ECOWITT HP3500 Operation Manual

TFT COLOR DISPLAY WIFI WEATHER

STATION

Operation Manual

Model: HP3500

Thank you for purchasing this TFT Color Display Weather Station! This device provides accurate weather readings and is Wi-Fi capable to stream data from the weather station to Internet based weather services.

This manual will guide you, step-by-step, through setting up your weather station and console, and understanding the operation of your weather station. Use this manual to become familiar with your professional weather station and save it for future reference.

1 Table of Contents

1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................... 2

2 UNPACKING ......................................................................................... 5

3 OVERVIEW ........................................................................................... 7

3.1 DISPLAY CONSOLE .............................................................................. 7

3.2 INDOOR SENSOR: ................................................................................. 8

3.3 FEATURES .......................................................................................... 8

4 SET UP GUIDE ...................................................................................... 10

4.1 SENSOR PACKAGE ASSEMBLY .............................................................. 10

4.1.1 Install U-bolts and metal plate ...................................................... 11

4.1.2 Install wind vane ......................................................................... 12

4.1.3 Install wind speed cups ................................................................ 13

4.1.4 Install Batteries in sensor package ................................................ 14

4.1.5 Mount assembled outdoor sensor package ..................................... 14

4.1.6 Reset Button and Transmitter LED ................................................ 17

4.2 INDOOR SENSOR SET UP ...................................................................... 18

4.2.1 Sensor Placement ........................................................................ 18

4.3 BEST PRACTICES FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION ................................ 19

4.4 CONSOLE DISPLAY .............................................................................. 20

4.4.1 Initial Display Console Set Up ...................................................... 21

4.4.2 Key functions ............................................................................... 22

5 OPERATING THE CONSOLE ............................................................... 24

5.1 NORMAL MODE ................................................................................... 24

5.1.1 Outdoor or “Feels Like” .............................................................. 24

5.1.2 Rain data .................................................................................... 25

5.1.3 Graphed data .............................................................................. 25

5.2 SETTING MODE ................................................................................... 26

5.2.1 Backlight .................................................................................... 26

5.2.2 Data Units .................................................................................. 27

5.2.3 Coefficients ................................................................................. 27

5.2.4 Barometer ................................................................................... 28

5.2.5 Rainfall ....................................................................................... 28

5.2.6 Graph Time ................................................................................. 28

5.2.7 Time Format ............................................................................... 28

5.2.8 Date Format ................................................................................ 29

5.2.9 Date and Time ............................................................................. 29

5.2.10 Sensor Type ............................................................................... 29

5.3 CALIBRATION MODE ........................................................................... 29

5.3.1 Calibration of barometric pressure settings. .................................. 30

5.4 ALARM MODE .................................................................................... 34

5.5 TEMPERATURE MAX/MIN MODE .......................................................... 35

5.6 OTHER MAX/MIN MODE ...................................................................... 35

5.7 RAINFALL .......................................................................................... 35

5.8 FACTORY MODE ................................................................................. 36

6 OTHER CONSOLE FUNCTIONS .......................................................... 38

6.1 HISTORICAL DATA STORAGE ................................................................. 38

6.2 SENSOR IDENTIFICATION ...................................................................... 38

6.3 BEAUFORT WIND FORCE SCALE ........................................................... 39

7 PUBLISHING TO INTERNET WEATHER SERVICES ........................ 40

7.1 WI-FI CONNECTION FOR THE WEATHER STATION CONSOLE .................... 40

7.1.1 Download mobile application ....................................................... 41

7.1.2 Register a Personal Weather Station (PWS) with wunderground.com

........................................................................................................... 41

7.1.2 Activate setup application............................................................. 41

7.1.3 Configure Device – Connect your console with WIFI ...................... 45

7.2 REGISTERING WITH AND USING WUNDERGROUND.COM ........................... 55

7.2.1 Viewing data on wunderground.com ............................................. 57

7.3 REGISTERING WITH AND USING WEATHERCLOUD ................................... 61

7.4 REGISTERING WITH WEATHER OBSERVATIONS WEBSITE (WOW) ............ 62

7.4.1 Sign up with WOW ....................................................................... 62

7.4.2 Confirm email with WOW ............................................................. 64

7.4.3 Login with WOW ......................................................................... 64

7.4.4 Create/Set up a new WOW site ...................................................... 64

8 PC SOFTWARE OPERATION .............................................................. 67

8.1 INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION .................................................... 67

8.1.1 Connect the display console to the PC ........................................... 67

8.2 SETUP FUNCTIONS ............................................................................... 68

8.2.1 Basic Settings .............................................................................. 68

8.2.2 Alarm Settings ............................................................................. 69

8.2.3 Calibration Settings ..................................................................... 70

8.2.4 Rain Totals .................................................................................. 71

8.3 RECORD AND RECORDING FUNCTIONS ................................................... 71

8.3.1 Max/Min ..................................................................................... 72

8.3.2 SDCard File ................................................................................ 73

9 MAINTENANCE .................................................................................... 75

13 TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE ............................................................ 77

14 GLOSSARY OF COMMON TERMS .................................................... 81

15 SPECIFICATIONS ............................................................................... 84

16 FCC STATEMENT ............................................................................... 86

17 WARRANTY INFORMATION ............................................................ 88

2 Unpacking

Open your weather station box and inspect that the contents are intact (nothing broken) and complete (nothing missing). Inside you should find the following:

Item Description

Display Console

Outdoor Sensor Body with built-in: Thermo-hygrometer / Rain Gauge / Wind Speed Sensor/ Wind Direction Sensor, Light and UV sensor, Solar panel

Wind speed cups (to be attached to outdoor sensor body)

Wind vane (to be attached to outdoor sensor body)

USB Cable (for console to PC connectivity)

Indoor sensor unit

U-Bolts for mounting on a pole

Threaded nuts for U-Bolts (M5 size)

Metal mounting plate to be used with U-Bolts

Stainless steel pole (for mounting)

Wrench for M5 bolts

AC adapter

User manual (this manual)

Table 1: Package content

If components are missing from the package, or broken, please contact customer service to resolve the issue.

Note: The console can store historical data on a memory card. This memory

card is not included. If you want to use one you will need a microSD memory card. There is no required size for this card. A 1GB card will

store more than 10 years’ worth of data, so you do not need a very

large capacity card. There is also no requirement on the speed class of this card as data writing happens infrequently and is not speed critical.

Note: Batteries for the outdoor sensor package are not included. You will

need 2 AA size batteries, alkaline or Lithium batteries (Lithium recommended for colder climates).

Note: The console operates using an AC adapter. The included adapter is a

switching-type adapter and can generate a small amount of electrical interference with the RF reception in the console, when placed too close to the console. Please keep the console display at least 2 ft. or

0.5 m away from the power adapter to ensure best RF reception from the outdoor sensor package.

3 Overview

3.1 Display console

Figure 1: Display console screen

Figure 2: Display console side views

DC Connector

microSD Card

USB Port

3.2 Indoor sensor:

Figure 3: Indoor sensor 3 display variations

The indoor sensor will display indoor temperature, humidity and barometric pressure alternately. The sensor will use US or metric units, as appropriate for the locale where the unit was sold.

3.3 Features

• 4.3" TFT full color display

• Time and date

• Indoor/Outdoor temperature and humidity

• Wind speed, gust speed, and wind direction (red arrow icon for the

current wind direction and blue dot icon for the previous wind direction on the compass)

• Absolute and Relative barometric pressure

• Rainfall rate and totals for day, week, month, and year

• Calculated wind chill, dew point and heat index display

• Solar light intensity and UV index

• Selectable display units for each sensor: C or F (temperature); mph, km/h,

m/s, knots or Beaufort (wind speed); inHg, hPa or mmHg (pressure); in or mm (rainfall); lux, fc or w/m2 (solar lighting)

• Barometric history graph (12, 24, 48, or 72 hr.)

• Maximum and minimum values for sensor with time stamp

• High/low alarm options for sensors

• Historical data preserved during power outage on optional SD card

• PC software (requires USB connection)

• Supported weather services for uploading: wunderground.com,

Weathercloud, and WOW

4 Set up Guide

To complete assembly you will need a Philips screwdriver (size PH0) and a wrench (size M5; included in package).

Note: We suggest you assemble all components of the weather station,

including console in one location so you can easily test functionality. After testing, place the outdoor sensor package in the desired location. Note, however, that movement during assembly, and movement after assembly can cause the rain sensor to “falsely” register rain. It is therefore best if you do not connect the console to any Internet services until you have reset these false readings using the console. The errant values may be hard to remove from Internet services if you do not reset first.

