Overview
The Weatherlink console is operated by 3 distinct firmware modules
- The console firmware, which defines all of the on-screen options and layouts, plus the console’s functional features.
- The operating system version
- The radio module firmware.
Of these, the only one likely to be of material routine interest to the user in terms of new features and bug fixes is the console firmware. That said, tweaks to the operating system and radio module may also fix occasional bugs that come to light, such as memory leaks, and therefore allow more robust console operation.
Update process: Davis say that provided the console has a working Internet connection, the console will automatically look to see if any new firmware is available at 3am local time each day. And that any new firmware may install automatically. In practice, this seems to be a simplified description of what may happen, currently at least, and what the user actually sees may vary. Recent updates cause a popup alert to appear on the main screen with added information. But it may still be that for minor updates the older process may still sometimes apply. For this, it seems that a flag is transmitted when Davis release a new firmware update causing a notification in the form of a green button to appear on the Device Information page on the console to allow the user to install the update manually at a time of their choosing. Presumably if the user hasn’t taken this manual option by 3am then the new firmware version will usually then install automatically.
Note: during the first start-up of a new console, it reportedly checks to see if updated firmware is available and, if so, downloads and installs this. Don’t be surprised if this initial start-up takes a significant time. Also, sometimes this initial update process does not restart correctly and an R-button reset may be needed to give a full clean start.
Note that the process of downloading and installing updates can take a significant time, eg 10-15 minutes. It isn’t obvious as yet whether or not the console goes offline during the update process; most likely is that it remains online during the update download and perhaps installation also, but will be offline for the minute or two that it takes the console to restart post-installation. There is no obvious option to manually check for new firmware releases, but if the console has been fully powered down at any stage then there may well be a check for new firmware when the console is repowered.
Console Firmware Details
A summary changelog for 6313 firmware updates was introduced in firmware v1.3.19 and is viewable on the console itself (as a link in the Settings area) though is not apparently duplicated on the Davis website anywhere.
However, I will also continue to maintain (below) at least a list of dates and version numbers as new firmware is released along with whatever additional information I have to hand, but be aware that the details here may sometimes be out of date and/or incomplete. Very minor updates often have minimal changelog information released at all; these are very probably just individual and non-obvious bugfixes and unless anyone can tell me if they spot some updated feature then there is little more that I can add here. I am also assuming that there is only a single global version for each class of firmware, which seems highly likely with nothing to date to suggest that this is not the case.
4th April 2024 = v1.4.17 A minimal update, presumably just a couple of minor bug fixes, but sadly the release notes do not seem to have been updated with any further information,
9th Feb 2024 = v1.4.14 Another significant update introduces three new features:
- Revised data storage formats allow a significant increase in total data storage on the console. It looks like all archive records older than 180 days will now be summarised into hourly records for storage on the 6313 console. Data uploaded to weatherlink.com is apparently unaffected so archive data recorded at eg 5 or 15 minute intervals will still be available in full resolution from your account at weatherlink.com. Davis give no figures that translate this extra data capacity into years of data, but the difference might typically be at least a 4-fold increase (assuming a default archive interval of 15 minutes). Of course the total storage capacity will depend also on how many transmitters and sensors are fitted to your station, but the result of this change is likely to be many extra years of data storage capacity.
- Historical Airlink data is now available for plotting on the 6313 Graph page.
- Four new pairs of tiles for wind and rain data are now available for adding to the main dashboard page.
- There are reports that this firmware release may also contain some additional bug fixes.
15th Nov 2023 = v1.3.19 A significant update introduces two new features:
- Display of Airlink data is now possible on the 6313 console via dedicated Airlink tiles. Airlink is the separate air quality sensor available from Davis. There are conditions on how Airlink uploads need to be configured which will be described in a separate topic.
- A full firmware release changelog is now available as a link on the Settings menu.
28th Sept 2023 = v1.2.27 A minimal update was made available. Official changelog details not yet to hand, but the version number was incremented only by one in the 3rd position suggesting that this is a relatively minor update only, very possibly just a single bugfix and with no significant new features being immediately apparent. Some users report a noticeable improvement in the speed of switching between display pages.
