Cumulus.ini: Difference between revisions

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====EasyWeather (Reading File instead of connecting to a Weather Station)====
===EasyWeather (Reading File instead of connecting to a Weather Station)===




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====Ecowitt GW1000 and Froggit DP1500 (and any equivalents) specific====
===Ecowitt GW1000 and Froggit DP1500 (and any equivalents) specific===


* Introduced in release 3.2.0
* Introduced in release 3.2.0

Revision as of 21:35, 13 June 2021

Release 3.12.0 moves various options to new places and creates several new Cumulus.ini options. Consequently, this page will need a substantial rewrite.

Crystal Clear info.png This document is 'Work In Progress' so content may not be complete.

Request for help from Wiki Readers

  • Do you understand how MX works?
  • Do you use hardware, or MX functionality, that is not yet documented? Can you begin that documenting?
  • Can you contribute simple text for novice users, examples of what you have done, correction of typing or factual errors, or supply missing details?
  • Will you make this page more useful by bringing content up-to-date as new releases change some information written for older releases?
  • Does any page need a section for novices, so they don't need to read more technical information further down that page?
  • Is there some information on this page, that should be on a separate page? Can you create the new page and move the less relevant information off this page, don't forget this page needs a link to the new page so people who expect to find it here know where it has moved to?

If you plan on contributing to the Wiki, then you will need an account.

  • Please use the Request Account form to apply for an account. Note that the Wiki is currently undergoing restructuring and is largely locked for editing, but please apply for an account if you wish to contribute in the future.
  • You will find help on how to contribute to this wiki at How to Edit.
  • If you need to consult others, please use the Cumulus Wiki suggestions forum.

Please be aware that information on this page may be incorrect.

Cumulus Version MX Specific

Important note about this page

Please note this page was created 13 June 2021. This new page is being created to cover Cumulus.ini file for changes in releases 3.10.0, 3.12.0, and so on. It has been written, starting with a blank page, to reflect the contents of the "Cumulus.ini" file as now applies. The rewrite was needed as there has been so many changes in the contents of the file as MX has been developed so dramatically by Mark Crossley away from the beta begun by Steve Loft

If you are interested in the editing history, associated with the page that previously was called "Cumulus.ini", and some information describing how it was previously used, the old page was moved (before this page was created) so that it is now preserved at Cumulus.ini_(preserving_history). That page also expands on the reasons why that old page was replaced by this new page, and both it, and the owning category, have links to other pages that document "Cumulus.ini" for MX releases before 3.10.0, and for the final 1.9.4 legacy Cumulus software.


Purpose of Cumulus.ini file

This page is about the main configuration file, Cumulus.ini, this is a text file containing initialization parameters used by the Cumulus MX software application. This Wiki page describes the content that applies at release 3.10.0, and should be updated (providing at least one contributor is willing to keep this page up to date) for later releases.

The configuration settings in Cumulus.ini have the following main purposes (this list may be incomplete):

  • Identify which weather station type MX is to read, and settings related to that model
  • Identify which derivatives are source ones (read directly from weather station and converted to your preferred units) and which derivatives MX is to calculate for you.
  • Identify where you want MX to output to (options include external web sites, and database tables)

Legacy Cumulus complications

For the legacy Cumulus, there could be one, two, or even three, Cumulus.ini files, as explained here. Back then, the vast majority of parameters that could appear in the file could only be edited directly in the file, and the author (Steve Loft) recommended that, within the File section you were going to change, you sorted the parameters into alphabetical order, before editing the file. That advice was given because having parameters in alphabetical order would prevent you inserting a parameter that already existed. This would avoid the potential problem arising from the design that Cumulus 1 would ignore any duplicate parameter, and take the first one it found, as that might not be the last one you edited!

Structure of Cumulus.ini

The file is divided into "File sections" (see terminology definitions below), each File section name is on a separate line (with no other content) and enclosed in square brackets (e.g. [Station]). These File sections can appear in any order, by default new File sections are appended after all previous File sections, but if you prefer the File sections in another order, MX can still find them, although it may spend more time searching!

Within each File section, there are parameters. Each parameter is in format Attribute=Value, and appears on a line to itself.

The parameters, within a File section, can be in any order, by default new parameters are appended at end of the relevant File section.


How MX creates a Configuration File

This Wiki page does not explain how to start using MX, please see MX on Linux, MX on Windows OS, and MX Administrative Interface as appropriate.

The key fact relevant here is that no Cumulus release distribution contains a Cumulus.ini file:

  1. If you start Cumulus MX interactively without a configuration file, and you have a screen attached so you can see the output from the engine, it will show this: MX first start.PNG
  2. As you can see, it is running, but it does not know what station type, so it cannot connect to any weather station, and will not do anything more.

So when you first use the software, you will need to use the admin interface to enter all settings (some have defaults that might be right for you), and that will lead to creation of the main configuration file.

If you later upgrade to a newer MX build, as that release distribution does not contain a "Cumulus.ini", you cannot lose your settings entered in your existing file. However, be aware that a new release may remove some settings, and add new settings, hopefully the release announcement will give specific details. Otherwise, you will need to work through all the Settings Pages, and all the "MX Sections" (see Terminolgy below)

Furthermore, at the end of each (meteorological) day, MX creates a back-up in the backup/daily/TIME_NAME sub- folder. The TIME_NAME is constructed from a string of digits representing the date and time the directory was created (without any punctuation) e.g. 20060519090000. In that folder, recent MX releases, include a copy of the current "Cumulus.ini" file.

When, and How, does MX read the Configuration File?

Whenever MX is restarted, it reads the latest Cumulus.ini and if it exists strings.ini (briefly mentioned below); from these one (or two) file(s), it learns the configuration that you want it to use.

For completeness I mention here, configuration information for MX can also be stored in an optional file strings.ini, that is used to identify how various standard output phrases are to be modified to suit you, but this Wiki page ignores that file.

MX works differently to how the legacy software that was described above worked. Essentially, MX reads the whole file, for each attribute part of a parameter in the file, there is a variable stored within the MX code. So the value part of each parameter is assigned to the respective variable. Hence MX will not permit any duplicates for any parameter. If MX finds a parameter it does not understand, it ignores that parameter.

This means a Cumulus.ini file created by the legacy software, or by an old release of MX, can still be read by the current release of MX, as it just ignores all the obsolete parameters. However, since MX now has a lot of new parameters in the file, that were not in the legacy file, nor in a file created by an early MX release, it is often easier to start again with a new configuration file, as explained later, to ensure the configuration of MX is correct for you.

MX also creates a backup copy of "Cumulus.ini" in a sub-folder of Backup folder that is named according to current date and time.

What MX finds in your "Cumulus.ini" does of course determine what you see when you open any of the Settings pages, in the admin interface. This is because the displaying of some settings is dependent on another setting.


Settings Configuration for MX

The current design of MX expects that Cumulus Users will never need to edit the "Cumulus.ini" file directly, as there are a number of settings pages in the admin interface and users are expected to use those Settings pages to amend the individual MX settings.

