Praxsoft

Frequently Asked Questions

General Information
General Questions

WeatherActive
Monitor
Internet/Server
Mapper
Transfer Server
FTP Scheduler
Java 1
Java Mapper

Prescience 2000
Monitor
Internet Client
FTP Scheduler
Remote

Prescience 2000 FTP Scheduler Version 1.3c fully functional evaluation software that automatically dials-up to the internet and transfers files to your Web site. Use with P2K Monitor to post weather data on the web.

General Questions

QUESTION:

What are the Minimum System Requirements for running WeatherActive Monitor?

ANSWER:

486DX-100 CPU

16MB RAM

4MB available Disk Space

VGA Display with 16-bit color (65536 colors)

If you have Windows 95, Windows95a, or Windows 95b, we recommend that you install the Windows Font Smoothing Update. You can obtain this from: www.praxsoft.com/downloads/w95gray.exe

After you install the update, select the PLUS tab in the Display Properties window (you can bring this up by right-clicking on an empty area of the desktop). Make sure that "Smooth edges of Screen Fonts" is checked.

DO NOT INSTALL THIS UPDATE if you have the Windows 95 Plus Pack, WINDOWS 98, WINDOWS NT, or Windows 2000 on your PC. These operating systems already have the Font Smoothing installed. All you need to do is make sure that the "Smooth edges of Screen Fonts" box is checked in the Display Properties window.

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QUESTION:

Does the WeatherActive or P2K software work on a Mac system?

ANSWER:

Our WeatherActive and P2K software does not work on MACs. However, our Java applets, Java Mapper, and Java1 will run on a MAC if they have IE4 or Netscape. A Java program is independent of the computer on which it runs... it just depends on the browser since it runs in a "virtual computer" in the browser.

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QUESTION:

What WeatherActive Software version do I use if I want to have my data live on my web site.

ANSWER:

Download the latest version of WAIS.... it includes the latest version of WeatherActive Monitor..... you are going to need WAIS anyway if you want to post data on the web site.... WAIS will connect to your weather station..... WeatherActive Monitor will then connect to WAIS to get the weather data. Uninstall the monitor software that you previously downloaded first before you install WAIS.

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WeatherActive Monitor(WAMON)

QUESTION:

The ULTIMETER date displayed by WAMON on the current conditions screen does not match the ULTIMETER’s date displayed on the instrument?

ANSWER:

You must set the ULTIMETER's leap year value BEFORE you set the time and date on the ULTIMETER keyboard. If you do not do this, the ULTIMETER date displayed by WAMON on the current conditions screen will not match the ULTIMETER's date displayed on the instrument. Be sure to set the ULTIMETER's clock about a minute (or more) slower than your PC's clock. This is because at midnight each day, the ULTIMETER resets it's logged data for "Today" and "Yesterday" in preparation for logging data for the new day. WAMON also closes its daily log file at Midnight according to the PC's clock and then updates WEATHER.LOG with the high's and low's of the day. If the ULTIMETER has already reset it's logs when Monitor accesses the ULTIMETER's logged data, it will not get the past day's weather history .... this will happen if the ULTIMETER's clock is faster than the PC's clock causing the ULTIMETER to reset its logs before the PC has a chance to record it at midnight (PC time).

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QUESTION:

I have configured WeatherActive Monitor to send an alpha numeric page to my pager when the temperature exceeds 95 degrees and the wind exceeds 25 mph. The wind alarm works fine and I receive notifications when an alarm condition occurs. However the temperature notification does not work. The program dials my pager access number and appears to send the page but I don't receive anything. On examining the "error.log" file I see the following message:

"Pager no: 3501771 Lost Connection during call. Completed: 0 of 1"

The test page in the Monitor Configure program works fine so I know that the pager access is configured properly.

ANSWER:

Some alpha paging companies do not allow "extended" characters such as the "degree" symbol to be sent to their alpha pagers. If you attempt to send such characters, the alpha pager modem at your service provider will stop accepting data from Monitor and terminate the call. The temperature, dew point, heat index, and wind chill, alarm notifications all have the "degree" symbol in the message string which may cause problems. The other alarm notifications including the test message don't include this symbol and therefore work fine. A work-around this problem has been implemented in the latest version of WeatherActive Monitor. Be sure that you update to Version 4.10 or greater to resolve this issue.

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QUESTION:

What is the format of the log files created by WeatherActive Monitor?

ANSWER:

For Date log files:

Field 1: Time of day

Field 2: Temp

Field 3: Humid

Field 4: Dew Pt

Field 5: Heat Indx

Field 6: Baro Pressure

Field 7: Baro Trend

Field 8: Rainfall

Field 9: Rain Rate

Field 10: Wind Speed

Field 11: Wind Direction *

Field 12: Wind Peak

Field 13: Peak Direction

Field 14: Wind Avg

Field 15: Avg Direction

Field 16: Chill

Field 17: In Temp

Field 18: In Humid

Field 19: 0 - reserved

Field 20: LHL

Field 21: DI

Field 22: FCC

Field 23: BOB

Field 24: AD

* Note: Wind direction in LOG files is represented as a number from 1 to 16 (16-point compass) as follows:

1 N

2 NNE

3 NE

4 ENE

5 E

6 ESE

7 SE

8 SSE

9 S

10 SSW

11 SW

12 WSW

13 W

14 WNW

15 NW

16 NNW

For WEATHER.LOG files:

Field 1: Date

Field 2: High Outdoor Temperature

Field 3: High Outdoor Temperature time

Field 4: Low Outdoor Temperature

Field 5: Low Outdoor Temperature time

Field 6: High Wind

Field 7: High Wind Direction *

Field 8: High Wind time

Field 9: Low Wind Chill

Field 10: Low Wind Chill time

Field 11: High Barometric Pressure

Field 12: High Barometric Pressure time

Field 13: Low Barometric Pressure

Field 14: Low Barometric Pressure time

Field 15: High Outdoor Humidity

Field 16: High Outdoor Humidity time

Field 17: Low Outdoor Humidity

Field 18: Low Outdoor Humidity time

Field 19: Total rainfall for the day

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QUESTION:

When I look at my LOG files in Excel, I notice that Wind Direction is a number and not 'north' or 'west'. How do I interpret this number? Also How do I interpret the values for Wind & Direction, Average Wind & Direction, Peak Wind & Direction, Pressure Change, and Rainfall Rate?

ANSWER:

The Numbers that coincide with the Wind Direction are listed in the previous FAQ. They are from 1-16 and represent N, NNW, NSW,etc.

The values listed for Wind & Direction are instantaneous values that are updated every few seconds, Average Wind & Direction are a 1 or 5 minute running average (Except the U2000 which is 1 minute), Peak Wind Speed & Direction are updated every minute and are a 1 minute peak wind, the Pressure Change is a 3 hour pressure change that is updated every 10 minutes, and finally the Rainfall Rate is measured in inches per hour and is updated every minute.

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QUESTION:

When I view WAMON, the numbers and labels do not appear in the boxes but they seem to be shifted. How can I line the values with the boxes?

ANSWER:

Right click a blank area of your desktop and select "Properties". Then under the Settings tab, there is an option where you can select a font size. Make sure that this option is set to Normal (size 96 dpi) "Small Fonts". On some systems (such as Windows 2000) you may have to click the "Advanced" button and then in the "General" tab you will find the "Font Size" setting. Restart the computer after you make this change.

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QUESTION:

Can I display the indoor temperature (or water temperature) in the HTML file created by WAMON?

ANSWER:

Yes, if you have the latest version, it now supports tags for Indoor Temperature: ~INT~ and indoor humidity: ~INH~

If you are using a water temperature probe with the ULTIMETER 2000 then you should use the ~INT~ tag for water temperature.

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QUESTION:

Do you know if it is possible to remove the black background in WAMON's graphs? A teacher wanted to print the graphs out for the students.

ANSWER:

Unfortunately, no... not directly. However, she can cut and paste them into a PAINT package like Paintshop Pro, then remove the black background and print them. In the next version we will have more configuration options for the graphs.

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QUESTION:

During the installation of WAMON, an error message appeared that read:

C:\WINN\SYS32\Graphs32.ocx - failed to self register

ANSWER:

This problem will occur sometimes when you install the WAMON software without closing *all* running applications first. The SETUP software tries to update a common windows DLL required by the GRAPHS module but cannot do so because the DLL is already in use. The solution is to reboot the computer, make sure that all running applications are closed (you may not know it but you may have several applications that are setup to run automatically at startup - Press CTL-ATL-DEL in Win 95/98 to see a list of running applications). Then reinstall WAMON. If you are running NT then the problem is due to a post Service Pack 4 bug in Microsoft's MFC42.DLL. You can download a hotfix for it from Microsoft, a copy of which is available at our web site:

http://www.praxsoft.com/downloads/mfc42.exe

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Question:

When running Monitor Configure and setting up Alarm Notifications via email, when I click the TEST button in the Alarm Notification Setup screen (Email tab), I get the error message: Test Failed. Cannot send to recipient. Check recipient's email address. Error: 27121 I have checked the recipient's email address and it is correct.

Answer:

If the email address that you entered in the "To" box is correct and the name of the SMTP server is correct, the problem is that the SMTP server is rejecting the email message and refusing to send it out. This is generally because many SMTP servers will not relay a message if the message originates from outside the ISP's network. Try to send an email message using email software such as Outlook Express and see if you are successful. If not, please check with your ISP about this "relaying" issue.

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QUESTION:

I have 8 serial (COM) ports on my computer. My weather station is connected to COM6. However the WeatherActive Monitor Configure program will only allow me to select COM1 through COM4. Is there any way I can set it for a higher COM port.

ANSWER:

The majority of our customers run our software on PCs that have the 4 standard COM ports supported by Windows. We have therefore designed our software configuration program to be as simple as possible and also the user to select one of these 4 ports.

However, our software can be configured to access all the COM ports supported by Windows through additional hardware such as RocketPort cards as long as the appropraite drivers are installed and that each port has a unique IRQ line (or appears to have a unique IRQ line through virtual IRQ mapping in the drivers). Here's how to configure the software:

1. Edit the WAMON.INI file located in the "WeatherActive" directory using Notepad or any other ASCII editor such as DOS EDIT.

2. On the first line you will see two numbers separated by a comma (example: 1,4040). The first number is the COM port number. Change this to the COM port number of the serial port connected to your Wx (example: 15,4040).

NOTE: This solution ONLY applies to the stand-alone version of WeatherActive Monitor. If you are running WeatherActive Monitor with WAIS (WeatherActive Internet Server), the COM Port selection must be done in WAIS. Please see the WAIS FAQ's on how to do this.

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QUESTION:

Can I run both WAMON and P2K FTP Scheduler on the same PC?

