How do I start?

[RogerH]

I have installed Cumulus MX on a Raspberry Pi. I have started it and got as far as the First Time Setup Wizard.The Location and Units sections were self-explanatory. But then you come to the Station settings. I have an Ecowitt GW2000 and an HP3500. Which of the Ecowitt or HTTP options do I want? What are APIs? A bit of advice for the beginner would be very useful.

The Wiki seems useless and confusing.

RogerH

[Cortmalaw]

Not useless and confusing, but I do get that you are new to this and there is so much ....

Your sensors in the garden communicate by radio to BOTH the Ecowitt GW2000 and to the Ecowitt HP3500. As they'll both receive the same data from sensors, you should only connect ONE of these to the Raspberry Pi running Cumulus MX. The GW2000 is designed for the purpose.

The Ecowitt GW2000 should be connected via your home network, so try using Station Type "Ecowitt Local API" (where API means Application Programming Interface - you didn't need to know that!).

Ecowitt Cloud and HTTP (Ecowitt) will also work if you've set the GW2000 to upload data to Ecowitt's server/website, as would HTTP (Wunderground) or HTTP (Ambient) if you're uploading to those websites. But "Ecowitt Local API" is likely to be best, most reliable and contain more data.

[water01]

I am sorry but that is incorrect. He should be using the HTTP(Ecowitt) setting and not the local API.

Mark Crossley pointed this out in this post viewtopic.php?p=176708#p176708

[Cortmalaw]

Hmm, strange.
But I do see that Mark doesn't mention Ecowitt Local API in that discussion.

[HansR]

I am sorry but that is incorrect. He should be using the HTTP(Ecowitt) setting and not the local API.

Mark Crossley pointed this out in this post viewtopic.php?p=176708#p176708

But that discussion is about the Ecowitt HP2560, not about a GW2000. Besides that, Mark answers the question:

at the moment using Ecowitt Cloud - is there any benefit from using HTTP ?

maybe he should have elaborated a bit further.

I think the API is best here, I use the API on the GW1100.

[SamiS]

I am sorry but that is incorrect. He should be using the HTTP(Ecowitt) setting and not the local API.

Mark Crossley pointed this out in this post viewtopic.php?p=176708#p176708

But that discussion is about the Ecowitt HP2560, not about a GW2000. Besides that, Mark answers the question:

at the moment using Ecowitt Cloud - is there any benefit from using HTTP ?

maybe he should have elaborated a bit further.

I think the API is best here, I use the API on the GW1100.

HP2560 does not have local API, therefore Mark advised to use http on that thread. If the device in hand does have the local api, it is almost always the best choice.

To summarize ecowitt station types:

Ecowitt Local API
- prefer this if your device has the local api (most gateways GW1x00, GW2000 and some WNxxxx consoles)
- in this mode CMX actively requsts data from the device
- best accuracy, shortest polling interval

HTTP Ecowitt
- use this with devices that do not have the local api (most consoles, HPxxxx)
- in this mode you must configure custom weather service upload to console
- in this mode CMX only listens if any station would upload data to it
- data update interval dependant on console custom service upload interval setting

Ecowitt Cloud
- use this only if your station does not have neither of local api or custom server upload (eg. 4g cellular station)
- usable also if your station is on a different location than your CMX install
- in this mode CMX downloads data from ecowitt.net without communicating to your station at all

There is a comprehensive list of Ecowitt devices and their features on WXForum, but you must register to see the featuresheets that are saved as pictures.

https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=40730.0

PS. If someone with wiki rights wants to clarify info in there, feel free to use the summary above.

[HansR]

PS. If someone with wiki rights wants to clarify info in there, feel free to use the summary above.

I added the info to the Supported Devices page but I have no knowledge about where the data of the Misol and Froggit devices are the external network. I don't assume that is the Ecowitt.net site so how does CMX handle the historic data for those devices (The Froggit and the Misol)? This is an open issue.

[HansR]

PS. If someone with wiki rights wants to clarify info in there, feel free to use the summary above.

Maybe you should request for rights @freddie.

[SamiS]

I added the info to the Supported Devices page but I have no knowledge about where the data of the Misol and Froggit devices are the external network. I don't assume that is the Ecowitt.net site so how does CMX handle the historic data for those devices (The Froggit and the Misol)? This is an open issue.

Both Froggit and Misol do seem to mention ecowitt.net cloud service on their product features and/or user manuals. Of course I did not check all, but at least the models similar to HP2550 and GW2000 do have the option.

[HansR]

I must say that that WxForum post is a strong argument against the confusion generation marketing driven capitalism

[RogerH]

Thanks for the information.

The problem I had was with the First Time Setup Wizard. For most (apparently) suitable options (e.g. Ecowitt Local API) I was asked to enter something I had supposedly entered when I connected the weather station with Ecowitt Weather. There was a lot of the text and boxes marked in red demanding some combination of letters and numbers. I wasn't able to get any further.

I eventually chose "PWS" (or something similar) which enabled me to get past the "Wizard". Unfortunately this recorded a load of readings into the data files. (Can I edit the appropriate file to get rid of these?)

I restarted Cumulus MX and went into Settings / Station settings. This was happy to let me choose Ecowitt API without needing to enter an API.

I restarted Cumulus (for the new station) and it has now been recording data for 12 hours.

RogerH

[HansR]

Thanks for the information.

The problem I had was with the First Time Setup Wizard. For most (apparently) suitable options (e.g. Ecowitt Local API) I was asked to enter something I had supposedly entered when I connected the weather station with Ecowitt Weather. There was a lot of the text and boxes marked in red demanding some combination of letters and numbers. I wasn't able to get any further.

I eventually chose "PWS" (or something similar) which enabled me to get past the "Wizard". Unfortunately this recorded a load of readings into the data files. (Can I edit the appropriate file to get rid of these?)

I restarted Cumulus MX and went into Settings / Station settings. This was happy to let me choose Ecowitt API without needing to enter an API.

I restarted Cumulus (for the new station) and it has now been recording data for 12 hours.

RogerH

If its running and you're satisfied leave it as is. Otherwise remove it all and start again, the data loss can't be that big.

@Mark: maybe review the wizard with the remarks made?