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Phantom lost sensor contact alarms with Fine Offest
Posted: Wed 29 Oct 2014 12:10 pm
by Dave Walker
Over the past few months I have been getting a very occasional 'lost sensor contact' alarm on Cumulus. The last time was yesterday.
The error log on Cumulus shows just the one line but everything seems to be ok.
Each time I have looked immediately at the FO display that is right alongside the PC and all values are showing correct ie on dashes in place of values etc.
I don't know if the phantom alarm is actually being generated erroneously by the FO or if it is Cumulus thinking it has received the alarm flag.
Has anyone else experience this and is there a way to establish which is the case?
Regards
Dave
Re: Phantom lost sensor contact alarms with Fine Offest
Posted: Wed 29 Oct 2014 7:53 pm
by jim-easterbrook
I haven't studied this in close detail (it's a bit difficult to reproduce reliably!) but I wouldn't be surprised if the data from the weather station shows lost contact before its own display does. The USB data needs to be marked as incomplete immediately, whereas the display can repeat the last values a few times without being any more inaccurate than it usually is.
I expect your transmitter batteries are getting low.
Re: Phantom lost sensor contact alarms with Fine Offest
Posted: Thu 30 Oct 2014 8:48 am
by Dave Walker
Thanks Jim. Having looked at the graph of wind at the period when the alarm occurred you may be right in what you suggest.
I've attached a jpg of the time region of the alarm, which was at 1808 57sec and, although there are always plots on the graph, it's interesting that the plot for 1809 is the same value as the previous plot. I suppose it could possibly just be that the wind was exactly the same value but I think your suggestion is probably more likely.
The Tx batteries (lithium AA) have been in there for about 12 months so perhaps they are getting a little 'old'. I will swap them soon.
Thanks
Dave
Weather graph when lost sensor alarm occurred.jpg
Re: Phantom lost sensor contact alarms with Fine Offest
Posted: Thu 30 Oct 2014 9:08 am
by steve
I seem to recall that others have had very short term loss of contact reported, and it was suggested that there could be an option to report the error only after a configurable number of consecutive occurrences. This seems like a reasonable suggestion for inclusion in a future version.
Re: Phantom lost sensor contact alarms with Fine Offest
Posted: Thu 30 Oct 2014 10:31 am
by AllyCat
Hi,
Lithium (non-rechargeable) AA cells "should" be good for many years in the FO transmitter, and their voltage doesn't gradually drop over life as do alkalines.
AFAIK the FO Console LCD only gives the dashes after about eight "missing" messages (sent each 48 seconds), i.e. after more than ~5 minutes (which can make any signal strength/reliability testing very tedious). I don't believe that the USB "lost contact" status appears much before this, but Cumulus does interrogate the Console every 10 seconds, so might get some "pre-warning".
It's worth noting that the Radio Controlled Clock versions (1080 / 3080) actually stop transmitting for several minutes ("on the hour") whilst checking for the RCC signals. But the user (and Cumulus) is normally unaware, unless the graphs/logs are examined in detail.
Cheers, Alan.
Re: Phantom lost sensor contact alarms with Fine Offest
Posted: Thu 30 Oct 2014 3:38 pm
by Dave Walker
Now you mention it Alan I remember playing with the Tx and creating a loss of data by screening it with foil and yes, the FO console did not go to dashes until about the 9th missed transmission.
You would think that that was when the Loss of Sensor flag was created but, from what Steve has said, and what seems to be happening now, perhaps that flag is set as soon as a single transmission is missed? If that is the case then the option to 'defer' the alarm on Cumulus sounds good.
Dave
Re: Phantom lost sensor contact alarms with Fine Offest
Posted: Fri 07 Nov 2014 4:16 pm
by Spider-Vice
This phantom warning is actually really curious because sometimes I get it even when I'm getting a constant data flow. I'm guessing it's random from whenever it misses a data packet, causing the USB to report lost sensor contact when in fact it was just a missed reading of some sort. But even then, when readings are missed it doesn't say anything.
Re: Phantom lost sensor contact alarms with Fine Offest
Posted: Fri 07 Nov 2014 4:25 pm
by steve
If you want to zip up the diags folder and attach it after one of these occurrences, I'll see if I can see anything interesting going on.
