I think a dedicated full screen tablet view would be very useful. I have an old tablet I use to display the weather on with a full screen Android weather app but having the information coming from the Tempest would obviously be much better so it could have instant rain alerts.
1 Like
I’m in if it has Dials too! Weathercat for Mac had em’ but will never support our WF Stations…;-(
I gave up, deciding that Weather Flow was not going to produce what the customers want. In Walmart the other day I saw series of “onn” tablets with about 5 sizes starting at 7" and going up. The 7" unit was less than $50 U.S. so I bought one to display the Tempest data. It is Android, quad core 2 gig processor, 2 Gb RAM and a 16 Gb SD card for storage. We have it on a small photograph easel, plugged in, set to always on and displaying the Tempest data. It does the job and as a bonus, my wife likes it!
Dave…
4 Likes
Usual questions apply. What’s the precise model number and how did you set it always-on. Are you running an android app or just a browser to the WF webpage for your site. Photo ?
Model Info:
onn. 7" Tablet, 16GB Storage, 2GB RAM, Android 10 Go, 2GHz Quad-Core Processor, LCD Display
onn.
Model: 100015685
Walmart # 585792039
To set to always on: Settings>Display>Screen timeout>Never
I am running the app.
For photos: onn 7
Dave…
4 Likes
Thanks so much. I did a quick look for the model last night and found one for $10 (really) at a store some distance away (I didn’t order one) but more local stores are in the expected 50 buck kind of price range.
Fire HD8 works passably well as a dedicated display device. But…
I wish the app could figure out it needs to run full screen, or if there was a setting to force full screen always. Bonus points for hiding the top status and bottom navigation bars.
Because my use case is semi-dedicated between weather and music, it requires manual intervention to get the app back in full screen mode (but with status and nav bars still showing)
It is also painfully slow (10-11 seconds) to switch between the current app display and the ‘legacy’ one. Not that the Fire HD is particularly fast, but there is something else going on to create that kind of delay.
Have you looked under the Display Options heading in Settings? There is Always On Mode and Full Screen Mode.
Always On works as expected, Full Screen Mode sort of works. It doesn’t hide the top status bar or the lower nav bar and it doesn’t remember to stay full screen once it leaves the foreground for any reason, so I regularly have to re enable full screen. I have apps on this tablet that manage to stay maximized, so it does not appear to be a Fire HD limitation.
3 Likes
I agree. That’s what I had just mentioned to the company. I’d like something a bit more high def.
I would also pay for a separate display. My wife likes to be able to just look at it at a glance.
Wished someone would go into production with this
Or publish the build details…
Here is the link to the Pi Console topic
It is fairly easy to assembly install the software and configure
If you have any questions or need help, just post a question and lots of great people will help
That really nice display. Is that the only screen display
Hello
Yes one display, but the display has 6 main panels and 6 secondary panels, and 9 different items like rainfall, temperature, lighting, solar, moon. wind, barometer etc. You can configure which item is displayed in each panel.
It really displays everything you need. Many forum users had lots of input to its development which has made a great display.
I have been a Tempest Field Tester since January 2020.
I’ve monitored this (WF PiConsole) info for that past year or so. I have a good working knowledge of computer operations . . .but. . .I must admit the “Pi” stuff is complete foreign to me. I have no experience working with it. . .I have No programming skills — but I’d really like to have a console that shows More that just the regular Tempest data via the App or web page.
Some Questions:
- How / where would I obtain a PiConsole. I’d like one that is already fully assembled (case, screen, internal PCB and software etc) because I know nothing of how to take the individual pieces and build them to make the console do what it is supposed to do.
- As far as programmming in “Pi”. . .that’s not me! I’m sure there are scripts available and ready to go? I monitor my station’s UDP info. . .but only using an app. I see the “alpha-numeric” stream of data fly by. . .but I don’t have anything to be able to put that to a visualization (like a little console.) I also use the “Tempest API Explorer” page to look at my station’s day. Again . . that’s just “alpha-numeric” information. I think the PiConsole would take that API and convert it to a visualization on the console?
- I have a 1st Gen WF SWS (SmartWeatherStation) and 3 Tempest devices. How would a PiConsole know which Station’s Hub the data stream would come from? Would that be user’s choice or up to the UDB — first station in my list of station OR can I select which station to use?
- Getting started: I guess the first stop would be some place like Amazon to find a console?:
- Is a PiConsole “plug & play?” i.e. would it be ready to go OR is there extensive programming needed just to get it started?
Tips. . .Recommendations. . .and Beginners Instructions are ALL Welcome.
JL
Hello
You need to purchase a 7in touch screen, a Raspberry Pi and a case. I also use a wireless keyboard and mouse to setup everything. After it is running it is stand alone.
When you setup the Pi console it asks for the Station id and Device id of the station you want to monitor. You create a personal access token so the Pi console pulls your data from WF severs. This way you can access your data from anywhere you have internet.
Are you looking to monitor 4 stations with one display? I would think with help from some more experienced people, you might be able to run multiple copies of the Pi console and monitor different stations one at a time.
I don’t know of any instructions that will walk you through right from the beginning. The Pi console instructions are excellent but start expecting you have a working Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi kit has everything you need, even the software preloaded on the SD card.
Here are links to the items I purchased.
Mike11…thanks for the tips and the starting point info. I have 4 WF Data Use Authorizations —
Personal Use Tokens already set up. . .have had them for a year now. . .but have not put them to use…other than checking my Station`s data via the Tempest AP Explorer page. I’ll most likely run only One Tempest device thru the PiConsole. . .once I get it going whenever that will be.
Will get busy checking the reference you listed. and go from there. I’ve also checked the WeatherFlow PiConsole Forum page. . .all that is still a little above me. . .but I am Slowly learning.
I really like Your Console. . .and the “timbits” snack. Haven’t been to a Tim Hortons since I visited Winnipeg in 2017.