Quick Start

From WeatherWiki

Purpose

This document is designed to get Weather Display up and running with your weather Station equipment in the shortest possible time.

This Quick Start does not address all your questions - only those required to get a basic Weather Display setup in operation so that you can view the weather information collected by your weather station.

Minimum system requirements

  • Microsoft® Windows 2000 (or higher) operating system
  • An Intel 486 or higher CPU or AMD equivalent
  • 4GB RAM
  • 6 MB hard drive space for initial setup, then approximately 10 MB additional per month for data
  • 800x600 screen resolution with 256 colour depth
  • A compatible weather station and serial (RS-232) cable with one free COM port on your computer or USB or WiFi connection

Downloading Weather Display

  1. On the Weather Display Web site, click Version History.
  2. To download the latest release, in the left navigation bar, click the Downloads.
  3. Click Download next to Main Weather Display install file.
  4. When prompted, click Save, and then specify a folder location where to save the Weather Display install program.
  5. When the download completed, browse to the folder you specified in step 4, and then double-click the Weather Display .exe file.
  6. Follow the instructions on your screen to complete the installation.
  7. At the end of the installation wizard, click Finish. If you leave the Launch Weather Display check box selected, Weather Display launches with the new version.

Note: If you are upgrading the software, your weather data is not modified or deleted. However, you should make regular backup of your data, especially before updating the software. Make sure you stop Weather Display before upgrading. In Weather Display, on the Exit menu, click Save and Exit. Make sure all of the Weather Display applications, such as RealTime FTP do not appear in the Windows task bar notifications area.

Language

Once the program has loaded, the first thing you want to do is to choose your language preference.

  • On the Setup menu, point to Language, and then click your language choice.
    English is the default language. You can choose from English, German, Italian, Spanish, or French.

Weather Station Type

  1. On the main Weather Display window, click Control Panel, and then under Station Settings, click Station Type & Settings.
  2. Click the tab the corresponds to the weather station equipment you have.
    You might need to further define your weather station equipment or configure options specific to the model.

COM port

Obviously, you have to connect your weather station to the computer that runs Weather Display. On the rear of most computers there is at least one serial port connectors. Connect an appropriate serial (RS-232) cable between the serial connector of your choice. If the connector is labelled on your computer, note its name, usually COM1 or COM2. It is not common for these to be labelled.

You then need to configure Weather Display to use the correct COM port corresponding to the connector you have used.

  1. On the Setup menu, select COM Port Settings.
  2. Select the the appropriate COM port, and then click OK. The Weather Display title bar now displays the COM port you selected.

Unfortunately, if you're not sure which COM port you're using, the trial-and-error method is the fastest for most people. Start with COM1. If that doesn't work, then change to COM2, then COM3, etc.

At the bottom of the window, below the time display, there are two small square boxes - Data Received, and Data Quality. When you start Weather Display, they should be red. When you have correctly selected your weather station and COM port, these two boxes will appear green. It might take up to 15 seconds or more before data is received. The upper (Data Received) box blinks each time data is received from your weather station. The lower (Data Quality) box should remain green. If the two boxes do not respond, verify your COM and station selections, and make sure your cables are tightly fastened on both ends.

COM port tips

COM2 is usually a 25-pin male plug, so you may need a 9-pin to 25-pin adaptor. Reset to use COM1. Make sure if a modem is on COM4, it uses a different IRQ setting.

Note: Some weather stations use USB and so no com port number needs to be selected and some stations get the data via your WiFi

Units

  1. On the main Weather Display window, click Control Panel, and then click Units & Other Settings.
  2. Under Log file units, select Metric units or USA units.
    Selecting USA changes the date format from d/m/y to m/d/y. The setting will persist each time the program loads.
  3. For Program Settings, you can set Wind speed, Temperature, Rainfall, Barometer and Date format. You can also add a Beaufort speed display and specify the number of decimal places to be used for rainfall.
  4. Under Internet Settings, you can set Wind speed, Temperature, Rainfall, Barometer and Date format. Internet settings are used when uploading your data to the Internet, for example, your Web site.
  5. Under Other settings, specify your Height above sea level. The other settings in this section can be left at their defaults during initial setup.
  6. Click OK to save your settings.

Important: Do not change log file units after you select the units for the first time. Changing units a second time can cause logging problems.

Colours

If you have problems with the default colours, you will have to make some changes.

  1. On the Weather Display main window, click Control Panel.
  2. Under Station Settings, click Colours.
  3. Make the changes you want.
  4. Click OK.

Screen display on Startup

  1. On the Setup menu, click Advanced Settings.
  2. On the Program tab, under StartUp Commands, select the Start in centre of screen check box, and then click OK.

Rain

Weather Display stores its own rainfall totals separate from the weather station.

  1. On the Weather Display main window, click Control Panel.
  2. Under Station Settings, click Offsets & Initial Rain.
  3. Then select the amount for today's rain, yesterday's rain, monthly rain, and yearly rainfall.
  4. Click OK.

Note: For US units, the equivalent amount in inches is displayed. Click on Yes to set these amounts. If you are just increasing the amount, then that amount is added on to any previous numbers entered. If you are only updating the offsets, make sure you close the window with the X in the window top right hand corner when you have this set.

Humidity

To adjust humidity offsets, do the following:

  1. On the Weather Display main window, click Control Panel.
  2. Under Station Settings, click Offsets & Initial Rain.
  3. Under Humidity Offset, select the check boxes for the options you want.

Note: For the WMR-968 you should select the Set 98% as 100% check box and enter a Slope factor of 1.

Barometer

For the barometer, Weather Display uses the raw pressure value from your weather station. You need to set a pressure offset. This number is in hPa. There is a conversion for US units (inches). The offset is absolute. For example, if you want to adjust the barometer, and you want the pressure to increase by 1 hPa, then the offset must be 1 hPa higher.

You need to set the offset until the pressure shown in Weather Display matches the Mean Sea Level Pressure (MSLP) for your location at that point in time. You can find the MSLP from a nearby Weather Service facility or airport. Some local newspapers might also have this information. You might need to fine tune over a period of time; your pressure reading needs to be similar to your nearest official weather station at the same time of day - ideally done in light winds/clear weather when there is a large high pressure covering in your area.

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