ANSWER:

On some systems the old P2K FTP Scheduler will have a file conflict when run with WAMON. Our P2K software is the older 16-bit software while the WeatherActive software is the newer 32-bit series. Running the WeatherActive or P2k versions of both will correct the problem.

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QUESTION:

I have a DAVIS Weather Monitor II and when I am using the "Configure WeatherActive Monitor" application, under the Comm tab, it lists the timeout as "ULTIMETER timeout"... Am I doing something wrong, or should I be seeing something about the Davis WeatherMonitor II?

ANSWER:

No... don't try to communicate with your Weather Monitor II (WMII) by using the WeatherActive Monitor(WAMON) Configure program. You must run WeatherActive Internet Server (WAIS). WAIS will connect to your weather station and make that data available to other programs such as WAMON, as well as, to programs that access it over the internet. WAIS acts as the "gateway" to your weather station.

Run WAIS. In the "Options" tab, the "Wx Type" should say "WMII". If it does, you have the right version of WAIS; if it does not, contact Praxis Software technical support.

If the Wx Type is correct, go to the "Comm" tab, select the appropriate serial port, and click the TEST button to establish communications. After you have successfully done so, go to the "Status" tab and START the server. Once the server has been started and is running, you can run WAMON to view the data from your WMII. WAMON connects to WAIS to get the data from your weather station.

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QUESTION:

Using a ULTIMETER 2000 weather instrument, how can I clear the long term history data from WAMON?

ANSWER:

You need to reset the high/low & long term registers using the ULTIMETER 2000 keyboard. Please refer to the ULTIMETER 2000 manual.

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QUESTION:

How can I configure WAMON and FTP Scheduler to automatically upload each graph to my homepage?

ANSWER:

Make sure that in the "Graphs" tab of "Configure Monitor" you have checked all the graphs that you want to post. Run WAMON and bring up the Graphs screen. Click on any graph button and you will see two checkboxes: Automatic Update and Cycle. Make sure these boxes are checked so the graphs are automatically updated and displayed in sequence every minute. Don’t close the graphs window, just minimize it if you don’t want to see it. For your graphs to be updated on the web along with "wadata.htm" you also need to FTP all the graph files to you web site ... you can use the same FTP Scheduler to update the web site graph files ... the FTP scheduler allows you to send multiple files. Here's how you would do this :

a. Bring up the FTP Scheduler window.

b. In the section "Select Files For Transfer" you will find a list box.

c. Type in the graph file name in the list box ... click on <Add>. You can also drag and drop the files from Windows Explorer into the files box.

d. Repeat this process for all the graph files.

You should now be updating all the graph files on your web site and you should see the updated graphs. For your reference the following graph files are created by WAMON (provided you have them selected in WeatherActive Monitor Configure) :

GSH.JPG Graph of Wind Speed History

GTH.JPG Graph of Temperature History

GBH.JPG Graph of Barometer History

GHH.JPG Graph of Humidity History

GCH.JPG Graph of Wind Chill History

GDH.JPG Wind Direction Histogram

GWH.JPG Graph of Wind Direction History

GRH.JPG Graph of Rainfall History

GPH.JPG Graph of Dew Point History

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QUESTION:

Is it possible to remove the black backgrounds in WAMON's graphs?

ANSWER:

Unfortunately, no... not directly. However, you can cut and paste the graph into a PAINT package like Paintshop Pro, then remove the black background and print them. In the next version we will have more configuration options for the graphs.

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QUESTION:

I have downloaded WeatherActive FTP Scheduler(to work with WAMON) and everything seems to be working fine, but my graphs are not updating fully.

ANSWER:

You should increase your Graph Update Time. The WADATA.HTM file will be updated every minute while each graph will be updated in sequence every minute by default. Remember, if you are creating 5 graphs and your graph update time is 1 minute, each graph will be updated every minute in sequence. Therefore, the actual update time for each graph will be 5 minutes. If you are running WAMON on a low-performance computer such as a 386 or 486 system with 4MB (or less) of RAM, you may want to increase the graph update time from its default of 60 seconds to 300 seconds (5 minutes) or greater. This is located in the WeatherActive Monitor Configure screen under the graphs tab. Refer to section 12.3.3 of the WAMON User's Manual for information on how to do this.

WeatherActive Internet Server(WAIS)

QUESTION:

When I run WAIS, I get "not connected" in the Data Center box? I can’t see my data on the Internet.

ANSWER:

This means that your data is not getting out to the Internet. There are several possibilities.

Check the following things:

Go to the WAIS screen and look under the OPTION tab, is there a check in the grayed out box that says "Connect to DataCenter"? If there is, see the next step. If not, contact Praxis technical support for further instructions.
Is your computer connected to the Internet? OR Can you browse the Internet? If not, you must be connected to the Internet for your data to reach Data Center and your live data to be posted to your Java sites. If your Internet connection seems to be okay, see the next step.
If you have a firewall/router/proxy server on your network, make sure that your network administrator/ISP has opened TCP ports 4041 and 4043 for OUTBOUND connections. This is the most common cause of this problem. These ports are not always automatically opened. Since the ports are opened for outbound connections only, there is no security risk. If your network staff have any questions, please feel free to have them contact our technical support department.

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QUESTION:

Our barometric pressure reading is off and I would like to know how we can set the barometric pressure. I know that the pressure is related to sea level. How do we adjust it in WAIS?

