WxService Update Available

• WxMonitor ow4j111028
  • Added support for new Java 7 features (ow4j111028 requires Java 7)
• WxService ow4j111028
  • Added support for new Java 7 features (ow4j111028 requires Java 7)
  • Modified wxservice.properties configuration file format to support n-th order curve fit calibration
  • Enhanced 1-Wire A/D data access to support a wider range of sensors

Device offset and slope properties will need to be migrated to the new .calibration properties. The .calibration properties support n-th order curve fit. Each term is separated by a semicolon, so a;b;c;d; represents the coefficients in the expression

    y = a*x^0 + b*x^1 + c*x^2 + d*x^3

and so on, where x is the raw sensor data, and y is the converted value. The coefficients a and b represent offset and slope, respectively, and c and d and beyond represent higher order curve fit coefficients. Normally, offset and slope will be sufficient, but if you have more precise calibration data, the new format will support it.

Your old calibration settings will not be used anymore, but updating WxService will not destroy them either, so you can simply find them in the WxMonitor Configuration panel and copy them to the new .calibration properties, in the new format.

(Download...)

Note: Java 7 is not available yet on the general Java download site. If you want to get Java 7, you need to download it from here. WxService only requires the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). You do not need to install the Java Development Kit (JDK) unless you plan to develop Java software.

WxService Update Available

• WxMonitor ow4j111008
• Updated UI code to use SwingWorker

SwingWorker was not available when I started this project, but it makes multi-threading safer and more efficient. Not that I was having any problems with the existing code, but I like to keep things up to date.

I just got back from the big JavaOne conference in San Francisco, and I have a whole bunch of ideas for new features that came out in Java 7, and that are coming out in Java 8. Stay tuned.

(Download...)

WxService Update Available

• WxMonitor ow4j111002
• Added reset time to Reset button tool tip

I always found myself trying to figure out how recently I reset a sensor, especially the rain gauge. The buttons now indicate the time and date they were last reset when you hover the mouse over them.

(Download...)

Wanted: Two New In Box EV SP12C Loudspeakers

I am looking for a couple of new-in-box matched (more or less consecutive serial numbers) Electro-Voice SP12C loudspeakers to refurbish my old hi-fi system. I am sure that there are some out there. I just haven't connected with them yet. If you know the whereabouts of such a stash, please contact me.

WxService Update Available

• WxService ow4j110925
• Improved anemometer timebase

Switched anemometer timebase from System.currentTimeMillis which is prone to non-monotonic time changes due to system clock time changes (due to user settings or NTP time sync), to System.nanoTime, which is documented to be monotonic. (See also...)

(Download...)

Don't Build Blogs on ISP-Hosted Websites

I first started this website back when Verizon was providing our DSL, using Verizon's Web Space feature. Then, Verizon sold their land line operations to Frontier, and my website was summarily moved to a new address. The old site still exists, but I cannot modify it, and there is no way to forward people to the new address. But now, Frontier has terminated the agreement with the people who provided the blogging software, so if I want to update my website, I'll have to use FTP to access and edit the HTML directly. That's no big deal, save for the fact that the HTML is machine generated, and is coyote ugly. Trying to maintain a blog that way is not pleasant.

So now, I'm here. Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends.