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Website Changelog  (For weatherstation changelog, click here)

Date Changes
9/16/07
  • Revised and improved the About page (now split into two pages).
  • Changed Rapid Fire page to a popup from conditions page.
  • Changed internal links in various areas to eliminate too many windows or tabs being opened.
  • Minor cosmetic changes.
7/22/07
  •  Webcam has been taken offline until further notice (it hasn't actually worked since early July after an effort to mount it in a different location resulted in the cam falling to the floor). Therefore, I will have to buy a new cam (and a better one at that) when time & $$$ allows.
  •  Some link updates & minor cosmetic changes.
1/27/07
  • Testing underway to add webcam image to site - though hardware and software undecided. Leaning on ImageSalsa for software solution however. Current "stream" is every 10 seconds, delivered by FTP. Further tests will try out different streaming technologies, scripts, perhaps an additional cam. Stay tuned. View the webcam here.
12/2/06
  • Updated About Page to include full implementation of 3rd Party Software that has been recently installed/registered.
  • Updated index page to be fully W3C HTML 4.01 Transitional compliant.  As for the other pages on this site...they'll be enhanced and/or recoded as time allows!
11/21/06
  • Updated Conditions page to include our new live data feed featuring Weather Underground's "Rapid Fire" live flash feed. This is still a work in progress at this time. You can view the feed here.
  • Added our station's Weather Underground conditions image to Conditions Page.
11/12/06
  • Changed wind speed on Conditions page to reflect CWOP/APRS 2-minute average standard instead.
  • Added CWOP/APRSWXNET logo to Conditions Page.
  • Removed current wind speed images on Conditions page.
  • Updated links section.
11/02/06
  • Added a looping snow/rain radar from Intellicast.com (IMHO this is better than AW's) to the Maps section.
  • Increased the AW radar loop popup window size to display entire image.
10/24/06
  • A firmware upgrade on the console disrupted the daily high and low values for the day on the Conditions page - except rainfall - as the console had to be powered down in order to apply the update.  No other data or reports was affected, and as this was done after 9:30 pm, not much harm was done. Everything should be back to normal by midnight. See the weatherstation changelog for more information about the firmware upgrade itself.
  • Page Title updated on this changelog page to fix the old website reference.
9/12/06
  • Updated link to the former weatherforum.net to wxforum.net
  • Removed drop down menu for other weather sites - it never did work properly in most browsers. This may be redone sometime in the future as time allows.
  • Updated About page.
4/3/06
  • Fixed a couple of errors on the about page.
3/7/06
  • Fixed a number of errors and broken links.
  • Redid vicweather.net logo, previous format did not present well on some browsers.
  • Added some links and a lightning detector map (link courtesy of darryl-gail.com).
  • Minor cosmetic changes.
3/3/06
  • Added About page.
  • Moved Reports section to Archives/Maps/Links page.
  • Another round of cosmetic changes, mainly involving formatting and buttons.
3/1/06
  • Officially moved all weather data off marauder.ca (my ISP's webspace).
  • Enhanced the new vicweather.net logo (latest version is shown at the top of this page).
  • Added Canadian city conditions to maps section.
  • Several cosmetic changes on most (if not all) pages
2/28/06
  • Began moving website from my ISP webspace to my new domain, vicweather.net, at mochahost.com (decision was made partly because of their name - I love mochas! J)
  • Created new welcome page when entering vicweather.net
  • Created new "vicweather" logo (similar to the Marauder logo, actually)
2/20/06
  • Added Photos page with some outdoor shots.
  • Deleted "In Construction" references.
  • Fixed Weather Underground link
  • Added new Marauder.ca logo to all pages
2/16/06
  • Changed hit counter as previous one simply stopped working. New one from bravenet.com displays basic site stats (and it's free).
  • Made a site favicon (see above) , but it won't work properly unless you type in site's "official" address - www3.telus.net/akwebs/akweather/AKWeather.htm ... this will soon be redundant as I am working to getting my site hosted elsewhere.
2/15/06
  • Added Humidity and Dew Point 3-day graphs to Conditions Page.
  • Recoded drop down menu in links section to be more cross platform (now works in Firefox 1.5x and Opera 8.x).
  • Other minor cosmetic changes.
1/28/06
  • Added some Radar and Satellite Maps
  • Added Weatherstation Changelog section (below)
1/22/06
  • Added hit counter to Conditions page.
  • Added this Changelog page.
  • Fixed drop down menu in links section.
  • Several cosmetic changes to all pages.
  • Improved browser compatibility.
1/21/06
  • Added and updated links section.
  • Added basic station location map.
  • Brought back the rain charts due to visitor complaints :)
  • Minor cosmetic changes.
1/20/06
  • Created some buttons for the Conditions (title) page.
  • Minor cosmetic changes, including browser compatibility improvements.
1/19/06
  • Added a new page for archives, maps, photos, and links.
  • Added existing archives and some links to new page.
  • Added weather buttons from The Weather Network and Environment Canada.
  • Added some Google Adsense "targeted advertising" in discreet locations. Time will tell if this was a worthwhile venture.
  • Deleted Rain Charts displaying information already on the left column.
  • Many other minor cosmetic changes.
12/21/05
  • Some minor enhancements, including the addition of a Cloud Base javascript.
11/29 - 12/20/05
  • Only minor cosmetic changes during this time.
11/28/05
  • Loaded up the page to the internet for the first time.
  • Rerouted marauder.ca domain to the new page residing on my ISP's server (will get new host in Spring '06).
  • Several changes to selections of graphs and charts selected to appear on webpage.
11/27/05
  • Created the original page from the Davis WeatherLink software template but did not yet load up to internet.
  • Some initial cosmetic modifications.

