HOWTO: Run the Meteohub image on the Pi 3B+: Meteohub Frankenkernel edition

[BigAlT]

Because of the lack of support for any RPI newer than the 3B and the necessity of using SLC micro SD cards in the RPI and SLC USB thumb drives for data storage for reliable long term operation, I switched from my Meteohub RPI to both a Meteobridge Nano SD in my Vantage Pro2 and a WiFi Logger in my Vantage Vue. Both replace the Davis USB Data Logger and connect directly to your router via WiFi. Both work great. The Nano SD has more capabilities than the WiFi Logger but does cost substantially more. Both upload data to most of the weather services. Firmware upgrades to the WiFi Logger are unlimited while the Nano SD will require a new subscription after 2 years ( the price has not been announced). The Nano SD has 1 or 2 GB of on board memory in an SLC micro SD card for historical data storage.

[Ag2000CO]

And maybe Boris will make as very happy pulling out a Meteohub version that runs natively on Pi3 B Plus....

If your going to ask why not the Raspberry Pi 4 B?

Which my give a clue. Developing/maintaining software for someone else's changing OS and hardware takes a lower priority when you have your own established HW & SW base that always requires improvement.

Would be nice. But just say'n

[rainrainrain]

I've been looking at switching to WeeWX, runs on any Unix system - I'm planning to use an ODroid N2 or XU4, much better hardware than a Pi and with eMMC storage if you're worried about data safety - and supports the Meteostick which is needed to get data off Davis sensors. Currently my Frankenkernel Pi setup is working OK, but I can never update or upgrade it, and if anything ever goes south I need a plan B to keep going.

[HansR]

Yes, @rainrainrain, I see what you're doing. And I think you're right.
Nice choices those WeeWx with Odroid. I will look into that one as well as porting from Cumulus is possible and the eMMC seems a safer option.
Still, I do not understand the difficulty of moving meteohub to RPi upgrades. That points to bad design.
Best,

[rainrainrain]

So after the Meteohub install on the Pi died for the last time I decided to bite the bullet and switch to WeeWX. I wasn't looking forward to this task much because it seemed like there was a lot of potential for things to not work, but to my surprise it worked the first time. Here's a quick recipe for setting up WeeWX with your Meteostick to talk to, in this example, Wunderground. Indented text is where you fill in fields after running a command:

Code: Select all

wget -qO - http://weewx.com/keys.html | sudo apt-key add -
wget -qO - http://weewx.com/apt/weewx-python3.list | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/weewx.list
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install weewx
  Location = <whatever>
  Lat, Long = <whatever>
  Altitude = <whatever>
  Type = Vantage
  Interface = Serial
wget -O weewx-meteostick.zip https://github.com/matthewwall/weewx-meteostick/archive/master.zip
sudo wee_extension --install weewx-meteostick.zip
sudo wee_config --reconfigure
  # Will re-ask for previous stuff, just keep hitting return, then for driver choose (0) Meteostick.
  Port = /dev/ttyUSB0
  Freq = US
  Rain bucket type = 0
  ISS channel = 1
  Anemometer = 0	# Unused
  Leaf and Soil = 2	# If you have e.g. a 6345
  Temp/humidity = 0	# Unused
lsusb
  # To find device, "FT232 Serial" for Meteostick
udevadm info --a --name /dev/ttyUSB0 | grep FT
  # To show what's attached to ttyUSB0
sudo vi /etc/weewx/weewx.conf
/[[Wunder
  enable = true
  station = <whatever>
  password = <whatever, note this is the password, not the API key>
:x
sudo /etc/init.d/weewx restart

Then just keep an eye on the corresponding Wunderground page and after a minute or two it'll start updating. Unlike the Meteohub there's no need to map in sensors and whatnot, it just finds and configures things automatically.