Please see MX_Administrative_Interface#Changing_Settings for basic information, including how to load the admin interface (sometimes called the "dashboard interface" or "user interface").

Do I need to restart MX?

If you change a setting directly in the file, you must stop MX beforehand. The setting takes effect when you restart MX.

If you change a setting, using the admin interface, it may, or may not, take effect immediently...

The settings available on the various pages in the admin interface fall into two groups:

  1. SETTINGS THAT TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY ON CLICKING “SAVE”
  2. SETTINGS THAT ONLY TAKE EFFECT WHEN MX IS RESTARTED

Unfortunately, there is no documentation available from developer on which settings, at any release, do not take effect until MX is restarted.

A further complication is that in some releases, certain settings that used to require a restart have been changed so they take effect intermediately.

This means that any attempt to document which changes do require a restart is working against a moving target, so this documentation cannot indicate where a restart is required. You can play safe, and restart MX each time you finish making edits to settings.

There used to be a third group. Before Release 3.11.2 - build 3131 a few changes made in the interface were not saved into "Cumulus.ini", and therefore lost when MX was restarted. One example of these former exceptions was on Program Settings page where the former action was that choice for adding extra debugging information to file in MXDiags folder was not saved for subsequent session.

For the current MX release, any change made (on any settings page) will be saved into "Cumulus.ini", and will still apply when MX is restarted. That restart will ensure all settings changed in the last session do take effect, even those that did not take effect before the restart.

How to Remove Redundant parameters from file

If you have been using Cumulus for a while, there might be parameters that are now obsolete left in your configuration file.

MX will ignore any parameters that it no longer recognises, but there is a simple way to make MX create a new file for you, keeping your existing settings, but ensuring the new file does not have any obsolete parameters.

The following procedure is best done after, not before, you upgrade MX, as installing a new release might add/remove parameters to/from "Cumulus.ini".

Apart from that upgrade consideration, you can start afresh with a new file anytime by following this very simple procedure:

You must do this while keeping Cumulus MX running (to preserve existing settings)...

  1. Rename your existing Cumulus.ini to say Cumulus.ini.sav (this keeps the file, but stops MX finding it)
  2. In Cumulus go to one of the settings screens, (e.g. Program Settings which is currently a short page) – simply click ‘’’Save Settings’’ (i.e. any action that makes MX save settings to its configuration file)
    • It is possible this might highlight a new parameter that does not yet have a valid value (e.g. the Alarm settings page, which uses ‘’’Enable Alarms’’’ rather than "Save settings", got extra settings without defaults at 3.11.0).
  3. Cumulus (if it accepts that save) will now create a brand new Cumulus.ini file,
  4. This will have all the settings you have chosen
  5. They will now be in the order MX is expecting
    • MX default sort order is from where entries are set in the code, and that is far from alphabetic!
  6. As MX is unaware of settings it used previously, but does not use now, (and MX is unaware of what settings the legacy software used), it won’t write back any redundant settings in the new configuration file.

As well as changing the order in which parameters are stored, this re-generation may show up other changes (if you do have reason to examine the new file and compare with the old file):

  • A major change is likely in the '''[Station]''' section as that has seen a lot of changes as MX is developed.
  • The ’’’[Graphs]]’’’ section has also seen a number of changes as MX has developed.
  • The most dramatic change may happen in '''[FTP Site]''' as any reorganisations to the list of parameters for Extra Web Files are reproduced 100 times.

Editing the file directly

At the time of writing this, the work to code up MX settings pages is not yet completed.

So the Settings Pages could not modify all the parameters, that can appear in the file and get used by MX. Therefore, there were still some settings that could only be amended by stopping MX, then editing the relevant parameter in the file directly, before restarting MX.

However, it is likely that in a few releases time, there will be no necessity to directly edit the file.

That said, working through the various settings pages, and all the options (often within multiple MX sections) can be laborious. Consequently, those with some understanding of the file contents may still wish to make some changes with MX stopped, by editing the file. The only caution that needs to be stressed is "be careful"; as this editing the file directly bypasses any validation that is done when using the Settings Pages, and so might result in an inconsistent set of parameters, and (in the worse case) perhaps a software crash.

An example of why you might edit file instead of using Settings Page

If (for example) you find the Extra Web Files editor hard to use, you might decide to stop Cumulus MX and still edit this configuration file directly for changes to those parameters. Given that MX ignores any parameter it does not understand, while editing the file, you can temporary have old and new parameters in the file. All you need to do is prefix those parameters you don't want MX to use with any character you like before the "Extra" in the atribute name.

When MX adds new parameters to file

If a new release of MX adds new parameters, then:

  • If the new parameter has a valid default value, MX will work perfectly using that default value. You won't need to know the parameter exists, unless you decide to chnage it, and find out what values it can take either in a drop-down on the relevant Settings page, or in the relevant table below.
  • Other new parameters may be given an initial illegal value, because MX cannot guess what value will work for you. This is to enforce the need to give these parameter a valid value before MX will allow you to save settings. Sometimes, MX will not do any weather data processing, until these ‘’’missing’’’ values are edited. In other cases, you might not realise that your file is missing one or more parameters, unless you go into the relevant Settings page, and find you can't save (Enable for Alarms page).

In theory, there is no reason why you should manually add any parameters to the file. Since MX creates, and edits, the file, it will ensure all parameters it understands are in the file.

In practice, as already mentioned, there might be a parameter that you need to get MX working correctly for you, but have to add directly to the file as (at the release you are using) that setting has not yet been added to any Settings page.

Example of new Parameter with valid default

When accessibility was added, its parameter defaulted to the old expand/contract sections design (see first table below). You had to go into "Program Settings" or "Staion Settings" pages to tick the box to get the (more accessiblility friendly) selection button altrernative.

Example of new Parameters with no valid initial value

As a specific example, release 3.11.0 added emailing capability; that requires quite a lot of new parameters to be added to the file. You could use MX without these new parameters, but the Alarm Settings page would not allow you to click Enable until you had defined various settings on another Settings page, as well as on this Alarm Settings page.

How this Wiki page classifies settings

There is no point in this Wiki page listing settings by where they are found in the configuration file, as they can be listed in any order, and when settings are removed or added, the order changes. If your file was originally created by the legacy Cumulus, it may contain "File sections" that are no longer used. For all these reasons, this Wiki page is not designed around the way parameters appear in the file.

The settings interface in MX is being comprehensively redesigned. That means this documentation cannot be organised by the way MX organises its settings pages. The reason is if this Wiki page was organised according to the Settings Screens that applied say at release 3.10.0, that sequence wold be of no use after the settings pages have changed in say 3.12.0.

Some classification is still needed to help you the reader find settings, only you can judge whether the grouping here suits you! In creating this page, I have tried to think of a way to group various settings and arranged those groups alphabetically, to make navigation as easy as I can.

Of course if you have your own ideas of a better way to group the documentation here, you are welcome to implement that by editing this page.

Within the groupings I have selected, individual settings are normally presented as rows in tables for clarity on this Wiki page. The individual tables can have up to 7 columns so they can explain for each setting:

  • Where in the admin interface you edit it (MX page and MX section in terminology below)
  • Whether the Setting is always shown on the Settings Page ("Always" is shown), or is only shown if an earlier Setting has a particular selection (dependency is shown)
  • What File Section (in terminology below) it appears in with the file (always appears, and is shown, between square brackets)
  • The attribute name used for the parameter in the file (always shown with an equals sign after it)
  • Which release introduced the setting(s)
  • What is the default value for the parameter, (and what that default value means)
  • A description of what the parameter represents, and what values it can take

If the content of any column would be same for every row, then that column is omitted, and the relevant information is instead stated before the table.

Exceptions to above table styling:

  1. MQTT parameters are handled slightly differently, as they did not fit that standard layout
  2. The mean temperatures, and normal rainfall figures, with one parameter per month, have been presented as text, rather than a table for simplicity
  3. For the Extra Web Files Settings page, where the settings page uses editable grid software using a table to enter 800 settings, the table here is split into just 8 rows, each of which applies to 100 parameters in the file.


Terminology used on this Wiki Page

Terminology What it means
Wiki page Because "page" could refer to either this page or the Settings page, page will always be qualified
Shown on Settings page? Sometimes whether you see a particular setting on the Settings Page, depends on a previous selection has been made, that is explained under this heading
MX Section Under this heading you will find how to navigate to the relevant setting within the admin interface. This covers the page where you edit the setting, followed by →, and then the section (and sub-section where relevant) that you have to select to see the setting

Each MX section on the Settings page has to be opened individually (by either a button for maximum accessibility, or a Click ▶to expand, click ▼ to collapse for alternative styling).

Label on Settings page Under this heading you will discover how MX labels the individual setting where you edit that setting
File Section Within the file, a number of section headings are used, to gather multiple parameters together. Thus under this heading, for each setting, the table shows the File Section where the parameter will be stored
Parameter Line Entry Within the file each setting is represented by a parameter in format attribute=value on a line to itself without any punctuation symbols. If the parameter has a default value, that is shown here and explained in next column
Default This is the value (if any) that the individual setting takes when it has not been amended. Some parameters do not have a default value and "(none)" will be shown in this case. No brackets surround literal text representing default value, which is normally also seen in Parameter Line Entry. In general, round brackets are used in Default column to indicate an explanation.
Description Under this heading you will find an explanation of the setting including (where relevant) what values it can take


Tables listing Settings

Accessibility

  • Introduced Release 3.10.0 - build 3115
  • File Section is [Program]
Parameter Line Entry MX Section Label on Settings page Default Description
EnableAccessibility=0 * (Either) Program Settings &raa; (First tick box)
  • (Or) Station Settings → (First tick box)
Enable accessibility features 0 (disable) Determines styling of settings pages:
  • Set to 1 to make this (and other pages) appear in a button selection style (more friendly on an accessibility basis).
  • Leave it at zero for a Click ▶to expand, click ▼ to collapse styling.

Alarms

Crystal Clear info.png This document is 'Work In Progress' so content may not be complete.

Request for help from Wiki Readers

  • Do you understand how MX works?
  • Do you use hardware, or MX functionality, that is not yet documented? Can you begin that documenting?
  • Can you contribute simple text for novice users, examples of what you have done, correction of typing or factual errors, or supply missing details?
  • Will you make this page more useful by bringing content up-to-date as new releases change some information written for older releases?
  • Does any page need a section for novices, so they don't need to read more technical information further down that page?
  • Is there some information on this page, that should be on a separate page? Can you create the new page and move the less relevant information off this page, don't forget this page needs a link to the new page so people who expect to find it here know where it has moved to?

If you plan on contributing to the Wiki, then you will need an account.

  • Please use the Request Account form to apply for an account. Note that the Wiki is currently undergoing restructuring and is largely locked for editing, but please apply for an account if you wish to contribute in the future.
  • You will find help on how to contribute to this wiki at How to Edit.
  • If you need to consult others, please use the Cumulus Wiki suggestions forum.

Please be aware that information on this page may be incorrect.

This table has not been populated yet

Parameter Line Entry File Section Introduced MX Section Label on Settings page Default Description

Data Logging

  • Available in all Cumulus releases
  • File Section is [Station]
Parameter Line Entry Shown on Settings page? MX Section Label on Settings page Default Description
StartDate= (with warning: "Here be dragons!") Station Settings → Advanced Options Records Began date (Set when you first use Cumulus) Format used is determined by locale used for running MX. If this date is edited, keep to same format. MX generally (see Calculate_Missing_Values#CreateMissing.exe for exceptions) ignores any data file entries prior to this date.
NoSensorCheck=0 (not yet on a settings page) (not known) (not known) 0 (normal) Boolean:
  • 0 = MX will stop if any of the minimum set of sensors listed below fails
  • 1 = MX will continue to run, even if any of the minimum set of sensors listed below fails

Minimum set of sensors:

  1. Current air temperature
  2. Current Relative Humidity
  3. At least one wind speed
  4. Current air pressure (absolute or sea-level)

Cumulus will stop processing any information from a weather station unless the above 4 source values are being supplied and reveal they are being updated (failure is set is after a total of 6 unsuccessful consecutive attempts to read each of these).

UseDataLogger=1 (probably determined by station type) (not known) (not known) 1 (enabled) Simple tick or not
  • Tick (value shown as 1 in Cumulus.ini) if your weather station has its own storage, so MX can do a catch up when it first starts and read any "archive data"
  • Don't tick (value shown as 0 in Cumulus.ini) if your weather station has no storage, and therefore MX cannot capture any readings when it is not running
DataLogInterval=2 (Always) Station settings → General Settings Log interval 2 (10 minutes) Drop-down:
  • 0 = 1 minute between MX logs into the one to three Monthly_log_files (i.e. Standard log files, and optionally Extra Sensor Files, Air_Link_Log.txt)
  • 1 = 5 minutes between MX logging lines
  • 2 = 10 minutes between MX logging lines
  • 3 = 15 minutes between MX logging lines
  • 4 = 20 minutes between MX logging lines
  • 5 = 30 minutes between MX logging lines
LogExtraSensors=0 (Depends on station type) Station settings → Common Options Extra sensors 0 (disabled) Simple tick or not
  • Tick (value shown as 1 in Cumulus.ini) if your weather station can output readings to be logged in Extra Sensor Files
  • Don't tick (value shown as 0 in Cumulus.ini) if you have nothing to log to Extra Sensor Files.
RolloverHour=0 (Always) Station settings → Log Rollover Time 0 (midnight) Radio type selection:
  • 0 = MX will do an end of day process when the time (on Weather Station if it provides time) reaches midnight
  • 1 = MX will do an end of day process when the time (on Weather Station if it provides time) reaches 9 a.m. local standard/winter time
Use10amInSummer=1 (Always) Station settings → Log Rollover Use 10am in Summer 1 (normal) Tick box: * 0 = If "Daylight Saving Time" (DST) applies in Summer, MX is to use 9 am local time
  • 1 = Normal behaviour:
    • If rollover time is midnight, then rolls over at midnight local time, regardless of whether DST is in operation or not
    • If MX would do an end of day process when the time (on Weather Station if it provides time) reaches 9 a.m. local standard/winter time, then it waits until 10 a.m. local time while DST is in effect


Debugging

  • Available from beta MX.
  • File Section is [Station]
Parameter Line Entry MX Section Label on Settings page Default Description
Logging=1 * (Releases 3.0.0 to 3.9.8) Close Cumulus MX, then edit Cumulus.ini configuration file, and add a line in the [Station] section: Logging = 1, then restart Cumulus MX.
  • (Releases 3.1.0 to 3.9.3) Station Settings &rarr Options
  • (Release 3.9.4 onwards) Program Settings → Program General Options
Debug logging 0 (disabled) This adds extra information about transfers between your weather station and MX. It was introduced originally for Davis stations only, but later (can someone add here the relevant release) extended to cover more stations.
DataLogging=1 * (Releases 3.0.0 to 3.9.8) Close Cumulus MX, then edit Cumulus.ini configuration file, and add a line in the [Station] section: DataLogging = 1, then restart Cumulus MX.
  • (Releases 3.1.0 to 3.9.3) Station Settings &rarr Options
  • (Release 3.9.4 onwards) Program Settings → Program General Options
Debug logging 0 (disabled) This adds extra information about transfers from MX, and all the internal MX processes.


Location

  • Introduced for legacy Cumulus
  • File Section is [Station]
Parameter Line Entry MX Section Label on Settings page Default Description
LocName= Station Settings → Location Name (empty) A short name for the location
LocDesc= Station Settings → Location Description (empty) A longer description for the location
Altitude=0 Station Settings → Location Altitude 0 The height above mean sea level where the (pressure) sensor is positioned
AltitudeInFeet=1 Station Settings → Location Radio Setting
  • feet (value shown as 1 in Cumulus.ini)
  • metres (value shown as 0 in Cumulus.ini)
"Latitude=0" and "LatTxt=" Station Settings → Location → Latitude "Degrees", "Minutes", "Seconds", and "Hemisphere → North or South" The selections made on this Settings Page sub-section will place the appropriate content in the two parameters in the file
"Longitude=0" and "LongTxt=" Station Settings → Location → Longitude "Degrees", "Minutes", "Seconds", and "Hemisphere → East or West" The selections made on this Settings Page sub-section will place the appropriate content in the two parameters in the file


Extra Web Files

There are 100 occurrences of each parameter in Cumulus.ini, and therefore each parameter has a base name followed by numbers 0 to 99.

The settings interface presents the rows on multiple pages, the rows are not numbered, so you have to do some counting to work out which row in the admin interface page corresponds with which parameter in Cumulus.ini file.

Parameter Line Entry Label on Settings page Default Description
[FTP site] Section name
ExtraLocal0= to ExtraLocal99= Local File Name (empty) You can enter:
  • A relative path name, with respect to the "CumulusMX" root folder
  • A full path name for a file on the computer running MX
    • e.g. /home/pi/documents/myFile
    • e.g. C:\Users\Public\Documents\working.txt
  • You can place any of the following special tags into the entry
    • These should be typed as shown on their own
      • <noaayearfile> and <noaamonthfile> these respectively represent latest yearly and latest monthly reports
      • <currentlogfile>, <currentextralogfile>, and <airlinklogfile> these respectively represent standard, extra sensor, and Davis AirLink air quality monitor log files e.g. ExtraLocal3=<currentlogfile>
ExtraRemote0= to ExtraRemote99= Destination Filename (empty) Defines where MX is to upload file to
  • If file transfer is requested (see below), the file path should be expressed starting at the FTP/FTPS/SFTP root
    • I can't tell you what the file path is for your web server, but I can give a couple of examples to steer you
      • e.g. httpdocs/dayfile.txt
      • e.g. public_html/thismonthyear.htm
  • If the FTP is not ticked, the file path should be full path for a file on the computer running MX
    • e.g. /var/www/html/weather/images/moon.png could be destinatation for uploading the MX generated moon image to a Linux hosted server
    • e.g. /var/www/html/weather/webfilesMX/tempdata.json for uploading one of the files with graph data to a Linux hosted server
  • You can place any of the following special tags into the entry
    • These should be typed as shown as part of the destination path, note that they can be used:
      • either to represent the final filename part of the path e.g. ExtraRemote3=/var/www/html/weather/monthly/<currentlogfile>
      • or to modify a filename, so it becomes unique to a particular month e.g. ExtraRemote0=/var/www/html/weather/cumulus_generated/savedFiles/web_tags_real_time_<currentlogfile>.inc
    • <noaayearfile> and <noaamonthfile> these respectively represent latest yearly and latest monthly reports
    • <currentlogfile>, <currentextralogfile>, and <airlinklogfile> these respectively represent standard, extra sensor, and Davis AirLink air quality monitor log files
ExtraProcess0= to ExtraProcess99= Process 0 Simple tick or not
  • Tick (value shown as 1 in Cumulus.ini) if the local file is a template file, see here for full explanation of Process
  • Don't tick (value shown as 0 in Cumulus.ini) if you want local file uploaded with existing content
ExtraRealtime0= to ExtraRealtime99= Realtime 0 Simple tick or not
  • Tick (value shown as 1 in Cumulus.ini) if
    1. See #Realtime Settings, you must have "Enable realtime" ticked, and defined an interval there
    2. Uploads the file to destination specified at interval defined
  • Don't tick (value shown as 0 in Cumulus.ini) if you want uploading to happen at a different interval (e.g. Standard interval)
ExtraFTP0= to ExtraFTP99= FTP 1 Simple tick or not
  • Tick (value shown as 1 in Cumulus.ini) if you want MX to use the FTP protocol specified in #Web/FTP Site
  • Don't tick (value shown as 0 in Cumulus.ini) if the remote file is on the computer running MX and a simple Copy File is required
ExtraUTF0= to ExtraUTF99= UTF-8 1 Please see technical guidance on encoding
  • Tick (value shown as 1 in Cumulus.ini) for default, modern files use UTF-8 encoding, this can display an extended range of characters
  • If unticked (0 appears in file), then iso-8859-1 encoding is used
ExtraBinary0= to ExtraBinary99= Binary 0 Simple tick or not
  • Tick (value shown as 1 in Cumulus.ini) if your file is e.g. an image file (e.g. moon.png)
  • Don't tick (value shown as 0 in Cumulus.ini) if the file is text, HTML, PHP script, JSON, JavaScript
ExtraEOD0= to ExtraEOD99= End of Day 0 Simple tick or not
  • Tick (value shown as 1 in Cumulus.ini) if your file is to be uploaded during the End of Day process
  • Don't tick (value shown as 0 in Cumulus.ini) if you want uploading to happen at a different interval (e.g. Standard interval)

