Cumulus Support

Just noticed on Davis' site that there is (release date March 26 2013) a FW V3.00 available.

NOTE: This firmware is only for Vantage Vue Consoles (#6351, 6351M, 6351UK or #6351EU).

Firmware version 3.00
1.Updated internal communication between console and data logger for improved performance.

Only the one advantage claimed so it looks very much like a case of "if it ain't broke - don't fix it"
Any one game to give it a try?

There may have been other changes which they haven't mentioned but which aren't user-visible as new/improved functionality; there certainly were with the recent VP2 firmware versions (where they broke support for their own DLL and then fixed it again). But I definitely agree with the 'if it ain't broke...' principle.

I think Steve is absolutely right "if it ain't broke - don't fix it".
If you're using a non Davis data logger you may find it won't work anymore!

Dennis

Updating mine now ..

Cumulus doesn't pick up wind readings anymore. Before i get the 'if it isn't broke, don't fix it' treatment, firmwares are put there to be updated.

Edit: It's working now, there seemed to be a delay in wind readings but all is well.

After I upgraded my VP2 to the latest version, I didn't get wind readings to begin with. I can't remember exactly what I did to get them back again, possibly just restarting Cumulus did it. I had to walk to the other end of the house and back to check that the console was showing wind readings, so that delay may also have had something to do with it.

How often is Cumulus updating the data now, and what version of Cumulus are you using?

I'm using the latest beta.
I don't know how often Cumulus is actually updating but it's fast and smooth.

There should be 'last data read' time in the bottom right hand corner. It should change every 3 seconds or so, no faster and not significantly slower, most of the time.

steve wrote:There should be 'last data read' time in the bottom right hand corner. It should change every 3 seconds or so, no faster and not significantly slower, most of the time.

Ahh i see, it's updating every one second.

Edit: Are you saying that the last data read time should update every three seconds? Or the data should change every three seconds that elapses?

The 'last data read' should only update every 3 seconds. Have a look in task manager to see how much CPU Cumulus is using, and near the start of the latest diags file to see what firmware version Cumulus is reporting (if it's managed to read the version at all).

I see, well it updates as if it's a realtime clock. It uses between 1 and 3% CPU.

12/04/2013 16:30:17.524 : Get Station Firmware Version, result = -32701

So it looks like the Vue 3.00 firmware behaves like the VP2 3.00 firmware did and returns the data immediately, so Cumulus is sitting in a loop constantly re-reading the data. I'm surprised that the CPU usage is that low. There's code in 1.9.4 which checks for 3.00 and adds the delay between data reads that other firmware versions do automatically, but for some reason this firmware doesn't reveal its identity so Cumulus doesn't add the delay.

What you will need to do is stop Cumulus and add a line to the [Station] section of cumulus.ini:

VP2SleepInterval=1100

which should cause the read interval to return to a sensible level.

It will be interesting to see whether this firmware has the same 'data stopped' issue that the VP2 3.00 firmware had, but you would hope that they wouldn't release this firmware with the same issue when they knew it existed in the VP2 firmware.

Ok thanks Steve.

The last read data updates every two seconds now, CPU useage is between 0 - 2% now as well.

@Steve
New Vues have been shipping with v3.00 for a while now.

I have a homebuilt logger, anyone updated a Vue to FW:3.00 with a clone logger?