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Failure

Posted: Mon 22 Apr 2013 3:38 pm
by malc-c
Well after 2yr 4mths my fine offset unit purchased from Maplin gave up the ghost. It started reporting sensor error around 8pm one evening so next day purchased some batteries and replaced the AA's in the sender unit hoping that would resolve the problem. But it couldn't get the base unit and sender to pair back up, even after twenty or so tries and with the two devices side by side on the desk.

Not knowing if the problem was with the transmitter or receiver I chose to replace both by purchasing the system that Maplin have on offer for £59.99. This also gives me replacement sensors should they go the originals also start playing up. The new TX and base unit paired up fine, so I thought I might be lucky and the old base would also pair up with the new TX, but no such luck. I also tried the old TX unit with the new base unit and that didn't communicate. I can only guess that either the original base unit and original TX unit both developed a fault at the same time, or that the new TX is transmitting on a slightly different frequency which is why the old base unit fails to detect it ?

Anyway I've placed the old base unit in the observatory so I can log the internal temperature of the scope room, and installed latest build of Cumulus 1.9.3. However it constantly reports new records and the red error "led" flashes in the status box as it constantly reports loss of sensor. I've looked in the settings / preferences and un-checked various boxes, but can't see anyway to disable the status options and stop the software reporting the error. - can this be resolved ?

Re: Failure

Posted: Mon 22 Apr 2013 3:47 pm
by steve
malc-c wrote:I've looked in the settings / preferences and un-checked various boxes, but can't see anyway to disable the status options and stop the software reporting the error. - can this be resolved ?
No, sorry. Cumulus assumes it's being used with a more-or-less complete station, rather than just the indoor part. There are no options to turn off particular sensors, or turn off reporting 'lost sensor contact'.

Re: Failure

Posted: Mon 22 Apr 2013 4:42 pm
by malc-c
Thanks Steve for the prompt reply. Is the option easy to change in a future build ?

Re: Failure

Posted: Mon 22 Apr 2013 5:34 pm
by steve
An option to turn off reporting 'lost sensor contact' would be quite easy (particularly if done as an ini-file only option, like 'report data stopped'). I could probably add that in the next build, as it's only about three lines of code.