How can I get my Maplin Gadget N96GY to work on Cumulus

[Billyboy]

I have bought the Maplin model above and erected it and got it working on the Easyweather software then discovered Cumulus which seemed much better, I have saved the Easywether output for 6 weeks it was running but just can not get the Cumulus software to download from the weather station to my Windows 7 computer. Can anyone give this 76 year old not very tech man some guidance on what I should check through to get the Cumulus software working efficiently. I know it's a pain but I would like easy to understand simple steps if poss please. HELP!!

[steve]

What happens exactly, when you start Cumulus up?

You need to make sure you don't have Easyweather running, and that you have selected 'Fine Offset' as the station type in the station settings.

[Gina]

There are particular instructions for Win 7 - see head of page.

[Billyboy]

With regard to the windows 7 note the only option I had when installing the easyweather cd was english US
With regard to cumulus some info has downloaded but the left hand box on" My Weather" is blank and after this initial download nothing appears to happen. Could someone just give me what boxes I should have ticked (apart from Fineset) on set up and tell me how download from station to computer works and how often.

[steve]

The only box you need to tick as a minimum is 'Fine Offset'. Cumulus reads the data from the station every 10 seconds, but the station only updates it every 48 seconds. Are you not seeing any figures at all in the boxes for wind speed, temperature etc? I think the 'blank box' you refer to is a depiction of the new moon.

If you're not seeing any data, please zip up the diags folder from the Cumulus installation folder and attach it here. You can zip up a folder in Windows Explorer by right-clicking on it, then selecting send to -> compressed folder.

[Orion]

First fire up easyweather goto system click set-up and change interval to 10mins click save then close down easyweather and fire up cumulus
and use the settings below
in the areas highlighted in yellow put your own location in
PS. best to install Cumulus to c:/cumulus
not in Program Files(x86) hierarchy

[Charlie]

Also note that if you have several weeks of data, it will take Cumulus a few minutes to download it from the station. Be patient and don't give up too quickly.

[Rayle]

With regard to the windows 7 note the only option I had when installing the easyweather cd was english US
With regard to cumulus some info has downloaded but the left hand box on" My Weather" is blank and after this initial download nothing appears to happen. Could someone just give me what boxes I should have ticked (apart from Fineset) on set up and tell me how download from station to computer works and how often.

Hi Billyboy and welcome.
Theres a few of us silver surfers here, I joined the club last December and find it extremely interesting, once you get the hang of it you will find a great deal of information on the internet to read, all great fun.
A really helpful forum with members all over the world willing to help you.

[Gina]

I reinstalled Cumulus a few days ago with a full console memory of data. Downloading the data took several minutes - processing all that data took a couple of hours. I haven't had Cumulus running for a few months so all the console data was new.

I have the latest beta and it's much better than last time I ran it Well done Steve

BTW I've sent a contribution for Cumulus as I'm using it again now and really appreciate the improvements

[Billyboy]

Many thanks indeed (especially Orion) for all help offered I now appear to have Cumulus up and running and look forward to seeing results over next week or two. This forum has really helped.

[steve]

processing all that data took a couple of hours.

I can't make the actual download any faster, but I wonder if there would be any significant benefit in turning off the UI while processing the data. There's not a great deal of work involved in actually processing the data, so perhaps most of the time is taken up with updating the display. It was just easier to let it update, it uses the same code

BTW I've sent a contribution for Cumulus as I'm using it again now and really appreciate the improvements

Thank you, that's very kind; but your contributions to the forum are payment enough!

[Billyboy]

One thing I have noticed is that it is necessary to connect the weather station to the computer by USB cable BEFORE calling up the Cumulus program rather than connecting with the USB cable when the Cumulus programme is already running which just does not work and no connection appears to be made.

[steve]

That's right; the station has to be plugged in before Cumulus starts, and remain plugged in all the time it is running.

[jim-easterbrook]

Oh dear. I write some 'rival' weather station software and it had never even occurred to me that people might want to connect the weather station after starting the software. Funny how things that are 'obvious' to some of us are anything but to most people. Having real people use one's software really exposes the holes in one's thinking.

[steve]

Funny how things that are 'obvious' to some of us are anything but to most people. Having real people use one's software really exposes the holes in one's thinking.

Indeed, happens all the time to me

But I did actually try to get Cumulus to cope with the station being plugged in afterwards, and it caused all kinds of problems, so I gave up