[Nmweather]

It's a professional unit, there were also some ultrasonic anemometers with I think RS-232 outputs that sold quite affordably but I decided I did not feel like further complicating my life!

[werk_ag]

Hi Zac,

I'm afraid my attempt of using your Config_Options.h file wasn't give any light...

   

Just in case I have updated some of the libraries on the WeatherDuino 4Pro Universal Transmitter - v7.3_b005 package

[Nmweather]

I deleted and reloaded the IDE, including deleting the Arduino15 files and everything else I could find, attempted to compile my existing firmware, also attempted with your new download (libraries and all) and it still gives me the CPU error. I also have a Windows 10 OS on my Mac via bootcamp so I put the IDE 1.8.19 on that and it worked!

Before uploading the new firmware to the Tx I observed that it periodically drops out as evidenced by flat lines in my Cumulus log, I'm assuming this was a firmware issue that will be resolved:

   

One question I have is that the receiver is saying I have 16% efficiency (with the new firmware and radio settings):

   

I have seen  well above that number, the Tx is about 20 feet away (outside, of course) so I'm wondering why its sometimes so low? or is this normal? 

At any rate I'm pleased to have resolved the compile error, although it's still a mystery as I've found nothing in my searching for solutions online.

Thanks for the help Werk!

Zac

[werk_ag]

Hello Zac,

...
Before uploading the new firmware to the Tx I observed that it periodically drops out as evidenced by flat lines in my Cumulus log, I'm assuming this was a firmware issue that will be resolved:

One question I have is that the receiver is saying I have 16% efficiency (with the new firmware and radio settings):

I have seen  well above that number, the Tx is about 20 feet away (outside, of course) so I'm wondering why its sometimes so low? or is this normal? 

The TX software isn't changed since 2021-10-20, and I'm quite sure it is working properly. Also I don't have any other report about issues with it. On the latest release, just some libraries have been updated, and i have fully tested the firmware before release.

The very lower RF Efficiency values you are getting clearly indicate that there is a problem, no doubt about it. With LoRa radios, at a distance of 20 feet, RF Efficiency values should be around 90% or even more. I believe that those lower RF Efficiency values are the cause of the drops you noticed on the graphs. We will find out what is happening.

I would like to emphasize that, despite the TX software will compile with other AVR board versions, but it will not work properly if compiled with any other version than 1.6.21 . As a first step, please be sure that you are compiling the software using this version.

[Nmweather]

I've verified that I'm using 1.6.21 in the boards manager and the ATmega 328P bootloader, still experiencing dropouts every couple of days, sometimes for just a few minutes but other times for several hours - the Tx efficiency number is routinely  over 97% but then it will go down to a few percent while still receiving data, I actually have not caught it when the receiver is not getting data but just see from the graph in Cumulus. My only guess is that there is some sort of radio interference, but that seems unlikely as the signal is so strong most of the time.

Apart from that the everything else is going well, the receiver shows 29 days of uptime and has been communicating to weather underground perfectly.

Werke let me know what you think I should try next, it must be something I'm doing, here is all the relevant info:
-Arduino IDE for windows 1.8.19
-Windows 10 home in bootcamp partition of my Mac (mid 2012 machine)
-Board manager 1.6.21
-ATmega 328P 
-Programmer AVRISP mkII  (is this correct?)
-TX version v7.3_b005 and included libraries only

Thanks!

Zac

I forgot to note that the touchscreen calibration reset was helpful, its much more responsive now.

[Nmweather]

I'm still experiencing peroidic dropouts, I dont think i've gone a whole week without missing data. I'm going to try reverting to the 866 mhz setting for the LORA radio and see if that makes any difference. Has anyone had this experience? Everything else is behaving normally, would it be a worthwhile experiment to enable PRINT_DEBUG_RF_MESSAGES in the receiver and log it for a few days in hopes of catching a peroid of radio dropout?

[hornychz]

Hello,

I once had an essentially continuous series of signal reception failures from 3 of my transmitters. It happened when I moved my main switchboard with these three transmitters in the garden about 5 m and the 433 MHz signal went through 3 walls of our house (the fourth transmitter on the roof was and is without problems). I must have struggled with this for more than half a year before switching to the LoRa 866 MHz protocol for these 3 transmitters. Since then I have RF efficiency of more than 95% and no dropouts (about 3.5 years).

   

   

[werk_ag]

I'm still experiencing peroidic dropouts...

Are these dropouts happening only with the Temperature / Humidity data or with all the other data too?

I'm going to try reverting to the 866 mhz setting for the LORA radio...

The US LoRa radio modules are a different version of the EU LoRa modules, I'm afraid that changing the software setting on the Config_Options will not change the TX / RX frequency.

[hornychz]

The US LoRa radio modules are a different version of the EU LoRa modules, I'm afraid that changing the software setting on the Config_Options will not change the TX / RX frequency.

Thanks for reminder!

Yes, you have to be very careful to use the correct frequency and follow the rules of the radio communications regulator. American laws tend to be somewhat lenient in this area than European ones, but in any case, breaking the rules can result in fairly severe penalties.

For example:

LoRa Frequency Bands

   

[werk_ag]

Thanks for reminder!

Yes, you have to be very careful to use the correct frequency and follow the rules of the radio communications regulator. American laws tend to be somewhat lenient in this area than European ones, but in any case, breaking the rules can result in fairly severe penalties.

And I'm!
All units sent to USA or AU use LoRa modules approved for those countries, as also units for the European market are fitted with LoRa modules approved for EU.