Pressure problems

[dionaea]

Hi all,
I am new to recording weather & to the forum.I live in N.Norfolk about 1.5 miles South of the North coast. For a couple of years I have had an Elecsa weather station which does most things except for wind direction & linking up to my computer. I have recently bought the Watson WH1080 which I think is the same as W8681. With it I received Easy Weather Version 4.0 . When assembled it all seemed to work properly but the screen layout is not particularly attractive. Searching around today I came across the Cumulus software which I have downloaded & managed to link up with Easy Weather without much difficulty. However, all readings seem to agree except the Barometer readings.At the moment the pressure is 992.4Hpa on the touchscreen & on Easy Weather but is 1010.3 Hpa on Cumulus. Also in the 'recent extremes' section it shows as 29.1 Hpa for the minimum pressure! The latter I assume is being given in ins.Hg. I would really like to use the Cumulus but don't know whether the problem is with the program - or more likely me! Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Chris

[dane]

Hi Chris, and welcome on board!

It sounds as if you are running Cumulus and EasyWeather at the same time. Don't!
You will see strange results, particularly for pressure.
I have both installed and run both on a regular basis - but never at the same time.

Another point: on Cumulus' Configuration-->Station panel decide which units to use for wind, pressure, temperature - and stick to them. Don't change your mind later on: the result will be confusion.

[dionaea]

Hi Dane,
Many thanks for the quick reply & the advice. Yes, I was running them both together. I will do as you say & let you know what happens.

Cheers,

Chris

[dc1500]

Hi Chris. I'm not sure what the problem is but Steve will advise you at some point. Have you got it set to run in direct mode in the cofiguration menu? You don't don't need the Easy Weather box ticked any more, just the Fine Offset type box ticked. Also is it possible that there is a value accidentally entered in the calibration section of the configuration menu under pressure offset?
You'll find it brilliant when you've got it sorted.
Dave, http://www.laindonweather.co.uk

[dc1500]

Sorry, posted simultaneously with Dane. i agree with what he says as well.
Dave

[dionaea]

Hi all,
Thanks for the further advice. I did what Dane said but had no luck so I uninstalled the whole program & the 'Cumulus' file in Program files. I then re-installed it & set everything up in the System section. Pressure came up as 1010.6 in all the relevent boxes. However my touchscreen & my Elecsa (& my watch for that matter) are around 992 Hpa. Pressing a few times on the touchscreen of the weather station brought up1010 - Relative pressure- which is obviously what is showing on Cumulus whereas the 992 showing on the weather station screens & my watch seem to be absolute pressure! Should I therefore adjust the screens, which I would prefer not to do as they tally with the watch or can I change the configuration in Cumulus to absolute pressure?

Cheers,

Chris

[dc1500]

What's your altitude Chris? It seems to me that your absolute pressure and relative pressure are the wrong way round on both your watch and your display. Your relative pressure should be about 995mb at the moment. Try and set instruments to what it says here by selecting pressure and running the cursor over the map to your nearest location.
http://www.xcweather.co.uk/
dave

[dionaea]

Hi Dave,
My altitude is 11 metres above sea level !! Went on to XC weather & it showed the pressure about 994 which ties up with both weather station screens & the watch. Both screens have ABS by the reading. If I look in Easy Weather it does in fact list both Relative & Absolute pressures - the lower number being abs & the 1010 being relative! I can't get Cumulus to give the abs number.

Cheers,
Chris

[harrym1byt]

What is probably not obvious is that you can use the EasyWeather software to adjust and set the Rel value in the LCD display consul, it is much easier that trying to do it via the touch screen. You can also use the EW software to configure other things as well as clear the units memory.

For the Rel /ABS offset setting in EW - Click System, then Setup.

The most recent version of EW is V5 http://www.foshk.com/en/products/show.asp?id=41

[harrym1byt]

> I can't get Cumulus to give the abs number.

Why would you want to know the ABS, it is only useful if you are at sea level and the value is accurate?

[steve]

Just to add to what the other guys have been saying (I don't know much about the actual stations, they're the experts), you can't display absolute pressure in Cumulus as I can't think of any possible use for it. I suppose I could add it as an option just in case there was some strange use for it that I'm not aware of, but I think that might cause confusion for people who didn't know that pressures are normally quoted corrected to sea-level.

Steve

[dionaea]

Hi all,
What a great forum - everyone so helpful - many thanks.

What is probably not obvious is that you can use the EasyWeather software to adjust and set the Rel value in the LCD display consul, it is much easier that trying to do it via the touch screen. You can also use the EW software to configure other things as well as clear the units memory.

Thanks for that harrym1byt - but see below!

For the Rel /ABS offset setting in EW - Click System, then Setup.

Great - done that & it worked.

The most recent version of EW is V5 http://www.foshk.com/en/products/show.asp?id=41

Thanks for that - removed V4 & installed V5.
When I set up the WS I loaded Easy Weather & then went out to tweak things including the rain gauge. I must have shaken it as when I next looked at the screen it showed rainfall of 28.2 mm. I tried re-setting the memory of the unit via the touchscreen but it still showed the rainfall of 28.2mm! I decided that it must be stored in the data for Easy Weather. I have since uninstalled Easy Weather V4 using its own uninstall program. On doing a search through Program files I also found some files & removed them. I have now downloaded & installed V5 but still the 28.2mm rainfall appears in the Max. section of Rainfall. Any ideas please as I would like to get it all up & running before the end of the day as it is a new month tomorrow.

you can't display absolute pressure in Cumulus as I can't think of any possible use for it. I suppose I could add it as an option just in case there was some strange use for it that I'm not aware of

Steve - I dont think that it is a problem for anyone else so I wouldn't bother. I have altered both weather stations to relative pressure - it is just the watch I can't change & that is no big deal.

Many thanks again,
Cheers,
Chris

[steve]

I don't know much about these stations, but I'm pretty sure that if the console is still showing the rain, then it's in the station memory, not in Easyweather. I think your reset must not have reset everything.

Steve

[dane]

To reset the rain total: use the touch screen on the station.
According to my manual you will need to touch the rain section 5 times and then hold for a minimum of 3 seconds to reset to 0.

[dionaea]

Hi Steve & Dane,
I have gone through the reset on the touchscreen & got the rainfall back to 0. I still cannot get rid of the 28.2mm Max. in the Total section of Rainfall on Easy Weather.I have removed the program & re-installed it yet again. I also removed the batteries from the base station for an hour but still no success.I really do not know what to try next. It has to be stored on the computer or on the base station as far as I can see. How long is it before the charge runs out in the base station once the batteries have been removed or does it save the data?

Cheers,

Chris