Question on potential enhancement to wmr300.py driver enhancement regarding host date/time -> set WMR300 date/time

[Leon Shaner]

While setting up weewx 3.9.1-1 for the first time ever, yesterday on a RPI, I saw some discrepant dates being reported.

That prompted me to check the date/time on the actual WMR300A, which I found to be more than an hour off of actual.

My RPI has the current date/time taken from NTP.

So my question is does anyone know if the WMR300A "api" allows for setting the date/time from the driver side?

I would like the wmr300.py driver to periodically adjust the time on the WMR300A if a time drift is detected.

Possible?

[mwall]

On Wednesday, April 10, 2019 at 11:02:11 AM UTC-4, Leon Shaner wrote:

So my question is does anyone know if the WMR300A "api" allows for setting the date/time from the driver side?

I would like the wmr300.py driver to periodically adjust the time on the WMR300A if a time drift is detected.

Possible?

no one has figured out how to do that yet, and it may not even be possible.

does the software that came with the station provide a way to set the station time from the software?  if so, then it might be possible to sniff the usb conversation then reverse engineer the protocol for setting the time.

but setting the time might be like resetting the rain counter - it is only possible by pushing buttons on the console.

if you could provide a list of all of the capabilities of the software that came with the station, that would provide us with a guide about what might be possible via the usb interface.  (everything we have done on the wmr300 stations is based on sniffing the usb traffic then reverse engineering the protocols)

you might want to look at the comments at the beginning of wmr300.py - that is the best description of what we know and don't know about how those stations work.

(we try to do that with every driver so that everyone can benefit - even those who do not use weewx)

m

[Leon Shaner]

Hey, wall,

Thanks for the reply.  I never did install their very old Windows XP software, since I only have Mac, Linux, Raspian available.

Interestingly enough, I did just notice that they now sell for $60 some software that claims to run on RPI, but the say the software is sold as is, no refunds.

It does have a 30 day trial, though.  I might check it out to see if it can do two things:

1) accept configuration info like LAT/LONG, timezone, and periodic time drift updates a la NTP from host -> WMR300.

2) reset archive data (without a total factory-reset) 

I kinda doubt they'd bother with #1, since it's supposed to get its clock info from RF/over-the-air like so many of their products.

But that doesn't explain why it was off by about an hour and a half.

Incidentally, I did remember that even from day one this WMR300 always incorrectly reported the sunset time, which was off by exactly an hour unless I switched from auto to manual and forced DST to on.  I just filed a support request with them about it.  Maybe they'll advise about new firmware with a fix and then I can ask them how to get access to any newer utility for updating said firmware.   I'll report back if that goes anywhere.  =D

[Leon Shaner]

I shoulda RTFM'd.  ;-)

I saw elsewhere that weewx was telling me that the maximum rain counter was exceeded and needed to be reset.

I touched the rainfall section on the WMR300A and saw a "MEM" button at the bottom, which I then touched and held and the rain data reset.

Turns out, ALL the data reset.  Which is fine by me.

I probably should have reset the data at least once a year and certainly before trying out weewx with the unit (since it was taking forever to process data going back to 2016).

On Wednesday, April 10, 2019 at 3:51:26 PM UTC-4, Leon Shaner wrote:

[snip]

[Cameron D]

Re date/time - I was really interested in that, because Australia, where I live, has no time transmitters, so it gradually drifts.  I could find no way to set it using the Windows software, so it seems manually via the console is the only way to adjust it.

The only automated way would be to detect that the time in the reported data packet was wrong, but I don't know if there is currently any API for the driver to report that discrepancy to the main code in order for it to send an email or some such to alert you to the need to adjust time.

Cameron.