Attention:

• Follow suggested order for battery installation (outdoor sensor first,

console second)

• Ensure batteries are installed with correct polarity (+/-)

• Do not mix old and new batteries

• Do not use rechargeable batteries

• If outdoor temperature may go below 32F or 0C for prolonged periods,

Lithium based batteries are suggested over alkaline type batteries for the outdoor sensor array

4.1 Sensor Package Assembly

See Figure 4 to locate and understand all the parts of the outdoor sensor package once fully assembled.

Figure 4: Sensor assembly components

1 Wind vane

7 Bubble level

2 Wind speed cups

8 U-Bolts

3 Light sensor and UV sensor

9 LED (red) to indicate data transmission

4 Solar panel

10 Battery compartment door

5 Rain collector

11 Reset button

6 Thermo- and hygro-meter sensors

Table 2: Sensor assembly detailed items

4.1.1 Install U-bolts and metal plate

Installation of the U-bolts, which are in turn used to mount the sensor package on a pole, requires installation of an included metal plate to receive the U-bolt ends. The metal plate, visible in Figure 5 on the right side, has four holes through which the ends of the two U-Bolts will fit. The plate itself is inserted in a groove on the bottom of the unit (opposite side of solar panel). Note that one side of the plate has a straight edge (which goes into the groove), the other side is bent at a 90-degree angle and has a curved profile (which will end up

“hugging” the mounting pole). Once the metal plate is inserted, remove nuts

from the U-Bolts and insert both U-bolts through the respective holes of the metal plate as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5: U-Bolt installation

Loosely screw on the nuts on the ends of the U-bolts. You will tighten these later during final mounting. Final assembly is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: U-Bolts and nuts installed

The plate and U-Bolts are not yet needed at this stage but doing this now may help avoid damaging wind vane and wind speed cups later on. Handling of the sensor package with wind vane and speed cups installed to install these bolts is more difficult and more likely to lead to damage.

4.1.2 Install wind vane

Push the wind vane onto the shaft on the top side of the sensor package, until it goes no further, as shown on the left side in Figure 7. Next, tighten the set screw, with a Philips screwdriver (size PH0), as shown on the right side, until the wind vane cannot be removed from the axle. Make sure the wind vane can

rotate freely. The wind vane’s movement has a small amount of friction, which is helpful in providing steady wind direction measurements.

Figure 7: Wind vane installation diagram

4.1.3 Install wind speed cups

Push the wind speed cup assembly onto the shaft on the opposite side of the wind vane, as shown in Figure 8 on the left side. Tighten the set screw, with a Philips screwdriver (size PH0), as shown on the right side. Make sure the cup assembly can rotate freely. There should be no noticeable friction when it is turning.

Figure 8: Wind speed cup installation diagram

4.1.4 Install Batteries in sensor package

Open the battery compartment with a screwdriver and insert 2 AA batteries in the battery compartment. The LED indicator on the back of the sensor package (item 9) will turn on for four seconds and then flash once every 16 seconds indicating sensor data transmission. If you did not pay attention, you may have missed the initial indication. You can always remove the batteries and start over, but if you see the flash once every 16 seconds, everything should be OK.

Figure 9: Battery installation diagram

Note: If LED does not light up or is on permanently, make sure the battery

is inserted the correct way and inserted fully, starting over if necessary. Do not install the batteries backwards as it may permanently damage the outdoor sensor.

Note: We recommend Lithium batteries for cold weather climates, but

alkaline batteries are sufficient for most climates. Rechargeable batteries have lower voltages and should never be used.

4.1.5 Mount assembled outdoor sensor package

4.1.5.1 Before you mount

Before proceeding with the outdoor mounting detailed in this section, you may want to skip to setup instructions in section 4.2 and onwards first, while you keep the assembled outdoor sensor package nearby (although preferably not closer than 5 ft. from the console). This will make any troubleshooting

and adjustments easier and avoids any distance or interference related issues from the setup.

After setup is complete and everything is working, return here for outdoor mounting. If issues show up after outdoor mounting they are almost certainly related to distance, obstacles etc.

4.1.5.2 Mounting

Your package includes two U-Bolts, 4 nuts, and a metal mounting plate for the U-Bolts, in addition to a small section of metal pipe. You can attach this section of pipe to a permanent structure and then attach the sensor package to it (see Figure 10), or you can use a longer section of pipe if that works better for getting the sensor package in the desired location. The U-Bolts will accommodate a pipe diameter of 1-2 inches.

Figure 10: Sensor package mounting diagram

The mounting plate will slide into a slot on the bottom of the sensor package and then you can provisionally insert the U-Bolts from the other side through the holes provided holes. Next place a nut on each of the four ends of the U-Bolts and tighten by hand several turns so they will not fall off.

Next prepare the mounting pipe in the desired location and make sure it is vertical, or very close to it. Use a level if needed.

Finally, place the sensor package on top of the prepared mounting pipe. The U-Bolts should be loose enough to allow this but loosen the nuts as necessary. Once placed, hand tightens all four nuts, taking care to do so evenly. Do not use a wrench yet!

Now you will need to align the whole package in the proper direction by rotating it on top of the mounting pipe as needed. Locate the arrow labeled

“WEST” that you will find on top of the sensor package right next to the light

sensor, on the opposite side of the solar panel. You must rotate the whole sensor package until this arrow points due west. To achieve proper alignment, it is helpful to use a compass (many cell phones have a compass application). Once rotated in the correct orientation, lightly tighten the bolts a little more (use a wrench) to prevent further rotation.

Note: The orientation to WEST is necessary for two reasons. The most

important one is to position the solar panel and light sensor in the most advantageous position for recording solar radiation and charging internal capacitors. Secondly it causes a zero reading for wind direction to correspond to due NORTH, as is customary. This orientation is correct for installations in the northern hemisphere. If you are installing in the southern hemisphere, the correct orientation to achieve the same optimal positioning is to have the “WEST” arrow actually point due EAST! This has the side effect, however, of lining up the 0 reading of the wind direction with SOUTH. This needs to be corrected using a 180-degree offset in the calibration settings (see section 5.3 on page 29).

Now look at the bubble level. The bubble should be fully inside the red circle. If it is not, wind direction, speed, and rain readings may not operate correctly or accurately. Adjust the mounting pipe as necessary. If the bubble is close, but not quite inside the circle, and you cannot adjust the mounting pipe, you may have to experiment with small wooden or heavy cardboard shims between the sensor package and the top of the mounting pole to achieve the desired result (this will require loosening the bolts and some experimentation).

Make sure you check, and correct if necessary, the westerly orientation as the final installation step, and now tighten the bolts with a wrench. Do not over tighten, but make sure strong wind and/or rain cannot move the sensor package.

Note: If you tested the full assembly indoors and then came back here for

instructions and mounted to sensor package outdoor you may want to make some further adjustments on the console. The transportation from indoor to outdoor and handling of the sensor is likely to have

“tripped” the rainfall sensing bucket one or more times and

consequently the console may have registered rainfall that did not really exist. You can use console functions to clear this from history. Doing so is also important to avoid false registration of these readings with weather services.

4.1.6 Reset Button and Transmitter LED

In the event the sensor array is not transmitting, reset the sensor array. Using a bent-open paperclip, press and hold the RESET BUTTON (see

Figure 11) to affect a reset: the LED turns on while the RESET button is depressed, and you can now let go. The LED should then resume as normal, flashing approximately once every 16 seconds.

Figure 11: Reset button and Transmitter LED location

4.2 Indoor Sensor Set Up

Note: To avoid permanent damage, please take note of the battery polarity

before inserting the batteries. Looking at Figure 12 from left to right the left-most (or bottom) battery is to be installed with its + terminal pointing down, and the other battery with its + terminal pointing up.

Remove the battery door on the back of the sensor by sliding it in the direction of the arrow. Insert two AA batteries as described and put compartment door back and slide it in the opposite direction to lock.

Figure 12: Indoor sensor battery installation

4.2.1 Sensor Placement

The best mounting location for the indoor sensor is in a location that never receives direct sunlight, not even through windows. Also, do not install in a location where a nearby radiant heat source (radiator, heaters, etc.) will affect it. Direct sunlight and radiant heat sources will result in inaccurate temperature readings.

The sensor is meant to provide indoor conditions for display on the console, but if you would rather have a second source for outdoor conditions instead, you can mount this unit outside. The unit is weatherproof, but besides heeding the placement instructions above, you should also attempt to mount the unit under cover (eve or awning or similar).

