wx200_1.10b

Short:        Monitors RS WX200 Weather Station
Author:       Rick Schnicker
Uploader:     rschnick franklin se-iowa net
Type:         misc/misc
Replaces:     misc/misc/wx200*
Architecture: m68k-amigaos



This program is FreeWare.

WX200 is my first major attempt at writing a program for the Amiga.  It will
monitor the data stream from a Radio Shack WX200 Weather station, decode it
and display most of the measurements in two windows. Some of the inside readings
the weather station samples I do not display at this time.  I mainly wanted this
program to monitor outside weather.  I also wanted something that would warn me
in case of bad weather (heavy rain, high winds, extream temps) by calling me
on the phone or sending me a page. I wish to record the highs and lows as well.


This program is currently in beta.  It does most of what I want but not in as
graceful a manner as I would like....Yet. ;)



INSTRUCTIONS
============

Install all the files in the directory of your choice.  The file named
WX200.CFG is the config file. The default values should work for everyone.

SERIAL   <serial device>  ** if this line is absent serial.device is default **

UNIT     <unit number>    ** if this line is absent 0 is default             **

SCREEN   <custom/public>  ** custom = HIRES_LACED  public = WORKBENCH screen **
                          ** if this line is absent custom is default        **

PAGER    <on/off>         ** if this is set to "on" the program will send    **
                          ** weather updates to and alphanumeric pager every **
                          ** 4 hours in a group name "weather".  You must    **
                          ** have "CyberPager" installed and configured for  **
                          ** this option to work.  "CyberPager can be found  **
                          ** on AMINET.  There is a menu choice for manually **
                          ** sending the page as well.                       **

INTERVAL <hours>          ** delay between pages in hours. If the paging     **
                          ** option is on, the program will send messages    **
                          ** every <hours> between 5 am and 5 pm             **


When the program is executed it will try and sync up with the station. After
that the windows will be updated every 5 seconds.  There are 2 windows of data.
The primary window is displayed all the time. The secondary window can be toggled
on and off from the menu.

At midnight the program will record the highs and lows for the day in a file
named "weather_data.txt".  This will be appended to every night.

Recorded data: (all on one line)
               date high-temp low-temp high-humidity high-wind-chill high-wind-speed
               high-rainfall-rate, daily-rainfall, total-rainfall, high-pressure
               low-pressure

SCREEN RESOLUTION: This program looks best on a hires screen with atleast
                   600 x 400 pixels. I view it on a 1280 x 1048 16 bit PicassoV
                   screen. Looks good. Your results may vary. ;)



CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
=====================

Like I said the is a beta release and it might be alittle buggy, although I
haven't seen any problems yet. There are many features I would still like to
add including a configuration window. If you find any bugs or have suggestions
for other features please email me.

rschnick@franklin.se-iowa.net


HISTORY
=======

Revision                Comments
------------------------------------------------
1.00b             First beta release.

1.10b             Added backup file to reinitialize
                  highs and lows during program
                  interruptions. Added UNIT and
                  INTERVAL option to config file.
                  Fixed some bugs related to the
                  wind chill calculations.