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Latest Cumulus MX V3 release 3.28.6 (build 3283) - 21 March 2024

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(a patch is available for 1.9.4 build 1099 that extends the date range of drop-down menus to 2030)

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Questions

Discussion and questions about Cumulus weather station software version 1. This section is the main place to get help with Cumulus 1 software developed by Steve Loft that ceased development in November 2014.
daveq
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Questions

Post by daveq »

I've setup Cumulus and have it running via VirtualVP along with Weather Display, WeatherLink, and VPLive. I'm entering my all time records and have a question about two entries. What does 'Highest minimum temp' and 'Lowest maximum temp' refer to? Highest minimum and Lowest maximum seem to be oxymorons. :?

Also on the rain graph the scale starts at zero but doesn't have another increment. Should there be if the rain is less than an inch for that day?

Also, is there a way to import data from any other weather program. I have four years worth an would like to have that data in this program.

--Dave
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Re: Questions

Post by harrym1byt »

On the 1.8.2 release, when you set it to look at the rain graphs in the main window, they did lack the sub divisions of an inch on the left of the scale. This was partially resolved in later beta releases.

I'm not able to answer your other questions.
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steve
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Re: Questions

Post by steve »

daveq wrote:I've setup Cumulus and have it running via VirtualVP along with Weather Display, WeatherLink, and VPLive. I'm entering my all time records and have a question about two entries. What does 'Highest minimum temp' and 'Lowest maximum temp' refer to? Highest minimum and Lowest maximum seem to be oxymorons. :?
I can't think of another way to describe them, they're fairly standard meteorological statistics. Highest Minimum is the largest value of all your daily minima. Lowest Maximum is the lowest value of all your daily maxima. The former would occur on a day where it never got very cold, even during the night, and the latter on a day where the temperature never got very high, even during the day.
Also on the rain graph the scale starts at zero but doesn't have another increment. Should there be if the rain is less than an inch for that day?
This was an oversight due to me thinking in millimetres. I've attempted to fix it in one of the 1.8.3 betas (see announcements) but had no feedback yet as to whether it worked.
Also, is there a way to import data from any other weather program. I have four years worth an would like to have that data in this program
Not easily. The data is stored as CSV, so you'd need to export in that format, then arrange the fields in the right order. Further complicated by the fact that there are two types of data file: monthly files with entries every few minutes and a single file with a daily summary for each day. See the Help for names and formats (but note that the later 1.8.3 betas add total rainfall to the entries in the monthly files, which I may not have documented yet.)

Steve
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steve
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Re: Questions

Post by steve »

harrym1byt wrote:On the 1.8.2 release, when you set it to look at the rain graphs in the main window, they did lack the sub divisions of an inch on the left of the scale. This was partially resolved in later beta releases.


Ah - the feedback :)

Only partially?
Steve
harrym1byt
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Re: Questions

Post by harrym1byt »

> This was an oversight due to me thinking in millimetres. I've attempted to fix it in one of the 1.8.3 betas (see announcements) but had no feedback yet as to whether it worked.

Sorry I was distracted from properly checking it out by the problems with the beta locking up....

Thanks Steve, it does sort of work, but (I think) not for all three gauges. It has just been too dry to do a thorough check. The 'sort of' meaning it counts up like this - 0.1, 0.1, 0.2, 0.2, 0.3, 0.3 a double count, rather than 0.1, 0.2 etc..

On the main wind direction gauge I only seem to be seeing 8 points of the compass showing data (intermediate points are missed), yet if I look at the graph it shows all 16 points. Check my 'wind strength and direction' gauge at http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/m1byt/weather/gauges.htm.
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steve
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Re: Questions

Post by steve »

harrym1byt wrote:Thanks Steve, it does sort of work, but (I think) not for all three gauges.
Actually, I think I noticed myself that I had missed one of them.
The 'sort of' meaning it counts up like this - 0.1, 0.1, 0.2, 0.2, 0.3, 0.3 a double count, rather than 0.1, 0.2 etc..
I'll have a look at that, I may have only tweaked one parameter.
On the main wind direction gauge I only seem to be seeing 8 points of the compass showing data (intermediate points are missed), yet if I look at the graph it shows all 16 points. Check my 'wind strength and direction' gauge at http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/m1byt/weather/gauges.htm.
I'm not sure which is the 'main wind direction gauge'. The two on the right both seem to have all 16 directions. Difficult to say with the other two as I'd have to sit here watching them.
Steve
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Re: Questions

Post by harrym1byt »

...and with all things, the very second you suggeshere is a problem - it proves you wrong. It has just pointed to NNE. :oops:

I think it might be a bias in the wind direction gauge of the Fine Offset unit, rather than a fault in Cumulus.
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Re: Questions

Post by steve »

It does seem to show the 8 main points more often than the others, and I'm reasonably confident it's not a problem with the way Cumulus interprets the values.
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Re: Questions

Post by Super-T »

I don't know if it is relevant but the WH1081 wind direction only has eight points. i.e. 8 Reed switches.
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steve
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Re: Questions

Post by steve »

Super-T wrote:I don't know if it is relevant but the WH1081 wind direction only has eight points. i.e. 8 Reed switches.
But it does give 16 direction values, so how does it do that? Two switches open/closed at the same time? I guess that would explain why the intermediate values are given less often.

It really uses reed switches for the wind direction? It would explain why it gives discrete values rather than a 0-360 bearing. The Davis and my old Oregon Scientific use a potentiometer.
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Re: Questions

Post by Super-T »

Maybe it gets the other 8 points by looking at which direction it has been moving and then waiting to go off the reed sw.

Terry
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Re: Questions

Post by steve »

harrym1byt wrote:Thanks Steve, it does sort of work, but (I think) not for all three gauges. It has just been too dry to do a thorough check. The 'sort of' meaning it counts up like this - 0.1, 0.1, 0.2, 0.2, 0.3, 0.3 a double count, rather than 0.1, 0.2 etc..
I've just uploaded a new beta with (hopefully) more improvements in this area.

http://www.nybbles.co.uk/downloads/beta ... sSetup.exe

Steve
daveq
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Re: Questions

Post by daveq »

steve wrote: I can't think of another way to describe them, they're fairly standard meteorological statistics. Highest Minimum is the largest value of all your daily minima. Lowest Maximum is the lowest value of all your daily maxima. The former would occur on a day where it never got very cold, even during the night, and the latter on a day where the temperature never got very high, even during the day.
Steve
Well I must be on the dense side of this one. What period do they refer to? Day, week, year??? Lowest Maximum a day where it never got very cold, even during the night would always be a day in the summer and just the opposite for "Highest Minimum". I just can't wrap my head around these values or the meaning.

--Dave
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Re: Questions

Post by steve »

The all-time records are just that: all time. Each day has a minimum temperature and a maximum temperature. The highest minimum all-time record is the greatest value of the daily minimum recorded at your station, ever, and the lowest maximum all-time record is the lowest value of the daily maximum recorded at your station, ever. And yes, typically the highest minimum would be in summer (during a warm night) and the lowest maximum would be in winter (during a cold day).

Steve
dc1500
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Re: Questions

Post by dc1500 »

I'll have a go at explaining. Each individual day since your records began will have a minimum and a maximum. The lowest maximum is likely to be a winters day and the highest minimum is likely to be a summers night. For example if the first week of records at this time of year(UK) for max /min were Mon 2.5/11.5, Tues 3.8/14.2, Wed 1.2 /8.1, Thurs 5.4/9.9, Fri 6.1/14.9, Sat 4.1/13.5, Sun 2.6/11.8 your records at this point would show lowest max as 8.1(Wed) and highest min as 6.1 (Fri). As it is a running record, with time they will be broken and after a year your highest minimum will probably be a summers night at about, say 22.C and your lowest maximum will be winters day say, at about O.1C. This is sometimes complicated by the maximum in a 24 hour period occasionally being at night or the minimum in the day.
In essence it's a way of looking for your warmest night (highest min) and coldest day (lowest) max <since records begin>

Long winded but hopefully now as clear as mud!
Dave
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