To mount or hang the unit on a wall or wood beam:

• Use a screw or nail to affix the remote sensor to the wall, as shown on the

left side of Figure 13, or

• Hang the remote sensor using a string, as shown in right side of Figure 13

Figure 13: Indoor sensor mounting

Note: Make sure the sensor is mounted vertically and not lying down on a

flat surface. This will insure optimum reception. Wireless signals are impacted by distance, interference (other weather stations, wireless phones, wireless routers, TVs and computer monitors), and transmission barriers, such as walls. In general, wireless signals will not penetrate solid metal and earth (down a hill, for example).

4.3 Best Practices for Wireless Communication

Wireless (RF) communication is susceptible to interference, distance, walls and metal barriers. We recommend the following best practices for trouble free wireless communication between both sensor packages and the console:

• Indoor sensor placement: The sensor will have the longest reach for its

signal when mounted or hung vertically. Avoid laying it down on a flat surface.

• Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI). Keep the console several feet

away from computer monitors and TVs.

• Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). If you have other devices

operating on the same frequency band as your indoor and/or outdoor

sensors and experience intermittent communication between sensor package and console, try turning off these other devices for troubleshooting purposes. You may need to relocate the transmitters or receivers to avoid the interference and establish reliable communication. The frequencies used by the sensors are one of (depending on your location): 433, 868, or 915 MHz (915 MHz for United States).

• Line of Sight Rating. This device is rated at 300 feet line of sight (under

ideal circumstances; no interference, barriers or walls), but in most real-world scenarios, including a wall or two, you will be able to go about 100 feet.

• Metal Barriers. Radio frequency will not pass through metal barriers

such as aluminum siding or metal wall framing. If you have such metal barriers and experience communication problems, you must change the placement of sensor package and or console.

The following table shows different transmission media and expected signal strength reductions. Each “wall” or obstruction decreases the transmission range by the factor shown below.

Medium

RF Signal Strength Reduction

Glass (untreated)

5-15%

Plastics

10-15%

Wood

10-40%

Brick

10-40%

Concrete

40-80%

Metal

90-100%

Table 3: RF Signal Strength reduction

4.4 Console Display

See Figure 14 to help you identify elements of the console’s display screen.

Figure 14: Display Console Screen Layout

1 Time and Date

9 Light

2 Historical Data Graph

10 Rainfall

3 Barometric Pressure

11 Wind speed/Gust speed

4 Indoor Temperature

12 Wind direction

5. Indoor Humidity

13 Wi-Fi Signal icon

6 Outdoor Temperature

14 WU Icon

7 Outdoor Humidity

15 High Alarm icon

8 UV index

16 Low Alarm icon

Table 4: Display console detailed items

4.4.1 Initial Display Console Set Up

Immediately after power up (inserting power adapter), the unit will turn on the display, and the unit will start to look for reception of the indoor and outdoor sensor data. This may take up to 3 minutes. Once the signal has been found

and registered, the unit will display current sensor values and start Wi-Fi connect mode.

In Wi-Fi connect mode, the Wi-Fi signal icon will blink on and off and the unit will attempt to connect to a previously configured Wi-Fi network. If the network is not found, or none has been configured yet, it will stay in Wi-Fi connect mode.

4.4.2 Key functions

Figure 15: Buttons around the display

There is a set of four keys on the bottom of the display console. The following tables briefly explains the function of these keys.

Button

Function(s)

GRAPH

Cycle between display of historical graphs of various weather

quantities (press repeatedly); also functions as a “next” button

in setup mode

RAIN/+

Switch between display of various rain related quantities (press

repeatedly); also functions as a “+” or “increase” button while

in setup mode, and as a “select” button for various setup options

TEMP/-

Switch between display of outdoor temperature and humidity,

or display of “feels like” temperature and dew point temperature; also functions as a “-” or “decrease” button while

in setup mode

Used to enter setup mode, or return from setup mode to display mode

Table 5: Console buttons

5 Operating the console

The display console has seven modes. Normal, or display, mode shows you

various weather quantities and will be your “normal” use mode. Use the

MENU key to enter the various setup modes. Press the MENU key repeatedly to reach the various setup pages and, eventually, return back to normal mode. You may hold down the MENU key at any time to force a return to normal mode, or if you do not press any key for 30 seconds, the console will also return to normal mode.

The following sections will discuss each of the modes and the items and

options available in each. When not in “normal” mode the console buttons are

used for various functions. The current function of each button is depicted graphically with a symbol directly above the hardware button. Typical

functions are “NEXT” indicated with a right arrow, “PREVIOUS” indicated

with a left arrow, and “+” and “-”.

5.1 Normal mode

Normal mode is the most often used mode. It is used to display most current sensor information for quick inspection. Information is displayed in several rectangular shaped areas. Some of these areas can be configured to display different content:

5.1.1 Outdoor or “Feels Like”

In the normal mode press the TEMP/- button to alternate the display between:

• Outdoor temperature and outdoor humidity, or

• “Feels Like” temperature (depending on the weather this will either

indicate wind-chill temperature, or heat-index), and dew point temperature.

Wind chill and heat index are perceptual values (that’s why they are described

as “Feels Like”) that indicate the air temperature as experienced by humans,

as opposed to the measured ambient air temperature. The passing flow of

lower temperature air makes it feel “colder” and this is reflected in the wind

chill temperature. Conversely, if it feels warmer than the measured air temperature due to the effects of humidity, we use a heat-index temperature to indicate how warm it feels.

The “dew point” is not a perceptual value, but it is calculated from the sensor

values (temperature and humidity). The dew point is the temperature to which air has to be cooled to become saturated, and beyond which airborne water vapor would become liquid (dew).

5.1.2 Rain data

The normal mode has a segment for displaying rainfall related data. Press the RAIN/+ button to alternate the display between:

• Rain rate: amount of rainfall accumulated in the past 60 minutes

• Rain day: amount of rainfall accumulated since midnight

• Rain week: amount of rainfall accumulated since the start of the week.

The week starts when Sunday begins and ends exactly 7 days later

• Rain month: amount of rainfall accumulated since the start of the current

month

• Rain year: amount of rainfall accumulated since the start of the year

5.1.3 Graphed data

The normal mode has an area that displays a graph of historical data. The graph will span a period of 12, 24, 48 or 72 hr. This is controlled from a setup menu (see section 5.2.6). Press the GRAPH button to alternate the displayed graph between:

• Indoor and outdoor temperature

• “Feels Like” temperature and dew point temperature

• Indoor and outdoor humidity

• Absolute (ABS) and Relative (REL) barometric pressure

• Wind speed and gust speed

• UV-index

• Solar Radiation (Light)

• Rain rate

5.2 Setting Mode

Settings mode can be activated from “normal mode” by pressing the MENU once. Doing so will show a screen titled “Setup” that offers 10 individual buttons for changing configuration of specific settings.

Use the GRAPH or TEMP button to move to the next, or previous, setting (indicated by a right arrow above the button). The selected setting will be highlighted in yellow. Press the RAIN button to change the settings for the selected item. For some items you will now be able to change its value, for others (when labeled “Setup” you will enter a sub-menu that again allows you to select a specific item first. Use the RAIN/+ and TEMP/- buttons to change the value selected in small changes or hold these buttons for two seconds or more to make rapidly repeating large changes. In the following buttons will

sometimes be referred to as just “next”, “previous”, “+” or “-” if that is their

function. Press MENU again to return to the previous menu or normal mode.

5.2.1 Backlight

In backlight setting mode you use the GRAPH/next button to move between the items you can change:

• Enable or disable time-based backlight control. When disabled the

backlight stays on permanently, otherwise the backlight will be switched on and off at designated times. Backlight off means the display is off!

• Turn on backlight: Use next button to move between controlling hours or

minutes and use “+” and “-” buttons to changes the values.

• Turn off backlight: Use next button to move between controlling hours or

minutes and use “+” and “-” buttons to changes the values.

• Current brightness: Use “+” and “-” buttons to change brightness level,

indicated by the size of the yellow bar.

Use a single press of MENU to go back to the Setup menu, or a long press to go back to normal mode.

5.2.2 Data Units

In the data unit sub-menu, you can change settings for the following:

• Temperature: Select between F and C by repeatedly pressing the “+”

button

• Barometer units: Select between hPa, inHg, and mmHg by repeatedly

pressing the “+” button

• Wind speed: Select between mph, knots, m/s, km/h and bft by repeatedly

pressing the “+” button

• Solar radiation: Select between w/m2, klux and fc by repeatedly pressing

the “+” button

• Rainfall: Select between in and mm by repeatedly pressing the “+” button Use a single press of MENU to go back to the Setup menu, or a long press to

go back to normal mode.

