bdo21 Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 I am required to use a weather station to raise some external blinds during periods of high wind in order for the warranty to be valid. We would also use it to close some roof lights when it rains. I have therefore been looking into Control4 options for weather stations (given the blinds will be controlled either by Control4 or the Lutron system which Control4 can obviously control as well). I initially looked at a weather station connected to Wunderground but there now seems to be an issue with this Control4 driver and it also seems odd/unreliable to rely on the weather station uploading to the internet and then Control4 downloading it again. Another option is Cumulus but I understand this is software that presumably needs to be constantly running for C4 to connect to. This introduces a different type of risk (eg the PC which Cumulus is running on crashes) and also it looks like Cumulus is no longer being developed/maintained so may not be a long term viable solution? The third option I looked at was Weatherhawk. I understand there is an IP adapter for these weather stations so Control4 would talk to it directly which is presumably the safest option. However, the WeatherHawk weather stations are $2,500+ which seems very excessive for what we need. Are there other options I have missed or have I misunderstood anything? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pounce Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 Davis might have some options also. https://www.davisnet.com/ I think its an interesting need. Do you provide battery power of some sort to your storm shutters? Is this a vacation place where you want this automated when people are not present? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdo21 Posted May 25, 2018 Author Share Posted May 25, 2018 Davis have some reasonably priced weather stations that work with Cumulus but this faces the issues I mentioned in my original post. (If someone is using Cumulus and can comment on whether these are real issues or not, it would be helpful?) I couldn’t find any mention of a Control4 driver for Davis weather stations (like there is for WeatherHawk) although there is an IP adapter for Davis so it presumably could be done... I live in the U.K. so the weather is never particularly extreme and it is our main house but we still need the weather station control for the warranty to be valid. Thanks for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgrober Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 I converted from the Davis weather software to Cumulus about 4 years ago and the software is very reliable. The only issue I experience is if my pc crashes. I have is setup to restart automatically if power outage etc and also can remotely restart if a notice a hiccup. Very rarely happens so not a real issue. A few times I have noticed, especially during a storm power outage that the control 4 driver doesn't start correctly but a reboot of control 4 fixes the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitaltrader Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 Weatherflow is launching a new solid-state weather station that should end up being best in category. Mine is shipping this week and I will keep you updated: http://weatherflow.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pounce Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 Nice looking unit. oooo sonic anemometer. Would love to know the price and how it works. Looks like there are API's and websockets and it also sends UDP on the local network. There is BLE, but no docs yet. https://weatherflow.github.io/SmartWeather/api/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitaltrader Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 I supported them via indiegogo but think the price will be around $300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pounce Posted May 29, 2018 Share Posted May 29, 2018 6 hours ago, digitaltrader said: I supported them via indiegogo but think the price will be around $300. Nice price if it's accurate. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Leeds UK Posted May 29, 2018 Share Posted May 29, 2018 On 5/25/2018 at 1:57 PM, bdo21 said: I am required to use a weather station to raise some external blinds during periods of high wind in order for the warranty to be valid. We would also use it to close some roof lights when it rains. I have therefore been looking into Control4 options for weather stations (given the blinds will be controlled either by Control4 or the Lutron system which Control4 can obviously control as well). I initially looked at a weather station connected to Wunderground but there now seems to be an issue with this Control4 driver and it also seems odd/unreliable to rely on the weather station uploading to the internet and then Control4 downloading it again. Another option is Cumulus but I understand this is software that presumably needs to be constantly running for C4 to connect to. This introduces a different type of risk (eg the PC which Cumulus is running on crashes) and also it looks like Cumulus is no longer being developed/maintained so may not be a long term viable solution? The third option I looked at was Weatherhawk. I understand there is an IP adapter for these weather stations so Control4 would talk to it directly which is presumably the safest option. However, the WeatherHawk weather stations are $2,500+ which seems very excessive for what we need. Are there other options I have missed or have I misunderstood anything? Thank you! bd021 We bought a cheap weather station from MAPLINS (£70) it works with Cumulus and also had the Cumulus driver in C4 - To get this working we had to create a weather web site and that would update the driver every 10mins - However we now use the Weather Underground driver which I understand they is a few issues with the API. One port of call would be Alan driver https://www.drivercentral.io/platforms/control4-drivers/internet-weather-forecast-control4-driver-chowmain/ For $60 a cheap check out and try Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdo21 Posted May 29, 2018 Author Share Posted May 29, 2018 The Chowmain driver could work but it’s not ideal, particularly if the weather is not based on really local weather (we are in the UK and I don’t know how many data inputs there are near us). The weatherflow weather station would be ideal if someone builds a Control4 driver for it (which sounds possible?) Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Leeds UK Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 You can check out Alan Driver you have a 7 day trail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnwilner Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 On 5/28/2018 at 9:20 AM, digitaltrader said: Weatherflow is launching a new solid-state weather station that should end up being best in category. Mine is shipping this week and I will keep you updated: http://weatherflow.com/ Hey, digitaltrader, any update on the weatherflow? It looks perfect for my application. Any luck getting it integrated into c4? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdo21 Posted August 3, 2018 Author Share Posted August 3, 2018 I am being told that they won’t install my blinds without a local weather station so I can’t rely on Alan Chow’s internet weather driver. I also have no need for a weather console - ideally, I would like an IP weather station with a direct Control4 driver so I don’t need to rely on a PC running Cumulus and the cabling is easy (just an ethernet cable to the roof). It needs to be as maintenance free as possible given the roof is not easily accessible so POE or AC power is needed (ie not reliant on batteries) and a wired ethernet connection seems more reliable than wireless. I am struggling to find anything that meets these criteria... I thought about the WeatherHawk (even though the cheapest is $2,500?!?) because it has the direct Control4 driver but I just realised it seems to use an optical cable rather than ethernet which is fiddly and more expense! Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 any weather station that would integrate with control would be internet based so I am not sure what you would be gaining vs a driver? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdo21 Posted August 3, 2018 Author Share Posted August 3, 2018 1 hour ago, msgreenf said: any weather station that would integrate with control would be internet based so I am not sure what you would be gaining vs a driver? Perhaps I am not following but I think there are a few options: 1) Use Alan Chow’s internet weather driver which uses publicly available weather information from the local area to the extent available. This is not acceptable for the warranty on the blinds 2) An internet connected weather station on my roof which uploads to Wunderground and then Control4 accesses the weather data from Wunderground. I understand the driver has issues now and also the information is not available from Wunderground real time (ie it checks every 10mins or so?) 3) A weather station on my roof connected wirelessly (not WiFi) to a console which is connected somehow (IP or serial port?) to Cumulus (running in a PC) which then links to Control4 with the Cumulus driver. Not ideal but possible? 4) An ethernet (or WiFi if necessary) weather station (with a Control4 driver) on my roof. Control4 would connect directly to the weather station over my home network which seems the least prone to going wrong? Am I missing an option or have I misunderstood the pros/cons of any option? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 I think the Weather Underground driver issue was fixed - I was getting invalid readings for a while but I redid my setup and it seems to work now. However they have changed their model. There is no longer a free tier and the lowest cost to get an API key is $850/month so if you don't have a weather API key then you are screwed. And those of us that do have keys are probably going to be shut off some time in the near future. There are other services available to replace Weather Underground but I don't know that they have drivers for C4. I have had an Ambient Weather station for about three years and I am happy with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 7 minutes ago, zaphod said: I think the Weather Underground driver issue was fixed - I was getting invalid readings for a while but I redid my setup and it seems to work now. However they have changed their model. There is no longer a free tier and the lowest cost to get an API key is $850/month so if you don't have a weather API key then you are screwed. And those of us that do have keys are probably going to be shut off some time in the near future. There are other services available to replace Weather Underground but I don't know that they have drivers for C4. I have had an Ambient Weather station for about three years and I am happy with it. weather underground changes are only for new keys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 8 minutes ago, msgreenf said: weather underground changes are only for new keys True, but don't you need to enter your own key in the C4 driver? (if I remember it correctly.) And I am guessing that sooner or later they will shut off all of us that are using the service for free, since they are charging $10k/yr for new users. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 1 minute ago, zaphod said: True, but don't you need to enter your own key in the C4 driver? (if I remember it correctly.) And I am guessing that sooner or later they will shut off all of us that are using the service for free, since they are charging $10k/yr for new users. yes, you need to enter your own key. They have not said what the future holds, but for now, my 2 API keys I have are valuable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted August 3, 2018 Share Posted August 3, 2018 Yes - the NPV of $850/month for 10 years is $83k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeanmaxdubard Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 Hi, If can help, I use Weather Station Giom 3000 with success since 3 years. Easy to order in Europe. I attached the driver manual to see what you can expected with this WS. Cost WS and driver is under 400 Euros https://www.elkoep.com/-weather-station-giom-3000- The control4 driver http://www.yatundev.eu/drivers/weather-station-giom3000 Jean yat-meteo-1-eth-weather_station-driver-im-v2012-02-26-eng.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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