Fine Offset PCE-FWS 20 wireless

[nickjwhite]

Can anyone help me please?

Today I disconnected my weather station both from the pc, and took the batteries out (casuing a memory dump I guess) Reason being, I needed to take the kit down and reposition some of it due to bad rain reporting in wind etc.

Physically, all is now well. Wind sensors are on their own on top of the mast ad the rain and temp are mounted lower in fixed positions. So, I put the batteries back in the base unit and waited while it all restarted again. All looked well.

However.. Although today is much warmer than it has been, and a thrmometer I have is showing 5 degrees C today, the station base unit and Cumulus are showing 10.5 degrees. Also, the base station is showing wind of around 5 to 8 mph, with Cumulus showing 13+. I have checked the calibration in Cumulus and it is set to 1.0. I have tried using a multiplier of 0.50 (which I didn't have to do before) and that still doesn't seem to correct it.

Does anyone have any experience of this sort of problem with Fine Offset stations? It was all working perfectly before I moved it and restarted.

Thanks

[steve]

The temperature issue sounds like a problem with the sensor.

The wind issue sounds like you're not comparing the same readings: http://wiki.sandaysoft.com/a/FAQ#What_d ... tations.3F

[Areco747]

Can anyone help me please?

Today I disconnected my weather station both from the pc, and took the batteries out (casuing a memory dump I guess) Reason being, I needed to take the kit down and reposition some of it due to bad rain reporting in wind etc.

Physically, all is now well. Wind sensors are on their own on top of the mast ad the rain and temp are mounted lower in fixed positions. So, I put the batteries back in the base unit and waited while it all restarted again. All looked well.

However.. Although today is much warmer than it has been, and a thrmometer I have is showing 5 degrees C today, the station base unit and Cumulus are showing 10.5 degrees. Also, the base station is showing wind of around 5 to 8 mph, with Cumulus showing 13+. I have checked the calibration in Cumulus and it is set to 1.0. I have tried using a multiplier of 0.50 (which I didn't have to do before) and that still doesn't seem to correct it.

Does anyone have any experience of this sort of problem with Fine Offset stations? It was all working perfectly before I moved it and restarted.

Thanks

You have not put the batteries reversed and damaged sensors? This is a problem that often happens, is very important to respect the polarity of the batteries (+ and -). Regards,

[nking]

These stations can be temperamental when it comes to powering on and off. From what I have read it looks as though you only removed the batteries from the logger display. If so, you would expect everything to be OK when you replace the batteries and the logger locks back onto the transmitter. However, clearly it’s not so you may have to remove the batteries from the transmitter, leave for a minute and then replace them. This will hopefully get you going again. note you must not touch the logger while the transmitter is locking/negotiating with it (page 5 of the manual).

There is a downside as this battery changing will screw up the rain data counter but can be resolved the next day by editing the today.ini file. I think Steve hinted that Cumulus might cope with this if it’s running at the time but I’m sure he can clarify if I’ve got this part completely wrong.

[steve]

There is a downside as this battery changing will screw up the rain data counter but can be resolved the next day by editing the today.ini file. I think Steve hinted that Cumulus might cope with this if it’s running at the time but I’m sure he can clarify if I’ve got this part completely wrong.

It should cope reasonably well with the rain counter going to zero and then starting to count again.

[nickjwhite]

Hi Steve

Could you please have a look at the attached log files and tell me if they tell you anything? It seems that at least once a day, Cumulus stops sending data to the FTP site and I get straight lines on the web graphs. The only thing I can do then is shut down Cum, and restart, which obviously then starts all new charts each time.

Not sure if the problem is at the Weather Station at Cumulus, At the bftp site, or something else, so any help you could give would be useful. Thanks

[steve]

Straight lines on the graphs can't be caused by an ftp problem, it will be a failure to read the data from the station. You have some kind of USB connectivity problem:

17/12/2010 23:57:22.745 : Error!!! Failed to write to USB!
17/12/2010 23:57:23.710 : 23:57:23 EWUSB: HidControl Device Unplug

18/12/2010 11:52:50.942 : 11:52:50 EWUSB: HidControl Device Unplug


I assume you've seen this (unrelated problem) in the diags file and corrected it?

18/12/2010 01:50:14.706 : Error reading C:\Cumulus\data\Dec10log.txt around line 4350: '0.' is not a valid integer value

[nickjwhite]

Hi Steve

Thanks for the info. Looks like something in the device or the cable must be faulty then. I do occasionally here the familiar sound of a USB unplug and replug, but haven't been able to find any devices not attached. It must be this one then. I have no idea how to overcome it as neither the device nor the USB cable are anywhere they can get disturbed. I will go and buy a couple of spare cable and try that.

The other unrelated error, I have absolutely no clue about. Starting to think that Fine Offset made under license wasn't a great idea.

Glad it isn't the ftp or Cumulus; I didn't really think it was.

Thanks again

[steve]

Starting to think that Fine Offset made under license wasn't a great idea.

They're not made under licence; they're all exactly the same, made in China by Fine Offset, but with different names on them. I don't think there's any reason to think that one 'brand' of Fine Offset station is any better or worse than any other. Some people have had problems with the USB port on the station not being connected properly. Trying a different cable is a good idea.

The error in the log file looks like a result of editing it? I don't think there's any way that Cumulus could generate that. Should be easy enough to fix.

[Super-T]

Nick
Problem with the USB for me was bad soldering on the USB socket in the console. Dismantle and resolder nay suspect joints.
Replace cable is first to try though.

[Gina]

I had both problems with my first FO unit. Bad solder joints AND faulty USB cable.

[nickjwhite]

thanks Terry..... will resort to that if new cable doesn't sort. Snowed in now to add to my dilemmas. What fun? lol

[nickjwhite]

Thanks Gina. At least I am discovering that it is a known issue with FO stations. Chinese soldering I guess.. must be coal powered. )