CD Ware Multimedia 1995 May/cd Ware (Juegos) Epimundo.iso/DOS/HOME/APRS60.ZIP/AUTOWX45.ZIP/AUTOWX.DOC

Text File | 1994-08-01 | 16.5 KB | 368 lines

AutoWx.EXE
(C) 1994 N5KOA
VER 4.x   7/94


AutoWX (Auto-Weather) is an IBM compatible packet program that accepts
weather data from the Ultimeter II weather station and makes the data
available on packet by direct connect requests and/or via automatic
beacons (in APRS beacon format).  The program assumes you are using two
serial ports (COM1 and COM2) and that the U-II is connected to one, the
TNC to the other.  Use ALT-H for online help.  The program works very
well on an XT with 256K RAM and a single floppy disk drive.  XT's are
often GIVEN away now days and one could be dedicated full time to this
application.

Compatibility with earlier versions:

The WX.CFG file contains a logger filename as of version 3.x  Note the
contents of your old WX.CFG for reference if you want, and rename or
delete the old file.  Run AutoWx to create a new configuration file.
Read PROGRAM UPDATES section of this documentation for new features.


STARTUP / CONFIGURATION Parameters

  ---------------------------------------------------------------
= THE ULTIITSR PROGRAM SHOULD NOT BE USED WHILE AUTOWX IS RUNNING =
  ---------------------------------------------------------------

(The TNC ECHO should be ON, MONITOR OFF, AUTOLF OFF and MAXUSERS 1.)

The first time AutoWx is executed, or if the WX.CFG file is not found,
the user is prompted for configuration information.  The COM port of the
TNC must be identified as (COM) "1" or "2".  The other COM port will
automatically be assigned to the Ultimeter II.

Supported baud rates for the TNC port are: 1200,2400,4800 & 9600

Your station's latitude and longitude are necessary to beacon in a format
recognized by the Automatic Packet Routing System (APRS by WB4APR).
There is very little error validation in the entry of the coordinates so
be very careful that they are entered in the format shown at the config
prompt.  Null entries at the Latitude and Longitude prompts will result
in "0000.00N" and "00000.00W".

A temperature adjustment value is included because the Ultimeter II
temperature sensor can be affected if additional lengths of cable are
attached to it.  The default value for the temperature adjustment is 56
which will be correct if the display on the U-II is correct.

Weather data can be tracked on the AutoWx screen in three different
formats.  If you enter zero (0), the status line at the bottom of the
screen will not show weather data but will show the last time someone
connected and requested weather data and how many times weather has been
requested since the program was last started.   A value of one (1) will
cause weather data to be printed on the screen every time an update is
performed.  (Usually every 5 minutes - see more information in this text
when the update is discussed.)  A value of two (2) will cause the status
line to be updated every time the program updates weather data.  (If your
computer has more than 640K RAM you can use option 1 and scroll back
through the data with the PC Magazine utility PERUSE.COM once in
awhile.)  The default value is zero and entry of any value over two will
revert to the value of two.

Note that when prompted for the Log File Name, your entry should NOT
include an extension.  The extension .LOG is automatically added.

After the configuration information is entered, it is written to the
ASCII file WX.CFG  The configuration can be changed either by deleting
the file and running AutoWx or by editing the file.  NOTE - If you edit
the WX.CFG file, remember the values for Temp Adjustment and Status
Display Format are not in quotes - the others are.  Each element is
separated by a comma.  Also, the WX.CFG file must be in the same
directory as AutoWx.EXE.


WX.DAT file

The WX.DAT file is an ASCII file that tracks the high and low
temperatures and high wind speed for the day.  If the file is not
present when AutoWx is executed it will be created.  The file is updated
whenever the Hi's and Lo's are edited (ALT-E) and when the program is
terminated with ALT-Q.  Actually you must answer the "write data" prompt
with "Y" or "Yes" - the default (No) will not write the file.

The Hi's & Lo's can be edited by typing ALT-E during the program.  At
that point you are prompted to enter  1,2 or 3 depending upon which item
you want to change.  If you enter no value the edit is aborted and the
program is back in the main loop.  If you change a value, enter the new
information in the same format as displayed.

The Hi's & Lo's displayed with connected requests are in memory only and
will be lost unless you write them to the data file when terminating the
program or editing the file.

If you stop the program and restart it on the same date, the data in the
WX.DAT file will be read and used by the program.  If the date in WX.DAT
is different than the system date on your computer, the data will be
ignored and new Hi's and Lo's will be tracked beginning with the first
data read on the wx port.  At midnite new Hi's and Lo's are begun.

The first line of the WX.DAT file is a title included only to help you
read the data when looking at the file with an editor or list program.
The contents inside the quotes on the first line are totally irrelavent
to AutoWx.