Re: Phantom lost sensor contact alarms with Fine Offest
Posted: Fri 07 Nov 2014 5:04 pm
by Spider-Vice
I'll try to remember that when it happens again.
Re: Phantom lost sensor contact alarms with Fine Offest
Posted: Sat 08 Nov 2014 12:35 am
by Spider-Vice
So, this happened today and I explored the diags file myself. This was all there was, nothing before, nothing after.
Code: Select all
07-11-2014 19:24:00.845 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 07-11-2014 19:24:00 raindaystart = 841,5 rain counter = 842,400024414063
07-11-2014 19:24:00.845 : Latest reading: 10A0: Data: 19 3E D9 00 4F 86 00 C8 25 07 0E 00 0E F8 0A 00
07-11-2014 19:24:41.473 : Lost sensor contact!!!
07-11-2014 19:25:00.879 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 07-11-2014 19:25:00 raindaystart = 841,5 rain counter = 842,400024414063
07-11-2014 19:25:00.879 : Latest reading: 10A0: Data: 1B 3E D9 00 4F 86 00 C9 25 14 1F 00 00 F8 0A 00
Re: Phantom lost sensor contact alarms with Fine Offest
Posted: Sat 08 Nov 2014 8:20 am
by steve
Even those very few lines that you've quoted look a bit odd to me, but if you think it all looks OK, that's fine. I'm amazed that you knew what I was going to look for
You're probably right and there's no help in the logs, but I'm still happy to cast my inexpert eye over them, if you'd like to zip up the diags folder and attach it.
Re: Phantom lost sensor contact alarms with Fine Offest
Posted: Sun 09 Nov 2014 10:55 pm
by babis3g
i am not sure if is going to help in the investigation (from the diag folder) other way please ignore my post
similar issue for me (happens very rear), lost contact sensor (unit from maplin)
Last time lost sensor was about 2 days ago
08/11/2014 14:59:11.670 : Weatherbug archive upload complete
08/11/2014 14:59:11.680 : Wunderground archive upload complete
08/11/2014 15:00:00.729 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 15:00:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 15:00:00.729 : Latest reading: CE0: Data: 00 4E B6 00 33 DA 00 DC 26 03 0E 00 06 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 15:10:00.286 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 15:10:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 15:10:00.286 : Latest reading: CF0: Data: 01 4D B8 00 34 DB 00 DC 26 11 18 00 06 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 15:20:00.800 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 15:20:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 15:20:00.800 : Latest reading: D00: Data: 01 4D B9 00 34 D4 00 DD 26 11 1F 00 07 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 15:30:00.313 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 15:30:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 15:30:00.313 : Latest reading: D10: Data: 01 4C BA 00 36 CE 00 DE 26 03 0A 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 15:40:00.821 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 15:40:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 15:40:00.821 : Latest reading: D20: Data: 01 4B BC 00 36 CE 00 DE 26 03 0A 00 06 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 15:50:00.362 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 15:50:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 15:50:00.362 : Latest reading: D30: Data: 01 4B BC 00 36 CC 00 DE 26 07 0E 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 16:00:00.906 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 16:00:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 16:00:00.906 : Latest reading: D40: Data: 01 4B BD 00 39 C7 00 DF 26 00 00 00 0A 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 16:10:00.408 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 16:10:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 16:10:00.408 : Latest reading: D50: Data: 01 4B BD 00 3B C3 00 DF 26 00 00 00 06 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 16:20:00.914 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 16:20:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 16:20:00.914 : Latest reading: D60: Data: 01 4A BE 00 3F BD 00 DF 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 16:30:00.391 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 16:30:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 16:30:00.391 : Latest reading: D70: Data: 01 4A BE 00 3F B7 00 DF 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 16:40:00.892 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 16:40:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 16:40:00.892 : Latest reading: D80: Data: 01 4A BE 00 41 B1 00 DF 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 16:50:00.434 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 16:50:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 16:50:00.434 : Latest reading: D90: Data: 01 4A BE 00 42 AA 00 DF 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 17:00:00.954 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 17:00:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 17:00:00.954 : Latest reading: DA0: Data: 01 4A BE 00 44 A3 00 E0 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 17:10:00.470 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 17:10:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 17:10:00.470 : Latest reading: DB0: Data: 01 4A BE 00 45 9F 00 E0 26 00 00 00 06 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 17:20:00.996 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 17:20:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 17:20:00.996 : Latest reading: DC0: Data: 01 4A BE 00 47 A0 00 E2 26 0E 14 00 0C 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 17:30:00.523 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 17:30:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 17:30:00.523 : Latest reading: DD0: Data: 01 4A BE 00 48 A0 00 E3 26 00 00 00 02 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 17:40:01.051 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 17:40:01 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 17:40:01.051 : Latest reading: DE0: Data: 01 4A BE 00 49 9E 00 E4 26 00 00 00 0C 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 17:50:00.579 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 17:50:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 17:50:00.579 : Latest reading: DF0: Data: 01 4A BE 00 4A 9A 00 E6 26 00 00 00 0E 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 18:00:00.107 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 18:00:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 18:00:00.107 : Latest reading: E00: Data: 00 4A BE 00 4B 96 00 E6 26 00 00 00 06 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 18:10:00.582 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 18:10:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 18:10:00.582 : Latest reading: E10: Data: 01 4B BD 00 4C 92 00 E7 26 00 00 00 02 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 18:20:00.346 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 18:20:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 18:20:00.346 : Latest reading: E20: Data: 00 4B BC 00 4D 8D 00 E6 26 00 00 00 0A 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 18:30:00.888 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 18:30:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 18:30:00.888 : Latest reading: E30: Data: 01 4B BC 00 50 8A 00 E6 26 00 00 00 06 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 18:40:00.405 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 18:40:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 18:40:00.405 : Latest reading: E40: Data: 00 4B BC 00 50 87 00 E7 26 00 00 00 04 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 18:50:00.911 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 18:50:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 18:50:00.911 : Latest reading: E50: Data: 01 4A BB 00 51 85 00 E6 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 19:00:00.415 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 19:00:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 19:00:00.415 : Latest reading: E60: Data: 01 4A BA 00 52 85 00 E7 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 19:10:00.911 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 19:10:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 19:10:00.911 : Latest reading: E70: Data: 01 4A BA 00 52 82 00 E7 26 00 00 00 0E 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 19:20:00.418 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 19:20:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 19:20:00.418 : Latest reading: E80: Data: 01 4A BA 00 52 7E 00 E7 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 19:30:00.926 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 19:30:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 19:30:00.926 : Latest reading: E90: Data: 01 4A BA 00 52 80 00 E7 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 19:40:00.464 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 19:40:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 19:40:00.464 : Latest reading: EA0: Data: 01 4A BB 00 52 7C 00 E8 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 19:50:01.002 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 19:50:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 19:50:01.002 : Latest reading: EB0: Data: 01 4A BA 00 53 7E 00 E8 26 00 00 00 04 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 20:00:00.514 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 20:00:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 20:00:00.514 : Latest reading: EC0: Data: 01 4A BA 00 53 80 00 E8 26 00 00 00 04 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 20:10:01.009 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 20:10:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 20:10:01.009 : Latest reading: ED0: Data: 01 4A BA 00 53 7F 00 E9 26 00 00 00 04 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 20:20:00.538 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 20:20:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 20:20:00.538 : Latest reading: EE0: Data: 01 4A BA 00 53 7D 00 EB 26 00 00 00 06 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 20:30:00.046 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 20:30:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 20:30:00.046 : Latest reading: EF0: Data: 01 49 B9 00 53 7C 00 EB 26 00 00 00 04 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 20:40:00.583 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 20:40:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 20:40:00.583 : Latest reading: F00: Data: 01 49 B8 00 53 7D 00 EA 26 00 03 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 20:50:00.100 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 20:50:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 20:50:00.100 : Latest reading: F10: Data: 01 49 B7 00 53 84 00 EA 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 21:00:00.599 