5.2.3 Coefficients

In the coefficients sub-menu, you can change settings for the gain value of some sensor values. Gain means that the sensor value is multiplied by a

“gain” or “factor.” When “gain” is larger than 1 value are increased

proportionally, when it is less than 1 they are decreased proportionally. Generally, you should not have to change these gain values, but if you know

for sure that your sensor readings are systematically incorrect by a proportional amount (not an offset), you can edit the following:

• Rain: Register rain in greater amounts (> 1) or lesser amounts

(< 1).

• Wind: Register wind at greater speeds (> 1) or lesser speeds

(< 1).

• Solar radiation: Register light in greater amounts (> 1) or lesser amounts

(< 1).

• UV: Register UV radiation in greater amounts (> 1) or lesser amounts (<

1). This gain is initially set to 1 and cannot be changed.

• Lux conversion factor: This is not a gain for a sensor, but rather a

conversion factor. Conversion from w/m2 to lux and vice versa needs to take into account the wavelength of the light. The standard conversion factor is 126.7 lux per w/m2. This value cannot be changed.

Use a single press of MENU to go back to the Setup menu, or a long press to go back to normal mode.

5.2.4 Barometer

The “Barometer” setting can be used to control whether in normal mode the barometer displays absolute pressure (ABS), which is pressure as measured at the sensor, or relative pressure (REL) which represents the measured pressure

corrected to sea level elevation. Use the “+” button to switch between the two.

5.2.5 Rainfall

The “Rainfall” setting can be used to control which rainfall value is displayed.

Use the “+” button repeatedly to select from “Rate,” “Daily,”, “Weekly,”

“Monthly,” or “Yearly.”

5.2.6 Graph Time

The “Graph Time” setting controls how far back the historical data graph looks to present data. Press the “+” button repeatedly to select from “12,”, “24,”, “48,” or “72” hours.

5.2.7 Time Format

The “Time Format” setting controls how time is displayed. Press the “+”

button repeatedly to select between “AM h:mm:ss”, “h:mm:ss AM”, and “h:mm:ss”. The first two will use a 12-hr clock system and display AM or PM

as appropriate either before the time, or after the time. The last format uses a 24-hr clock system.

5.2.8 Date Format

The “Date Format” setting controls how dates are displayed. Press the “+”

button repeatedly to select between “DD-MM-YYYY”, “YYYY-MM-DD”, and “MM-DD-YYYY”.

5.2.9 Date and Time

The “Date and Time” setting can be used to manually set the time, and it can

be used to set the console’s time zone and whether or not daylight savings

time should be handled automatically. If you are using the units with Wi-Fi connected, the time setting itself will be handled for you automatically, but you will have to set the correct time zone and daylight savings time handling.

Use the “next” and “previous” buttons to move to the desired input box and then use the “+” and “-” keys to change the value.

The automatic daylight savings time adjustments are enabled when the box is solid red.

5.2.10 Sensor Type

The weather station is meant to use the WH69 type indoor sensor (included in package). This sensor type is displayed here but currently cannot be changed. Future firmware versions may accommodate additional/optional sensors and make this editable.

5.3 Calibration Mode

Calibration mode can be activated from “normal mode” by pressing the

MENU twice. Doing so will show a screen titled “Calibration” that offers 11 individual buttons for changing calibration values for specific sensors.

Use the GRAPH or TEMP button to move to the next, or previous, setting (indicated by a right arrow above the button). The selected setting will be highlighted in yellow. Press the RAIN button to change the settings for the selected item. You will be shown a page with just that one value on it, highlighted in yellow. You are now able to change the value for the

highlighted item. Use the RAIN/+ and TEMP/- buttons to change the value in small amounts or hold these buttons for two seconds or more to make rapidly repeating large changes. In the following buttons will sometimes be referred to as just “next”, “previous”, “+” or “-” if that is their function.

In all cases you will change the value that would be displayed to a new value. So, if you have determined (through a reference instrument for example) that temperature is indicating 0.2F too high, you will select it and the page will

display the temperature that is too high. You now press the “-” key twice to

reduce it by 0.2 and press the MENU key to return to the previous menu. The following can be adjusted in this manner:

• Indoor temperature

• Indoor humidity

• Outdoor temperature

• Outdoor humidity

• Wind direction (compensate for inaccurate positioning during mounting)

• Daily Rain total

• Weekly Rain total

• Monthly Rain total

• Yearly Rain total

• Absolute (ABS) barometric pressure (measured at the console)

• Relative (REL) barometric pressure (calculated from ABS to correspond

to sea level)

The rain values are not corrections, but rather reflect totals accumulated so far. They can be adjusted up or down as desired.

5.3.1 Calibration of barometric pressure settings.

Calibration of barometric pressure requires some additional understanding, which we will provide here. Also provided is a step by step procedure for calibrating correctly.

Absolute barometric pressure, can be calibrated at manufacturing time by comparing with a precise instrument that measures pressure at the same location. In practice, sometimes small adjustments of a few hPa may be

needed. The relative pressure represents what the air pressure would indicate if your station was at sea level and depends on the altitude of your console and cannot be known in advance. This is why it needs an adjustment.

There are different manners in which to handle this adjustment. We will outline a reliable procedure below, which requires adjusting both pressures. The method assumes that you have an official airport sufficiently nearby to act as a reliable reference. Usually distances of up to 25 miles work reliably, but this is not always true and depends on geography. We start by assuming that your station’s absolute pressure reading is correct and needs no offset correction.

The procedure below assumes you are starting from the console’s factory

setting. With those settings, ABS and REL should, at this time, be displaying the same value. We also assume, for the moment, that ABS pressure is 100% correct.

1. For this procedure we will get the most precise results if our display for

pressure is in hPa units. Even if you do not want to use those units eventually, set the console to use them for now.

2. Determine the altitude, or elevation above sea level, of your station’s

console. This measurement is necessary to account for the difference in air pressure caused by the elevation of your console. Elevation above sea level reduces the absolute pressure measured by your sensor. Determine this altitude using a GPS, or look it up using a tool such as this web site:

https://www.freemaptools.com/elevation-finder.htm. You can input

your location’s GPS coordinates, or manipulate the map to your location.

Click on “Estimate Elevation” and observe the result. For an example we

will use a console location at 42 ft. above sea level.

3. This tool will provide the ground level elevation at your location, so you

will need to add the right amount for how high above ground level your console is. If you are on a ground floor and have the console on a desk, you’ll have to add something like 3-4 ft. If you are using a GPS system that tells you elevation, make sure it is right next to the console and

you’ll be able to read the correct elevation right from the GPS results

without further adjustment.

4. With the correct altitude/elevation in hand you will need to determine the

correct offset. To be added to the absolute pressure reading in order to compute relative pressure (sea level equivalent). Correction tables can be found on-line in many places. One example is the table found at the web site at https://novalynx.com/manuals/bp-elevation-correction-tables.pdf. Locate your elevation in the first column and read the correction in the third column. This table, however is rather coarse, making it hard to be precise. An alternative is an on-line calculator such as the one found here:

http://www.csgnetwork.com/barcorrecthcalc.html

For our example of 42 ft. above sea level we input 42 ft. of elevation and a standard pressure of 1013.25 hPa/mb and press calculate. We find an “absolute barometer value” that should be -1.5626061222588443 hPa lower than at sea level. The inverse (because relative pressure is higher

than absolute pressure) of this number will be our “REL PRESS

OFFSET” value. Use the settings procedure to increase REL by +1.6

(nearest rounded value we can input).

5. Now we need a reliable reference for pressure at sea level. Locate the

official identifier for the nearest airport. Refer to “World Airport Codes”

at https://www.world-airport-codes.com or a similar reference. Enter

your location or nearby airport name, and press “Search.” Select the

correct airport from your search results and click on it. For example, search for “Mountain View” and click on “Moffet Field.”

6. From the resulting page find the ICAO code, if listed. Otherwise use the

IATA code. For the example above, you would find IATA code “NUQ.”

7. Now go to a web site like AVIATION WEATHER CENTER (for US

locations) at https://www.aviationweather.gov/metar?gis=off and enter the code you found in step 2, and click “Decoded” (to make the next step easier) before requesting the METAR information. For the example we would enter “KNUQ” and find a result output like: “30.09 inches Hg (1019.0 mb) [Sea level pressure: 1019.1 mb]”

8. Go to the calibration settings page and observe the “REL Barometer

value (this is the value we just adjusted in step 4 above). Compare the REL value with the value from the airport. IN our example, the REL display was 1022.9 where we expected 1019.1. This then tells us that our displayed REL pressure is 1022.9 – 1019.1 = 3.8 hPa different from the reference source.

