Weather / WeatherLink Software Alternatives
Alternatives / Companions for
the WeatherLink Software
As I discussed on my WeatherStation page, the software that comes with the WeatherLink datalogger has some reliability issues. Also, I don't really care for the graphics it produces (either in the program itself or in the graphics it uploads to my website). To be fair, it still does the basic job and creating my own template for uploading (used on my CurrentConditions page) was fairly straightforward.
I am researching alternatives, and even willing to consider hosting the WeatherLink datalogger on a Linux computer. This page is currently nothing more than notes of software packages I’ve found that I will be researching (most of them have a free limited-time trial download). As I try them out, this page will be where I record my experiences with them.
Linux
- wview
- a collection of linux/unix daemons which interface with a supported weather station to retrieve archive records (if generated by the station) and current conditions. The stations currently supported are Davis Vantage Pro/Pro2, Vaisala WXT-510, Station Simulator (provided for testing/demo).
- If the station does not generate archive records internally, wview will auto-generate archive records based on the sensor readings collected for that interval. The archive records are stored in the Davis WLK file format (thus Weatherlink-generated archive files can often be used by wview). At a configurable interval, wview will utilize the archive history and current conditions to generate weather images (buckets, dials and graphs) and HTML web pages based on user-configurable HTML templates.
- Davis Vantage Pro on Linux
- This article describes the hardware and software necessary to get weather data from a Davis Vantage Pro Weather Station to one or more html web pages via a Linux server.
Also see Weather-Display below.
Windows
- WxSolution ($40)
- WxSolution monitors real-time weather data from a growing list of weather computers and offers a wealth of analysis and retrieval features using that data. WxSolution generates a detailed climatological record. Daily, monthly, and annual data can be printed as National Climatic Data Center "Local Climatological Data" style reports. Reports can be also by automatically generated, emailed, and FTP-ed. Alert conditions can be programmed and can delivered to a pager, cell phone or email. Through a modem, real-time and historic data can be retrieved remotely. Real-time data can also viewed over the Internet or an intranet using the integrated WxServer component and the WxClient client software. Uploads to APRSWXNET/CWOP and WeatherLink allow you share your data with professional meteorologists and weather enthusiasts.
- SoftWx Products ($49)
- StartWatch is a shareware program that lets you coordinate the startup of your applications and monitor them after they're started. VirtualVP is a shareware program that lets you connect up to 4 weather programs to a single Davis Vantage Pro 1 or 2 weather station (console or Envoy). VPLive is a freeware program that connects to a Davis Vantage Pro 1 or 2 Weather Station console and displays the live data. It also calculates the station pressure (i.e. actual pressure), altimeter pressure, and running averages needed to properly generate and send APRS/CWOP data.
- NOTE — I have purchased the package containing StartWatch and VirtualVP (and also downloaded VPLive). I use them regularly and will be taking full advantage of VirtualVP so that I can try out the other Windows software listed here without interrupting my ongoing WeatherLink monitoring, archiving, and uploading.
- Weather-Display ($70)
- Software to get the most from your weather station. Not only does it support a huge range of stations from all the major manufacturers but it's also stacked with features and options. These include real time, auto scale and graph history graphing, FTP of the weather data to your web page, pager and email notifications of extreme conditions, web download, Metar/ Synop emails, averages/extreme/climate/NOAA reports, web cam upload, grouped file uploads, FTP downloads, decoded metar downlaod's, APRS output (internet and direct com port as well) ,WAP, direct web cam capture, animated web cam images, weatherdials, weather voice, weather answer phone, use of Dallas 1 wire sensors (like lightning counter, solar sensor, barometer sensor and extra temperature/humidity sensors with any weather station), use a Labjack to add extra temperature or humidity sensor to your existing weather station (USB)… and lots more!
- Virtual Weather Station ($100)
- Virtual Weather Station is the most popular and complete solution available for connecting your weather station to your Personal Computer and the Internet.
- Davis Weather Support
- The WeatherLink Module SDK is a development toolkit used by developers to create WeatherLink Expansion Modules. WeatherLink modules are used to extend the functionality and capabilities of the WeatherLink software. The Vantage Pro2 DLL is intended for a 3rd party developer to communicate with a Vantage Pro or Vantage Pro2 through the WeatherLink datalogger. The Vantage Pro Serial Protocol Documentation allows programmers to create their own applications that communicate with our Vantage Pro or Vantage Pro2 weather systems ( including Weather Envoy ) regardless of your OS platform. It describes the low level communications protocol and commands necessary to communicate between the Vantage Pro and a computer.
