Weather Station Discussion

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meow
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#2764443 21-Aug-2021 16:58

@Technofreak It calibrates itself. Also the data is yours. There are plenty of examples here like this: https://tempestwx.com/station/56770/

Click on the weather card (top card) and ta-da, your weather station information live.

Wunderground is horribly slow also. Cheap tablet method with the app on always-on mode will do what you need but also you're thinking too much into it.

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Bewildered

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#2764444 21-Aug-2021 17:00

I found I could calibrate elevation, rainfall, and wind direction via the app. I don't mind there being no inside display as many stations don't offer these anymore (e.g. Netatmo) and an app is just easier. I'm also happy with the cloud-based approach - it not mission critical and I like being able to see the weather at home....and more importantly I like seeing other people's Tempest devices on the map so I compare my data to theirs....windows direction (did I tune my direction right), rain (they can't all be wrong), and lightning (who was closer?) are all simple and useful checks....I'm sure others have looked at my data as well.

Will the cloud service go away? Unlikely I would think! Weatherflow is in the weather data and forecasting business....they basically trick us into buying their standardised weather station, then they harvest our data, which in turn they turn into forecasts and weather models that they can on-sell. Unless they go completely belly up the cloud service is here to stay...and they won't cut us off as they want the data.

And....if they do? We've already seen plenty of replies that show there are other ways of getting the data out without using the cloud (e.g. UDP --> MQTT). I haven't done that yet simply because the cloud integration is just simple and works, and it plugs straight into Google Home and Home Assistant. I don't need high-speed integration like I do with my Shelly Cloud relays, motion sensors, and smart plugs....so cloud based is the easiest solution with the fewest moving parts. I don't want to complicate my set up anymore than it already is and weather stations, like the weather they measure, can just be cloudy.

:-)

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#2764457 21-Aug-2021 17:17

michaelmurfy:

@Technofreak It calibrates itself. Also the data is yours. There are plenty of examples here like this: https://tempestwx.com/station/56770/

Click on the weather card (top card) and ta-da, your weather station information live.

Wunderground is horribly slow also. Cheap tablet method with the app on always-on mode will do what you need but also you're thinking too much into it.

Thanks for the reply. I don’t understand how it can calibrate itself. The unit has to know its elevation and have a correction factor entered for the elevation. How does it get this information?

I had a look at your link. There's two air pressure figures. The one on the main part of the display showing 1028.4 and one lower down called station pressure which is 1012.1. See attachment. Doesn't make sense to me unless the station is 480 feet above sea level.

I wasn't intending to use Wunderground as my mean of displaying the info at home, I just like to be able to put the info there as I have friends using Wunderground.

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Bewildered

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#2764460 21-Aug-2021 17:30

It picks up elevation from your map location, but of course you need to adjust for the height of the mount. When you set it up it asks for you 'above ground' height. It adds that to the elevation at your location. However in the App you can fine tune this:

Click on SETTINGS at the bottom right
At the top under MANAGE tap Stations
Pick your Site from the list (there's probably only one)
Tap ELEVATION
Adjust your height above sea level (in m)
Click OK
Job done!

In the same way you can adjust the other options too (some are buried a little deeper under SETTINGS>MANAGE>SITE>DEVICE>MANAGE DEVICES>[DEVICE ID]). There you can get to your device name, set whether the device is Indoor or Outdoor, Height Above Ground, and 'advanced' features such as Disable Lightning (I presume it means detection, can't see it actually turning off lightning), Use 'Rain Check', and the Wind Direction Offset. It's all there!

I'm pretty sure that once you log in to the Tempest Weather Map you can manage the same settings there....

Bewildered

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#2764461 21-Aug-2021 17:33

Also, I don't know for sure but I'm picking the pressure difference you're seeing is the measured (Station Pressure) and the converted pressure @ sea level (once elevation compensation is applied).

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#2764462 21-Aug-2021 17:40

Bewildered:

It picks up elevation from your map location, but of course you need to adjust for the height of the mount. When you set it up it asks for you 'above ground' height. It adds that to the elevation at your location. However in the App you can fine tune this:

Click on SETTINGS at the bottom right
At the top under MANAGE tap Stations
Pick your Site from the list (there's probably only one)
Tap ELEVATION
Adjust your height above sea level (in m)
Click OK
Job done!