9. Since we assumed the absolute pressure measured was correct, and we

presumably calculated the elevation related offset correctly, we must conclude that the absolute pressure was not correct after all. It appears to

be 3.8 too high, so we’ll now enter a correction of -3.8 in the settings for

“ABS Barometer” until it reads a value 3.8 hPa lower than before. This

kind of correction is entirely normal as during manufacturing small shifts in the pressure sensor readings can be introduced.

10. For a more precise procedure, locate a very precise barometer that you

can place right next to the console, you would adjust “ABS Barometer”

until the ABS pressure reads identical. You would then still adjust “REL

barometer” until it displays the value from the reference airport. This procedure would also produce the correct relative pressure, but due to a precise calibration of the absolute pressure, it too is correct.

The first procedure above generally works quite well, but for stations at fairly high altitudes (e.g. 5,000 ft. or higher) it may be more incorrect than at lower altitudes. In such cases comparisons with other known correct, and nearby at similar altitude, stations may help.

Now that calibration is complete, feel free to change the pressure units to whatever you like.

Note: Airport METAR data is often only updated every 10, 15 or even 30

minutes. If you use the information in the procedure above, you may be looking at pressure data that is out of date by as much as the update interval. To get best results observe several times and figure out the update interval and then use two values for the procedure: one taken immediately after an update, another taken about halfway through the interval.

Note: It is also a good idea to observe some more after the calibration

procedure is complete to make sure the numbers are correct.

5.4 Alarm Mode

In ALARM mode you can activate alarms that will alert you to the presence of alarmingly high or low sensor values. From normal mode, you can enter alarm mode by pressing the MENU key three times to get to the “Indoor” alarms page, or four times to get to the “Outdoor” alarms page.

When an alarm condition is met, the alarm will sound a loud beep, and the alarm icon ( ) will flash on the top of the display. Press any button to

silence the alarm beep. The flashing alarm icon will stay until the alarm condition itself is no longer satisfied (e.g. temperature drops below alarm value, etc.)

You will see sensor values for which you can set alarm conditions. Each sensor displays an editable high and low value, each followed by a

“bell/alarm” icon. Values, and the bell icon, can be changed using “+” and “-”

keys. The alarm is enabled when the bell icon is yellow and disabled when it is gray. Use the MENU button to go to the next menu or long press it to return to normal mode.

Alarms can be set for:

• Indoor temperature

• Indoor Humidity

• Indoor absolute (ABS) barometer

• Indoor relative (REL) barometer

• Outdoor temperature

• Outdoor humidity

• Outdoor “Feels Like” temperature

• Outdoor dew point temperature

• Wind speed (high value alarm only)

• Wind gust (high value alarm only)

5.5 Temperature Max/Min Mode

The “Temperature Max/Min” mode can be entered by pressing the MENU button repeatedly from normal mode. The page displays maximum and minimum values encountered, and the time and date of such, for the following sensor values:

• Indoor temperature

• Indoor humidity

• Outdoor temperature

• Outdoor humidity

• Dew point temperature

• “Feels Like” temperature

The values are for observation only and cannot be changed.

5.6 Other Max/Min Mode

The “Other Max/Min” page can be entered from the “Temperature Max/Min”

page by pressing the MENU button once (long press to return to the normal mode).

The page displays maximum and minimum values encountered, and the time and date of such, for the following sensor values:

• ABS Barometer

• REL Barometer

• Wind speed

• Gust wind speed

• Solar Radiation

• UVI (UV-Index)

5.7 Rainfall

The “Rainfall” summary page can be entered from the normal mode by

repeatedly pressing the MENU key. The page displays (left column) the current rain rate, and accumulated values for rainfall for the day, week, month

and year. On the right hand side, you will find the largest value ever seen (since device installation or reset) for each of these values, along with date and time that maximum value was observed.

5.8 Factory Mode

The “Factory” mode page can be entered from the normal mode by repeatedly

pressing the MENU key. Use the GRAPH or TEMP button to move to the next, or previous, option

(indicated by a right arrow above the button). The selected option will be highlighted in yellow. Press the RAIN button to change or activate the selected option. In all cases you will next be asked if you want to proceed with

the chosen action, answering “Yes” or “No” by using the “next,” and “previous” buttons to highlight (in yellow) the desired answer and press “+”

to select that answer. The following options are available:

• Factory Reset: Any and all customization to settings, calibration and

historical data will be erased and reset to factory default values.

• Clear Max/Min: Removes all recorded maximum and minimum values

(for temperature in “section 5.5” and “other” in “section 5.6”)

• Re-register Indoor: Forces the console to forget which indoor sensor it is

receiving and then start “looking” for available sensors and “registering”

the first one found.

• Re-register Outdoor: Forces the console to forget which outdoor sensor it

is receiving and then start “looking” for available sensors and

“registering” the first one found. Both options should rarely be needed,

unless you have had to replace indoor or outdoor sensor(s) or in case of troubleshooting

• About: Displays various technical information that may be useful to

troubleshooting or for communication of issues with customer service. Press MENU to return to the “Factory” mode page.

• English: Displays the console’s language. Currently cannot be changed,

but future versions may allow choice of other languages.

• Reconnect Wi-Fi: Disconnects the console from the Wi-Fi network and

then lets it reconnect using the already configured network name and password. This should rarely be necessary but might be useful after you have moved the console or Wi-Fi access point and want to check the console is able to re-connect.

• Wi-Fi Reset: Reset Wi-Fi to factory setting. This causes the already

configured network name and password to be erased. The console will enter the Wi-Fi search mode and you will have to use your mobile application to (re)configure a Wi-Fi connection as described in section TBD.

6 Other Console Functions

6.1 Historical data storage

The console can record historical weather data when an appropriate microSD card is inserted in the slot available for this purpose. This is an optional feature so there will be no problem if you do not install a card.

If you wish to install a card you should use a microSD card. Capacity of this card is not critical, nor is its “speed class.” Historical data will be written less often than once a minute, and this is why speed is not critical. While there is no minimum card size, you can take some guidance from the fact that a 1 GB card can store in excess of 10 years’ worth of recorded data.

The card should be formatted in MS-DOS FAT format before inserting it in the slot; Most cards come pre-formatted this way.

Insert the card and press with your finger until you feel a slight “click.” A

correctly installed card will be almost flush with the console housing, protruding by one or two finger nail thicknesses.

6.2 Sensor identification

Most customers will only have one indoor, and one outdoor sensor and the following will be largely irrelevant. For those customers that have more than one, you can identify which sensor the console has “registered” by looking in

the rectangle for “Indoor” temperature and humidity, respectively “Outdoor”

temperature and humidity (if “Feels Like” is displayed, press the TEMP

button once to display outdoor temperature). In the respective indoor and outdoor sections, you will find a text such as “ID:

0x65” (it will be different for indoor and outdoor). The values after “0x” are

hexadecimal representations of the sensor type registered.

6.3 Beaufort Wind Force Scale

If you have selected the use of Beaufort wind speed units, you can use the table below for reference. The Beaufort scale is based on qualitative wind

conditions and how they would affect a ship’s (frigate) sails (so yes, it is an

“old” standard). It is therefore less precise than the other scales but is still in

use in various locales.

Wind speed

Beaufort

number

Description

0 - 1 mph, or 0 - 1.6 km/h

Calm

1 - 3 mph, or 1.6 - 4.8 km/h

Light air

3 - 7 mph, or 4.8 - 11.3 km/h

Light breeze

7 - 12 mph, or 11.3 -1 9.3 km/h

Gentile breeze

12 - 18 mph, or 19.3 - 29.0 km/h

Moderate breeze

18 - 24 mph, or 29.0 - 38.6 km/h

Fresh breeze

24 - 31 mph, or 38.6 - 49.9 km/h

String breeze

31 - 38 mph, or 49.9 - 61.2 km/h

Near gale

38 - 46 mph, or 61.2 - 74.1 km/h

Gale

46 - 54 mph, or 74.1 - 86.9 km/h

Strong gale

55 - 63 mph, or 88.5 - 101.4 km/h

Storm

64 - 73 mph, or 103 - 117.5 km/h

Violent storm

74 mph and above, or 119.1 km/h and above

Hurricane

Table 6: Beaufort wind force scale

7 Publishing to Internet Weather Services

Your console is capable of sending your sensor data to select internet-based weather services. The supported services are shown in the table below:

Service

Website

Description

Weather

Underground

https://www.wunderground.co m

Weather Underground provides local & long range weather forecasts, weather reports, maps & tropical weather conditions for locations worldwide.

