WeatherFlow PiConsole

The WeatherFlow PiConsole is a Python console that displays the data collected by a WeatherFlow Tempest or Smart Home Weather Station. The console uses either the WeatherFlow REST API and websocket service or the local UDP connection to stream data from your station in real time, including the 3-second rapid wind updates. In UDP only mode, the console requires no connection to the internet once installation is complete.

The console is currently compatible with Raspberry Pi 3 and 4 running 32 bit Raspberry Pi OS with the Official 7 inch touchscreen or equivalent. It can also be run on a PC with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or later, or Raspberry Pi OS. For full system compatibility details, see below. Support for Raspberry Pi 5 is coming soon.

For a list of supported features and screenshots of the console in action, please checkout the WeatherFlow community forums: https://community.weatherflow.com/t/weatherflow-piconsole/20083

https://weatherflow.com/tempest-weather-system/
https://community.weatherflow.com/

Contents

Compatibility
Installation Instructions
Update Instructions
Auto-Start Instructions
Advanced: Custom Panels
Advanced: Device Replacement
Advanced: Windows Installation
Credits

Compatibility

Raspberry Pi

The console is fully supported for Raspberry Pi 3 Model B/B+ and Raspberry Pi 4 running the 32 bit version of Raspberry Pi OS. It can be run on earlier models, a Raspberry Pi 5, or the 64 bit version of Raspberry Pi OS, but no direct support is provided for these environments. It is not compatible with Raspberry Pi Zero or Zero W. Raspberry Pi 5 will become fully supported in the future. While the console is compatiable with Raspberry Pi 3, the graphics hardware on this model is ageing and performance of the console can be sluggish. It is recommended to use a Pi 4 or above

For all models of Raspberry Pi, the console is compatible with Raspberry Pi OS (Bookworm) or the legacy Raspberry Pi OS (Bullseye). The console is no longer comptaible with Raspberry Pi OS (Buster).

The console is compatible with the Raspberry Pi Official 7 inch Touchscreen or other HDMI equivalents. Note, screens that attach solely to the GPIO pins (SPI) are not compatible and the console will not start.

PC / Laptop

The console is fully supported on laptops and PCs running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or later, or the desktop version of Raspberry Pi OS. It will run on other debian-based operating systems with Python version 3.9 or above, but no direct support is provided for these environments.

Installation Instructions

The installation of the WeatherFlow PiConsole is fully automated, and can be started from the terminal with a single command. The automated installation should take no longer than 10 minutes.

The automated installer assumes you have already sucesfully setup your Raspberry Pi and have installed Raspberry Pi OS with Desktop, or you ar running on a PC with Ubuntu 20.04 or later or Raspberry Pi OS installed. For a Raspberry Pi you should have also attached the touch screen, and have either a keyboard and mouse attached directly to the Pi, or have accessesd the Pi remotely through SSH/VNC. If you are starting from scratch with a Raspberry Pi, the documentation should help get you started:

• https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/

Install WeatherFlow PiConsole

The WeatherFlow PiConsole can be installed quickly and conveniently with the following command:

curl -sSL https://peted-davis.github.io/wfpiconsole | bash

Piping a command directly to bash is controversial, as it prevents the user from reading code that is about to run on their system. If you are worried about the contents of the installer, please examine the first and second install files in the Git repository before running the install command.

Configure and Run WeatherFlow PiConsole

When the console is run for the first time, you'll be asked whether you want to install a blank configuration file for demonstration purposes or advanced setup. You can use this option if you wish to try out the console before your WeatherFlow hardware has arrived, or if you are a power user and wish to configure the console manually rather than using the configuration wizard. For most users, the advanced installation option is no appropriate and the default option of 'no' should be selected at this prompt.

You will be prompted to specify your preferred connection type: Websocket and REST API (default), UDP and REST API, or UDP only. For UDP only you will be prompted to manually enter futher information about your station (location, name, elevation etc.). For Websocket and REST API or UDP and REST API you will be prompted to enter a WeatherFlow Personal Access Token and a CheckWX Aviation Weather API key. The Personal Access Token is required for the PiConsole to access the data from your station, and the CheckWX API key is required to download the closest METAR information to your station location.

A Personal Access Token can be generated, viewed, and deleted here: https://tempestwx.com/settings/tokens, and a CheckWX API key can be obtained by registering for a free account here: https://www.checkwxapi.com/auth/signup

Once you have a Personal Access Token and registered with CheckWX (if required), go ahead and run the console for the first time using:

wfpiconsole start

Depending on the connection type you select, you'll be asked to enter the API keys you have just generated above, as well as information about your station. This includes your station ID and device IDs for your AIR, SKY, or TEMPEST modules. To find this information either open the WeatherFlow app or view your station page in a web browser. Click on the gear (settings) icon -> Stations -> [Station name] -> Status.

If all goes smoothly the console should automatically add the extra information it needs to your configuration file and then start running. You should not need to enter this configuration information again.

Congratulations, you have installed the PiConsole for the Weather Flow Tempest and Smart Home Weather Stations.

Screen size

By default the PiConsole will run in full screen mode. Fullscreen mode can be disabled in Menu -> Settings -> Display. In this case the console will use the dimensions specified in the configuration file (wfpiconsole.ini), which can be changed manually. Please note that extreme changes to the aspect ratio will result in text fields running into one another. Under Settings -> Display there are also settings to show/hide the cursor and show/hide the window border.