ANSWER:

The pressure sensor measures a change in pressure rather than the absolute pressure. Therefore, if you want to set it to sea level pressure or a pressure relative to sea level, you must first obtain the actual pressure readings from another source, then set it in the WAIS Console tab (this value is then used as an 'offset' to the reading from the sensor). Once this is done, WAIS will report the pressure change from that offset value. The pressure differences are generally rather small between areas separated by a few miles so we suggest obtaining the current pressure reading from the nearest airport. You should immediatly enter the setting into WAIS when it is obtained.

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QUESTION:

When I run WAIS, after a couple of minutes, I get an error message that says "Timer OW Error 6-166"

ANSWER:

Your rain gauge has an unusually high rainfall count. This could also happen if you just installed a new rain gauge. Please go to the "console" tab of WAIS and reset the Rainfall. You do this by clicking on the RESET button for rainfall while pressing the SHIFT key.

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QUESTION:

My weather station was fine then I suddenly started getting an error: "Onesix Server Error, Cannot find Security Device. Enter Authorization Code?" I dont have an Authorization Code, what do I do? What is causing this error?

ANSWER:

This error is caused by a damaged HA4B or sensor. It is possible that the weather station received a lightning strike. Follow this procedure:

1. Unplug ALL sensors from the HA4B. Restart the DDE server. If you get the same error, then the HA4B has been damaged... possibly by lightning or static electricity. Keep in mind that if there is a lightning strike, the HA4B will protect the computer but it will be damaged itself.

2. If the HA4B does NOT give you the error with ALL the sensors unplugged, then its probably a bad sensor or a short in the bus somewhere. Plug in one sensor, go to the DDE Server menu and click Setup then Restart/Reconfigure, click OK (to overwrite the INI file). If you dont get the error, add the next sensor, and follow the same procedure. Add one sensor at a time until you get the error. The sensor that causes the error is the bad one. Call Praxis Software for return/repair information.

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QUESTION:

I have a "basic" 1-wire weather station without the Humidity and Pressure sensors. When I run WAIS I get a warning message saying that it cannot link to "THUMIDITY1, HUMIDTY1, PRESSURE1". I also get other error messages when WAIS runs, such as "Timer OW" errors.

ANSWER:

Be sure that you update your copy of WAIS to Version 3.3x or greater. Then, do the following:

Run WAIS (or change the shortcut that loads WAIS) to include the following command line options:

WAIS -XP -XH -TS

This should fix the problem.

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QUESTION:

I have a 1-Wire weather station WITHOUT the Pressure and Humidity sensors When I click the start button I get a "warning" message:

"Cannot link to.....". When I click OK, everything seems to work. However several seconds later I get another message "Timer OW Error 285-xxx" or "Timer OW Error 282-xxx". This error message keeps appearing every few seconds even after I click OK.

ANSWER:

This happens if you have a 1-Wire weather station that does not have all the standard sensors installed: Pressure, Temperature, Rain, Humidity, and Wind. If you have all these sensors installed it should show up as 7 devices online on the DDE server screen and you should NOT be getting the above error unless something else is wrong (see similar FAQ in this section).

If your case since you don't have all the sensors you will get this message. We have resolved this problem in Version 3.3x of WAIS. Please download the latest version or update of WAIS. After you do this, run WAIS (or change the shortcut that loads WAIS) to include the a command line option: -Xs where "s" is the sensor you want to Exclude from the monitoring process:

P=Pressure, R=Rain, H=Humidity, W=Wind, T=Temperature.

For example:

WAIS -XP

excludes the Pressure sensor from being monitored

WAIS -XP -XH

excludes the Pressure and Humidity sensors from being monitored.

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QUESTION:

I have a 1-wire weather station with all the sensors. However when I run WAIS I get the Warning message: "cannot link to RAIN1.....". I have checked all the connections to the rain gauge and have even replaced the rain gauge but I still get the message and don't see any rainfall register in the program.

ANSWER:

This problem can occur when there is a lot of noise on the 1-wire cable, especial when you use cable other than CAT 5. The DDE server mistakenly identifies the rain gauge as another device when this happens. To resolve the problem, STOP WAIS, EXIT the DDE Server. Bring up the ONESIX.INI file using Notepad. Look for the line that says "DeviceType=COUNTER"

Under this entry you will see several other entries. Make the following changes to these entries:

Original Entries:

PollTime=250

Label=COUNTER1

ScaleA=1.000000

UnitsA=Counts

UnitsB=Counts

EnableCounterB=1

Battery=0

IDLabel=

Change to:

PollTime=15000

Label=RAIN1

ScaleA=0.010000

UnitsA=inches

UnitsB=none

EnableCounterB=0

Battery=1

IDLabel=RAIN1

Also delete the line "NodalAddress=a".

Save the modified ONESIX.INI file. Restart the DDE Server. Start WAIS. You should no longer get the warning.

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QUESTION:

I just setup my 1-wire weather station and my rain gauge does not seem to work when I tip it or pour water in it.

ANSWER:

First bring up the DDE Server and see if there are 7 devices (or the correct number based on your weather station configuration) online. If this is correct, then view the DDE variables and make sure that RAIN1 is on the list. If RAIN1 is not on the list and you see COUNTER1 instead, then read the FAQ in this section on how to correct this condition. If RAIN1 is on the DDE variable list then, bring up WAIS and go to the "Console" tab. You will see two boxes labeled "Rain" and "Rain(A)". Look at the number in the box that's labeled "Rain" while tipping the gauge or pouring water into it. If it does NOT change you probably have a defective rain gauge. If the number in the "Rain:" box DOES change, then STOP and QUIT WAIS. Next, go to the "WeatherActive" folder and delete the file called "correct.dat". Then restart WAIS. The rain gauge should work now.