In the same way you can adjust the other options too (some are buried a little deeper under SETTINGS>MANAGE>SITE>DEVICE>MANAGE DEVICES>[DEVICE ID]). There you can get to your device name, set whether the device is Indoor or Outdoor, Height Above Ground, and 'advanced' features such as Disable Lightning (I presume it means detection, can't see it actually turning off lightning), Use 'Rain Check', and the Wind Direction Offset. It's all there!

I'm pretty sure that once you log in to the Tempest Weather Map you can manage the same settings there....

Thanks. That makes sense, it's not totally self calibrating. Seems as if it may also have a GPS incorporated.

Re the two different air pressure figures I mentioned corresponded with an elevation of 480 felt which didn't look correct for the location.

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Bewildered

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#2764465 21-Aug-2021 17:41

There's your baseline elevation for that location.....pretty darn close to your proposed height. Once you allow for local variation plus an elevated mount I'd say bang on! :-)

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#2764469 21-Aug-2021 17:45

Bewildered:

There's your baseline elevation for that location.....pretty darn close to your proposed height. Once you allow for local variation plus an elevated mount I'd say bang on! :-)

Yep, surprising, I wouldn't have thought the terrain in the valley would have risen that quickly in that area.

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#2765245 23-Aug-2021 09:21

I ordered mine too! Looking forward to it!

I didn't order the mounting kit, (forgot) but looks like its not a major with a bit of kiwi ingenuity.

michaelmurfy

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#2765257 23-Aug-2021 09:42

Technofreak:

Yep, surprising, I wouldn't have thought the terrain in the valley would have risen that quickly in that area.

The location you see on that map is close, but no cigar to the actual location (for privacy reasons). The actual location it is configured for is spot-on including elevation from the ground.

Sounddude:

I didn't order the mounting kit, (forgot) but looks like its not a major with a bit of kiwi ingenuity.

I bought the mounting kit after the fact (worked out to be rather expensive) only because currently I can't prevent all vibrations and need something a bit more robust. Just make sure your mount doesn't vibrate in the wind like mine :)

Yoban

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#2765265 23-Aug-2021 09:59

michaelmurfy:

I bought the mounting kit after the fact (worked out to be rather expensive) only because currently I can't prevent all vibrations and need something a bit more robust. Just make sure your mount doesn't vibrate in the wind like mine :)

Are you saying your "revised" version of an old umbrella pole did not give the necessary stability?

Looking at some of these images I would have thought your install would have been fine considering the lengths of pole other have used.

Technofreak

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#2765293 23-Aug-2021 10:51

michaelmurfy:

Technofreak:

Yep, surprising, I wouldn't have thought the terrain in the valley would have risen that quickly in that area.

The location you see on that map is close, but no cigar to the actual location (for privacy reasons). The actual location it is configured for is spot-on including elevation from the ground.

Thanks Michael, makes sense.

Curiosity question. It would seem by reading some of the posts on here the unit may call "home" with its location. That indicates that it might have a GPS chip onboard. Do you know if that's the case?

I haven't given up on the idea of a Tempest. I really like the fact there's no moving parts and it's a nice compact unit. What is the warranty/support like?

Has anyone on here used any of the third party software to extract your data for local viewing? If so how well do they work? What apps have you used?

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michaelmurfy

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#2765307 23-Aug-2021 11:06

Technofreak:

Curiosity question. It would seem by reading some of the posts on here the unit may call "home" with its location. That indicates that it might have a GPS chip onboard. Do you know if that's the case?

It doesn't have GPS (you need to configure the location yourself using your phone during setup).

I haven't given up on the idea of a Tempest. I really like the fact there's no moving parts and it's a nice compact unit. What is the warranty/support like?

2 year warranty (and from what others are saying - this is very good) and 10yrs "extended" where they give you a very steep discount off a new unit if your previous unit dies.

Has anyone on here used any of the third party software to extract your data for local viewing? If so how well do they work? What apps have you used?

See here: https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=73&topicid=273384&page_no=6#2757379

WeeWX - also @MickeyD mind sharing your documentation on how you got this running? There is just so much mixed documentation out there.

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#2765326 23-Aug-2021 11:44

Thanks again for the informative reply.

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Technofreak

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#2765410 23-Aug-2021 13:35

Looks like @MickeyD isn't that far from me. Any information you can share would be appreciated. Thanks

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