(Possible?) WH40 message detection problems?

[nitrogen76]

I have a WH40 rain gauge. It seems that rtl_433 stops detecting signals from it. I am on the latest MASTER branch. The panel that comes with it is still recieving signals (the little wireless display on it shows a recieved signal)

While watching in debug mode, I get messages like this:

ambientweather_whx_decode] WH31E/WH31B/WH40 detected, buffer is 352 bits length [ambientweather_whx_decode] unknown message type 90 (expected 0x30/0x40/0x68) [ambientweather_whx_decode] WH31E/WH31B/WH40 detected, buffer is 351 bits length [ambientweather_whx_decode] unknown message type 90 (expected 0x30/0x40/0x68) [ambientweather_whx_decode] WH31E/WH31B/WH40 detected, buffer is 197 bits length

I'm not sure how to get the "codes" for these broken messages though, but can easily grab them if instructed how

[nitrogen76]

signals.zip Here are random signals around the time this happens. (I also have a WS90 and WS68 that are probably in there)

[zuckschwerdt]

The WH40 is protocol 113. Use -R 113:v to get verbose messages and raw codes. Note that message type matches the product number, e.g. 90 is your WS90.

Excluding empty files and the WS90, WS68 only g004 & g005 could contain WH40 data -- but both seem too noisy. It might be a problem that those signals are dead center (915.0M) perhaps try tuning a little lower or higher, e.g. -f 915.05M

[nitrogen76]

I Tried moving the frequency up and down a bit, and it didn't really help.

I had to do -R 113:vvv to get good info, but here's what I got:

[pulse_slicer_pcm] Ambient Weather WH31E Thermo-Hygrometer Sensor, EcoWitt WH40 rain gauge, WS68 weather station
codes     : {523}93329b333332766934cc933fff0000329e73d83333f3bf79e7819fff4ff9fff3333e3fe79cffd0feff9eff872e0e4ffc7ffe3b7f318f32f1b3f8ce65e1879fb78e6
[ambientweather_whx_decode] WH31E/WH31B/WH40 detected, buffer is 348 bits length
[ambientweather_whx_decode] unknown message type 90 (expected 0x30/0x40/0x68)
[pulse_slicer_pcm] Ambient Weather WH31E Thermo-Hygrometer Sensor, EcoWitt WH40 rain gauge, WS68 weather station
codes     : {348}aaaaaaaaaaaa2dd490004c791542a4a2984e1463141e3fffa74b681c8b35a84dffbffb00008ae3100000000
[pulse_slicer_pcm] Ambient Weather WH31E Thermo-Hygrometer Sensor, EcoWitt WH40 rain gauge, WS68 weather station

I actually bought a second one to troubleshoot, and both do it

The rain gauge is located maybe 50-60 feet on the other side of a window with my reciever. Iv'e even changed antennas and it still happens.

./rtl_433 -f 915.05M -R 113:vvv > output.txt output.txt

[nitrogen76]

Any additional information I can provide? Don't mean to be annoying, but if y'all are busy, thats fine, just checking in to see if I can provide anything that makes this easier.

[zuckschwerdt]

The problem seems to be about reception levels or noise and and not decoding? I seems that you can receive the WH40 signal but quality is not good enough to decode?

I'm not sure how to improve that. Maybe try to put the WH40 close to the receiver, confirm it works then work backwards. Perhaps view the live band with a SDR UI and check for sources of noise, e.g. checking cables and positioning of things.

Maybe try to narrow the bandwidth (-s 250k) or change the demod (-Y classic). Use autolevel and keep an eye on reception levels (-Y autolevel -M level -M noise).

[nitrogen76]

Thanks for the help. For all i know, it might just be that the transmitter on these things is junk, as this is the 2nd one of these i've had.