WOW

http://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/

WOW is a UK based weather observation website.

Weather Cloud

https://weathercloud.net

Weathercloud is a large network of weather stations reporting data in real time from all over the world.

Table 7: Supported weather services

7.1 Wi-Fi Connection for the Weather Station Console

To send weather data to these services you must connect your console to the internet via Wi-Fi. The console can only operate using Wi-Fi when the external power adapter is connected and plugged in!

Note: If you are testing the setup with the outdoor sensor package nearby

and indoor, you may want to consider connecting to Wi-Fi, but not yet configuring any of the weather services. The reason is that while indoor the temperatures and humidity recorded by the outdoor sensor, and as reported to the weather service(s) will reflect indoor conditions, and not outdoor conditions. Therefore, they will be

incorrect. Furthermore, the rainfall bucket may be tripped during handling, causing rain to register while it may not actually have been raining. One way to prevent this is to follow all instructions, except to use an incorrect password, on purpose! Then, after final outdoor installation, come back and change the password after clearing console history. That will start uploading to the services with a clean slate.

7.1.1 Download mobile application

Wi-Fi configuration is done using your mobile device, either iOS or Android. Start by downloading the “WS View” application from the Apple App Store or Google Play store, as appropriate for your device.

7.1.2 Register a Personal Weather Station (PWS) with

wunderground.com

If you are planning to use wunderground.com you must have an account and register a (new) personal weather station. You may do so on the wunderground.com web site, or you can do this from within the mobile app. Take note of the PWS identifier (ID) and the password that will be generated for you.

7.1.2 Activate setup application

Now activate the application you have downloaded on your mobile device.

Note: When you open the application for the first time, you’ll enter the

Configure Device page. If you don’t want to configure now, click Back to return to the main screen.

Figure: Mobile application – Main screen (Android & iOS)

The main screen will display no data (because the Wi-Fi configuration isn’t done). At this point, if you have not already done so, you can register on wunderground.com and create your PWS by pressing on the Menu/settings

icon and activating the “Register with wunderground” option. Fill out the form and take note of the station ID and password replied:

Android version

IOS version

7.1.3 Configure Device – Connect your console with WIFI

Note: This app must obtain the location rights and Wi-Fi permissions of your mobile phone to complete the configuring operation. If you are prompted to apply for permission, please click Allow.

Back to the main screen and click Configure Device

Android & IOS Version

Choose your device and Press “Next”

Android & IOS Version

Operate as the instructions show. Tick the “Completed operation“ and press “Next”

Android & IOS Version

Android Version

Follow the tips and connect your wi-fi

Configure successfully. Will automatically jump to Upload Setting page.

IOS Version

Enter your 2.4G router SSID and password, then click Next

Follow the tips to connect the EasyWeather Wifi

Click the upper left corner to back to the WS View app

Configure successfully. Will automatically jump to Upload Setting page.

If your phone doesn’t automatically connect to the configured wifi, please

follow the tips to operate

(3)Uploading Setting (Ensure your phone and device are on the same LAN)

Android Version

IOS Version

Enter your registered ID and Key of the three uploading servers. If you don't have the certain ID or Key, click Register to register on your desired server. After the setup is completed, click Save and Next. If you don't want to upload the data to certain server, you can leave it blank and click Next.

(4)Device list (Ensure your phone and device are on the same LAN) You can click on the device to view or modify the settings.

(6)WU Station ID Manage You can add or delete WU Station ID

Android version

IOS veraion

(7)WU Online Data Press Station ID and choose your desired Station to view

Andorid & IOS Version

(8) Configure Units Set your desired display units and press Save

Andorid & IOS Version

7.2 Registering with and using wunderground.com

If you have not already done setup for wunderground.com during the Wi-Fi setup, you can do so later. Perform the following steps:

1. Visit Wunderground.com and click Join as the right top arrow indicates

and select the Sign up for free option.

2. Click More and select Add Weather Station to register your station

3. Click verify location and fill out the form.

After submitting the form, you will see the following:

7.2.1 Viewing data on wunderground.com

The most basic way to observe your weather station’s data is by using the

wunderground.com web site. You will use a URL like this one, where your station ID replaces the text “STATIONID”:

http://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=ST ATIONID

It will show a page such as this, where you can look at today’s data and

historical data as well:

There are also some very useful mobile apps. The URLs provided here go to the Web version of the application pages. You can also find them directly from the iOS or Google Play stores:

• WunderStation: iPad application for viewing your station’s data and

graphs

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wunderstation-weather-from-your-neighborh

ood/id906099986

• WU Storm: iPad and iPhone application for viewing radar images,

animated wind, cloud coverage and detailed forecast, and PWS station data

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wu-storm/id955957721

• Weather Underground: Forecast: iOS and Android application for

forecasts

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weather-underground-forecast/id486154 808

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wunderground.androi d.weather&hl=en

• PWS Weather Station Monitor: View weather conditions in your

neighborhood, or even right in your own backyard. Connects to wunderground.com

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pws-weather-station-monitor/id7137059 29

7.3 Registering with and using Weathercloud

To register with Weathercloud follow these steps:

1. Visit weathercloud.net and enter your Username, Email and Password to sign up.

2. Follow the indications to verify your account.

3.You will then be prompted to add a device/ Select “Create device” and enter your station’s information:

4.After registering your station, take note of the “Weathercloud ID” and “Key” presented to you.

7.4 Registering with Weather Observations Website (WOW)

To have your weather station upload data to the Met Office’s WOW site you will need to complete the following steps:

1.Sign Up with WOW

2.Confirm your email with WOW

3.Login to WOW

4.Create/Set up a new WOW site

7.4.1 Sign up with WOW

Navigate your browser to http://wow.metoffice.gov.uk. On the top-right side of the resulting page you will see menu options. Click “Sign Up”.

You will be presented with the screen below where you will choose to either create a new account or use an already existing account. Click the desired option.

If you chose “New Account” you will be presented with a form to fill out:

The actual form is longer, but all questions should be self-explanatory. Complete and submit the form. You will receive the following notice on completion:

7.4.2 Confirm email with WOW

Now wait for the email to arrive and click the link in that email to confirm your email address.

7.4.3 Login with WOW

Follow instructions on the screen and login to the site.

7.4.4 Create/Set up a new WOW site

Once you are logged in you will need to create a new WOW site. “Sites” are the means by which WOW organizes weather data the you contribute. Basically, WOW builds a personal web site for your weather station. Associated with the web site is two items you will need to allow uploading of data:

Site ID: This is an arbitrary number that is used to distinguish your site from another. This number appears (in brackets) next to or underneath the name of your site on the site information page, for example: 6a571450-df53-e611-9401-0003ff5987fd

Authentication Key: This is a 6-digit number that is used to ensure data is coming from you and not another user.

Begin setting up a new site by clicking “Enter a Site”:

You will be presented with a form where you detail your station’s location

and a bunch of other settings related to how you wish the site to operate. After you complete the setup, you should see:

Make sure you are (still) logged in to the WOW site. Login as necessary. Now

click on “My Sites” in the navigation bar at the top. If you have only 1 site,

you will now be shown its page. If you have multiple, you will have to choose the correct one first. On this page, on the right side you will find the site id just below the map:

You will also need to establish a unique 6 digits PIN code that you should keep secret. It is the “Authentication Key.” Setup this number by clicking on “Edit Site”) and filling out the with a 6-digit number of your choice:

8 PC Software Operation

Software to monitor your weather station or set values is available for your computer or laptop. The following operating systems are supported: Windows version XP, Vista, 7, 8 or 10. You may download the software from: http://www.ecowitt.com/manual/software/

8.1 Installation and configuration

After downloading, install the software by decompressing the archive named

“EasyWeather2 Setup.” You will then have a file called “EasyWeather2 setup” located inside a folder with that same name. Double click it to start

installation.

8.1.1 Connect the display console to the PC

The console must be connected to the PC using the USB cable. After connecting the USB cable to the console port and then the PC, launch the EaseWeather2 program from your “Start” menu.

If your console is correctly connected the program will start communicating with it and display a screen like shown below.

Figure: EasyWeather2 main screen

8.2 Setup Functions

Setup functions are reached via the “Setup” menu. Each of the different setup

categories will be discussed in the next sections.

Figure: Setup menu

8.2.1 Basic Settings

Basic settings can be used to change display units, time zone and daylight savings time handling, and data logger interval.

