Mini Web Server for Davis Vantage Weatherstations

[yv1hx]

Interesting device:

http://www.eusotec.de/products_davis.html

Maybe very useful when setting up remote or unattended stations.

BTW:
I'm not related in any way with this provider

[gemini06720]

Indeed, very nice ... but still a little bit too expensive for my budget...

[yv1hx]

Indeed, very nice ... but still a little bit too expensive for my budget...

Its almost the same cost than buying a desktop PC...

[uncle_bob]

A workmate brought an HP Proliant microserver for $240 $AUD. I was well impressed with what you got for the money!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPYegGMmuWA

[gemini06720]

Its almost the same cost than buying a desktop PC...

Indeed, at €490.00 ($520US) for a basic unit and at €625.00 ($815US) for a unit with a Davis compatible adapter cable - it might be very nice technology but at those prices Eusotec is not very competitive - considering one can buy a Meteohub system starting at €325.00 ($250US) or a WeatherHub2 starting at €380.00 ($290US) ... and as pointed out by Uncle Bob, an HP ProLiant MicroServer starting at €455.00 ($350US) ... and the list goes on...

[yv1hx]

Its almost the same cost than buying a desktop PC...

Indeed, at €490.00 ($520US) for a basic unit and at €625.00 ($815US) for a unit with a Davis compatible adapter cable - it might be very nice technology but at those prices Eusotec is not very competitive - considering one can buy a Meteohub system starting at €325.00 ($250US) or a WeatherHub2 starting at €380.00 ($290US) ... and as pointed out by Uncle Bob, an HP ProLiant MicroServer starting at €455.00 ($350US) ... and the list goes on...

You gave the spot!

Below the answer from Eusotec support, my questions are marked in blue color:

Hello Mr. Marco-Luis,

thanks a lot for your email and your interest for our products.

Let me try to answer your questions:

a) The date/time and decimal separator sings used in the .csv are user configurable ?(In our country we use semicolons ";" as field separators, commas "," as decimal separator.

In our country it is the same like you mentioned for your country. We are also using a “;” as field separator and a “,” as decimal separator.

It is configurable to use a ”,” or a “.” as decimal separator, the field separator is always a “;”.

The configuration bit is mentioned in chapter 7.4.2. (XML conversion - also valid for FTP conversion) in the manual http://www.eusotec.de/doc/Eusotec_WLANServer_en.pdf.

b) We need to log all the observed variables with a 1 minute interval, store all of them in a monthly based .csv file, then upload this growining file every midnigth to our data server using SFTP (Secure FTP) is this possible? also the date format and time zone is user configurable?

Because of flash memory limitation inside the Eusotec Mini Server we decided to store all data every 5 minutes (all data is always available for the last ~40 days). When FTP transfer is enabled the data will be transferred and appended to an existing file every 5 minutes. When the internet connection is broken for some time, it is not a problem because the missing data is transferred from the flash memory as soon as the connection is established again.

We think that a five minute interval should be enough. Since some customers are interested in the maximum wind gusts, we decided to store always beside the wind average also the maximum wind gust for every 5 minute interval.

Of course when you want to order a lot of devices we can modify the software and do a transfer every minute. But in this case we recommend to use the DirectLink transfer like mentioned in chapter 6.2. The difference between FTP is that the data is handled via a PHP script on the server side, where all the data should be stored. With the PHP script you can store the data in every format you want and of course we can offer our support to develop such a PHP script (normally only some lines of code are needed). With directlink data is transferred only when the internet connection is established, otherwise the data is lost. You can configure to use FTP transfer (every 5 minutes) and directlink transfer (at the moment also every 5 minutes, with a software modification every minute) at the same time, so at least you have all 5 minute data also when the internet connection is broken for some weeks.

We do not support SFTP and it is not planed in any update, but if you want you can change FTP passwords or directlink password-id every time you want.

We never had any request for doing SFTP.

Another possibility to get data every minute is to use an external process (e.g. running on a normal personal computer), which get all the needed actual data via the XML interface every minute. More details you can find in chapter 5. If you need any support for an external program with your own requirements, of course we can make you a quotation for the development.

Please also have a look to the appended document describing the windows program “EusoLog”, which uses the XML interface. This program is used to read out the internal data logger.

Also the windows program EusoCharts is part of our shipment. It also uses the XML interface to show actual data every 10 seconds and showing graphical trends. The program is also shipped with English user interface, but sorry, we don’t have an English documentation yet. In the German manual http://www.eusotec.de/doc/Eusotec_WLANServer.pdf Chapter 5 you will find a lot of pictures to get some ideas what you can do with it.

c) The product have support for uploading data to WUnderground weather service? (www.wundergorund.com)

I do not know the needed protocol of Wunderground, so I am not able to answer this question. Most servers are using an PHP script to receive data. With directlink you can do this, like many users do it with www.awekas.at. For more details please have a look to chapter 6.2.

And again: If there are any special requirements we are able to modify the software if you want.


d) The headings in the .csv in the example published in the product page are actually in German, It's possible to configure the labels by us to our local language or acronyms ??