8th Sept 2023 = v1.2.26 A minor update was pushed automatically. Changelog details not yet to hand, but the version number was incremented only in the 3rd position suggesting that this is a minor update only, containing primarily a set of further bug fixes and with no significant new features being immediately apparent.
19th July 2023 = v1.2.14 A minor update was pushed automatically. The minimal change in version number suggests a small bugfix only (ie no new features) and, reportedly, the only change is a further bugfix to the solar (SRSS) graphic below the wind rose. (Subjectively, the map page function also seems smoother and more robust to me, but this is probably the result of previous changes to firmware or to enhancements at weatherlink.com.)
29th June 2023 = v1.2.13 A minor update seems to have been pushed automatically. OS also updated to v1.2.11. Full changelog is as follows:
Enhancements
- Ticker area now contains a short text forecast summary, presumably of the forecast for today
Bug fixes:
- Home screen: “Current Weather” tab: The Daily average wind chill displayed in Fahrenheit had been labeled as Centigrade “C”.
- Device Info: If a station is disconnected, the “Signal” quality now shows as “-”
- Main Screen: Wind speed will display a dash when there is no data (Not the same as zero wind speed).
- Main Screen: Moon image for Users in the Southern Hemisphere now shows correctly (I.E. Reversed from Northern Hemisphere)
- Alarms: Falling/Rising Barometer states the time interval “3- hour trend”
- Map Search: For Arabic locations, the search result are now right-aligned
- Device Information: – The station column is wider with an increase spacing between the dividers
- Overall: Corrected an issue affecting responsiveness/performance
- Main Screen: Corrected issue causing the forecast bubbles to disappear
Note:There appears to be a bug in this firmware version, whereby the sunrise/sunset (SRSS) times immediately below the wind rose have disappeared from the default Current-weather display screen, though these data are there for the other swipe left/right stations in you have multiple station saved in your account at weatherlink.com. An R button reset should temporarily clear this issue, but the missing solar graphic seems to return each day after the 3am update check and maybe at other times too. Another temporary fix if you have more than one active station saved in your account at weatherlink.com is to swipe right on the console screen and view another station’s data for a time before returning to your primary station.
2nd June 2023 = v1.2.9 A minor update to v1.2.9 (OS = v1.2.8) seems to have been pushed automatically. Changelog details not yet to hand.
23rd May 2023 = v1.2.7 Davis list the new features as follows:
New functions
- Map Tab: See conditions and details for stations worldwide on your screen.
- Remote Alarm Receiver: Set alarms on WeatherLink.com for any of your stations and send them to your console.
- Remote Data Viewing: See the current conditions from your remote weather station on the console.
- Rain Recap Icon: Icons in the monthly review indicate days with rain
- Serial number/DID: Both serial number and DID are now visible on the Device Information page
Screen/console usability features
- Swipe left and right to see different stations in your account
- Energy Saver Mode: Choose to have the console screen go to sleep when you do.
- Do Not Disturb: Set times where alarms do not wake the screen or make sounds.
- Wake Up: Wake up the console with a single tap.
- Sleep Mode: Set the number of minutes to enter sleep mode when not on primary power.
Bug fixes: Nothing explicitly listed by Davis, but hopefully some bugs have been squashed compared to previous firmware versions.
8th March 2023 = v1.1.14: This is the first firmware seen on my console, which was new in February 2023, but may well have seen an update during the initial install.
Operating System
Note: Unfortunately, changelog details for OS updates are rarely disclosed, presumably because they are too obscure or technical to mean much to the average user. All we can do is to track the latest available OS revision. In general, an OS update will not add new features by itself and so these are not of direct interest to end-users. However, OS bug-fixes and other developments can potentially improve the responsiveness and stability of the console display and so are still obviously welcome.
Date unknown = v1.3.1 Likely to be just a minor OS update with no specific new user features.
29th June 2023 = v1.2.11 Clearly only a minor update.
23rd May 2023 = v1.2.7 The jump in version number suggests a non-trivial update, but as usual no details have been published
15th March 2023 = v1.1.9 Clearly only a very minor update.
8th March 2023 = v1.1.7
Radio Module firmware
8th March 2023 = v10.3.2.90
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