Right now users cannot control the camera directly. It just takes a pic every 5 min. But it can be an interesting idea to control the camera. It may involve some hardware changes, which is not that straightforward though. And the picture uploaded to our server is in jpg format.
The current API provides everything that we can measure. But all are the current data (we provide past 5 day’s time-lapse videos though). We wonder if history data might be of any use.
1 Like
And… I installed it. It took me three tries to pair it to wifi, but it’s fine now. I screwed it into the trim, which I am not worried about, because that’s my trim that I personally replaced last summer, so I am more than familiar on how to fix it.
1 Like
I live in the Pacific Northwest. What is this “direct sun” you refer to? In all seriousness, I don’t know about the possible temp issues. It is spot on with what Weather Underground says I am supposed to be at.
I put it next to my window so I can manipulate it if I want to, but see in the pic that eve 2 feet above? In the Bloomsky app the image is so wide angle that the eve almost covers 1/3 of the image. I will try to lower it, but it almost shows the ground now. I will definitely move it (later), but basically you need to have an unobsructed view.
The mounting bracket does have holes in the back for screwing into something, like I did.
The cord for the panel was maybe 3 feet? If you want to mount them separately.
1 Like
Historical data could absolutely be of use. Check out the Dark Sky API docs - they provide future information but the format could easily be adapted for historical use.
1 Like
Here’s a screenshot. And there’s no live view so you can manipulate it while looking at your phone. Wait 5-6 minutes, and try again.
2 Likes
Ouch. Well, then they get what they get when I mount it. I’m type-A, but not that type-A. 
1 Like
Cool! Thanks for that reference.
You have a lot more sky, less obstructions than most I was looking at last night.
With the exception of putting the solar panel up on the roof , that is more/less what I was planning, but in the middle of the house . 200 year old maple tree on the south west corner of the house, so the South side of my house is pretty well shaded, but if I put the panels on the South side of peak I catch the sun as it moves across the sky pretty well. ( That’s where I mounted the panels for the outside lights and they haven’t died yet. ) If I can’t separate the panel, I do have another spot I could mount it right on the fascia on SE corner.
You have a power cord going from the solar panels to the battery pack in the unit. At least that is how every other solar powered anything works.
Right, I follow you. I didn’t think about the solar and weather unit being separated since the bracket holds both of them together.
How long did it take you to get the approval? I just applied for one myself…
about a week for me. I think they are approving in batches
1 Like
Well I think I missed the first one but the second one I put in for took less then a day. Either way check your SPAM folder. Thats where mine was.
1 Like
[quote=“cdmobile, post:65, topic:38202, full:true”]
…I don’t know about the possible temp issues. It is spot on with what Weather Underground says I am supposed to be at.[/quote]
As I’m sure everyone in a place like this already knows, Weather Underground also has a ‘community-based’ weather network where people can connect their weather stations (from many different makers) to their Weather Underground account and their station’s data becomes part of the Weather Underground network.
So (not likely, but just sayin…), if the WU-PWS (Weather Underground Personal Weather Station) which you are comparing with is somebody else that mounted theirs to their house, it’s entirely possible that the temp readings you’re getting from WU are skewed too (whenever I’m setting up something that relies on weather reports/forecasts that will get its data from WU, I usually take a look at it on Google Maps sat view and street view to try to locate it, and then, go for a drive around the neighborhood to see it in person; so that I know if it’s in a situation where its data may be compromised at all).
I assume they have something in one of their algorithms to accommodate this potential temp variance (most likely comparing like units in the same area; another reason why they want to have many of these things out there, and also why you may see people getting free ones in neighborhoods where they already have a BloomSky unit displaying on the map).
I know for sure that WU has a couple things you can configure in a WU-PWS account to help with these kinds of issues (what brand/model of hardware, what type of surface it is mounted to and number of feet from the ground) so that others know what kind of environment it is sitting in AND to help their algorithms make more accurate calculations (though, not sure if anyone else ever really enters anything in that field).
I played with it a little bit. I put a ‘smart’ temp monitor outside (thinking that I could use an outdoor temp monitor as my WU-PWS), and discovered that the temp readings were significantly different when sitting right next to the house vs out a few feet away from it (also, it’s under a porch. So, I know there aren’t any issues related to direct sunlight on the mounting surface or anything like that).
1 Like
So you can connect the Bloomsky to weather underground as a PWS. Now is there a device type for a weather underground PWS to pull in Bloomsky data that way?
1 Like
Instructions here:
Then use pws:stationid where it asks for zip code.
Do I need to change the device type code at all. Or just place the ID in place of the zip in the pref area? Because that doesn’t seem to work.
