Questions on running an OS local weather service for a Netatmo Weather Station

@franzstein, that is a good summary. Currently OS supports OWM using forecast data for the next 24 hours as the basis for a Zimmerman calculation as the standard service. But for users that are prepared to host a local Weather Service within their own network then other options become available. Firstly, a DarkSky option is in pilot that uses the last 24 hours as the basis for the Zimmerman calc. For users with a WU compatible PWS then the local Weather Service option can use that to calculate Zimmerman based on yesterday’s temp/humidity/precip plus today’s precip. The later option is the most closely aligned to the old WU method. So you can see that there are a few options based on slightly different approaches. This is all new work as a result of the recent WU changes and is going through a bit of revision and refinement so things may evolve

To break it down a bit more. There are basically two variables here; 1) the choice of weather provider, and 2) the “window” of data used. Unfortunately nothing is simple in this world and the best option is very dependent on the user’s situation.

In terms of the weather provider, then the choice goes along the lines of: 1) the PWS in your backyard is generally the best option, 2) the next best choice would be a nearby PWS but unfortunately the change in WU api has ruled this out, 3) then we need to look at an online weather provider that best matches your local conditions i.e. either OWM and DarkSky. For some OWM will provide better results but for others DarkSky may be more representative so a bit of research is needed. The last option, 4) is to go old-school and revert to manual watering levels!

In terms of the “window” of data used i.e. historic or forecast, then that is harder to answer. The theory goes that in a perfect world using forecast weather is better as it avoids stressing the plants. To put this a different way, the forecast approach is about “giving the plants enough water to see them through an upcoming dry patch” whereas the historic approach is about “giving the plants a load of water that they have been desperate for all day”. Unfortunately, the logic breaks down a bit as data is not perfect. Unfortunately, historic data is pretty accurate whereas forecast data is prone to error. So whilst the forecast approach may be better in principle it may not be better in practice. It comes down to the sophistication of the weather provider’s algorithms and their source information.

So at the moment there are a few options available to users but the best one is probably down to individual circumstances and requires a bit of trial and error.

I have a Synology at home which already does some home automation jobs. I saw some hints about successful installations of WeewWX on Synology. Unfortunately I didn’t find a complete installation and configuration manual. When I bought my Netatmo with Rain Sensor I wanted to connect it to my OpenSprinkler to have reliable data from my own station. I understood that Netatmo stations can send data somehow to WeewMX and OpenSprinkler could access these.

Anyone with more infos on this?

Wow @Peter, that’s a great help to start and as a thank you I’ll bother you with stupid newbee questions 😉

I managed to finish the installation of node.js successfully which is v8 at this time.

I can’t install the weather service described in B) as my Synology doesn’t know the “git” command. Does this mean I have to install a git server on my Synology?

Okay, I’ve installet git and managed to finish B)
I have Python 2.7.1 installed and downloaded WeeWx to weather and unpacked it. Then I cd’ed into weather and run

./setup.py build

and get the error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "./setup.py", line 19, in <module> import configobj
ImportError: No module named configobj

Any idea?

Traduci da: Inglese
737/5000
I already have the configuration of wundergroud in weewx because I transmit the data directly to Wundergroud as follows:

[[Wunderground]]
        enable = true
        station = IPONSO2
        password = my_password
        server_url = http://192.168.1.50:3000/weatherstation/updateweatherstation.php
        rapidfire = False
        #api_key = replace_me

I added the server_url line, do you think it transmits data both to the local weather and to Wundergroud?

I found a really easy solution for this: http://plus.meteoware.com/netatmo/.
This web service acts as a translator between Netatmo and other weather services.

what version of weewx do you have?

My PWS is ecowitt with gateway GW1000