NOAA Settings

Create NOAA files after daily rollover

Parameter Line Entry Label on Settings page Default Description
[NOAA] Section name - the following parameters appear in NOAA section
AutoSave=1 Create NOAA files after daily rollover 0 *0= do not use Reports functionality
  • 1= do use Reports functionality
UseDotDecimal=0 0 (disable) (Introduced 3.9.5 - b3100) Formatting real numbers for when NOAA report parsed by a script
  • 0= NOAA reports use the integer/decimal separator specified by locale
  • 1= NOAA reports used decimal point even if locale says use decimal comma

Site Details

Parameter Line Entry Label on Settings page Default Description
[NOAA] Section name - the following parameters appear in NOAA section
Name=Personal Weather Station Site Name (empty) What you would like to see in report title for your station name
City= City (empty) Enter here your hamlet, village, town, or city, name
State= State (empty) Enter here your local authority area or region (state in USA)

Output Files

Parameter Line Entry Label on Settings page Default Description
[NOAA] Section name - the following parameters appear in NOAA section
MonthFileFormat='NOAAMO'MMyy'.txt' Monthly filename format 'NOAAMO'MMyy'.txt' (note quotes round 'NOAAMO' and round '.txt') Here you specify the filename template for MX to use when reading, or writing, monthly reports

There is a prefix text in quotes,then comes a way to specify months (see Reports_folder#NOAA_style_Report_Naming), and finally comes the mandatory text extension. e.g. "NOAAMO"MMMyyyy".txt" would also be valid.

YearFileFormat='NOAAYR'yyyy'.txt’ Yearly filename format 'NOAAYR'yyyy'.txt' Here you specify the filename template for MX to use when reading, or writing, yearly reports

There is a prefix text in quotes,then comes a way to specify months (see Reports_folder#NOAA_style_Report_Naming), and finally comes the mandatory text extension.


Report Format Options

Parameter Line Entry Label on Settings page Default Description
[NOAA] Section name - the following parameters appear in NOAA section
12hourformat=0 Time format 0 (24 hour) How times are output on reports
  • 24 Hour
  • 12 Hour
NOAUseUTF8=1 Use UTF-8 encoding Please see Reports_folder#Encoding
  • Tick (value shown as 1 in Cumulus.ini) for default, modern files use UTF-8 encoding, this can display an extended range of characters, including the o degree symbol
  • If unticked (0 appears in file), then iso-8859-1 encoding is used, this has a more restricted range of characters, and the o degree symbol is coded differently
UseDotDecimal=0 Use a 'dot' decimal point 0 (locale) Should dot or comma decimal be used?
  • 0= as defined in your locale
  • 1= dot decimal place, regardless of what in locale

(The reason for this is that some people instead of looking at reports, have a script that parses the report and outputs in a different way)


FTP Options

Parameter Line Entry Label on Settings page Default Description
[NOAA] Section name - the following parameters appear in NOAA section
AutoFTP=0 Auto FTP NOAA report files 0 (disable) Assuming you have selected (in earlier sub-section) that MX is to create reports
  • 0= Disable any further action with filename
  • 1= Enable the file transfer process you have defined for MX, to upload the file for you (at first update time after rollover has completed)
FTPDirectory= FTP directory (empty) Where you want MX to use as destination folder on your FTP server
  • Leave blank and MX will use wherever has been specified in main internet settings (this fits how the default web site is designed to work)
  • Specify a folder relative to FTP root, and MX will upload reports to that folder instead (if you use any files from default web site, then you will need to amend the JavaScript file:

let rptPath = ; // Your path should have a trailing "/", eg. 'Reports/' by putting your folder name in, an example is given for the case when “/Reports” is a sub folder off the main upload destination, note how you don’t include a leading slash, but you must add a trailing one.

Thresholds

‘’Please note any temperatures you specify in these settings must use the same units as you have asked MX to report temperature in. Equally any rainfall amounts you specify here must use the same units as you have asked MX to report rainfall in.’’

Parameter Line Entry Label on Settings page Default Description
[NOAA] Section name - the following parameters appear in NOAA section
HeatingThreshold=15.5 Heating threshold 65o F or 18.3oC Heating Degree Days are a measure of the need for heating, based on time below, and temperature difference below, a threshold temperature. The international standard says 15.5 oCelsius is a suitable threshold to ensure comfort. For historical consistency, the default used by MX is based on the threshold used when Steve Loft first implemented this in Cumulus 2 (enhancement request 44), and that was done to match some early look up tables.
CoolingThreshold=22 Cooling threshold 65o F or 18.3oC Cold Degree Days are a measure of the need to cool the air to make it more comfortable, based on time above, and temperature difference above, a threshold temperature. The international standard says 22 oCelsius is a suitable threshold to ensure comfort. For historical consistency, the default used by MX is based on the threshold used when Steve Loft first implemented this in Cumulus 2 (enhancement request 44), and that was done to match some early look up tables.
MaxTempComp1=22 Max temp comparison 1 (empty) The report will count the number of days when this threshold is exceeded. In the parameter I have quoted, the first comparison has been set to agree with the cooling degree day threshold
MaxTempComp2=0 Max temp comparison 2 (empty) The report will count the number of days when this threshold is exceeded. In the parameter I have quoted, the second comparison has been set to agree with feezing point (I’m using Celsius)
MinTempComp1=15.5 Min temp comparison 1 (empty) The report will count the number of days when this threshold is exceeded. In the parameter I have quoted, the first comparison has been set to agree with the heating degree day threshold
MinTempComp2=0 Min temp comparison 2 (empty) The report will count the number of days when this threshold is exceeded. In the parameter I have quoted, the second comparison has been set to agree with feezing point (I’m using Celsius)
RainComp1=0.5 Rain comparison 1 (empty) The report will count the number of days when the daily rainfall exceeds this threshold. In the parameter I have quoted, the first comparison has been set to the same as I have set else where as my significant rain threshold
RainComp2= Rain comparison 2 (empty) The report will count the number of days when the daily rainfall exceeds this threshold.
RainComp3= Rain comparison 3 (empty) The report will count the number of days when the daily rainfall exceeds this threshold.

