Accuweather forecast not updating for South Africa

[gcoetzee]

I noticed from the beta releases and change logs that there are some issues with this. I downloaded the latest beta but my problem remains. None of the forecast items update with the correct numbers and icons. When I do a test download from the Weather Setup screen everything downloads OK in the test window, but no updates in the general section.

I attach screenshots to show the problem.

[Michael McSharry]

It appears Accuweather no longer supports the international location using the standard free service. Accuweather also provides a global service at a nominal fee, but the information on this service does not contain information most important for mcsSprinklers support of irrigation scheduling. It is also setup to push rather than pull data so would be more awkward to integrate.

Over the years mcsSprinklers has been migrating among available services to provide users source for free weather information. The options available in USA have been more prevelant. There has also been a trend for non-government sites to obtain revenue from the service they are providing. Initially it is usually a sign-up for license. Later it is charging for the license.

At this time WeatherUnderground is the only forecast site for international users that mcsSprinklers supports. This is a free license site where the signup information is contained in mcsSprinklers manual. WeatherUnderground is dependent upon a network of individual users for local weather conditions. I do not know how they obtain regional forecast information. This means that it less dense population regions there may be a lack of good forecast data from WeatherUnderground.

If there is a service for international weather forecast that is free, I am receptive to integrating it into mcsSprinklers. The generic solution provided by mcsSprinklers for this capability is via xAP messaging, but the user would be responsible to obtaining the forecast data and putting it into xAP messages on the LAN.

[gcoetzee]

I switched to WeatherUnderground as forecast sourcing. I obtained an API key and entered it in Weathersetup together with my station ID (I feed my weather data to WU as well). When I look at the analytics section on WU it shows that API calls are being made against the key but nothing gets updated in mcssprinklers (yellow faces with 0's like the screenshot above). The last weather update does however show the current time.

Also, when I run the test weatherdata download it times out.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Michael McSharry]

When I was helping a user in Europe recently the Accuweather site was reporting license related issues when getting the forecast while it was not when I was using USA zip code. I assumed the lack of data would be global and not unique to his specific country/location.

When I used your CAPE TOWN location I had no difficulty downloading the data (as shown by the test page display) and then getting the General Status page to update the forecast icons for max, min, icon and precip which is done on 30 minute intervals. I am using 2.15.0.26 standalone for my evaluation and it has the same mcsSprinklers_2009.dll as used with the HS2 plugin.

To do the same with your WU location I will need the location code you are using. Better yet, your mcsSprinklers.ini.

I do not recall the degree of information that is provided in the general debug with respect to forecast download, but if you continue to have problems then that will be the next step and if that does not do it then an instrumented build can be tried.

[gcoetzee]

Thanks! Herewith the info as requested and a few other items.

1) The ID that I am using for WU is IWESTERN372 (my weather station)

2) ini file attached

3) Homeseer details below from the new help page. Although it says mcs is version .23, I made sure in windows explorer (by right clicking on the dll) that the version is .26

Current Date/Time: 2015-10-26 11:20:19
HomeSeer Version: HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.208
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Single Language - Work Station
System Uptime: 1 Day 19 Hours 6 Minutes 32 Seconds
IP Address: 192.168.1.78
Number of Devices: 172
Number of Events: 9

Enabled Plug-Ins
3.0.0.56: DSC Security
3.0.0.75: HSTouch Server
3.0.0.17: iAutomate RFID
2.15.0.23: MCSSPRINKLERSP
3.0.1.25: Z-Wave

[Michael McSharry]

"No cities match your search query" for request of IWESTERN372.json. Does your weather station provide 7 day forecast? I notice that you are using the same station as your backup for current conditions from WU. Current conditions have a different download format that forecast. I don't know, however, what happens between when you upload and the download occurs.

[gcoetzee]

OK, I changed it to "CAPE TOWN" and the evaluate button works but the forecast devices (icons, temperature, etc) still shows zeroes and yellow smiley faces. It is now about an hour and a half after I changed the forecast location to CAPE TOWN.

[Michael McSharry]

I just tried CAPE TOWN again and " 90 | 77 | 72 | 70 | 68 " temp forecast appears on the General Status page. 0 for each of the rain percentages.

\Data\mcsSprinklers\download1.txt contains the latest file downloaded from Accuweather. Look at its date. Open it and see if a forecast appears of some message that would indicate why it was not.

