Ecowitt Gateway (formerly GW1000) Driver

Note: The instructions and links in this readme have been produced for WeeWX v5. In general, the same concepts apply to earlier WeeWX versions; however, the detailed steps and commands required will be different. If you wish to persist with an earlier WeeWX version you may wish to refer to the legacy instructions. Alternatively, you may find it easier to just upgrade to WeeWX v5 - after all it is free.

Note: General support issues for the Ecowitt Gateway driver should be raised in the Google Groups weewx-user forum. The Ecowitt Gateway driver Issues Page should only be used for specific bugs in the Ecowitt Gateway driver code. It is recommended that even if an Ecowitt Gateway driver bug is suspected users first post to the Google Groups weewx-user forum.

Description

The Ecowitt Gateway driver (formerly the GW1000 driver) is a WeeWX driver that supports devices compatible with the Ecowitt LAN/Wi-Fi Gateway API.

The Ecowitt Gateway driver utilises the Ecowitt LAN/Wi-Fi Gateway API thus using a pull methodology for obtaining data from the gateway device rather than the push methodology used by other drivers. This has the advantage of giving the user more control over when the data is obtained from the gateway device.

The Ecowitt Gateway driver can be operated as a traditional WeeWX driver where it is the source of loop data, or it can be operated as a WeeWX service where it is used to augment loop data produced by another driver.

Pre-Requisites

The Ecowitt Gateway driver requires:

• WeeWX v3.7.0 or greater
• Python2 or Python 3
• the Six Python 2 and 3 Compatibility Library if operating under Python 2

Note: The Six Python 2 and 3 Compatibility Library (the Six library) is used by the Ecowitt Gateway driver to allow the same codebase to be used for both Python 2 and Python 3. In the past the Six library was installed by default on many distributions; however, now that Python 2 is no longer actively being developed some contemporary distributions no longer include the Six library. If during installation or when using the Ecowitt Gateway driver (with WeeWX or when run directly) errors are encountered indicating there is no module named 'six' the Six library will need to be manually installed. Refer to the installation instructions below for detailed instructions on installing the Six library.

Installation Instructions

Installation as a WeeWX driver

Note: The following instructions are for installation under WeeWX v5.0.0 or later. For installation under earlier WeeWX versions refer to the legacy instructions.

1. If the Ecowitt Gateway driver is to be installed on a fresh WeeWX installation first install WeeWX and configure WeeWX to use the simulator driver.

2. Install the latest version of the Ecowitt Gateway driver using the weectl utility.

   Note: The exact command syntax to invoke weectl on your system will depend on the installer used to install WeeWX. Refer to Installation methods in the WeeWX User's Guide.

   For WeeWX package installs:

   weectl extension install https://github.com/gjr80/weewx-gw1000/releases/latest/download/gw1000.zip 
   

   Note: If the installation fails with an error indicating there is no module named 'six' manually install the Six library using the following command before re-attempting the driver installation:

   sudo apt install python3-six
   

   For WeeWX pip installs the Python virtual environment must be activated before the extension is installed:

   source ~/weewx-venv/bin/activate
   weectl extension install https://github.com/gjr80/weewx-gw1000/releases/latest/download/gw1000.zip
   

   Note: If the installation fails with an error indicating there is no module named 'six' manually install the Six library using the following command before re-attempting the driver installation:

   pip install six
   

   For WeeWX installs from git the Python virtual environment must be activated before the extension is installed:

   source ~/weewx-venv/bin/activate
   python3 ~/weewx/src/weectl.py extension install https://github.com/gjr80/weewx-gw1000/releases/latest/download/gw1000.zip
   

   Note: If the installation fails with an error indicating there is no module named 'six' manually install the Six library using the following command before re-attempting the driver installation:

   pip install six
   

3. Test the Ecowitt Gateway driver by running the driver file directly using the --test-driver command line option.

   For WeeWX package installs use:

   PYTHONPATH=/usr/share/weewx python3 /etc/weewx/bin/user/gw1000.py --test-driver --ip-address=device_ip_address
   

   where device_ip_address is the IP address of the gateway device being used.

   For WeeWX pip installs the Python virtual environment must be activated before the driver is invoked:

   source ~/weewx-venv/bin/activate
   python3 ~/weewx-data/bin/user/gw1000.py --test-driver --ip-address=device_ip_address
   

   where device_ip_address is the IP address of the gateway device being used.

   For WeeWX installs from git the Python virtual environment must be activated before the driver is invoked using the path to the local WeeWX git clone:

   source ~/weewx-venv/bin/activate
   PYTHONPATH=~/weewx/src python3 ~/weewx-data/bin/user/gw1000.py --test-driver --ip-address=device_ip_address
   

   where device_ip_address is the IP address of the gateway device being used.

   You should observe loop packets being emitted on a regular basis. Once finished press ctrl-c to exit.

   Note: You will only see loop packets and not archive records when running the driver directly. This is because you are seeing output not from WeeWX, but rather directly from the driver.