Remote access

Please note that you cannot use SSH to start the console remotely. Instead for remote access it is recommended to setup VNC (https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/remote-access/vnc/). Note there are currently issues using Real VNC (the default VNC provider on Raspberry Pis) with the latest version of Raspberry Pi OS (Bookworm): https://help.realvnc.com/hc/en-us/articles/14110635000221-Raspberry-Pi-5-Bookworm-and-RealVNC-Connect

Update Instructions

The WeatherFlow PiConsole can be updated quickly and easily with the following command:

wfpiconsole update

The update process will retain your existing user settings, but may prompt for input from time to time in order to add new functionality. Once the update has finished, restart the console using:

wfpiconsole start

Auto-Start Instructions

The WeatherFlow PiConsole can be configured to run automatically when the Raspberry Pi powers up. To enable the console to start automatically, run

wfpiconsole autostart-enable

To stop the WeatherFlow PiConsole from starting automatically, run

wfpiconsole autostart-disable

If you are going to use the auto-start method, it is highly recommended that you can SSH into your Raspberry Pi, as the console can only be stopped using the stop command or a hard shutdown:

wfpiconsole stop

Advanced: Custom Panels

The console is distributed with 7 built-in panels to display weather, forecast and astronomical information. For advanced users, custom panels can be created allowing the data display to be customised, or additional data sources to be integrated into the console. Custom panels should not be overwritten when the console is updated.

The custom panel templates are contained within the ~\wfpiconsole\user folder. To use the custom panel feature, you first need to rename customPanels.kv.tmpl to customPanels.kv and customPanels.py.tmpl to customPanels.py. An example panel called "BigTemperature" is included as an example, and will be loaded the next time you start the console.

In the customPanels.py file you must create two classes per custom panel called: [panel_name]Panel and [panel_name]Button. "panel_name" can be whatever you want, but you must add the two classes that end with Panel and Button per custom panel. The classes should be empty (just add pass under the class name), unless you want to add methods to your custom panel to control its behaviour. The classes required for the "BigTemperature" panel can be used as examples.

In the customPanels.kv file you can define the layout of the panel. You need to add the two class names that you defined in customPanels.py surrounded by left and right angled brackets: <>. Again, you can see the "BigTemperature" panel in customPanels.kv.tmpl as an example. For the Button class, you can change the text attribute under PanelButton: to set the name of the panel that will be displayed in the bottom bar of the PiConsole. Otherwise leave this class unchanged. For the Panel class, the panel title is defined by the _title attribute under PanelTitle:. This can be different to the name of the panel that is displayed in the bottom bar. Otherwise you are free to define the layout however you want using in-built or custom Kivy widgets (https://kivy.org/doc/stable/api-kivy.uix.html).

Advanced: Device Replacement

Occasionally it may be necessary to replace your Tempest device due to hardware failure. Depending on how the replacement Tempest is added to your existing station, the Tempest device ID and serial number may change. If this is the case, the wfpiconsole.ini file needs to be updated with the new device ID and serial number. The .ini file can either be edited directly, or if you are not comfortable editing the .ini file, you can delete it and then restart the console. You will be taken through the steps to generate a new .ini file with the updated device ID and serial number.

When a device is replaced, the total monthly/yearly rain accumulation displayed in the console will also reset to zero as these fields are calculated directly from the total rain accumuluation recorded by the new device (which is naturally zero as the device is brand new). To retain the correct values, it is necessary to switch the console to use the Tempest Statistics API endpoint using Menu -> Settings -> System -> Statistics API endpoint. By default this option is disbaled as it results in a small loss of accuracy through rounding errors. Therefore it is not recommended for use unless you have replaced a device within the last calendar year. At the end of a calendar year, the Statistics endoint can be switched off.

Advanced Installation: Windows

Although not officially supported, use the following step-by-step instructions to install and run the WeatherFlow PiConsole on Windows.

1. Download and install the Python 3.11.5 version of Miniconda for Windows (a lightweight Python interpreter): https://conda.io/miniconda.html

2. Once Miniconda is installed open the ‘Anaconda Prompt’ program.

3. In the Anaconda prompt, run:

   python -m pip install --upgrade pip

4. Once that process has finished, run:

   python -m pip install websockets numpy pytz tzlocal ephem packaging pyOpenSSL certifi

5. Once that has finished, install Kivy using

   python -m pip install kivy[base]

   This is the GUI library that drives the console.

6. Once Kivy is installed, run the following commands in order in the Anaconda Prompt. This will install the WeatherFlow PiConsole.

   cd && mkdir wfpiconsole && cd wfpiconsole
   curl -sL https://api.github.com/repos/peted-davis/WeatherFlow_PiConsole/tarball -o PiConsole.tar.gz
   tar -xvf PiConsole.tar.gz --strip 1
   del /f PiConsole.tar.gz

7. You’re almost there now! You can start the console using python main.py. As this is the first time you have run the console, you’ll be asked for some API keys. Details of what you need can be found under "Configure and Run WeatherFlow PiConsole" in the Installation Instructions.

Credits

Many of the graphical elements in the console are based on the Weather34 Home Weather Station Template (https://www.weather34.com/homeweatherstation/) copyright 2015-2021 Brian Underdown. The Weather34 Home Weather Station Template is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.