Enable debug from the Other Page which is the "Produce Debug Data Files" checkbox. After a few hours then Write the Current Debug Data File to flush the debug cache and then the debug file (right click on name from the Other Page go get a copy that can be posted.

[gcoetzee]

Herewith the files as requested

[Michael McSharry]

You are setup to use WeatherUnderground and not Accuweather. The WU information is not usable for forecast. A typical day of information is below for forecast and it does not contain rainfall prediction

		"period":0,
		"icon":"partlycloudy",
		"icon_url":"http://icons.wxug.com/i/c/k/partlycloudy.gif",
		"title":"Friday",
		"fcttext":"A mix of clouds and sun with gusty winds. High 74F. Winds SSE at 25 to 35 mph.",
		"fcttext_metric":"A mix of clouds and sun with gusty winds. High 24C. Winds SSE at 30 to 50 km/h.",
		"pop":"0"

[gcoetzee]

OK, I am a bit confused now. I thought the idea was to switch to WU since Accuweather did not work in the first place. In anyway, I changed it back to Accuweather and the the location to "CAPE TOWN". In the past location was "AFR|ZA|SF011|CAPE TOWN". With the new setting the test download works (just like with the old setting), but if I check the download1.txt file after a while this is what I get:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<adc_database xmlns="http://www.accuweather.com">
<units>
<temp>C</temp>
<dist>km</dist>
<speed>m/s</speed>
<pres>mb</pres>
<prec>cm</prec>
</units>
<local>
<ufdb></ufdb>
<city></city>
<state></state>
<lat></lat>
<lon></lon>
<time>00:00</time>
<gmtdiff daylightsavings="0" ></gmtdiff>
</local>

<failure>Location does not exist.</failure>

<copyright>Copyright 2015 AccuWeather.com</copyright>
<use>This document is intended only for use by authorized licensees of AccuWeather.com. Unauthorized use is prohibited. All Rights Reserved.</use>
<product>Forecastfox</product>
<redistribution>Redistribution Prohibited.</redistribution>
</adc_database>

[gcoetzee]

I also attach the download1.txt file after changing back to AFR|ZA|SF011|CAPE TOWN as location. The text file does contain the forecast data, but after an hour the General page still just shows yellow smileys and zeros.

[Michael McSharry]

I have run your .ini file on both standalone on HS3 over the past two days with same result on General Status page with normal update for the Accuweather forecast. The general debug output that I observe is something like the following. You would search for "AccuWeather Data" in the debug to observe what mcsSprinklers' is observing.

10/31/2015 11:46:02 PM 635819319627715582 | mcsSprinklers Debug | BackupWeather AWS Time=5, InternalAWS(0)=10/31/2015 11:00:02 PM, InternalAWS(3)=1/1/2000, LastAWSDate=1/1/2000,  rtdLastNWSDate=1/1/2000, rtdLastWeatherXMLBackupDate=10/31/2015 11:13:03 PM
10/31/2015 11:46:02 PM 635819319628027582 | mcsSprinklers Debug | AccuWeather Data=<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<adc_database xmlns="http://www.accuweather.com">
	<units>
		<temp>C</temp
10/31/2015 11:46:02 PM 635819319628027582 | mcsSprinklers Debug | GetWeatherAccuweather iContent=2
10/31/2015 11:46:02 PM 635819319628027582 | mcsSprinklers Debug | UV SourceDC=><, UV Source=10, UV Index=2

[gcoetzee]

Michael

When I look at the debug log I get similar entries to yours. Perhaps you can make sense of them. I also attach the file.

2015-11-03 14:37:01 635821582219927557 | mcsSprinklers Debug | BackupWeather AWS Time=30, InternalAWS(0)=2015-11-03 14:13:01, InternalAWS(3)=2000-01-01, LastAWSDate=2000-01-01, rtdLastNWSDate=2000-01-01, rtdLastWeatherXMLBackupDate=2015-11-03 14:06:01
2015-11-03 14:37:01 635821582219937564 | mcsSprinklers Debug | AccuWeather Data=
2015-11-03 14:37:01 635821582219937564 | mcsSprinklers Debug | GetWeatherAccuweather iContent=0

[Michael McSharry]

The debug shows you have reasonable data in two 30-minute separated downloads of forecast. The comparison of the data in HS3 device vs. the download show no change so the device was not updated.

The next step is additional debug to see what HS3 is returning and what the download extract is providing to understand why no change is ever detected. I am traveling for the next 10 days and do not have the HS3 support tools with me to create this debug version.