Background
An ‘upload device’ is whatever device or mechanism is used to upload weather data to weatherlink.com. This upload device could be (currently) one of eight types:
- 6313 Weatherlink Console
- Weather Live
- WeatherlinkIP
- The Weatherlink for Window program running on a Windows PC
- A third-party logger like WiFi Logger or Meteobridge Nano emulating one of the above mechanisms
- A Connect cellular gateway
- An Enviromonitor cellular gateway
- The new 6805 Enviromonitor IP gateway
We need to talk about the upload device rather than an ISS type because a Vue or VP2 ISS and other VP2 supplementary sensors and transmitters could in principle be attached to any one of the above upload devices. (Enviromonitor devices obviously have a much wider range of attached sensors.) And different upload devices have access to different features on the weatherlink.com platform and upload data in different formats, so it’s important to be clear about the type of upload device in use.
In other words, it’s the upload device that defines the type of station account at weatherlink.com rather than whether it might have Vue or VP2 or other sensors. And, in the context of weatherlink.com, it makes more sense to talk about eg a Weatherlink Live or Connect or EM station rather than, say, a VP2 or Vue station.
Each upload device is uniquely identified to weatherlink.com by a Device ID (or DID). In general this is hardcoded into the upload device and often visible on a label on the upload device. The one exception to this is where upload happens from software as in Weatherlink for Windows – in this case a virtual DID and keycode is supplied online when you first set up the upload device at weatherlink.com. Note that it is the upload device that is identified by the DID and not, in the case of a legacy logger installed in a legacy console, the console itself.
The DID also identifies which of the 8 types of upload device the new device belongs to. This is important because, to reiterate, each upload device may upload data in its own distinct format and for the set of sensors for which it can receive data. This is why it is difficult to switch stations from one upload device to a different upload device – the data uploaded would need to be processed and stored differently.
Note also that a station at weatherlink.com is distinct from the user account that owns the station. The user account belongs to the user and identifies them as an individual (or organisation). Every upload device (ie every station) needs to be installed within a user account. If you already have a user account and an active station and wish to add a second etc upload device, then take care to add the new upload device to the existing account. It is not difficult inadvertently to create a new user account when adding a new upload device so take care with this step.
Migrating data between stations at weatherlink.com
From time to time a user may wish to migrate a station from one upload type to another. These migrations will be of two types – like-for-like or different types. Like-for-like will typically be where an existing upload device has become damaged or faulty or maybe a logger update is needed because of the incompatible logger issue.
Like-for-like substitutions are easier to accommodate. These usually need the involvement of Davis Support, but presumably behind the scenes they can simply substitute a new DID for the old one and allow the station to continue to add data to its existing data store for that station.
Migrating between different upload devices: This is more difficult to achieve for the reasons outlined above and it is usually impossible to achieve a seamless transition for an existing station between different types of upload device. However, there is a particular case where data transfers of existing historical data to the new station may be possible using the Data Import feature at weatherlink.com.
Data Import feature
The particular scenario for which Data Import is available is when you have previously been collecting data with a legacy console and logger and now wish to switch to Weatherlink Live as the upload device. In addition, you need the local Weatherlink for Windows software available. Maybe you have been using this software as your main data acquisition and storage program; or maybe you have been uploading data from a legacy type logger to weatherlink.com. If either of these two circumstances applies then you are in luck. Here are the steps to follow
- Set up the Weatherlink Live unit as a new station within your account at weatherlink.com (instructions are elsewhere for this step);
- Go to the configuration screen (the spanner/wrench icon) of your new WLL station on weatherlink.com and look for an Import menu option as the last item on the 3rd header row and click this.
- You will see a page that summarises the import process and that contains a link to a PDF file called instructions.pdf.
- Download this file and spend some time reading it carefully. You need to follow these instructions to the letter for a successful data import.
- These instructions assume that you have data already to hand in the .wlk files of Weatherlink for Windows. If this is not the case, but you have instead been uploading data to weatherlink.com via a legacy logger then you can pull the data down into a local copy of Weatherlink for Windows using the Web Download option under the Communications Port setting. Again, detailed instructions for this step can be found elsewhere. Then proceed as per the instructions in the pdf document.
It is hoped that this same import procedure may be made available for the new 6313 console stations in the future, since the data formats should be pretty similar to Weatherlink Live. But at the time of writing this option is not yet available at weatherlink.com.
Post your comment on this topic.