[wxqc] Noobie and software experiences

[Joe Morris]

Big fan of meteorology and used to be a skywarn spotter.  I've had a
Davis WMII setup for years and only lately did I finally break down
and the the data logger (w/WeatherLink software).  This was triggered
by re-discovering Wunderground (KNCDURHA9) and being able to see a
Google map of personal weather stations which I though was quite
slick.  As I was digging for the right software and setup info, I
stumbled across CWOP (KF4YSO) and was surprised to know that something
like this existed.  All this time I could have sent data!  I got
things setup last night and though I would share my experiences with
what I went through, some good, and lots of bad.  I just have the one
PC at home running WXP.

WeatherLink

This software just appears to be downright awful and it does not work.
 CWOP setup was pretty easy.  WU setup I never got working.  Appears
it could never authenticate with WU even after retyping all of the
information several times.  As the software is running, it seems to go
through an overly complicated process of grabbing data from the
console, compiling it, formatting it and finally sending it on to
CWOP.  The software was unresponsive when it was in the middle of an
update too.

Weather Display (trial version)

This was a bit better and seemed to be much more lightweight by
watching the stream of data rather than constantly downloading it.  WU
and CWOP setup was pretty painless.  Although the barometer
calibration took me forever to sort out before I finally got it to
report the correct information--very confusing.  Tried some other
functions to upload a web page and stuff and the ftp client kept
deadlocking and sucking up all of my CPU time.  Worth $70?  Probably
not if it's that buggy.

Virtual Weather Station (trial version w/CWOP extension)

This is definitely more sophisticated.  Did seem a bit odd that I
needed to install a separate program just to send the APRS data, but
it works.  Setup for WU was also painless.  I don't get the "raw
barometer" graph that insists my pressure is 266", yet the digital
readout is dead on.  I guess this software looks a little too fancy
for me as it does have some broadcast quality features here.  $100
seems a bit much to just send data via CWOP and WU.


All I mainly want to do right now is send weather data to CWOP and WU.
 Is there a cheaper way?  Not sure if I can tolerate the WeatherLink
stuff (although, it's already paid for).  No huge desires to upload
web pages or anything like that, but would be a bonus.

-- 
Joe Morris