UPDATE

As of version 4.x the U-II data is read continuously and logged to disk
every 5 minutes.  Whenever the data is logged, it is also printed on the
screen (if you selected option 1 or 2 in the configuration of the status
line).  This feature can be toggled off with ALT-U but this will also
disable the logging of data to the log file.  If you are going to
disconnect or otherwise disable the weather input, toggle the updates
off with ALT-U to keep the program from hanging up during the update
sequence.  While the updates are toggled OFF, connected requests for
weather (//wx) will receive a message stating that "Weather data is
temporarily unavailable...".

When UPDATE is toggled, the timer is not reset so when UPDATE is
toggled back ON, if the programmed time (5 min.) has passed while
UPDATE was OFF, the update will be performed immediately.

If AutoWx is started with the command line parameter "/SHORT", the
weather node response will NOT include hi/lo temps/wind.  Only the
current weather data will be sent.  The startup syntax from DOS would
be:             AUTOWX /SHORT



WEATHER NODE (for connected requests)

If another packet station connects and sends "//wx", (without the
quotes - upper or lower case), AutoWx will update and send the current
weather data and Hi's and Lo's for the day.

I include instructions in my Connect Text (CTEXT) showing:
     "Send //wx for weather data..."

As of version 4 it is not really necessary for a user to request the
weather info more than once because the wind speed will show the highest
windspeed recorded since data was last logged to disk.  The report is
displayed on screen if you enter the //wx directly from the keyboard but
the TNC cmd: 's clutter the display.

(The program does not indicate wind chill but I will gladly add that data
if someone will furnish me with an algorithm to calculate it from wind
speed and temperature or from a table if the table is efficient.)

While a station is connected, the APRS Beacon is suspended.  Also, if
UPDATES are OFF a connected user will see the message, "Weather
data temporarily not available...".  The last ten stations that
connected can be viewed by pressing the PgDn key.

Users may disconnect by sending //bye.



BEACONS

Automatic beacons can be toggled ON/OFF with ALT-B.  The beacon will be
digi'd through any valid path specified in the UNPROTO tnc parameter.

When Beacon is toggled ON, the user is prompted for the interval (in
minutes;  default = 30 minutes) and for any text to be tagged on the end
of the weather data.  The Beacon time will be in the nearest 5-minute
increment regardless of the value entered;  for example, if you enter 9
minutes, the actual beacon time will be 10 minutes.  Beacons are
transmitted only when the log file is updated.

The beacon will automatically include the Longitude and Latitude from
the config file.   If you enter text to be appended to the beacon
(Btext), it will be limited to 30 characters.

When the Beacon is ON, it can be forced to xmit immediately by typing
ALT-T.

The Beacon can be turned off/on remotely with //BEACON.  Make sure that
you have the correct path specified in UNPROTO.


LOG File

Every 5 minutes the program updates the binary logfile named in the
WX.CFG file.  This file can be read with the Ultimeter II Data Display
program (Vers 1 & 2).   (Log files can be appended to each other by
using the COPY /B command.  Example: copy /b file1.log+file2.log bigfile.log
See your DOS manual for details on COPYing binary files.)

NOTE:  Logging is suspended while UPDATE is toggled OFF.

The U-II Data Display program assumes that all log entries are at five
minute intervals.  Therefore, if you suspend logging for more than a
couple of minutes, the Data Display program will be reading data that
was logged after the time displayed in the Data Display program.  For
example:  If you suspended the logger with ALT-U at 10:28 and did not
resume logging until 10:58, the Display program will show the data
logged at 11:00 as if it were logged at 10:30 and there will be thirty
minutes of no data at the end of the day.  See Log File Notes for more
information.

TERMINAL Mode

If you use the program as a packet terminal to connect to other
stations temporarily, turn the Beacon OFF.  If UPDATEs are left ON, the
logger will continue to log data but your screen will also continue to
receive updated data every five minutes and the program will seem to
halt while the U-II data is read.  The program will ignore the //wx
request if you disable it with the ALT-X toggle.  If you plan an
extended QSO, use another program.  AutoWx makes a lousy terminal
program anyway.


NOTES:

Log File Notes

The binary log file is much like the one created by the Ultimeter-II
Data Logger and is very efficient.  You can probably get a whole year's
data on a 360K floppy.  The AutoWx program must run for at least ten
minutes before any useable data is logged.  Also, starting and stopping
the AutoWx program before any useable data is logged can cause errors in
the display.  The U-II Data Display program reads a file header in the
log file to determine the starting date and time but all data entries
after the header are assumed to be in five minute intervals.  The AutoWx
program writes a new date/time header each time it starts but if logging
is suspended by the ALT-U toggle the data may miss the 5 minute interval
and therefore be incorrectly displayed by the U-II Data Display program.
If the logger is suspended for more than 10 minutes, quit the AutoWx
program and restart it to avoid the problem.  Although data may be
missing for the suspended period, the data logged will be displayed with
the correct time if you follow this procedure.   If the program fails to
see a response from the U-II it will hang up and you will have to
re-boot to recover.

