[PROJECT] Driver for Ambient API/Local and Ecowitt

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#232

@inetjnky I don't think @snell actually has any Ecowitt products, and I don't know for sure, but maybe this will help you...

As I understand it Ambient and Ecowitt are both just branded versions of Fine Offset devices which is why they have a lot of compatibility in terms of frequencies and protocol. In fact, I have the GW1000 a bunch of sensors and the Ambient WS2902 array and they work almost seamlessly together. (Almost because the "outdoor temp/humidity" from the WS2902 overrides the measurements from the WH32 so I cannot use that independently). Anyway, looking briefly at the description of the HP3501 it looks like it supports a "user customized website" likely in the same way the GW1000 does, and I suspect is speaks the same protocol. So, my guess is it will very likely work with @snell's driver as is. You might poke around on some of the WeeWx forums or similar and see if you can find anyone who has one who can tell you what the payload looks like and compare it to that of the GW1000. I suspect they are the same and I suspect the driver will work.

I hope this helps. Report back if you get one. :slight_smile:

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#233

Thanks but I decided to go with a Weatherflow Tempest. Hopefully they start shipping in a few weeks.

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#234

Just what @OpenDave mentioned, I do not have any Ecowitt devices. But @christi999 showed how it could be done and the changes to make my driver support it overall were fairly minor.

If it sounds like it will have pretty much the same method as a GW1000, it should work. If some slight tweaks are needed in the driver, that should be possible also.

I will make some changes in the next rev of my driver to help with the Ecowitt... Try to avoid requiring a Fake API Key and such things going forward.

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#235

@snell you're awesome. If you need any help, let me know.

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#236

Main thing is if you spot anything that is not working as well as it could, or features you would like, let me know. Worst case, I would say no. :slight_smile:

Otherwise, my drivers are basically a hobby now. They pretty much all do everything I need them to but I am always working on them a bit to make them better or as I learn new things while working on entirely new drivers.

UPDATED:
Version 0.99 is now posted. Only Ecowitt users should see any difference as you will no longer need a fake MAC or API Key (they are hidden). For new users, the process is to add the virtual device, select the driver, then select the method you want (Ambient API or Ecowitt Local) and save preferences. If Ambient, it will then display the preferences for the MAC and API Key. Both get to select about the temperature, humidity, etc...

#237

@snell I just did a clean new install of this driver for Ecowitt and it works as you describe. Thank you!

Also, @snell I went ahead and added the Ecowitt GW1000 to the list of Community Device Drivers

Thank you again for your work!

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#238

Glad you like it!

#239

Ok, hopefully this is the right place to ask, if not, I can bring my question somewhere else...

Now that I have all my measurements reporting in through HE, how do I use them like other devices. So, I have 8 temp/humidity sensors which are all reporting back through this one virtual device. If I link this device to a single temp/humidity sensor in a dashboard or whatever, it's only going to show one value. So, how do I get a "device" for each child device data brought in through this driver?

As I said, this may be a question for another area about mapping multiple data fields in one device to multiple virtual devices or something. Or maybe I'm not understanding something. Like I said, I'm fairly new to HE.

Thanks so much!

#241

As @anon81541053 says, it is not a nice simple 1:1 method at the moment. However I had been thinking about whether Child Devices would be useful. If @anon81541053 makes that, then it would solve the issue but I would feel like I let people down. :slight_smile:

It would be easy for me to make a string field in the current driver that combines the two parameters, but then people could not easily compare them (great for displaying them but not as useful if you wanted them for Rules). That is where child devices come into play, something I have tried to avoid until now.

So... is there interest in child devices for these secondary sensors?

#242

To be honest, I thought this was something you could just do with HE directly. Like set the values on one device based on the values from something else. But then I could not figure out how to do that. Yup, I would be interested in sub devices.

@snell I don't think you let anyone down. I feel if we all work together we will keep making the idea even more great. I'm not sure how you feel about sharing the code, but maybe we could combine it all into one project or something. We could have some core components which deal with common stuff and then specific areas for Abient and/or Ecowitt and some of the other offshoots (like Metrobridge) etc.

I think it would make sense to work together rather than have everyone create new drivers... but maybe that's just me.

I'm happy to help as well. I have the devices so I can test, but I also know how to code so I'm willing to jump in there as well.

#243

I obviously have no problem sharing my code or it would not be available. :slight_smile:

All the data is there, but the problem is in presentation. The current dashboard does not have an easy way to represent multiple custom attributes into a single tile, although that is not really that surprising to me. Workarounds exist (as previously mentioned) but a more consistent method would be best and that looks like it might be child devices in this case.