Figure: Basic Settings screen

Changing settings on this screen will cause the corresponding change to be made on the console as well. Thus, this screen controls both the display format on the PC screen as well as the console.

The data logger interval determines how often current sensor values are written to the SD card inserted in the console (if you indeed have inserted a card there). This setting can only be changed through the PC software. Recordings are made as lines in CSV (Comma Separated Values) files stored on the SD card. The console will switch to new files every so often so that files do not grow beyond a reasonable size.

8.2.2 Alarm Settings

Alarm Settings can be used to change thresholds for alarm activation, or to enable or disable individual alarms. These values are stored inside the console and can be changed here, or on the console (Section 5.4).

Figure: Alarm Settings screen

Any changes you make here will be reflected inside the console. Change the value(s) in the respective input fields and use the checkbox(es) to enable or disable specific alarms.

8.2.3 Calibration Settings

Calibration Settings allow you to change calibration settings for the sensors. These are the same settings that you can also change in the console itself (see section 5.2.3).

Figure: Calibration Settings screen

Any changes you make here will be reflected in the console. Note that when

using the console, you will generally change the value displayed using “+”, or “-” buttons, but here you will instead edit the amount of change that you

“dialed in” on the console. For example, if you changed a displayed

temperature by pressing the “+” button three times, you effectively caused 0.3

to be added (3 times 0.1). So here, you will see a value of 0.3. The Absolute Pressure offset will be added to the value of the pressure sensor

in the console to determine the absolute pressure (ABS) that will be displayed. The Relative Pressure offset will be added to the displayed absolute pressure (ABS) to determine the displayed relative pressure (REL). This offset

typically corresponds to the elevation above sea level for your weather station’s indoor sensor.

8.2.4 Rain Totals

The currently accumulated rain totals for different periods can be seen, and changed, on this screen.

Figure: Rain Totals screen

Any changes you make here will be immediately reflected in the console.

8.3 Record and recording functions

You can access maximum and minimum temperatures as recorded in the console, or data in accumulated historical records (stored on the SD card, if you have one inserted) through the “Record” menu.

Figure: Record menu

8.3.1 Max/Min

The Max/Min menu will bring up a screen that displays maximum and minimum recorded values for the various sensors. These extremes are across the entire usage lifetime of the weather station, or since the last reset, whichever is shorter.

Figure: Max/Min screen

The screen also offers a “Clear” button. When pressed, all maximum and

minimum values will be “forgotten” and new maxima and minima will only

be collected from sensor data collected from this point forward.

8.3.2 SDCard File

Figure: SDCard File screen

If you have an SD card installed, you may also access the data on the SD card directly.

On the data screen you will see, in the left column, a list of files that contain recorded data. Select the file you are interested in by clicking on it and then pressing the “Select” button. If you wish to delete the file, press the “Delete” button instead. Before really deleting the file, you will be asked to confirm.

Selecting a file will show the data from the file in tabular format to the right of the file name column. You can see a time stamp for each row, followed by individual sensor values.

8.3.2.1 Graph

You can look at the data on the SDCard file(s) in the form of a graph.

Figure: Graph screen

After displaying data from a particular file, you can press the “Graph” button

to see the data in graphical format. The Graph screen will come up, but a

graph will not yet be drawn. You first must select that time range in “Start”

and “End Time” and then press “Select”. You can also use the pop-up menu to

the right of start and end-time to determine what kind of data will be graphed.

9 Maintenance

The following steps should be taken for proper maintenance of your station

4. Clean Rain Gauge

Check the rain gauge every 3 months. Rotate the funnel counter-clockwise and lift it up. Clean the funnel and bucket with a damp cloth to remove any dirt, debris and insects. Spray the array lightly with insecticide, if there’s a bug infestation.

Figure: Rain gauge maintenance

10 Clean Solar Radiation Sensor and Solar Panel

The solar radiation sensor and solar panel of the outdoor sensor array need to be cleaned with a non-abrasive slightly damp cloth every 3 months.

11 Replacing Batteries Regularly

Batteries of the outdoor sensor array need to be replaced every 1-2 years for environmental friendly. In serious environments, check the batteries every 3 months and apply a corrosion preventing compound(not included) on the battery terminals for protection.

12 To Prevent Snow build up

In snowy days, use anti-icing silicon spray on the top of the weather station to prevent snow build up.

13 Troubleshooting Guide

Look through the following table and locate an issue or problem you are experiencing in the left column and read possible solutions in the right column.

Problem

Solution

Outdoor sensor not reporting to console

Dashes (--) on the display console

Check that the outdoor transmission LED on the bottom is flashing approximately every 16 seconds. See Figure 4 item 9. If the batteries were recently (re)placed, check correct polarity was used and/or reseat the batteries. If the batteries are old, replace them. If the LED is now flashing every 16 seconds, proceed to the next step. If it is not flashing and you have repeated battery checks and placement, you may have a defective unit. Make sure you have fresh batteries in the display console. If the batteries may have been changed in the remote and/or the console, and the console has not been reset, the solution may be as simple as powering cycling the console: remove both batteries and external adapter for about 10 seconds and reconnect. If you still have problems, bring the outdoor sensor to a location about 10 ft. away from the console for testing. Power cycle the console as described above.

Do not touch any buttons for several minutes to allow the

console to “discover” the outdoor sensor. During this

process the remote sensor search icon will flash on the display. Wait several minutes for this icon to turn off.

If the search icon turns off and the outdoor temperature and humidity are still showing dashes (--), the remote sensor is defective. If the sensor properly syncs up,

proceed to the next step “Intermittent problems with

outdoor sensor reception on console.”

Intermittent

There may be a temporary loss of communication due to

Problem

Solution

problems with outdoor sensor reception on console

signal quality issues caused by electrical interference or other location related factors (obstacles along line of sight). To troubleshoot, install a fresh set of batteries in the remote sensor array and console. For cold weather environments, install lithium batteries. If problems remain with fresh batteries, ensure power adapter is not too close to the console, and the console is not close to other electrical noise generating devices such as TVs, monitors, computers and transmitting devices. If you still have intermittent problems move sensor and console closer together, but not closer than 5 ft. Also check that there are no metal barriers like aluminum siding, or metal wall framing, along the line of sight between sensor and console. Relocate sensor and console as necessary to avoid obstacles. Depending on natural barriers you may also have to move the outdoor sensor higher and/or closer.

Indoor temperature sensor reads too high in the day time, and/or night time

Make sure the thermo-hygrometer is mounted in an indoor area where it will not be exposed to direct sunlight, our radiative heating, or convective heating.

Indoor and Outdoor Temperature do not agree during indoor testing

During installation testing it is useful to test with both console and outdoor unit in the same room. Allow up to one hour for the sensors to stabilize and adjust to room temperature. The indoor and outdoor temperature sensors should agree within 4 °F (the sensor accuracy is ± 2 °F). If these values still disagree, use calibration offsets for one or both sensors (see section 5.3.1) to adjust to a known good reference temperature.

Indoor and Outdoor Humidity do not agree during indoor testing

The procedure here is that same as for outdoor/indoor temperature. The sensors should agree within 10 % (the sensor accuracy is ± 5 %) If these values still disagree, use calibration offsets for one or both sensors (see section 5.3) to adjust to a known good reference humidity.

Problem

Solution

Relative pressure does not agree with official reporting station

Relative pressure refers to sea-level equivalent temperature and should generally agree closely with the official station. If there is a disagreement, make sure you are not looking at absolute pressure, in particular if your station is not near sea level. Also check at different times due to occasional delays in updates to the official station. Redo the pressure calibration procedure described in section 5.3.1. The barometer is only accurate to ± 0.09 inHg (3 hPa) within the following relative pressure range: 20.67 to

32.50 inHg (700 – 1,100 hPa), which corresponds to an altitude of 9,000 ft. (2,750 m) down to 2,500 ft. (750 m) below sea level. At higher altitudes, you should expect a possible lesser accuracy and non-linearity effects in the error (the calibration offset only allows for a partially linear correction).

Time is incorrect

Make sure your time zone and daylight savings time setting is correct (even when connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi this is needed). If not connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi, you may also have to manually set the correct time.

Display console brightness is weak

Adjust brightness using setup functions, or place console in a darker location.