The AutoWx program reads the Ultimeter II port continuously and, when
logging, logs the highest windspeed recorded during the last 5 minutes.
However, the U-II data sends serial data every 4 seconds (on average)
but reads sensors about every 1.5 seconds and there may be differences
in the high windspeed recorded on the U-II display and that recorded by
AutoWx.


                      --------------------------



AutoWx is released for the use by other licensed amateur radio operators
and no payment or registration fees are necessary.  The program is
copyright protected and I choose to retain all rights to the code.  The
source code (QuickBasic 4.5) will not be made available unless somebody
convinces me they can substantially contribute to the project.


Comments and questions can be directed to N5KOA at N5RKN.#WTX (Odessa,
TX).  Please drop me a line if you try the program.  Disk copies are
available only when accompanied with enough green stuff to pay for the
postage, disk, etc. DO NOT SEND DISKETTES!



Ultimeter II weather station sources:
                        PEET BROS. as advertised in QST

                        Radio Com Sales  (Larry, N5VFW)
                        Box 118814
                        Carrollton, TX  75011
                        [phone]


APRS is a map-based packet program by WB4APR, Bob Bruniga, Annapolis, MD
WXSTAT.EXE - a program to monitor Ultimeter II weather data in realtime.



PROGRAM UPATES

Ver. 1.x - allows only connected weather requests.
Ver. 2.x - adds Updates to screen and Beacons
Ver. 3.x - adds data logger
Ver. 3.3f - allows list of last 10 connected stations with PgDn
            CONNECT.LOG remains - see HELP screen
Ver. 3.3g - tweaked timer routines
Ver. 3.3h - Fixed config write routine
Ver. 3.3i - sorts connected stations (listed with PgDn) by Date/Time

Ver. 4.x  - now reads and logs highest windspeed during the past five
            minutes (reads wx data approx.  every 4 seconds)
            quicker //wx response
     4.2  - logging will synchronize to computer time (XX:X5 or XX:X0)
     4.3  - Beacon interval will occur only with logging (5 minute
            intervals)
     4.3c - will abort if no U-II found on indicated port
     4.3e - Hi's & Lo's written to ASCII file WX.HST
Ver. 4.4a - fixes status line display for display option #2
     4.5x - Tuned up log entries for rain amounts
            Flush write buffer every hour
            Removed ASCII file CONNECT.LOG
            Allow null responses to Lat/Long entries in config
     4.5d   Allow serial data starting with #  and allow /KPH startup
            to correct windspeed  (see Errors/Bugs text)
     4.5e   Fixed bug in 4.5d that caused Re-init errors


Errors/Bugs

All versions after Ver 3.0 log data for the binary log file every five
minutes but data is not physically written to disk until the write
buffer is full (one disk sector).  If power to the computer is
interrupted, any data in the buffer is lost.  As the program writes only
4 bytes (on average) at a time, 10 hours or more could be lost.  This
problem is characteristic of DOS I/O and a suitable solution has not
been determined yet.  To write the data every five minutes would result
in, what I feel is, excessive drive wear.  I will continue to look for
alternatives.  In the meantime, the buffer will flush every hour at 50
minutes after the hour.

It has been reported that there are two versions of the U-II in regard
to serial data output.  My U-II sends an asterisk (*) at the beginning
of each data stream and there is apparently a version that sends the
pound sign (#).  The (*) is supposed to indicate wind speed in MPH
while the (#) indicates KPH.  If your U-II sends in KPH (#), start the
AutoWx program with the switch /KPH.  Example:  AUTOWX /KPH

If you find a bug in the program, check for a later version on the ARRL
BBS [phone].  If the bug exists in the newest version please let
me know so I can fix it.  I also welcome any suggestions or comments so
please let me know if you like or dislike the program or if you would
like to see other features added.  I will also consider customizing your
version if you will pay for the disk and postage.


Les Blalock, N5KOA
1711 Pagewood
Odessa, TX  79761
[phone] day
      332-1942 fax
      367-0408 eve



TIPS

If you are using a hard drive, create a batch file that copies the
WX.HST file and the xxxxx.LOG file and then EXITs.  Shell to DOS from
AutoWx by typing Alt-D, type the name of your batch file, and the files
can be copied to a floppy disk and the program resumed very quickly.

Find a HEX-to-BIN/BIN-to-HEX program  (I'll send one if you can't find
one) and use the program to edit log files.  I create seperate log files
for each month and, using the COPY /B command, I can make one for the year
or any other particular time period.  Also, by working with smaller log
files, you don't have to wait forever when running the Data Display
Viewer program to graph your data.

Import WX.HST file entries to a database program and create custom
statistical reports and graphs.  The WX.HST file is easy to import as a
"comma-delimited ASCII file" into most popular database programs and
many spreadsheet programs.

If a BBS in your town supports modem connections, consider leaving your
weather node on the BBS frequency (or a gateway port) so the node can be
accessed by telephone, too.