Virtual Weather Station Non-Beta Version
Version: 14.01p25  http://www.ambientweather.com/do30tr.html
Last date checked June 15, 2010

Virtual Weather Station Beta Version
Date: Updated July 2, 2010
Version: 14.01p31
Download Location: http://site.ambientweatherstore.com/vws/beta/vws_install.exe

Disclaimer

This is a beta version and use at your own risk. Windows ME is no longer supported.

V14.00P103:
Runs on Windows XPSp3 x86/Windows Server 2003Sp2 x86 (Now on Windows Server 2008 Sp2 x86 & Server 2008 R2 & Windows 7 x64)

V14.01P07Beta:
Runs on Windows XPSp3 x86/Windows Server 2003Sp2 x86 (Now on Windows Server 2008 Sp2 x86 & Server 2008 R2 & Windows 7 x64)

Now Runs on Server 2008 R2, forgot to change "Data Execution Prevention (DEP)" to "Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only" the top one on the settings window. This is need on all systems.

Now Testing V14.01P24 Beta: (April 30, 2010)

Instructions

Download the latest version from the link above.
Run this executable file and install it into the SAME DIRECTORY as the existing installation. Note that the installer will allow you to install Virtual Weather Station in any directory you like. Make sure you browse to the same directory as your previous installation.
Run Virtual Weather Station
Report any issues to support@ambientweatherstore.com

NDS Weather Install Notes:
1. Turn OFF any Virus software before you start this process.
2. Exit VWS Software.
3. Copy your VWS Folder to a backup location.
4. Delete the folder C:\Program Files\VWS Installer
5. Copy the Install file to your VWS Directory, C:\VWS or D:\VWS I would install only on the C: Drive
 I rename the Install file to VWS14xxPxx.exe so I know what Patch level I last Installed and Have a backup of the Last Patch.
6. Install VWS Software from this location. C:\VWS or D:\VWS
7. Defrag *Windows your hard drives
8. REBOOT your PC (Flush your memory) The Computer's Memory!
9. After VWS starts up let it update, so wait for the upload/download to stop.
10. Update any item the VWS prompts you to update or change. Not all updates will prompt you.
11. Touch each menu object and check that the data or item is correct.

Modifications (14.01)

P00. Fixed crashing issue with Version 14.00p104. New compiler caused issue New compiler now supports Windows 7.
P02. Added support for La Crosse Technology WS-2810, as well as other newer La Crosse weather stations where the currdat.lst file is located in a different location than the Heavy Weather Executable file. For the WS-2810, I recommend deleting the file \vws\setup\config6.bin (which stores the Communication | Communication panel information) and restarting Virtual Weather Station software. Next, select the WS-2xxx series weather station as the weather station type.
P03. Crashing issue was back. Found it to be the 5-Day Forecast panel. Not sure why but reduced the number of five day forecast selections from 3 to 1. Not sure if this is a windows issue or a compiler issue, because the actual code is not crashing. I apologize to those that use more than one forecast location.
P04. Added jpeg file error notifications in status bar. One user can not determine why he an not generate jpeg files.
P05-P06. Bracketed bad dates better by only allowing downloads within 2 years of current computer or system date. Added more messages to determine why WMR200A archive downloads are sometimes incomplete, including bad data strings and CRC errors. This information is written to the file \vws\date\wmr200archive.txt.
P07. cvinet.dll was missing in 14.01.
P08. Crashing continues. Still appears to be related to 5 Day Forecast panel. The debugger does not give any clues so I can only point the finger at the compiler + development platform I use from National Instruments. I deleted this panel and built in from scratch, changing some of the presentation of the data. You will have to set this panel up again, which involves setting the timer, and entering your location. Sorry folks, this has been a real pain to solve.
P10. In the latest version of Heavy Weather, they changed their executable filename and location. It used to always be located here: c:\program files\HeavyWeather\Heavy Weather.exe, so all the user had to do was browse to the directory. Now I have the user find the actual file instead of the directory. If you need to correct this, Under Communication | Communication, rebrowse to the HeavyWeather file location. There is more information here: http://ambientweather.wikispaces.com/HeavyWeather+Default+File+Locations
P11. Fixed issues with daily, monthly and yearly rain. Prevented 0.00 total rain value having effect on calculating the daily, monthly and yearly rainfall (some weather stations do not calculate these values so VWS must calculate them. However, some stations have issues with zero "spiking" to zero and causing the daily, monthly and yearly rainfall to reset to the total rainfall. VWS now throws out any zero rain value. I used to debouce it 5 cycles but that did not always work. Also changed the Settings | Rainfall panel to make it easier to edit daily, monthly and yearly values.
P13. Updated database from 20,000 points to 50,000 points.
P14. There was a bug in Version p13 that would give you an error message that the database was exceeded.
P15. A couple of users are experiencing high and low summary read and write errors. I added code that creates a file called \vws\data\summary.txt to see what types of errors these are. You can send this file to me: ed@ambientweather.com if you have issues. Also, the summary files were only written once per day and at shutdown, and if you did not gracefully shut VWS down, you would lose this data. I now write this data once per minute.
P18. Did not properly handle the day change highs and lows in Version 14.01p16. Fixed. Some users have complained of ghosting issues when program is undiminished. Fixed by maximizing, minimizing and maximizing again. Yikes, Windows can be flaky.
P19. Implemented new Davis DLL which fixes minor issues documented here: http://davisnet.com/support/weather/software_dllsdk.asp
P20. Issues with resizing database resolved. No longer get annoying popup at start up if database needs resizing.
P21. Some users still complaining about missing downloads. I have never been able to reproduce but I changed the keep alive write command. It would only send it out if data was read first. Now it sends it out regardless if any data was read back. I can not guarantee this will fix it, just trying different things out because I can not reproduce.
P22. When the latest Davis DLL was implemented, it would default the display console to imperial units. I fixed this by getting the units first and then setting the same units in the get units command.
P23-24. Found and fixed issue with plotting THWS parameters.
P24-25. Added error tracing for daysum.txt file from the summary.txt file. One user is having issues with this file. Added Keep Alive Flag option for the WMR200. One user is having issues with no or interrupted downloads. I added this feature to troubleshoot. If downloads are intermittent, turn on or off this flag. Select Communication | Sensor Communication | Keep Alive Flag to set this flag.
P26. Fixed issue with program crashing if more than 91 file parameters are selected for file reporting.
P27. Fixed issue with database. Could not edit beyond 30,000 records.
P28. If a warning is set and clears, the message "No Warnings" on the webpage will not be displayed.
P30. Added WMR88A to list of weather stations. This is a new Oregon Scientific weather station.
Also fixed crashing and display issues with Distribution Graphs for higher numbered parameters.
P31. Version p30 broke Wind Direction distribution. Fixed..