Of course the heading with the sensor names is configurable. This is placed in the file /secure/config.txt which is loaded into the Eusotec Mini Server. Please have a look to chapter 7.4.

e) The product have support for Weather Stations Davis VP2 with UV %26 Solar sensors??

Yes, all sensors of the davis weather systems are supported (also additional sensors like (leaf- and soil-) temperatures, soil moisture, leaf wetness, humidity, etc. ) and they are automatically detected by the Eusotec mini Server (dynamical display of Webpages). With FTP all sensor values are transferred. When a sensor is not active, the transferred value (FTP or directlink) is “---“.

If you have further questions do not hesitate to ask us.

Please keep in mind that our company is closed between Dec. 23th and Jan. 1st

We wish you merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Your eusotec Support Team

-----------------------------------------------
eusotec gmbh
Ziegelhofstr. 234
D-79110 Freiburg
Tel: +49 761 4536-6040
Fax: +49 761 4536-6039
www.eusotec.de
------------------------------------------------

From my humble point of view, they product lacks of very important features for us: 1) WUnderground support, 2) User configurable datalogger interval, and 3) SFTP Support. (We are moving all of our remote sensors to SFTP due the open & insecure nature of FTP protocol).

Happy New Year to all!

[gemini06720]

Marco-Luis, thank you for providing the additional information about the Eusotec Mini Web Server.

As I indicated in a previous message, the Mini Web Server is a nice idea but lacking in some facilities ... and way too expensive - some NoteBook computers are presently available (BoxingDay week sales) at less than $300CA (€225.00) (they are usually supplied with Windows 7 Home Edition) (many excellent server and weather software can be installed for free or at minimal costs) - a NoteBook computer package is much more flexible and much less expensive than a Eusotec Mini Web Server at €490.00.

[yv1hx]

Ray,

Thanks for the quote.

Just I was thinking in a "car pc", (Intel Atom based PC) can be a useful solution and more flexible in terms of capabilities at almost same price.

I´m researching in those equipments because I will need for the next year implement some stations in remote sites where the mains supply can be unstable or unavailable. The "Car PC" can be a solution because this equipment can be powered from a 12VDC car battery for remote and continuous operation.

Happy New Year!

[gemini06720]

Marco-Luis, I did a search for 'car pc' and found some information on one complete unit for about $370US, the VoomPC-2 Car PC Barebone (Intel).

For your remote sites settings, you might think of (plan on) using a solar panel with power convertor/regulator to keep you 12 volts batteries fully charged - the 'Car PC' I looked at (link above) uses about 80 watts of power, meaning that a single 12 volts battery might last for a couple of days...

[AllyCat]

Hi,

Here's another vote to use a simple netbook. The power consumption should be less than 10 watts and if you get one with a fairly standard dc connector and battery voltage, then you should be able to find a brand new car power adapter (e.g. 12 volts to 19 volts for an Asus eeePC or Samsung NC10, etc.) on ebay for around $10 (mine cost less than this, shipped in the UK).

Cheers, Alan.

[yv1hx]

Hi,

Here's another vote to use a simple netbook. The power consumption should be less than 10 watts and if you get one with a fairly standard dc connector and battery voltage, then you should be able to find a brand new car power adapter (e.g. 12 volts to 19 volts for an Asus eeePC or Samsung NC10, etc.) on ebay for around $10 (mine cost less than this, shipped in the UK).

Cheers, Alan.

Allan,

The netbook have some disadvantages for our use:

a) They lack of on board serial ports (We need at least two for them, one for the Weather Station and the other for the GPS Clock; obviously we can purchase USB-to-Serial adapters, but for continuous and unmanned operation, they are not reliable.)

b) If the power supply fails and then is restored, the netbook does not power on by himself (Always needs a human finger to power on)

c) In my country is very expensive and difficult the laptop/netbook support, by example a 2.5" hard disk or a simple power adapter can be than expensive like 50% of the total overall netbook/laptop cost.

This is why I'm looking for a solution like the car PC or related.

[gemini06720]

Alan, indeed, Netbook have their purposes - and they use little power.

But I would not use a Netbook such as a 'Eee PC' (and even an EeeBox) for an unmanned remote location. They are made for home use.

What is needed for an unmanned remote location is a bare bone low power mini computer that can stand large ranges of temperatures and high level of humidity, something similar to the 'Car PC' - none of the home PC have compensation for extremes.

The power value I gave was for the computer operating at its maximum and accessing the built-in (mechanical) hard disk. In the standby mode, the 'Car PC' uses just enough power to keep its memory chips active.

[pete_c]

I used to utilize Epia Via based carpc's and have switched over to using Atom based carpc's. They work well. 10 years ago I also utilized a tank circuit/battery; no need these days.

Recently built a home automation server for less than $400 USD using an Atom D525, 4Gb of memory, mini hot swap 2.5 drive cage (for SSDs) and I replaced the 150Watt power supply with a picopower supply. Its been running just fine as a very low powered PC. On the other hand using core duo, quad core I3, I5's for VM's and they work just fine these days.