Additions to database schema for 5 Vantage LOOP2 Observations

[Paul Anderson]

I realize that it's very, very, late to make this feature request now for 4.0 ! 

The addition of LOOP2 data in vantage.py adds several more Vantage station data observation types. Given the fact that WeeWX has used the wview database schema since 2009, and is now for the first time adding the extended wview schema and making it the default schema ,It seems like a shame that folks that want to use the newly added LOOP2 in vantage will have to extend the brand new extended schema if they want to be able to plot historical LOOP2 data. Believe me I totally understand if you try to please everybody we would end up with a new bloated version of the database schema at every release. Because it may rightfully be a very long time before the database schema changes again, all the more reason to add these items now. I know that THSW for example has been a long discussed, and requested observation type. In fact it seems to have been a major driver to include LOOP2 data! To have it available in LOOP2 as a current observation, but not the database would be very disappointing for those who have been waiting for it.   

Sorry I really don't have the skills to submit a proper pull request

My humble request :)

 Additions to wview_extended.py :

windSpeed2

windSpeed10

windGust10

windGustDir10

THSW

Additions to units.py

    "windSpeed2"            : "group_speed",

    "windSpeed10"          : "group_speed",

    "windGust10"             : "group_speed",

    "windGustDir10"        : "group_direction",

    "THSW"                     : "group_temperature",

Also Davis Vantage Station table in hardware.htm might need to be update with the new observation types.

Thanks,

Paul

[gjr80]

Hi,

Good news, support for LOOP2 is already in 4.0 - from the 4.0 changes doc:

Support for the Vantage LOOP2 packet format. Fixes issue #374.

You can have a look at issue 374 if you want further details.

Gary

PS. Remember that whilst LOOP2 includes some additional obs there are some that are in the standard LOOP packet that are not in LOOP2, granted these are obs that more specialised users tend to use (extra temperatures, soil and leaf wetness and temperatures etc) but worth noting.

[Paul Anderson]

Hi Gary,

Yes I was aware that LOOP2 is in 4.0 . Point I was trying to raise is that having them available is good , saving them to the database would be great! By not saving some of the new the observations to the database there usefulness is severely limited. Carefully double checked the new database schema and not finding:

windSpeed2

windSpeed10

windGust10

windGustDir10

THSW

Thanks,

Paul

[gjr80]

My apologies, I should pay more attention to what is written rather than what I thought was written.

There has long been an issue on github to ship WeeWX with an additional schema. Consequently 4.0 will ship with what is called the ‘wview extended schema’ with the emphasis on the full suite of extended fields, lightning and air quality. The number of fields has increased from 52 to 114. The wview extended schema will now be the default schema so new installs will automatically use the wview extended schema; however, existing installs that are upgraded to 4.0 will continue to use the old wview schema. Upgrading users will need to manually change to the new schema.

Unfortunately the additional fields you mention are not included in the new schema. Largely because the line needs to be drawn somewhere, if you consider the breadth of stations supported by WeeWX it is impossible to support all fields for all stations without having an overly unwieldy schema. Note that the process for extending your schema is straight forward and well documented in the Customization Guide as well as being the subject of a number of posts in the user forum.

Gary