Normal Mean Temperatures

  • The parameters run from ‘’’NOAATempNormJan=’’’ to ‘’’NOAATempNormDec=’’
  • There is one box labelled for each month on the settings screens
  • All the defaults are (blank)
  • What you enter is the mean temperature, long-term averages (say over 10 or 30 years if available) say is expected that month, often taken from local climate statistics, or your own past measurements

Normal Precipitation

Rainfall equivalents of mean temperature described above

Program Start-up Options

  • Introduced release 3.9.4 - b3099
  • File Section is [Program]
Parameter Line Entry MX Section Label on Settings page Default Description
StartupPingHost= Program Settings → Program Start-up Options Host to PING on program start-up None (no remote host) Add a hostname or IP to address to ping at startup. Cumulus waits until the ping is successful before trying to read from your station. Leave blank to disable
StartupPingEscapeTime=999 PING escape time (mins) 999 (minutes) Specify a time after which if no ping response is received carry on starting Cumulus MX anyway
StartupDelaySecs=0 Start-up Delay (secs) zero (no delay) Add a delay before the Cumulus tries to start reading the station.
StartupDelayMaxUptime=300 Max system uptime to apply the start-up delay 300 (seconds equivalent to 5 minutes) The time that has passed sice MX was started (up-time) is compared against the (max delay time) figure here.
  • If max delay time less than up-time, the delay specified in previous parameter will NOT be applied
  • If up-time less than this max delay time, then MX will apply any delay specified in previous parameter
  • If this parameter is set to zero, then MX will always apply any delay specified in previous parameter


Station specific alternatives

A number of settings are shown only for specific station types, and so the following tables are grouped here.

Since MX is being developed by someone who uses a Davis station, a lot of "Labels on the Settings Screens" mention "Davis" even if you have selected a different station, because the code was written by copy and paste!


Parameter Line Entry File Section Introduced MX Section Label on Settings page Default Description
Type= -1 [Station] 0 (all releases), 1 (Early legacy releases), 2 and 3 (from version 1.7.0), 4 (from version 1.7.12), 5 (from version 1.8.0), 6 (from version 1.8.3), 7 (from version 1.9.1), 8 to 10 (from release 1.9.2), 11 (from a MX beta build), and 12 (from release 3.2.0) Station Settings → General Settings Station type Drop-down
  • -1 = "Select Station", shown before a selection from those below is made
  • 0 = Davis Vantage Pro station
  • 1 = Davis Vantage Pro2 or Vue station
  • 2 = Oregon Scientific stations and similar re-badged stations (Huger, Radio Shack etc) which have a serial port connection and have wireless connection (e.g. WMR-928 station)
  • 3 = Oregon Scientific stations and similar re-badged stations (Huger, Radio Shack etc) which have a serial port connection and have wired connection (e.g. WM-918 station)
  • 4 = Reading from file EasyWeather.dat (using EasyWeather software version 6.2, or earlier, running continuously with Cumulus). Fine Offset weather stations that record Solar and UV measurements output to EasyWeatherPlus.dat file when Easyweather software version 6.x is running. This has the same fields as easyweather.dat, plus two extra fields for Solar and UV data at the end, and so Cumulus can understand the fields you must also have LogExtraSensors=1 set.

NOTE: You can also use Type=4 if you want to run Cumulus with reduced functionality without a weather station attached, to view historical observations. A full set of (historic) files in the data subfolder copied from a system with a weather station attached is needed, but in this case, the EWFile= attribute should be at its default of not having any filename value.

  • 5 = Fine Offset, Maplin, Chas Olsen, MyDEL, Nevada, Watson, Tycon Power, Aercus, etc as defined in Fine Offset section in Supported_Devices article (without solar measurement sensors (with or without solar recharging))
  • 6 = For all La Crosse WS23xx models e.g. WS2300
  • 7 = Fine Offset/Watson/MyDel etc with Solar Sensors as defined in Fine Offset with UV/Light sensor in Supported_Devices article.
  • 8 = Oregon Scientific stations and similar re-badged stations (Huger, Radio Shack etc) using WMR100-200_Protocol e.g. WMR100
  • 9 = Oregon Scientific stations and similar re-badged stations (Huger, Radio Shack etc) using WMR100-200_Protocol e.g. WMR200
  • 10 = Instromet (with optional extra solar sensors or without)
  • 11 = Davis WLL
  • 12 = Ecowitt GW1000 and Froggit DP1500 (and any equivalents)

Selection made here determines what MX sections appear on the Station Settings page

Model= [Station] Early legacy version Station Settings → General Settings Station model (empty) The weather station model description that you want output by the web tag <#stationtype>

Airlink

  • Introduced Release
  • File Section is [AirLink]
  • Not Shown on Settings page?

IsWllNode=0 WLv2ApiKey= WLv2ApiSecret= AutoUpdateIpAddress=1 In-Enabled=0 In-IPAddress=0.0.0.0 In-WLStationId=-1 In-Hostname= Out-Enabled=0 Out-IPAddress=0.0.0.0 Out-WLStationId=-1 Out-Hostname= AQIformula=0

Parameter Line Entry Shown on Settings page? MX Section Label on Settings page Default Description

Davis

Two Wiki sub-sections:


Davis VP/VP2/Vue

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  • Is there some information on this page, that should be on a separate page? Can you create the new page and move the less relevant information off this page, don't forget this page needs a link to the new page so people who expect to find it here know where it has moved to?

If you plan on contributing to the Wiki, then you will need an account.

  • Please use the Request Account form to apply for an account. Note that the Wiki is currently undergoing restructuring and is largely locked for editing, but please apply for an account if you wish to contribute in the future.
  • You will find help on how to contribute to this wiki at How to Edit.
  • If you need to consult others, please use the Cumulus Wiki suggestions forum.

Please be aware that information on this page may be incorrect.

This table does not yet have all details in it.

  • Introduced for leagacy Cumulus
  • File Section is [Station]
  • Only "Shown on Settings page" if either "Type=0" or "Type=1"
Parameter Line Entry Label on Settings page Default Description
[Station] Section name - the following parameters appear in Station section
VP2SleepInterval=500 500 (milli-seconds) the period which Cumulus waits between reads of the data from Davis stations, the value is in milliseconds.
  • if you suspect that data is being missed, reduce number
  • For VirtualVP users, tests revealed that VP2SleepInterval = 1100 seems to work the best. It updates every two seconds with few exceptions.
VPClosedownTime=x (default not yet documented) x is the number of seconds after the start of the re-connect attempts that you want the program to close itself
DavisCalcAltPress=1 1 Davis stations calculate Sea Level Pressure (SLP) from Station Pressure (SP) using a formula based on temperature, humidity, and altitude

CWOP require 'Altimeter Pressure' (AP) to be uploaded, i.e. a value calculated simply using altitude.

  • 0 = Use SLP supplied by Davis
  • 1 = Convert the SP Davis supplies to AP using the altitude you have supplied.
SyncDavisClock=0 0 When set, at Cumulus start-up and at a fixed time (default 04:00, see next parameter) each day, Cumulus will set the Davis VP/VP2 clock to within a minute of the same time as the PC. (From build 3015 for MX).
  • 0 = Disabled, default (as deselected on the Station Configuration Screen)
  • 1 = Enabled, ensures that when Cumulus asks the station for data since time X, both recognise X!
ClockSettingHour=4 4 Controls what hour of the day the SyncDavisClock activity will take place if it is enabled.
  • 4 = 04:00 (default value)
  • 0-23 = 00:00 to 23:00
VP2ConnectionType=1 Weather station connection type
  • 0 = serial (see next parameter to specify COM port)
  • (1 = usb - setting no longer available on screen, remains as default in cumulus.ini for those not using a Davis)
  • 2 = TCP/IP (see later parameters to specify ports)

Default is type 1, i.e. neither option on screen selected, so if you use a Davis you must select either serial or TCP/IP.

VP2TCPPort=22222 2222 Communications port used if VP type has TCP/IP selected.
VP2IPAddr=0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 Weather station IP address if VP type has TCP/IP selected.
VP2PeriodicDisconnectInterval=0 0 (disable) When the clock minute changes, Cumulus stops the current stream of data from the console, disconnects, waits for the specified number of milliseconds, to allow the Weatherlink IP to briefly connect to the Davis Weatherlink site. Cumulus then attempts to reconnect.

Set it to zero to disable, if you are not using the Weatherlink site.

LogExtraSensors=0 0 This is set in the Settings block on the Station settings screen off the configuration menu. Set this to 1 if you have additional sensors (e.g. a Davis Leaf Wetness probe) to make Cumulus read, display, and log the readings from the sensors. You don't select this for Solar/UV sensors.
UseDavisLoop2=1 1 (use Loop2) The current MX code uses LOOP2 for two purposes. First, it uses the 'peak 10-minute gust' value, to avoid the problem where a gust might be missed, and secondly it uses the 'absolute pressure' value to make calculation of 'altimeter pressure' easier and more accurate. This is mainly used if you upload to CWOP.
  • 1 (default) = Cumulus MX will use the LOOP2 packet for Davis Weather Stations by default. The LOOP2 packet is supported on the VP2 with firmware version 1.90 or later, and on the Vue.
  • 0 = Select this if you have a Vantage Pro (i.e. the original 'VP1'), or a VP2 with pre-1.90 firmware, or if you are using Virtual VP, none of these support the LOOP2 packet.

Without this setting, Cumulus will revert to calculating the 10-minute gust value itself from the individual wind speed readings, but it will not currently attempt to calculate altimeter pressure correctly, it will simply use the sea-level pressure instead. This is likely to be an issue if you are at high altitude and you upload to CWOP using Cumulus MX.

DavisIPResponseTime=500 500 The length of time in milliseconds which Cumulus waits to allow a response from the console to a command (i.e. a request for any kind of data) from an IP logger, see Cumulus MX forum where times up to 2000ms are suggested.
ForceVPBarUpdate=0 0 (normal) Added in build 3042 (January 2017).

The default (value=0) is to assume standard barometer updates on Davis stations. Set to 1, by adding ForceVPBarUpdate=1 in [Station] section to force more frequent barometer updates on Davis stations. Steve says "Having checked the code, I see it asks for 20 packets from the 'LOOP2' if the barometer forcing is on, otherwise it stops receiving LOOP data after 50 packets". Note that ForceVPBarUpdate=1 is only useful on very old versions of the console firmware.

DavisIncrementPressureDP=0 1 (from version 3.0.0 build 3042)
  • 0= Pressure values shown to 1 decimal places when reported in mb/hPa, shown to 2 decimal places for inHg
  • 1= Pressure values shown to 2 decimal places when reported in mb/hPa, shown to 3 decimal places for inHg
VPrainGaugeType=0 1 Specifies the units selected on your Vantage Pro Rain Gauge.
  • 0 = Metric Rain Adapter fitted, a 0.2mm gauge
  • 1 = Imperial gauge without adapter, a 0.01" gauge.

Note that if the units you choose for rainfall do not match your rain gauge type, conversion rounding errors will then occur.

DataLogging=0 0 (Build 3018 onwards).
  • 0 (default) = Cumulus MX will not add extra logging.
  • 1 = To add extra logging to the diags file for data received from Davis stations. Use this with care, the log will get very large.

I've also added some more diagnostics to try to find the cause of the problem where data stops being read from Davis stations. Debug logging is required to be turned on. (Build 3022 onwards).

AutoUpdateIpAddress=1 1 default = 1, set to 0 to switch off the WLL autodetection of IP address. This is a workaround for a WLL firmware bug that does not update the IP address when it changes using DHCP.
ZeroConfig (default not known) set this on station settings screen; to enable/disable the entry/update of the stations IP address via auto-discovery


Davis WeatherLink Live

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Please be aware that information on this page may be incorrect.

This table has not been populated yet

  • Introduced in a MX beta build
  • File Section is [WLL]
  • Only "Shown on Settings page" if "Type=11"
Parameter Line Entry Label on Settings page Default Description
[Station] Section name - the following parameters appear in Station section

EasyWeather (Reading File instead of connecting to a Weather Station)

  • Introduced in a Legacy version
  • File Section is [Station]
  • MX Section is "EasyWeather File Settings"
  • Only "Shown on Settings page" if "Type=4"
Parameter Line Entry Label on Settings page Default Description
EWInterval=10 File Read Interval 10 (minutes between new line becoming available in file) Cumulus needs to know how often to read a new record from the easyweather.dat file. Enter any number in box.
  • 0= Default, meaning not applicable
  • n= any positive decimal value representing Easyweather version 6.2, or earlier, logging interval in minutes (used for reading single latest observations from Easyweather software output). Note to specify seconds, use decimal minutes, e.g. 30 seconds = 0.5
EWFile= Filename (empty) * Full file path/name for Easyweather.dat or EasyWeatherPlus.dat
  • (empty) (i.e. attribute and equals sign, but no value) Note: If you want to run Cumulus without an attached weather station (because your station has a fault or because you have a second PC), it is possible to run Cumulus with station Type=4 but with the default of no file specified in this parameter. The full Cumulus directory structure and its files including those in the data sub-directory are needed (kept from when your station was working or copied from the PC with the station). Although only the old observations can be accessed, (no new ones are being added), this does allow analysis of the old observations via all Cumulus features

See FAQ here for reduced functionality using Cumulus 1 in this way.

EWminpressureMB=900 Minimum Pressure Value 900 Cumulus will ignore all pressure readings from the station that are less than this value (units are always hPa/millibars)
EWmaxpressureMB=1200 Maximum Pressure Value 1200 Cumulus will ignore all pressure readings from the station that are greater than this value (units are always hPa/millibars)
EWMaxRainTipDiff=40 Rain Tip Difference Default=30 tips in Cumulus 1, MX default is 40 tips This configurable threshold is the maximum feasible amount of rain between updates (i.e. within 48-seconds on Fine Offset stations without solar, 60 seconds on those measuring solar), set in units of count of tips.

For standard Fine Offset rain gauges, each tip represents 0.3mm, so 30 tips are equivalent to 9 mm, or just over a third of an inch in 48 seconds.

This setting affects rain rate, rain last hour, rain so far today (and what is recorded in today.ini/dayfile.txt), but does not affect the web tag <#r24hour>.

EWpressureoffset=x.y Pressure Offset 9999 The pressure that Cumulus MX processes is equal to what read in the file plus the value set for this parameter. Normally used to convert the station pressure to the equivalent Sea Level Pressure.

Ecowitt GW1000 and Froggit DP1500 (and any equivalents) specific

  • Introduced in release 3.2.0
  • File Section is [GW100]
  • MX Section is "Ecowitt GW1000 Settings"
  • Only "Shown on Settings page" if "Type=12"
Parameter Line Entry Label on Settings page Default Description
AutoUpdateIpAddress=1 Auto-discovery 1 (selected) Should MX attempt to discover IP address
  • 0=Disable
  • 1=Enable
IPAddress= IP address (no default) stores the IP address of your GW1000 WiFi logger
MACAddress= MAC addresss (no default) Populated by MX when auto-discovery enabled


Fine Offset Stations

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Please be aware that information on this page may be incorrect.

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  • Introduced in a Legacy version
  • File Section is [Station]
  • MX Section is "Fine Offset Settings"
  • Only "Shown on Settings page" if either "Type=5" or "Type=7"


Parameter Line Entry Label on Settings page Default Description
Synchronise Reads 0 (disabled) Simple tick or not
  • Tick (value shown as 1 in Cumulus.ini) for MX to attempt to work out when your Fine Offset is writing data to the console log, so that MX does not read the Fine Offset circular memory when it is being updated
  • Don't tick (value shown as 0 in Cumulus.ini) for MX to read the Fine Offset circular memory whenever it next wants data

Selecting this parameter has given some problems in earlier MX builds, so the code has recently been rewritten.

Read Avoid Period 3 (seconds) If previous setting enabled, MX will avoid reading the circular memory from the number of seconds specified before it expects Fine Offset to be writing to the circular memory, to the number of seconds specified after it expects Fine Offset to be writing to the circular memory

(One issue is that Fine Offset will move from one position to the next position in the circular memory, at the Fine Offset Logging Interval, but will delay this move by up to one minute, if the existing memory position is actually being updated by a read from the sensors and normally those updates happen every 40 seconds for non-solar sensors, and every 60 seconds for solar sensor)



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  • Do you use hardware, or MX functionality, that is not yet documented? Can you begin that documenting?
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  • Will you make this page more useful by bringing content up-to-date as new releases change some information written for older releases?
  • Does any page need a section for novices, so they don't need to read more technical information further down that page?
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  • If you need to consult others, please use the Cumulus Wiki suggestions forum.

Please be aware that information on this page may be incorrect.

There are a number of settings in a MX sub-section called "Fine Offset Advanced Options". These are new settings, and have not been documented yet.

Parameter Line Entry Shown on Settings page? MX Section Label on Settings page Default Description

Instromet Settings

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  • Please use the Request Account form to apply for an account. Note that the Wiki is currently undergoing restructuring and is largely locked for editing, but please apply for an account if you wish to contribute in the future.
  • You will find help on how to contribute to this wiki at How to Edit.
  • If you need to consult others, please use the Cumulus Wiki suggestions forum.

Please be aware that information on this page may be incorrect.

The following table has some gaps to fill in

  • Introduced in a Legacy version
  • File Section is [Station]
  • MX Section is "Instromet Settings" or "Instromet Advanced Options" as indicated
  • Only "Shown on Settings page" if either "Type=5" or "Type=7"
Parameter Line Entry MX Section Label on Settings page Default Description
ComportName=xxxxxx Station Settings → Instromet Settings Serial port name /dev/ttyUSB0 (on Linux), COM1 (on Microsoft Windows) Only required if your station is connected via a real, or virtual, serial port
ImetBaudRate=19200 Station Settings → Instromet Settings Serial Baud Rate (DavisBaudRate) 19200 Some ?older? Instromet loggers operate at 115200, if you have one of these older loggers you will need to reset this value
"SyncDavisClock=0" and "ClockSettingHour=4" Station Settings → Instromet Advanced Options "Sychronise Station Clock" and "Clock sync hour" Tick box not selected, data box set to 4 Note despite the name of the parameter within 'Cumulus.ini', this does apply to Instromet stations.
  • Simple tick or not
    • Tick (value shown as 1 in Cumulus.ini) for MX to attempt to sychronise the Instromet Station Clock with your computer time. This ensures that when Cumulus asks the station for data since time X, both recognise X as representing same time!
    • Don't tick (value shown as 0 in Cumulus.ini) if you don't want MX to attempt to keep station clock in line with computer clock
  • Box taking an integer
    • The hour of the day when, if enabled, Cumulus will set the Instromet clock to within a minute of the same time as the computer. This will happen at a default time of 04:00 each day, (4 a.m.) unless the setting box is edited
ImetUpdateLogPointer=1 Station Settings → Instromet Advanced Options Update logger pointer 1 (enabled) Simple tick or not
  • Tick (value shown as 1 in Cumulus.ini) for MX to update the memory pointer to the last record after every 30 data reads
  • Don't tick to disable this action
ImetWaitTime=500 Station Settings → Instromet Advanced Options Delay between sending data read commands 500 Specifies the time in milliseconds that Cumulus waits after one read, before it does the next read from an Instromet station. According to the specification, 500 ms is the absolute maximum time that the station should take to respond to any command. For Cumulus 1, the default was 200 milli-seconds, so you might try that too.
ImetReadDelay=500 Station Settings → Instromet Advanced Options Delay after sending a command before trying to read data from the serial port 500 Specifies the time in milliseconds that Cumulus allows after sending a command before it tries to read data on the serial port. According to the specification, 500 ms is the absolute maximum time that the station should take to respond to any command. For Cumulus 1, the default was 200 milli-seconds, so you might try that too.

WM918/WMR928 Settings

Oregon Scientific specific


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This table has not been populated yet

  • Introduced for legacy Cumulus
  • File Section is [Station]
Parameter Line Entry Label on Settings page Default Description
Parameter Line Entry Label on Settings page Default Description
[Station] Section name - the following parameters appear in Station section
Humidity98Fix=0 0 (disable) Applies to weather station types that never report more than 98% relative humidity.
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, humidity displayed and recorded as 100% if your sensor registers a relative humidity of 98%. Normally only useful for Oregon Scientific stations.
LogExtraSensors=0 0 (disable) This setting determines whether MX looks for readings from extra temperature probes etc.
  • 0=Disabled (default)
  • 1= Enabled - Used for Oregon Scientific WMR-928 and similar stations if you have additional sensors (e.g. another temperature probe) to make Cumulus read, display, and log the readings from those sensors. You don't use this for Solar/UV sensors..
WMR928TempChannel=N (no default) for WMR-928 stations (and other serial stations using the same protocol, eg WMR-968) to use an 'extra' channel (see previous parameter) as your main temperature sensor, set N to the required channel
WMR200TempChannel=N (no default) for WMR200 stations (and any other Oregon Scientific USB stations which work with Cumulus, e.g. WMR100) to use an 'extra' channel as your main temperature sensor, set N to the required channel