Data not reporting to Wunderground. com

Confirm your station ID is correct. The station ID is all caps, and the most common issue is substituting a capital letter O for a 0 (zero) or vice versa. Please note the digit 0 can only occur in the last part of the station ID (which is a station number in a city). Example, KAZPHOEN11, not KAZPH0EN11 Confirm that your password (also called: key) is correct. It is the password wunderground.com generated for your station ID. You can also verify it by logging in to wunderground.com and looking it up under “My PWS.” Make sure the date, time and time zone is correct on the console. If it is not incorrect, you may be reporting data for a point in the past or future and you may not see it where you expect it. Check your router firewall settings. The console sends

Problem

Solution

data via port 80. If you can access other web sites using

“http” (not to be confused with “https”) this setting will be

OK.

No Wi-Fi connection

Check for Wi-Fi symbol on the display. If wireless

connectivity is operational, the Wi-Fi icon will be displayed in the time segment on the console.

If the symbol is not displayed, but you do remember configuring it successfully before, check that the console external power adapter is plugged in and functional. Wi-Fi use demand more energy than batteries alone can provide. If you have never been able to configure Wi-Fi to a working state, make sure your Wi-Fi supports 2.4 GHz signals (801 type B or G, or N). The console does not support Wi-Fi that uses the 5 GHz spectrum. Make sure you configured the correct SSID and password. Repeat the procedure if necessary to verify. The console does not support so-called “captive Wi-Fi” networks. These are typically “guest” type networks where users have to agree to terms and conditions before being connected.

14 Glossary of Common Terms

TERM

DESCRIPTION

ABSOLUTE AIR PRESSURE ABSOLUTE BAROMETRIC PRESSURE

Absolute air pressure is the air pressure registered on a barometer without regard to altitude.

BAROMETER

A barometer is a device that measures the pressure of the air pushing on it—this measurement is called the barometric

pressure. We don’t actually feel the

barometric pressure because the air pressure is pushing equally in every direction.

BEAUFORT (Bft)

An indicator of wind force strength (not

speed) as it would act on a ship’s sails.

Still commonly in used in some locales to indicate wind force.

DEW POINT

The temperature to which air must be cooled to become saturated with water vapor. When further cooled, the airborne water vapor will condense to form liquid water (dew), or frost if below freezing.

HEAT INDEX

The heat index (HI) or humiture is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity, in shaded areas, as an attempt to determine the human-perceived equivalent temperature, as how hot it would feel if the humidity were some other value in the shade.

HECTOPASCALS (hPa)

This is an international standard (SI system) for measuring air pressure. It used to be referred to as milli-bar (mb) and sometimes still is. They are equivalent.

HYGROMETER

An instrument that measure relative humidity of the air. This is expressed as a

TERM

DESCRIPTION

percentage between 0% and 100%.

INCHES OF MERCURY (inHg)

This is the common unit of measurement for air pressure in the United States. It refers to the length of a standard column of mercury (a liquid metal) that can be pushed up by the ambient air pressure. Standard pressure is approximately 29.92 inHg

KNOTS (kn)

One knot is equivalent to one nautical mile and is sometimes used to indicate wind speed.

LCD

An acronym for “Liquid Crystal Display.”

This is a common type of display screen used in televisions, computers, watches, and digital clocks.

LUX (lx)

The unit of illuminance (a measure of the

intensity of illumination on a surface) as

used in the SI system.

MILLIBAR (mb)

See HECTOPASCALS.

MM OF MERCURY (mmHg)

This is similar to inches of mercury, except expressed in millimeters. Standard pressure is approximately 760 mmHg.

NIST

National Institute of Standards and Technology. A United States institute that keeps very accurate time using atomic clocks and provides and internet-based service to accurately set device clocks.

RELATIVE AIR PRESSURE RELATIVE BAROMETRIC PRESSURE

Relative air pressure is the absolute air pressure compensated for the altitude of the barometer. The result is what the air pressure would be at sea level.

TFT

Thin-Film-Transistor, a type of LCD screen.

TERM

DESCRIPTION

ULTRA VIOLET INDEX

The ultraviolet index or UV-Index (UVI) is an international standard measurement of the strength of sunburn-producing ultraviolet (UV) radiation at a particular place and time. The purpose of the UV Index is to help people effectively protect themselves from UV radiation. The UV Index is a linear scale, with higher values representing a greater risk of sunburn (which is correlated with other health risks) due to UV exposure. An index of 0 corresponds to zero UV radiation, as is essentially the case at night. An index of 10 corresponds roughly to midday summer sunlight with a clear sky when the UV Index was originally designed, but values above 10 are sometimes possible. Levels

above 8 are considered “very high” and

above 11 are considered “extreme.”

WIND CHILL

Wind chill (popularly wind chill factor) is the lowering of body temperature due to the passing-flow of lower-temperature air. In

other words, the air “feels” colder than it is

because of the chilling effect of the wind on the skin.

Table 8: Glossary of terms

15 Specifications

Note: Out of range values will be displayed using “---”:

Outdoor sensor

Specification

Transmission distance in open field

100 m (330 ft.)

RF Frequency

433 / 868 / 915 MHz depending on location United States: 915 MHz

Temperature range

-40°C – 60°C (-40°F - 140°F)

Temperature accuracy

± 1°C, or ± 2°F

Temperature resolution

0.1°C, or 0.1°F

Humidity range

10% ~ 99%

Humidity accuracy

± 5%

Humidity resolution

Rain volume display range

0 – 9999 mm, or 0 – 199.99 in

Rain volume accuracy

± 10%

Rain volume resolution

0.3 mm (for volume < 1,000 mm) 1 mm (for volume ≥ 1,000 mm), or

0.01 in (for volume < 100 in) 1 mm (for volume ≥ 100 in)

Wind speed range

0 – 50 m/s (0 ~ 100 mph)

Wind speed accuracy

± 1 m/s (speed < 5 m/s) ± 10% (speed ≥ 5 m/s), or ± 0.1 mph (speed < 11 mph) ± 10% (speed ≥ 11 mph)

UV-Index range

0 - 15

Light range

0 – 120 kLux

Light accuracy

± 15%

Sensor reporting interval

16 seconds

Table 9: Outdoor sensor specification

Indoor sensor

Specification

Temperature range

-10°C – 60°C (14°F - 140°F)

Temperature resolution

0.1°C, or 0.1°F

Humidity range

10% ~ 99%

Humidity resolution

Barometric pressure range

300 – 1,100 hPa (8.85 – 32.5 inHg)

Barometric pressure accuracy

± 3 hPa in 700 – 1,100 hPa range

Barometric pressure resolution

0.1 hPa (0.01 inHg)

Sensor reporting interval

48 seconds

Alarm Duration

120 seconds

Table 10: Indoor sensor specification

Power

Specification

Base station/console

5V DC Adapter (included)

Indoor sensor

2 x AA 1.5 Alkaline batteries (not included)

Outdoor sensor

Solar panel (built-in)

Outdoor sensor (backup)

2 x AA 1.5V LR6 Alkaline (not included), or 2 x AA 1.5V Lithium battery (not included)

Table 11: Power specification

The primary power source for the outdoor sensor is the solar panel. When available solar power (light over recent period) is insufficient, the batteries will be used. In outdoor climates that frequently have sustained temperatures below 0°C (or 32°F) the use of Lithium batteries is strongly suggested as these are performing better than Alkaline batteries under such circumstances.

16 FCC Statement

Statement according to FCC part 15.19: This device complies with part 15

of the FCC rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:

1. This device may not cause harmful interference.

2. This device must accept any interference received, including

interference that may cause undesired operation.

Statement according to FCC part 15.21: Any changes or modifications not expressly approved by this company could void the user's authority to operate the equipment.

Statement according to FCC part 15.105: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.

However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

• Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to

which the receiver is connected.

• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help. This device complies with FCC radiation exposure limits set forth for an

uncontrolled environment and it also complies with Part 15 of the FCC RF Rules. This equipment must be installed and operated in accordance with

provided instructions and the antenna(s) used for this transmitter must be installed to provide a separation distance of at least 20 cm from all persons and must not be co-located or operating in conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter. End-users and installers must be provided with antenna installation instructions and consider removing the no-collocation statement.

17 Warranty Information

We disclaim any responsibility for any technical error or printing error, or the consequences thereof.

All trademarks and patents are recognized.

We provide a 1-year limited warranty on this product against manufacturing defects, or defects in materials and workmanship.

This limited warranty begins on the original date of purchase, is valid only on products purchased, and only to the original purchaser of this product. To receive warranty service, the purchaser must contact us for problem determination and service procedures.

This limited warranty covers only actual defects within the product itself and does not cover the cost of installation or removal from a fixed installation, normal set-up or adjustments, or claims based on misrepresentation by the seller, or performance variations resulting from installation-related circumstances.

ECOWITT HP3500 Operation Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual