Sharper Image Weather Station EC-WS115 not updating

Anonymous
2020-12-07T00:50:36+00:00

Thanks to this community, I have found the software for the Sharper Image EC-WS115, and I've learned how to deal with its USB issues under Windows 10. 

But, it stopped updating the forecast on November 30th, 2020.

The 5-day forecast software gives me an error saying "Cannot connect to server. Please try again later" whenever I try to update the forecast.

Is anyone else having this issue, or just me? Has Foreca shut down the server used to feed information to these devices?

I don't want to send this device to a landfill.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2020-12-20T19:05:29+00:00

I finally had some success this morning utilizing a workaround that was developed with a lot input from a number of people.  I've created a step-by-step guide as to what I did to get my Sharper Image EC-WS115 5-Day weather forecast station up and running again after the server quit working back on November 30th.  If you use Windows, then this solution should work.  I just got it working this morning, so I haven't fully tested it yet to see if it automatically updates like it used to or if there are any bugs in the code.  If you're interested in taking a peak at the process (5 steps), then download the zip file containing all the files you will need to make it work.  The step-by-step guide is a filed titled 'Read Me.pdf'.  Thanks to all those who did the hard work by decompiling and writing new code in order to make it work.  The zip file can be downloaded here (just click on 'download' in the upper-left-hand corner):  

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yin1t3oqjnyxwe1/5-Day%20Weather%20Forecast%20Workaround.zip?dl=0

Best of luck and Merry Christmas!

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Anonymous
2021-01-01T14:40:14+00:00

Can anyone put a detailed process on how to get the weather station up and running.  I have downloaded the zip files, gone to Weatherbit and got my personal number.  But , I cannot find the file folders that I have to copy other files to.. please help me.  I want  to get my weather station back on line.  Thanks!

Good morning Michael, as Eric mentioned in another post, check the ReadMe.pdf file that has step-by-step instructions on where everything goes.  Here's also a link to a 27-minute video tutorial that steps through each step in detail.  Hope this helps.  Happy New Year!

https://vimeo.com/495872313/ca3d3d378e

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-11-26T13:28:08+00:00

    Thank you, Casper3725, for making such an excellent solution to the problem. It's working great!

    I would like to suggest one change to the code. I noticed that the low temperatures reported on the WS-115 didn't seem to align with other weather sources, so I investigated further. Unlike high temperatures, which are normally calculated as the maximum temperature from midnight to midnight, low temperatures are by convention calculated for the following night and extend until sunrise.

    Your code was using max_temp and min_temp for the high and low temperatures, both of which are calculated from midnight to midnight. Luckily, weatherbit.io also includes high_temp and low_temp, both of which are calculated from 6 a.m. to 6 a.m. (oddly). To match other weather sources, the correct choices are max_temp and low_temp.

    I made a one line change to the getweather.php to change which value is reported for low tempertaure. Here is the original snippet:

    	$day = $weather['data'][$i]; 

	$data .= '#' . $day['datetime']; 

	$data .= '*' . temp($day['min_temp']); 

	$data .= '*' . temp($day['max_temp']); 

	$data .= '*' . '0';

    The updated code looks like this: 

    	$day = $weather['data'][$i]; 

	$data .= '#' . $day['datetime']; 

	$data .= '*' . temp($day['low_temp']); 

	$data .= '*' . temp($day['max_temp']); 

	$data .= '*' . '0';

    I'd recommend the change be made for future downloads, if you agree with the approach.

    Thanks again for making all this work again!

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-11-09T02:09:24+00:00

    Hi there. Not sure if the more expert'ish persons on this blog have replied to you yet or not but I will say that mine updates every few hours or so, randomly. It definitely does not just update when you manually do something. If yours does not seem to be updating more regularly and always on it's own (remember, every time your computer shuts down (for, like, weekly updates on it's own) or if you shut it down regularly yourself (i do not let either of these things occur, myself) the WAMP server software then needs to be restarted on your PC each time shut-downs occur... then I would check the batteries in the remote transmitter that directly plugs USB into your PC. It may not be sending the signal to your weather station if the batteries are low.

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-11-05T15:09:21+00:00

    I'm not really sure, but I think it updates automatically a couple of times per day only.

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