wxnow.txt and solar (luminosity) for aprs

[glarsen]

Hi Steve,
I know that checking the Solar Rad box in the APRS section sends solar data from my Davis VP2+ to APRS-IS as it appears on my station http://aprs.fi/weather/a/VE6GEL. But the field does not appear in wxnow.txt, which I am using to transmit weather data on the local aprs network. If my station is gated from the internet onto the radio network, the "L" data appears and is included in the aprs displays, so I know it is used. Is there a way to have this field show (perhaps optionally) in wxnow.txt?

Thanks,
Gordon

[steve]

I know very little about the wxnow.txt file and how it is used. The spec I was given does not include solar radiation. If the sole purpose of the wxnow.txt file is an alternative way to get data to CWOP/APRS, then it seems reasonable that the option to send it to CWOP also adds it to wxnow.txt. But would whatever software it is which reads the file actually use that field? Or does it just transmit the string to CWOP/APRS 'as is' without caring what it contains?

[glarsen]

I know very little about the wxnow.txt file and how it is used. The spec I was given does not include solar radiation. If the sole purpose of the wxnow.txt file is an alternative way to get data to CWOP/APRS, then it seems reasonable that the option to send it to CWOP also adds it to wxnow.txt. But would whatever software it is which reads the file actually use that field? Or does it just transmit the string to CWOP/APRS 'as is' without caring what it contains?

The aprs software just transmits the file 'as is'. However CWOP does use the data and both CWOP and aprs.fi display it both graphically and in table form. Examples are at http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxpage.cgi ... its=metric and http://aprs.fi/weather/a/VE6GEL.

This is a capture from the APRS-IS of the data string sent by Cumulus to rotate.aprs.net: "Port(APRS-IS):2014-06-18T00:50:05.094 VE6GEL>APRS,TCPIP*,qAC,T1EIGHTH:@180050z5109.18N/11413.75W_354/003g006t052r000p053P011h84b10201L060eCumulusDsVP". Since Cumulus already sends the luminosity data to APRS-IS where it is captured it seems adding it to wxnow.txt would follow.

The problem is, if I use the wxnow.txt file with my aprs software and the transmission is gated by someone onto the APRS-IS (which it is), it seems to negate the data sent directly and the solar data stops being displayed.

Thanks for your response.

Cheers,
Gordon

[steve]

I'll add it to the wxnow.txt (controlled by the existing setting) in the next build, it's very easy to do.

[glarsen]

I'll add it to the wxnow.txt (controlled by the existing setting) in the next build, it's very easy to do.

Thanks Steve.

[glarsen]

Thanks for the recent update Steve. My CWOP/APRS data are now perfect, along with WU and PWS.

Gordon