#245

@anon81541053,
I would be happy to! I incorporated code that @christi999 came up with to get the Ecowitt devices working in the first place, so if this makes the driver better for more people I would be happy to get it added in. Let me know when you think I can take a look at it.

#247

@anon81541053 it's looking pretty good. Like I said, we should converge before we diverge much. :slight_smile:

I am less concerned about the tiles/display, and more concerned about how I can use the individual values. So I would like to do something like "If it's warmer outside than inside, do XYZ" or "If it's windy outside and the window is open do XYZ". So, being able to use the sub sensors as first level citizens in rules etc.

@anon81541053 I also have the WS-2902A sensor array. If it helps, here is the output sent from the GW1000 in Ecowitt format for the array:
PASSKEY=REDACTED&stationtype=GW1000B_V1.5.7&dateutc=2020-04-27+22:51:24&tempinf=72.5&humidityin=23&baromrelin=24.498&baromabsin=24.498&tempf=79.0&humidity=17&winddir=0&windspeedmph=2.01&windgustmph=3.36&maxdailygust=11.41&solarradiation=363.46&uv=3&rainratein=0.000&eventrainin=0.000&hourlyrainin=0.000&dailyrainin=0.000&weeklyrainin=0.000&monthlyrainin=0.539&yearlyrainin=2.780&totalrainin=2.780&temp1f=52.34&humidity1=52&temp2f=74.66&humidity2=22&temp3f=71.42&humidity3=26&temp4f=59.36&humidity4=39&temp6f=73.22&humidity6=20&temp7f=51.98&humidity7=54&temp8f=60.08&humidity8=42&soilmoisture3=51&soilmoisture4=39&wh65batt=0&batt1=0&batt2=0&batt3=0&batt4=0&batt6=0&batt7=0&batt8=0&soilbatt3=1.4&soilbatt4=1.4&freq=915M&model=GW1000
This also contains 2 WH51s, 8 WH31s. I do not have a WH32, but the array itself is reporting outdoor temp/humidity.

Let me know what I can do to help.

#249

Gotcha, ok, I hadn't tried that. Still, think it would be nice to treat them as individual devices as you have started to do.

#250

Might take me a couple days (my "honey do" list JUST turned into repainting 2 rooms and completely gutting a 3rd, so I am stuck in planning for those), but I will look into trying to merge this all in.

You guys are really making me wish I had bought a higher-end model that I could add sensors to, but I know it would mostly just be playing on my part. The single-most reason I got a weather station was to be able to know if wind speed was getting too high so I could turn off my wife's inflatables at Christmas. That is all... Just to save me the aggravation of turning them off myself individually, or having to repair them do to wind damage. So anything beyond that is a bonus. :grinning:

#251

Which one do you have @snell? They are pretty cross-compatible and it likely will work with the GW1000 and thus you could also add sensors.

#252

I have an Ambient WS2902A.

Everything I have read says it cannot have additional sensors added. I got it on the cheap a year ago (shortly after I got my Hubitat) and since I was not worried about more from it I did not worry about it being able to do extra sensors at the time. Of course I never figured I would have this much work put into a weather station (or the drivers to read data from them). Not really a "weather" person. :man_shrugging:

#253

I have the exact same sensor array as you. It is compatible with the Ecowitt GW1000 which is very inexpensive. And you can add a lot of sensors to the GW1000. If you have an additional little display with your WS2902, additional sensors won't show up there, but the GW1000 will pull data from that sensor array and all kinds of other additional sensors. I'm not sure if that is what you are looking for, but that is exactly my setup (minus any fixed display). The GW1000 is $36 on Amazon, additional sensors are pretty inexpensive.

Anyway, if you have questions about that setup, let me know, happy to answer.

#254

What?! Ugh. I thought I had read it was not possible at all...

Oh my wasted youth... middle age. :slight_smile:

I also started a MASSIVE rework of the AmbientWeather driver last night. My plan is a complete overhaul, culminating in an AmbientEcowittWeather driver. I was looking it over and realized there have been so many things I have learned (not sure if they are best practices, but whatever) that I felt now would be a good time to do that.

#255

Yup, it's been working great for me. There is one gotcha on the Ecowitt outdoor weather sensor in that it uses the same "channel" as the WS2902A's outdoor temp/humid.

As I understand it most Ambient and all Ecowitt are just branded Fine Offset devices. Or clones, or something like that. Somewhere on one of those weather forums, for dudes more into weather than you and I, there was a nice list of which were which. I cannot find it right now, but this one can lead you to which speak which protocols.

I hope I didn't just unleash the beast in you or your significant other might hunt me down if those rooms don't get taken care of. :running_man:

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