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Help for newbie please

Discussion specific to Fine Offset and similar rebadged weather stations
kevinlufc
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed 28 Dec 2011 2:35 pm
Weather Station: WH1090PC
Operating System: Win 7
Location: Leeds

Re: Help for newbie please

Post by kevinlufc »

Thanks Alan, i will give it a go and let you know how I get on.
metroman

Re: Help for newbie please

Post by metroman »

Hi,
I have not had the lost sensor contact anymore now. At the moment, the anemometer is frozen, so I am not getting any wind speed.
Martin
metroman

Re: Help for newbie please

Post by metroman »

Hi,
Wind speed and direction indicator have now defrosted and are working okay.
Martin
alancummings
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat 21 Jan 2012 9:27 pm
Weather Station: W-8681 Mk II Wireless Profession
Operating System: xp
Location: Seaham
Contact:

Re: Help for newbie please

Post by alancummings »

Lost mine to Freezing as well near you.
Froze 19:00 Sat
restarted 04:00 Sun

Not really that cold but high wind chill
kevinlufc
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed 28 Dec 2011 2:35 pm
Weather Station: WH1090PC
Operating System: Win 7
Location: Leeds

Re: Help for newbie please

Post by kevinlufc »

[quote="AllyCat"]Hi Kevin,

The antenna for the Radio Controlled Clock is located in the external transmitter unit and is directional. The optimum direction may well be in conflict with FO's recommendation to point the PV cell towards the south on "solar" units. There are varous posts on this forum suggesting the correct directionality of the RCC antenna, but IMHO the simplest solution is to try rotating the external tansmitter unit by 60 - 90 degrees around the vertical axis. You may need to wait overnight for lower radio interference and/or for the software to check the RCC.

Cheers, Alan.

Hi again. I have tried as suggested, basically I have been turning the unit round 90 degrees over the past few days, and still no Radio clock update. As I mentioned, everything else seems to be working fine. Its just the clock that will not keep accurate time.
AllyCat
Posts: 1124
Joined: Sat 26 Feb 2011 1:58 pm
Weather Station: Fine Offset 1080/1 & 3080
Operating System: Windows XP SP3
Location: SE London

Re: Help for newbie please

Post by AllyCat »

kevinlufc wrote:Its just the clock that will not keep accurate time.
Hi Kevin,

The clock should keep very good time even without the RCC being received. The RCC signals are not even available in many countries.

It sounds as if you have a faulty unit, but what do you mean by not keeping accurate time? For example if it keeps getting the hour wrong then maybe the RCC is actually setting the time for the wrong time zone.

Cheers, Alan.
kevinlufc
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed 28 Dec 2011 2:35 pm
Weather Station: WH1090PC
Operating System: Win 7
Location: Leeds

Re: Help for newbie please

Post by kevinlufc »

Thanks Alan for your help with this.

The clock accuracy "lags" by a few seconds everyday. Call it OCD, but its just one of those things that lets the whole experience down a tad :(

If I decide that there is a fault. Would the fault be with the control panel or the transmitter?

Thanks
Kevin
AllyCat
Posts: 1124
Joined: Sat 26 Feb 2011 1:58 pm
Weather Station: Fine Offset 1080/1 & 3080
Operating System: Windows XP SP3
Location: SE London

Re: Help for newbie please

Post by AllyCat »

Hi Kevin,

A few seconds a day is perhaps to be expected (if the RCC is not working). The actual RCC receiver and antenna are in the external transmitter unit so that is most lilely to be at fault. Somebody reported that their (internal) antenna was not glued in place and a wire had broken, but that was some time ago. However the plastic box can only be opened by breaking the glue seal. There are several photos of the internal construction, for example ben-s's post in the "Photos of the insides..." sticky thread.

Cheers, Alan.
User avatar
MickinMoulden
Posts: 499
Joined: Mon 20 Dec 2010 12:12 pm
Weather Station: WS-1081 with rain gauge mod
Operating System: Windows 7 & 1.9.3 b1059
Location: Palmerston, NT, Australia
Contact:

Re: Help for newbie please

Post by MickinMoulden »

I see this post went off topic! Anyway, I had an error, did a search on it, and this post was the latest entry on it, so I'll add it here OK?