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QUESTION:

I have a TWI 1-Wire weather station. WAIS is not seeing my weather station, when I tried to change the com port, it was grayed out. How do I change the com port?

ANSWER:

With the 1-Wire weather station, WAIS does not access the COM port directly. The DDE server accesses the COM port and WAIS accesses the DDE server for the data. So the COM port selection in the "Comm" tab is disabled. What you need to do is shutdown WAIS and DDE Server and delete the onesix.ini file. Connect the HA4 to the desired COM port and then start the DDE server. The DDE server should automatically detect it. Alternatively, you can restart the DDE server after plugging the HA4 into the other COM port. A third option is to stop and quit the OneSix DDE server, edit the Onesix.ini file and in the [Server] section of the onesix.ini file change the "PortNo=1" entry to "PortNo=2" if he wants to change it from COM1 to COM2. The start the DDE server. DO this only if you are sure that the COM port is working properly.

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QUESTION:

The QUIT button in WAIS seems to have mysterously disappeared. How can I get it back.

ANSWER:

You probably checked the "Automatic Startup" box in the Options Tab of WAIS. When you do this, WAIS runs as a true service in Windows. This means that it runs as part of the operating system and not an application. When a program runs as a service it is impossible to terminate it. We have intentionally done this so that WAIS can continuously gather data from the weather station and never be interrupted. To get the QUIT button back, you must first uncheck the "Automatic Startup" box and then reboot the computer. WAIS then will not startup automatically. You will manually have to start WAIS and use the QUIT button to terminate it.

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QUESTION:

I have 8 serial (COM) ports on my computer. My weather station is connected to COM6. However the WeatherActive Internet Server program will only allow me to select COM1 through COM4. Is there any way I can set it for a higher COM port.

ANSWER:

1. Edit the WAIS.INI file located in the "WeatherActive" directory using Notepad or any other ASCII editor such as DOS EDIT.

NOTE: This solution does not apply to the 1-wire weather station. All serial communications in the 1-wire weather station is done through the DDE server. The DDE Server should automatically detect any Windows-supported COM port. To manually change the COM port number for the DDE server you must edit the "PortNo=" entry in the ONESIX.INI file.

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QUESTION:

Why can’t I run the Davis Weather Link software and WAIS at the same time?

ANSWER:

Weather Link and WAIS try to get data from the Davis weather station at the same time. They can’t BOTH communicate with the station at the same time. The weather station can only communicate with one program at a time. It will cause unreliable data and other problems. Please turn off the Davis Weather Link software prior to using WAIS.

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QUESTION:

The WAIS program will not detect the Davis Weather Monitor II(WMII). What can I do?

ANSWER:

Ensure that---

1. No other program that accesses the WMII is running . . . for example, the Davis Weather Link** software. Just to be sure, reboot the computer, then run WAIS and click on each COM port selection and see if the weather station responds.

** You cannot run Weather Link and WAIS at the same time. Both of these programs try to get data from the weather station. They cannot both talk to the station at the same time. It will cause unreliable data and other problems. Please turn off the Davis Weather Link software prior to using WAIS.

2. You have the right version of WAIS. Go to the "Options" tab (in WAIS Version 2.x) or the "Status" tab (in WAIS Version 3.x) and look at the "Wx Type". It should say WMII for the Davis weather station.

3. WAIS communicates with the WMII at a baud rate of 2400 baud. Be sure that the WMII is set to communicate at this speed. You can do this by running the Davis Weather Link software and setting the communications speed from there. Be sure to completely close the Weather Link software and then run WAIS.

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QUESTION:

After setting up my 1-wire weather station and connecting the HA4/HA5 host adapter to my computer, I get the Windows 95/98 error:

Onesix - "This program has performed an illegal operation and will shut down"

After I click "Details>>" it says: "ONSIX caused an invalid page fault in module<unknown>"

Why am I getting this error, and how do I resolve it?

ANSWER:

This error occurs in Windows 95/98 when the DDE Server is not able to access the weather station. Make sure that the HA4 power supply is plugged in, as well as checking to be sure that the com port is connected. Also check the serial cable from the HA4/HA5. If the problem still persists, contact Praxis Software technical support.

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QUESTION:

After setting up my 1-wire weather station and connecting the HA4 or HA5 adapter to my computer, I get the Windows 2000 error:

Onesix - "Onesix.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You will need to restart the program."

Why am I getting this error, and how do I resolve it?

ANSWER:

This error occurs in Windows 2000 when the DDE Server is not able to access the weather station. Make sure that the HA4 power supply is plugged in, as well as checking to be sure that the com port is connected. Also check the serial cable from the HA4/HA5. If the problem still persists, contact Praxis Software technical support.

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QUESTION:

Why I am receiving the message: "No Wx Data"?

ANSWER:

This message usually means that WAIS is not receiving data consistently from the weather station.

This could be caused by:

1. A bad serial port on the CPU

2. A serial port is sharing an IRQ with another port or device

3. A serial port with an intermittent contact (i.e. a bad cable)

4. A bad serial port on the weather station

5. The computer suspend, or sleep, mode is shutting down the serial port. Disable all suspend, sleep, and power saving modes.

To check #3 and #4, try the weather station and serial cable on another computer.

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QUESTION:

When I run WAIS, I immediately see a message displayed on the screen that says "Unexpected Error". Clicking OK makes the message disappear but the program won’t run.

ANSWER:

The error is caused by an incompatible DLL or OCX file. That file is required by WAIS. It usually indicates that you have an older version of a DLL or OCX on your system, possibly installed by another application. Try closing ALL applications and reinstalling the WeatherActive software. If this does not work, please contact Praxis Technical Support to help you resolve this problem.

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QUESTION:

When I start WAIS, I get the message:

"DDE Server Error: Cannot link to: -HUMIDITY1"

The program continues to work normally. What causes this error?

ANSWER:

This error occurs when the DDE Server is configured for less than 7 devices, and can’t find the Humidity sensor.

Go to the DDE Server and see if it says "Devices Online 7" and "Devices Offline 0". The box under this should be empty. If there is anything in the box, there is a problem. If the DDE Server says "Devices Online 5" or anything less than 7, look under the heading "DDE Variables". It should look something like this:

HUMIDITY1

PRESS1

RAIN1

SERVER

THUMIDITY1

TPRESS1

TWINDVANE1

WINDVANE1

If you don’t see humidity listed, then the DDE Server isn’t seeing your humidity sensor. Check it to be sure it is plugged in properly. If you continue to have trouble, contact Praxis Software technical support.

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QUESTION:

How can you cause the temperature value to be offset by a certain amount?

ANSWER:

In WAIS Version 2.1x you can apply correction factors to the current data read from the Wx:

Edit the file CORRECT.DAT in the "WeatherActive" directory (folder). The file will contain 8 (or 9) lines of numbers, each one explained as followed:

xx = rain offset (maintained by program DO NOT CHANGE)

xx = pressure offset (maintained by program DO NOT CHANGE)

0 = indoor temp correction factor

0 = outdoor temp correction factor

0 = outdoor humidity correction factor

1 = wind speed correction factor

0 = wind direction correction factor

0 = indoor humidity correction factor

1 = rainfall correction factor (U2000 only)

All correction factors (except for wind speed and rainfall) can be specified as negative or positive numbers, that are added or subtracted to/from the readings obtained from the Wx. A correction factor of 0 therefore means NO correction. Wind speed and Rainfall correction factors are MULTIPLIED by the reading obtained from the Wx. For example to INCREASE the wind speed by 25% specify a correction factor of 1.25. To REDUCE the wind speed by 25% specify a correction factor of 0.75. For no correction, specify a correction factor of 1. DO NOT use a correction factor of 0 for these two parameters. In WAIS Version 3.x you can do this in the "Options" tab.

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QUESTION:

I am running WAIS and the barometric readout on WAIS and WAMON is 3 inches lower than the readout on the Davis Weather Monitor II- Why aren't the readings the same?

ANSWER:

The pressure obtained from the WMII is the "raw" pressure from the sensor. The WMII display unit adds or subtracts an offset to this "raw" data to display the correct pressure. This is what is actually displayed on the WMII LCD display. WAIS must be set do the same otherwise it will display the "raw" data. If you go to the "console" tab of WAIS. You will be able to set the pressure. You will see a Button labeled "SET" with the word "Barometer" above it. Enter the correct pressure in the box to the right and click the SET button.

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QUESTION:

How do I calibrate or adjust the wind direction of my 1-wire weather station anemometer without climbing on the roof and physically aligning it?

ANSWER:

It is always preferable to calibrate the wind direction of the anemometer by physically aligning the entire anemometer assembly (arm) to point in the NORTH direction.

However if it is inconvenient to do this due to the location of the anemometer, or if you would like to "tweak" the wind direction, there is a software calibration that you can perform to accomplish the same thing:

1. Quit out of WAIS and the DDE Server. Also STOP WeatherActive Monitor if it's also running

2. Edit (using Notepad or any other ASCII editor) the file named "onesix.ini" located in the "WeatherActive" folder. This is the folder where the weatheractive software is installed.

3. Look for the line that says:

DirectionOffset=0

This is the wind direction offset in degrees that is added or subtracted to the actual wind direction read from the sensor.

4. Change the "0" (zero) to a negative or positive number between 0 and 359 degrees to calibrate the wind direction. A Positive number "moves" or offsets the wind direction to the West. A Negative number "moves" or offsets the wind direction to the East. For example let's say that the anemometer is reading NORTH but the actual wind direction is NORTH-EAST. You will enter -45 for the DirectionOffset.

Do NOT change anything else in this file.

5. Save the "onesix.ini" file.

6. Run WAIS. The wind direction calibration is complete.

Note: If the DDE Server is manually "restarted" through its "Setup" menu, the DirectionOffset will be reset to 0. A restart is generally performed after adding or removing sensors to the weather station and if this is done you will have to perform the software calibration again.

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QUESTION:

The temperature being sent out by the site does not correspond to the temperature being read by the weather station. Why does this happen?

ANSWER:

One idea may be to look at an option in WAIS--under the Options tab there is a box that is labeled "Simulated Wx Data". Make sure that this box is NOT checked. The "Simulate Wx Data" option causes FAKE data to be sent out instead of the REAL data from the weather station. This is usually used as a diagnostic tool to allow people to run WAIS without having a Wx installed. Then after the Wx is installed, this option should be UNCHECKED. Another idea may be to check if the correction factors have been changed. This can be done by looking at the correct.dat file that is in the WeatherActive folder, if you are running WAIS 2.x. The values should be 0,0,0,0,-999,1,0,0. If you are running WAIS 3.x, look in the "Options" tab. The Temp correction factor should be zero.

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QUESTION:

How do I install WAIS as a service under Windows?

ANSWER:

INSTALLING WAIS as a service under WIN 95/98/ME

WAIS runs as a true service if the "Automatic Startup" box is checked in the "Options" tab. To uninstall it as a service, you need to uncheck this box and then REBOOT the computer.

INSTALLING WAIS as a service under WIN NT/2000

1. Log in as Administrator

2. Make sure that WAIS is NOT running.

3. Open up a DOS Prompt (Command Prompt) and change to the "weatheractive"

directory. At the DOS prompt, enter: WAIS -install (alternatively you can click START->RUN and then in the "Open" box enter: d:\weatheractive\WAIS -install where "d" is the drive letter where the "WeatherActive" folder is located.)

If the service is successfully installed you will get the message "WAIS Service installed successfully"

4. Go to Control Panel -> Services (in Windows 2000, Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services). Look for a service called "WeatherActive Internet Server". Click on the service name. Click STARTUP (in Windows 2000 simply double click on the service name to bring up the properties window). Change the "Startup Type" to "Automatic" Click START to start the service. A message "attempting to start the WAIS service" will be displayed and after a few seconds the WAIS icon should appear in the system tray. The Status should now say "Started". Click on CLOSE ( In Windows 2000, click OK to close the properties window)

5. You may want to remove the WAIS icon from the Programs -> WeatherActive menu so that someone does not try to run it as an application.

6. To uninstall WAIS as a service, first Stop the service in Control Panel -> Services. Then at the DOS command prompt in the "WeatherActive" directory (folder) or by using the "run" command (see Step 3), enter: WAIS -uninstall

You will get the message "WAIS service uninstalled successfully". Reboot the computer.

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QUESTION:

Which WAIS versions will have the humidity sensor fix for the ULTIMETER 2000?

ANSWER:

All WAIS versions 2.11 and above will have the humidity sensor fix.

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QUESTION:

What are some of the new features of WAIS 3.x?

ANSWER:

WeatherActive Internet Server (WAIS) Version 3.x has now been designed to connect to our central server (called WeatherActive Data Center) and send weather data from the weather station. It still has all the "server" capabilities of the previous version, but instead of connecting directly to WAIS and overcoming firewall restrictions, one will also be able to connect to Data Center to get the data from the weather station. Once you install WAIS Version 3.x for the appropriate weather station, go to the "Options" Tab and CHECK the box labeled "Connect to Data Center". Then go to the "Status" Tab, click the START button, ....wait a few seconds.... The "Data Center" textbox above the START button should now say CONNECTED. If it does.... we are all set.

If it does not: note that WAIS makes a "client" TCP connection to the Data Center server "weatheractive.com" on TCP Port 4043. Some firewalls are setup to be so restrictive so as to block all outbound TCP ports except the well-known ones; some even block all ports except the HTTP and FTP ports. TCP ports 4043 and 4041 must be open for Outbound access (port 4041 allows you to access your data from our server). Your network administrator or ISP can do this for you. There is no Inbound access through these ports therefore there is no security issue.

If this is a major problem with your ISP/network administrator please let us know.

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QUESTION:

I cannot connect to my Internet Test Server?

ANSWER:

a. You have changed the port number from default - in the "InternetServerTest" window the IP Port Number is prominently mentioned ... if this is not 4040 please let us know ... if it is then the problem could be in as point (b)

b. The port number is not open - you are most likely running a proxy server for the school ... ask your network administrator "to open up TCP port 4040 for both inbound and outbound connections" ... once this is done let us know we will check it out again.

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QUESTION:

My school nor our server are getting any information on the wind speed, direction, or humidity from out ULTIMETER 2000 weather station?

ANSWER:

Are you receiving the temperature and barometric pressure okay?

Is the wind speed/direction and humidity being displayed correctly on the ULTIMETER 2000 keyboard?

If the wind speed/direction and humidity is not being displayed on the ULTIMETER 2000 KEYBOARD, it is a Hardware problem with the ULTIMETER 2000. Please contact Peet Bros.

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QUESTION:

When I start WeatherLogger (Peet software), it reads data from com-port. If I start WAIS at the same time, it complains that port is taken by another process, which is fine. But if I shut down WeatherLogger and try to run only WAIS, on COMM TEST button it says "No Wx detected". Also, CONSOLE tab is blinking and doesn't show anything.

ANSWER:

Sometimes if you run Peet software, it can take over the serial port and does not close it properly when you terminate it. Then if you run WAIS, the serial port is not available to WAIS. The only solution after running the PB software is to shutdown and reboot the computer and then run WAIS.

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QUESTION:

I need to set up our Novell network so that the workstations can see the weather station's data.

ANSWER:

All you need to do is to make sure that your Novell network is configured to run the TCP/Ip protocol in addition to the existing protocol (usually IPX/SPX). And that the machine running WAIS has an IP address that is accessible by the other stations on the network. That should do it! Then all you do is install P2K internet Client on each PC and configure it to connect to the IP address of the machine running WAIS.... you should then be able to see the weather data.

Broadcast Mapper

QUESTION:

Can I have more than one site with the same site code or serial number?

ANSWER:

No. All sites must have a unique site code/serial number. Duplicate serial numbers cause bad data and errors. Using the same serial number on more than one copy of your WeatherActive software is also a violation of your licensing agreement.

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QUESTION:

Can our TV station get a customized version of Mapper for on air?

ANSWER:

Absolutely. We are always happy to offer customized versions of Mapper(different backgrounds) that will meet the needs of your station. You can specify the maps that are displayed as a backdrop. However, if you have any other special requirements please feel free to contact us.