4. Select and configure the driver.

   For WeeWX package installs use:

   weectl station reconfigure --driver=user.gw1000
   

   For WeeWX pip installs the Python virtual environment must be activated before weectl is used to select and configure the driver:

   source ~/weewx-venv/bin/activate
   weectl station reconfigure --driver=user.gw1000
   

   For WeeWX installs from git the Python virtual environment must be activated before weectl.py is used to select and configure the driver:

   source ~/weewx-venv/bin/activate
   python3 ~/weewx/src/weectl.py station reconfigure --driver=user.gw1000
   

5. You may choose to run WeeWX directly to observe the loop packets and archive records being generated by WeeWX. If WeeWX is already running stop WeeWX before running the driver directly.

6. Once satisfied that the Ecowitt Gateway driver is operating correctly you can restart the WeeWX daemon:

   sudo /etc/init.d/weewx restart
   

   or

   sudo service weewx restart
   

   or

   sudo systemctl restart weewx
   

7. You may wish to refer to the Ecowitt Gateway driver wiki for further guidance on customising the operation of the Ecowitt Gateway driver and integrating gateway device data into WeeWX generated reports.

Installation as a WeeWX service

1. Install WeeWX and configure it to use either the simulator driver or another driver of your choice.

2. Install the Ecowitt Gateway driver extension using the weectl utility as per Installation as a WeeWX driver step 2 above.

3. Edit weewx.conf and under the [Engine] [[Services]] stanza add an entry user.gw1000.GatewayService to the data_services option. It should look something like:

   [Engine]
   
       [[Services]]
           ....
           data_services = user.gw1000.GatewayService
   

4. Test the Ecowitt Gateway service by running the driver file directly using the --test-service command line option.

   For WeeWX package installs use:

    PYTHONPATH=/usr/share/weewx:/etc/weewx/bin python3 /etc/weewx/bin/user/gw1000.py --test-service --ip-address=device_ip_address
   

   where device_ip_address is the IP address of the gateway device being used.

   For WeeWX pip installs the Python virtual environment must be activated before the driver is invoked:

    source ~/weewx-venv/bin/activate
    PYTHONPATH=~/weewx-data/bin python3 ~/weewx-data/bin/user/gw1000.py --test-service --ip-address=device_ip_address
   

   where device_ip_address is the IP address of the gateway device being used.

   For WeeWX installs from git the Python virtual environment must be activated before the driver is invoked using the path to the local WeeWX git clone:

    source ~/weewx-venv/bin/activate
    PYTHONPATH=~/weewx/src:~/weewx-data/bin python3 ~/weewx-data/bin/user/gw1000.py --test-service --ip-address=device_ip_address
   

   where device_ip_address is the IP address of the gateway device being used.

   You should observe loop packets being emitted on a regular basis.

   Note: When the Ecowitt Gateway driver is run directly with the --test-service command line option a series of simulated loop packets are emitted every 10 seconds to simulate a running WeeWX instance. The gateway device is polled and the gateway device data added to the loop packets when available. As the default gateway device poll interval is 20 seconds not all loop packets will be augmented with gateway device data.

   Note: You will only see loop packets and not archive records when running the service directly. This is because you are seeing the direct output of the simulated loop packets and the Ecowitt Gateway service and not WeeWX.

   Once finished press ctrl-c to exit.

5. You may choose to run WeeWX directly to observe the loop packets and archive records being generated by WeeWX. Note that depending on the frequency of the loop packets emitted by the in-use driver and the polling interval of the Ecowitt Gateway service, not all loop packets may include gateway device data; however, provided the gateway device polling interval is less than the frequency of the loop packets emitted by the in-use driver each archive record should contain gateway device data.

6. Once satisfied that the Ecowitt Gateway service is operating correctly you can restart the WeeWX daemon:

   sudo /etc/init.d/weewx restart
   

   or

   sudo service weewx restart
   

   or

   sudo systemctl restart weewx
   

7. You may wish to refer to the GW1000 driver wiki for further guidance on customising the operation of the Ecowitt Gateway driver and integrating gateway device data into WeeWX generated reports.

Upgrade Instructions

Note: Before upgrading the Ecowitt Gateway driver, check the Instructions for specific versions section of the Ecowitt Gateway driver Upgrade Guide to see if any specific actions are required as part of the upgrade.

To upgrade from an earlier version of the Ecowitt Gateway driver or GW1000 driver (installed as either a WeeWX driver or a WeeWX service) simply install the Ecowitt Gateway driver version you wish to upgrade to as per the Installation Instructions above.

Support

General support issues for the Ecowitt Gateway driver should be raised in the Google Groups weewx-user forum. The Ecowitt Gateway driver Issues Page should only be used for specific bugs in the Ecowitt Gateway driver code. It is recommended that even if an Ecowitt Gateway driver bug is suspected users first post to the Google Groups weewx-user forum.

Licensing

The Ecowitt Gateway driver/GW1000 driver is licensed under the GNU Public License v3.