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Live data page eats bandwidth!
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| Peter Bell |
Posted on 02-09-2006 08:43
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Super Administrator
Posts: 97
Joined: 01.08.06
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The weather station & webcam are proving a big hit, literally and metaphorically. In August the website exceeded its 10Gb monthly bandwidth allowance on the host server by 15%! The stats show that a vast amount of that was down to people looking at the live weather data page, which runs on Flash Player. Are there people out there who've made the page their screen saver? Please don't keep the Livewind page running in your browser 24/7  . And if you're in the club and notice the page left open on the desktop, please put the Home Page up instead*.
Many thanks,
Peter
*On further thought, I can easily automate that, which will solve the problem .
Edited by Peter Bell on 02-09-2006 15:19 |
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| David J Turner |
Posted on 25-09-2006 21:34
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Member
Posts: 6
Joined: 23.09.06
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I can see this is very popular as it is , why can't the rainfall data be shown - so i know when my dinghy needs bailling ?? |
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| Peter Bell |
Posted on 26-09-2006 11:58
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Super Administrator
Posts: 97
Joined: 01.08.06
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David J Turner wrote:
I can see this is very popular as it is , why can't the rainfall data be shown - so i know when my dinghy needs bailling ??
What would you like to have displayed, David? Graphs of rainfall over the last five days and/or 24 hours? Anything else while we're at it?
Re. your dinghy, maybe the w/s console in the Sun Lounge could be programmed to sound an alarm after so many ins of rain, complete with ticker message saying "Pump out Maudie"! 
Peter |
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| David J Turner |
Posted on 26-09-2006 22:14
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Member
Posts: 6
Joined: 23.09.06
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I think a bar graph of the last 5 days rain and a line graph for the year showing the average as well would be ideal .
David .  |
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| Peter Bell |
Posted on 28-09-2006 13:59
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Super Administrator
Posts: 97
Joined: 01.08.06
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David J Turner wrote:
I think a bar graph of the last 5 days rain and a line graph for the year showing the average as well would be ideal .
I've added:
a bar graph of rainfall over the last 28 days (can easily make it 5 days if that is preferable)
Gauges with totals for the last 24 hours, current month, and current year.
Can't graphically display the long term average for Lowestoft, I'm afraid (the w/s will eventually generate it's own average, providing the database doesn't get corrupted), but I will include the figure for comparison.
Peter |
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| David J Turner |
Posted on 01-10-2006 16:49
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Member
Posts: 6
Joined: 23.09.06
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It's a defini te improvement to have the rainfall data, but the bar graphs appear to give a running total rather than a 24 hr. total; would it be possible to have a single bar for 24 hrs. / month on each graph ?The 28 days is fine, but perhaps it would be better to go to a calendar month ?
Edited by Peter Bell on 01-10-2006 18:12 |
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| Peter Bell |
Posted on 02-10-2006 19:21
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Super Administrator
Posts: 97
Joined: 01.08.06
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David J Turner wrote:
.... would it be possible to have a single bar for 24 hrs. / month on each graph ?The 28 days is fine, but perhaps it would be better to go to a calendar month ?
Won't graph calendar months, I'm afraid; compromise at 30 days!
Bar graph now shows rain per day; line graph for total rain over 30 day period is still cumulative, but the 30 day increment is a simple calculation so I hope that will do.
Thanks for the feedback!
Peter |
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| David J Turner |
Posted on 10-10-2006 21:27
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Member
Posts: 6
Joined: 23.09.06
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I think the cumulative data now looks good , and it's easy to see what's been happening precipitation wise ,but how will it cope with snow ?
P.S. Could you show the units on the sides of the graphs ? |
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| Peter Bell |
Posted on 10-10-2006 21:45
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Super Administrator
Posts: 97
Joined: 01.08.06
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David J Turner wrote:
Could you show the units on the sides of the graphs ?
'Fraid not. But I'll put "ins" in the caption to make it explicit. |
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| David J Turner |
Posted on 20-10-2006 21:16
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Member
Posts: 6
Joined: 23.09.06
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Yes its looking good now , but I'm still a bit worried how the system will cope with snow????????? |
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| Peter Bell |
Posted on 23-10-2006 15:03
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Super Administrator
Posts: 97
Joined: 01.08.06
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David J Turner wrote:
Yes its looking good now , but I'm still a bit worried how the system will cope with snow?????????
Like trains, it depends on the kind of snow -- and what what one requires of the data. Davis market a heater for the rain collector; it needs a mains power supply, which wouldn't be too much of a problem given the w/station's current location. If we want readings of a high degree of accuracy and precise timing, we'd need that; it melts the snow "as it falls" and records the rainfall equivalent. Again, if we could expect heavy snowfall over an extended period in the winter, and lengthy spells with freezing temperatures, we'd need the heater. On the other hand, if we only get a few inches, in short spells, and we're not too concerned if it doesn't register until a day or so later when it's melted .......
The anemometer can also be affected by snow & ice; it can build up in the anemometer cups, and slow the rotation. Good job we're not at the North Pole http://www.arctic...ectall.php.
Re. the heater for the rain collector, it would be good to have some feedback from members. Wouldn't cost the earth to install if we thought it worth while. |
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| David J Turner |
Posted on 24-10-2006 21:30
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Member
Posts: 6
Joined: 23.09.06
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Nice to see the snow problem has been thought through and while it would be nice to have instant snow fall levels I think for a sailing club it is more important to keep the anemometer ice free if that is possible or would the heater heat the whole system ?? Finally before we get too excited what would it cost ? The treasurer seems to have hard up hat on at the moment.
Edited by Peter Bell on 25-10-2006 07:27 |
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| Peter Bell |
Posted on 25-10-2006 07:46
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Super Administrator
Posts: 97
Joined: 01.08.06
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David J Turner wrote:
... while it would be nice to have instant snow fall levels I think for a sailing club it is more important to keep the anemometer ice free if that is possible ... Finally before we get too excited what would it cost? The treasurer seems to have hard up hat on at the moment.
There's no way we could prevent the anemometer icing up, but I would think conditions would have to be pretty extreme by Lowestoft standards before it became a problem. Wonder what happens in the case of weather stations at high altitude, e.g. tops of mountains.
Re. cost of a rain collector heater, we're probably talking about £150 for the Davis model. But I've looked at the spec and it wouldn't be rocket science to build one ourselves. Indeed, I think I know a man who might enjoy the challenge!
EDIT:
I'm now locking this thread. If there are other points anybody wants to raise concerning the weather station, please open a new thread.
Peter
Edited by Peter Bell on 31-10-2006 07:08 |
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