The gateway devices can be configured to send data to multiple endpoints, all at the same time, including EcoWitt cloud, Weather Underground, a custom endpoint (HE in our case) plus one or two others I think. So yes, you can send it to more than one, you don't have to choose between them, I have mine sending data to EcoWitt cloud and HE. It can only be configured for one custom endpoint though, so if you want to use HA integration as well, you will likely want to use a feature of the drivers where you can send the data feed on to HA (or any other endpoint).
Re mounting, it sounds like you have most of the recommendations, but are finding like many of us that it comes down to a trade-off with practicality and the level of accuracy required for your use case. I'm on a sloping block with some large trees at the back where the land is at its highest, so mine is on the fence at the front on the property, currently attached to the fence using a now rusted vacuum cleaner pipe and some flexible straps, about a metre from the corner of a two-story building. So not the poster child for the product placement . Mine has only ever been used to provide me with some indicative weather information, so I was not that concerned about accuracy, at least in the automation sense.
Ideally you would put it above your roof line to get the cleanest air flow and least blockage of the UV sensors etc. But I was to lazy to do this (2 storey house) and the kids cubby house was the next best option.
I used a TV antenna mounting pole from my local hardware store. Itβs been working pretty well for over a year.
my mountings.. none are really high on the roof.. and from what ive found even the wind is not far off from official reports.. i think the extreme height probably doesnt matter all that much to make it work the maintenance headaches in my opinion.. in fact 2 of the 4 are starred on weather underground which means the systems are well within accuracy compared to nearby systems.. Of course the ws90 at the condo is not as its on the side of the building outside my condo and that really was the only place i could mount it.. and 1/2 wind directions are blocked..
but my goal of monitoring incoming hurricanes works well as its on the coast side..
in fact my oldest system i think is a little over 4 years old.. (got oct. 2020)
i actually had to replace the wind cups as one broke off from fatigue and just last year the wind direction vane was missing as well when i got back to that location.. took about a month to get a replacement from tawain .
Thanks to @dJOS@kahn-hubitat@sburke781 for confirming decent locations and not necessarily requiring rooftop mounts.
Also thanks to @sburke781 for confirming that I can send to HE and other cloud platforms. I don't think I will send to HA as I don't think there are drivers for HADB pullover to HE. I don't really need it there. Was just looking to have some of my automations that run off of weather conditions be more local. Those are in HE. So, that is likely where I will point the gateway to as my local option.
Sadly, I will be waiting for a bit of a thaw before I can do anything with it. (8 inches and still going). Just trying to get background information before I get to the actual install and setup.
Sensitive Photo to those opposed to cold....... brrrr
We got above freezing (0.5degC) for a bit this afternoon. The low was about -3C. Not typical for this area. But, not completely unusual. Still a far cry better than the -30's in the midwest (Nebraska) on some of the jobs I had to do out there (no need to convert from F to C as at that temperature, they are almost the same, -40 is the crossover where they match)
That is really, really cold - we just dont get temps that cold in 99% of Straya. -3C is the coldest we've ever had at our house in the Yarra Ranges foothills, and that was a few years ago.
EDIT: For lolz, I looked up the coldest temp ever recorded in Straya, it was about -23C or -9F back in 1994 in NSW.
Interesting issue popped up while integrating my setup.....
In the Ecowitt apps and local web gateway, they appear to only list the MAC for the physical network connection (cabled ethernet). I put that into the HE app, and still kept seeing the sys1 messages about no matching devices found. It was there that I noticed the oddly similar, but different MAC in that string.
If you are using Wifi for your connection with the Ecowitt gateway, you will want to copy the MAC from the SYS log or your router as opposed to the app.
Okay, all setup and have the html templates up and running. Shared to Google Home and Alexa..... But, I am having trouble getting either of them to verbally report the temperature from the Ecowitt. If I ask for temperature on the "Ecowitt RF Sensor," I get the standard forecast from both of them. Does anyone have any ideas? Is this something beyond the capabilities of AI to figure out?
(PS, that indoor temperature is way off..... I need to move it away from heat sources)
I changed the label after trying it out in GH and Alexa. Then I tried it again with the new name. Still telling me the "weather report" on both.
It seems that anytime I ask for a temperature of anything other than my ecobees, I get a weather report. Maybe I need to name it "yard" and try that???
****** Edited to add..... Moving the sensors to a ROOM named "Yard" works if I ask for the Yard Temperature. I guess the room name cannot include "Weather" or "temperature" if you want to get all the info from one request.
Clutching at straws a little myself... Maybe a device can only be brought into GH under a single capability and so temperature is not the capability of the EcoWitt device? I expect you may see some indication of the device type somewhere in GH...
Threads too big!
I scrolled for a while but I'll get to the point.
I want to get my son a Wittboy for his B-Day.
Typical 37-38 year old gadget freak. I don't know if I should get the GW or the WS.
Does anyone have a Dashboard they could share showing the data?
I would be happy with the GW and create my own Dashboard for the data but he is not an IoT buff, I have him on HE though, and he has two little ones that leave him no time to have life
A tablet is cheap to set up a Dashboard for the kitchen window but the Ecowitt one looks very graphics fancy, of course.
Thanks for the pics. I do like the smaller one, especially for his WAF.
I was looking for a web URL to the gateway but the Interwebs came up shy on answers.
Is the screen proprietary or can you use a plain tablet with a URL or display the Android app?
I gather the app will work fine but it doesn't auto-refresh.