Ecowitt Rain Gauge

I just added Ecowitt Rain Gauge to my sensor's collection.
I am using driver written/maintained by Simon (@sburke781).
Driver picked up this new sensor without any problems and
many attributes are visible on the device page:

image

(All values are zeros because sensor was installed few min ago).
So far so good but ... this sensor is entirely missing in the RM
no matter what I tried. Logical place to start would be to use
"Run Custom Action" option. But this sensor is not visible at all
in the Device List for Custom Actions.

Question is :
Is it possible to feed RM with data/events from this sensor
or this is a very good motivation (finally) to start writing my
custom apps?

1 Like

I find that “Actuator” will often reveal unusual devices. Have you tried this as an option?

1 Like

Using "Run Custom Actions" -> Actuator was my first choice to try.
Neither of Ecowitt Sensors (I have few) showed up.

Then I tried every more or less reasonable device without any luck.
Of course, I could easily miss something in this forest.

EDIT:
I guess, I found a tricky way how to use Data from Rain Gauge in RM.
Surprisingly all Attributes from the Rain Gauge could be used as Triggers.
And I can extract data from the sensor by assigning a specific Attribute
to the Variable.
Here is my rule test example:
image

3 Likes

I might need to know a little more about what you are wanting to achieve in order to suggest what to do. From what you have posted so far, particularly the RM rule, I'm not sure whether the custom command is what you are after...

In terms of commands and drivers, @Sebastien is right that the Actuator capability is a common catch-all used to open up commands for RM (Refresh is another I often use). In the sensor driver's case, it doesn't implement this, it has the capabilities listed below, but does not have any commands listed. You can tell this in the Device Edit page at the top where it tells you that "No commands available for this device.", at least it does for my PWS sensor.

Sensor
Battery
Temperature Measurement
Relative Humidity Measurement
Pressure Measurement
Ultraviolet Index
Illuminance Measurement
Water Sensor
Carbon Dioxide Measurement

If you are interested in getting your head inside the code, these capabilities are listed towards the top of the code in the definition section in the ecowitt_sensor driver. If you compare this to the definition of the gateway driver, it includes a command for resyncSensors. Scroll down to "void resyncSensors() {" on line 919 and that code defines what happens when that command is run.

All of that is not exactly relevant for your question, just a side note. Let me know what you are trying to do and we can go from there.

Simon

As of now I am not sure what I want to do with this new toy (Rain Gauge).
In a rush with playing with this toy I looked in a very wrong place.
For some unknown reason I checked settings for "Actions" instead of "Conditions".
Of course, for the Sensors there is no Actions (except maybe for setting parameters).
I am not planning to create a rule like:
"Stop the rain if it is raining too much".
Sensors are a sources for getting Data. The correct place will be to set a
Conditions, not Actions.
And in the "Conditions" area Rain Gauge is listed and all its Custom Attributes
are available for creating Conditions.
So, I am all set with how to use Data from the Rain Gauge but have to come up
with idea(s) how to use this data.
Making announcement "It is raining outside" is one possibility but this is
kind of obvious without Rain Gauge.
So, all ideas how to use "Rain Gauge" in Home Automation are very welcome .

2 Likes

The one's I see fairly often are checking against doors/windows being open and sprinkler/irrigation systems....

1 Like

Yes, warning announcements is a very good point (already implemented).

Controlling sprinkler/irrigation system is excellent idea.
But now I moved into the apartment complex and this type of
automation became irrelevant.

If rain gauge is full then hack poorly managed appartment complex IT Room and stop watering flowers :innocent:

Understanding the Mirai Botnet:

If you have window sensors, you could setup a warning that it’s raining and such or such window is open… maybe link it with a weather app that provides wind speed and direction, so that if the wind is in the « right » direction for it to blow the water inside, you get the warning, but otherwise, you don’t…

1 Like

Done.
Both balcony doors and window are equipped with sensors.
If any is opened the AC and Air Purifiers are turned off.
And now it is a warning if it is raining.

2 Likes

This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.