Error was "Ignoring dubious relative pressure reading" - reset offset to zero.

Everything was working fine and this come up! I closed/opened Cumulus. Same thing. My console was reading correctly, but Cumulus wasn't. Hmmmm. Closed/opened again. No change. What the! Only when I opened Windows task manager did I notice that it was running Cumulus twice. I shut down Cumulus, and it showed that one instance of Cumulus was running dispite nothing showing in the task bar or as a hidden icon! Crazy! So using Windows Task Manager I shut the Ghost version down with my Ghost Buster skills (End Process button). Cumulus restarted all good again. Phew! :roll:
Michael, Palmerston, NT Australia www.Palmerston-WeatherImageNo image? I'm offline!
ImageImage
metroman

Re: Help for newbie please

Post by metroman »

Hi,
I think that I may have a problem with my weather station. I am getting the error lost sensor contact all the time. On the display, there is no outside temp displayed or wind or rain indication displayed. I have checked the batteries in the sensor unit outside and they are okay. Does anyone have any idea as to what may be wrong. I still have the RC icon on the display.Thanks
Martin
AllyCat
Posts: 1124
Joined: Sat 26 Feb 2011 1:58 pm
Weather Station: Fine Offset 1080/1 & 3080
Operating System: Windows XP SP3
Location: SE London

Re: Help for newbie please

Post by AllyCat »

Hi Martin,

Have you synchronised the Console receiver to the transmitter signals by removing the batteries and the USB cable for about half a minute? You might need to try this several times (allowing about 10 minutes between attempts).

Cheers, Alan.
ejay
Posts: 48
Joined: Sun 01 Apr 2012 8:31 am
Weather Station: WH3081
Operating System: Windows XP
Location: Malvern VIC Australia
Contact:

Re: Help for newbie please

Post by ejay »

Check that your transmitter's red LED is blinking briefly every 48 seconds.

When you first insert batteries into the transmitter, does the LED light up for a few seconds, then turns off and blinks every 48 seconds?

Also, there is little to stop you from inserting the batteries around the wrong way. As long as you follow the +/- battery symbols in the compartment, you should be OK. If you have ever inserted them with the wrong polarity, the transmitter may be damaged.
Image
metroman

Re: Help for newbie please

Post by metroman »

Thanks very much i did what Alan suggested, and removed the batteries and the usb cable, after a while it started working okay again. First time this has happened, and I have had the station set up since January. Thanks again Allycat and Ejay.
Martin
metroman

Re: Help for newbie please

Post by metroman »

Everything seems to be working okay now, but occasionally I get lost sensor error when I open the software, but everything is showing on the display.
Martin
Syd
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu 28 Jun 2012 1:33 pm
Weather Station: Fine Offset WH 1081
Operating System: Windows XP
Location: Worcestershire, UK

Re: Help for newbie please

Post by Syd »

Hi, another newbie here.

I bought my WH1081 from Maplin about six weeks ago and have already learned a lot from reading threads on this forum.

At present I have all the sensors mounted on the corner of a lean-to at the back of my bungalow. I intend to move the wind sensors up onto my TV aerial mast, clear of the roof. I also need to devise a way of shading the thermometer / transmitter unit as it currently reads ridiculously high.

However my current main concern is the rain gauge, but in the opposite way to most of the other comments that I have read. I have had a basic standard rain gauge for some years (calibrated plastic beaker mounted on the fence). However the gauge on the weather station reads quite a bit lower than the old one. A few hours ago we had a thunderstorm (the first ‘real’ rain since I got it), the WH1081 recorded 12.3 mm, whereas the old gauge measured 20 mm. They are situated about 5 m apart, at about the same height and neither have any overhanging trees or other obstructions. I have no way of knowing which is correct. Should I assume that the 1081 is accurate and that I have been over-recording for the last four years?

Apologies for my rather rambling first post on here, I’m sure I’ll be back with more questions in the future.

Syd
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