Transfer Server

[There are no questions for this topic.]

FTP Scheduler

QUESTION:

I completely uninstalled the old P2K FTP Scheduler and downloaded the WeatherActive FTP Scheduler Version 3.00. After installing the WeatherActive FTP Scheduler and running it, I get a "Run Time Error 25621." Suggestions?

ANSWER:

Go to "my computer", then "dial-up networking" and create a "dummy"
dial-up networking connection.... EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT USING Dial-up
Networking. Then try FTP Scheduler and see if it works.

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QUESTION:

I have configured FTP Scheduler to dial-up to my ISP, and it dials up but never seems to connect to the internet.

ANSWER:

Make absolutely sure that the Username and Password in the "Dial-up Information" box of Scheduler is the same as what you entered in the Dial-up Networking (DUN) icon that you created. Perhaps reenter the password just to be sure that there is no mistake and verify that the username is the same. This is very important and the most likely cause of a failed dial-up connection. If that does not work, create another Dial-up networking connection to the same ISP but give it different name. Manually test the connection to make sure that it works. Then configure Scheduler to use this new one and again be sure to enter the same dial-up username and password as you did when you created the DUN connection.

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QUESTION:

I'm using WeatherActive Monitor and FTP Scheduler on a Windows 98 SE computer.
When trying to connect to a site, the FTP Scheduler will run for a time
and then, the "Dial-up Connection" Box pops up and the Scheduler
stops. How can I fix this problem?

ANSWER:

1. Go to Control Panel

2. Select Internet Options

3. Click on the "Connections" Tab

4. Make sure that "NEVER DIAL A CONNECTION" is selected

This should be done if one is using Monitor and FTP Scheduler on
Windows 98 SE ONLY...

The computer running the WA FTP software has to have the Dial-up
Networking software installed even though we are not using a
modem.

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QUESTION:

Why am I am receiving "Error 25751", which means that the FTP server is not allowing
you to save the file on your web site?

ANSWER:

On some web sites, once you connect to the FTP server, you
have to change to another directory and save your files there (this
is generally true for UNIX servers). When you manually FTP to
your web site (please try this) do you have to change to another
directory? If so, you will have to configure FTP Scheduler to do the
same. Remember FTP scheduler does exactly what your regular
FTP client does except that it does it automatically.

Java 1

QUESTION:

What is the Recommended Configuration for Hosting Java1?

ANSWER:

A direct internet connection. PC must have a real IP address. If it
has a private IP address, the firewall or proxy server should allow
inbound and outbound access through TCP ports 4040 and 80.

PC Hardware requirements:
Pentium 200 Mhz Pentium
32 MB RAM
100MB available disk space
1 available serial (COM) Port

Note: a stripped down (no multimedia) PC would be ideal.

PC Software Requirements:
Windows NT Server 4.0
Microsoft (IIS) Internet Information Server (comes with NT)
WeatherActive Internet Server (WAIS)
Java1 Applet

QUESTION:

I have trouble viewing the Java applets with a Netscape browser. Has it been tested using Netscape?

ANSWER:
We have tested the Java applets with Netscape Communicator version 4.75, with no problems. However, when we tested with Netscape version 6.1 (without Java plug in), it told us to download a plug in. After we did, the computer locked up when trying view a Java applet. After rebooting the computer, Netscape had no trouble viewing the same site.
We have found that Netscape browsers are unpredictable and may not allow you to view the Java applets. We suggest using Internet Explorer ver 4.0 or later for best results.

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QUESTION:

How do I embed the Java1 Applet into my web page?
ANSWER:
Embedding the Java1 Applet into your web page *

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

* If your web page is not on the same server that hosts the java applet, you will need to insert the following HTML code in order to load the applet into your web page:

The codebase="URL" statement should point to the URL where the applet is located. For example if you are loading the applet from the

URL: http://weatheractive.com/java1/ABR then the HTML code that you will enter in your web page is:
<p><applet code="Javaone.class" codebase="http://weatheractive.com/java1/ABR" align="baseline" width="610" height="350" archive="java1.jar"></applet></p>

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QUESTION:

In order to view the Java1 applet on our web site, as it is presently set up, are WAIS and WeatherActive Monitor the only applications that need to be running when the server is rebooted?

ANSWER:

For Java1, all you need is WAIS. You don't need to have WeatherActive Monitor running
unless you want to look at the local weather conditions.

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QUESTION:

Our Java1 data disappears and reappears randomly on our web site? Why?

ANSWER:

We have discovered that several versions of Windows have a bug in the APM (Advanced Power Management) driver that can cause the PC to intermittently stop sending out weather data when the computer goes into a "sleep" or "suspend" mode. On such computers, APM incorrectly puts the network card and/or the serial port into a "suspend" state and this stops the flow of data until some computer activity (such as moving the mouse) is detected. If some of your sites are experiencing this problem, that is, if the flow of data from one of your sites appears to be intermittent, please have them DISABLE any automatic "suspend" or "sleep" mode through the Control Panel "power management" icon and/or through the computers BIOS settings.

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QUESTION:

I can access my raw data from my weather station, but cannot access Java1 Applet on my server?

ANSWER:

This means one of two things:

1. You are NOT running a web server (such as PWS or IIS) on the
same PC that is running WAIS

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QUESTION:

ANSWER:

WeatherActive Internet Server(WAIS)

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ANSWER:

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ANSWER:

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Broadcast Mapper

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