a csv file so I could import it into MSExcel or OpenOffice for further analysis.
2. A way to print the charts and the pages by clicking a button.
3. An easier way to edit the data files.
So those are my experiences and thoughts. Thank you to the members of this community that have been so helpful .
Regards, Phil