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 21:00:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 21:00:00.599 : Latest reading: F20: Data: 00 49 B6 00 51 83 00 EA 26 00 00 00 0E 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 21:10:00.122 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 21:10:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 21:10:00.122 : Latest reading: F30: Data: 01 49 B5 00 50 88 00 EA 26 03 07 00 0A 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 21:20:00.689 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 21:20:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 21:20:00.689 : Latest reading: F40: Data: 00 49 B4 00 4D 92 00 E9 26 00 03 00 0C 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 21:30:00.214 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 21:30:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 21:30:00.214 : Latest reading: F50: Data: 01 4B B5 00 4C 92 00 E9 26 00 00 00 0E 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 21:40:00.730 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 21:40:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 21:40:00.730 : Latest reading: F60: Data: 00 4B B6 00 4C 90 00 E8 26 03 07 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 21:50:00.289 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 21:50:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 21:50:00.289 : Latest reading: F70: Data: 01 4D B7 00 4D 8F 00 EA 26 00 03 00 02 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 22:00:00.840 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 22:00:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 22:00:00.840 : Latest reading: F80: Data: 00 4D B9 00 4E 8B 00 EB 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 22:10:00.441 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 22:10:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 22:10:00.441 : Latest reading: F90: Data: 01 4C BA 00 4F 89 00 EB 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 22:20:00.980 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 22:20:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 22:20:00.980 : Latest reading: FA0: Data: 01 4D BC 00 4F 8A 00 EB 26 00 07 00 0E 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 22:30:00.523 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 22:30:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 22:30:00.523 : Latest reading: FB0: Data: 01 4C BD 00 4E 8E 00 EC 26 00 00 00 06 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 22:40:00.076 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 22:40:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 22:40:00.076 : Latest reading: FC0: Data: 01 4B BF 00 4D 8F 00 EB 26 00 00 00 06 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 22:50:00.637 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 22:50:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 22:50:00.637 : Latest reading: FD0: Data: 01 4B C0 00 4D 91 00 ED 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 23:00:00.174 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 23:00:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 23:00:00.174 : Latest reading: FE0: Data: 01 4B C0 00 4D 8E 00 EC 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 23:10:00.695 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 23:10:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 23:10:00.695 : Latest reading: FF0: Data: 01 4B C0 00 4F 89 00 E9 26 00 00 00 04 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 23:20:00.200 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 23:20:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 23:20:00.200 : Latest reading: 1000: Data: 01 4B C0 00 50 88 00 E8 26 00 00 00 06 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 23:26:18.310 : Lost sensor contact!!!
08/11/2014 23:30:00.525 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 23:30:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 23:30:00.525 : Latest reading: 1010: Data: 01 4B C0 00 51 87 00 E8 26 00 00 00 08 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 23:40:00.076 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 23:40:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 23:40:00.076 : Latest reading: 1020: Data: 01 4A C0 00 50 8E 00 E8 26 14 1B 00 0C 9B 05 00
08/11/2014 23:50:00.623 : Writing today.ini, LastUpdateTime = 08/11/2014 23:50:00 raindaystart = 430.5 rain counter = 430.5
08/11/2014 23:50:00.623 : Latest reading: 1030: Data: 01 4B BF 00 4C 96 00 E7 26 18 1F 00 0D 9B 05 00
09/11/2014 00:00:00.128 : Midnight rain reset, count = 430.50 time = 09/11/2014
Re: Phantom lost sensor contact alarms with Fine Offest
Posted: Mon 10 Nov 2014 12:13 am
by uncle_bob
I'd get a sensor lost error every time I used the garage door remote.
Re: Phantom lost sensor contact alarms with Fine Offest
Posted: Mon 10 Nov 2014 8:32 am
by steve
My guess would be that if Cumulus just records one sensor contact lost, then it is spurious; either the console set the flag in error, or there was a data corruption reading the data. Or perhaps that flag gets set for another reason. If the flag got set for a genuine loss of of sensor transmission, you would expect it to stay set for 48 seconds at least, so Cumulus should report it for at least four or five 10-second readings.
Whatever the cause, I think that the solution would be for Cumulus not to report it as an error until at least four consecutive readings have it set (with the number of readings being configurable).