Although great care is taken to make this site as compatible as possible, there is no guarantee this website will display as intended on your computer.
Feel free to e-mail any issues you notice here.

Weatherstation Changelog

Date Changes
11/23/06
  • Completed testing of 3rd party programs - VPLive (freeware), VirtualVP, and StartWatch (both shareware). VirtualVP and StartWatch were both registered.  All 3 programs are creations of SoftWx (see the About page for more info), and are now implemented full time on the Weatherstation PC.
11/21/06
  • This station now uploads data to Weather Underground (finally!). Weatherlink has been set up with the Wunderground module to upload the data every 2.5 seconds (when possible - one exception is it only uploads once per minute from 12 - 2 am locally). This "realtime" update is not perfect, however, and causes Weatherlink to hang from time to time.
11/19/06
  • The connection from the VP2 console to the PC has been changed from USB to serial. This is expected to (finally) eliminate the lost connectivity issue described at various times below. Note - the USB cable switch on Nov 10/06 did help, but it still occurred twice in a seven day period.
11/10/06
  • Now reporting to CWOP/APRS every 10 minutes. Our station's call sign is CW6780. The data can be seen here.
  • Testing underway to split station's data signal to various 3rd party programs. Once testing has completed, I will list the software used and provide links.
  • Changed USB cable to resolve the lost connectivity issue. This appears to be very effective and have cancelled the automatic reboots mentioned below, for the time being. However, I will soon be replacing the USB connection to a serial one, which has been reported to eliminate the issue).
11/1/06
  • Instituted twice-daily automatic system reboots and made some other tweaks to further minimize the lost connectivity issue mentioned previously. The driver update, mentioned on 10/18, did not eliminate this issue.
10/24/06
  • Updated the console's firmware to April 10, 2006 revision. For details regarding the firmware, please go to this link at Davis' website. The main feature is that PC firmware upgrades are now possible without Davis' firmware updater unit J (though I had to rent one from Davis in order to apply this update!)
10/18/06
  • Updated the USB to UART controller driver to version 4.38 to hopefully tackle the issue involving periodic lost connectivity between the PC and the VP2.
  • Thoroughly cleaned out the rain collector after receiving some incorrect rain data earlier this week. This seems to have resolved the issue. Rainfall data was adjusted accordingly, though October is still likely showing an understated amount of rain collected.
6/25/06
  • Upgraded Weatherlink software to 5.7a.  There are some lingering connectivity problems that are still being resolved, however.
  • Added a dedicated UPS.
  • Changed the Weatherstation PC to a lower power-consuming Dell Optiplex/P4 1.8 GHz.
1/28/06
  • Discovered console was reporting incorrect yearly rainfall total. This was adjusted.
1/26/06
  • On separate occasions, the rain gauge records individual 12.4, then 13.6 mm rainfall readings early in the afternoon, even though it wasn't actually raining at the time. The station was otherwise ok. No water had intruded the ISS housing either. Perhaps a bird or something else set it off - who knows? The rain data was adjusted (though not the storm total, that cannot be changed).
12/1/05
  • During a snowy afternoon (a rather rare event, and last of '05), the ISS and anemometer are mounted in permanent locations, at least for the winter.
  • Though the ISS is hardly in an ideal location, it will do for the time being. It is mounted on a pole approx. six feet from the nearest exterior wall of the house, next to the garden shed. It is mounted about seven feet above ground, in part so the kids can't reach it easily. But a neighbouring house is only about 15 feet to the north of the ISS, which creates less flow of air. It also does not get enough direct sunlight for the solar panel.
  • The anemometer was mounted on a ten-foot pole, sitting approximately 9 feet above my 2nd floor patio, on the north edge of the house.  Although the anemometer is about 15 feet above ground in total, it still needs to go about eight to ten feet higher to get more accurate wind results.  However, my location - especially from the east - is surrounded nearby by large trees that would require a 100 ft tower to supersede. The anemometer is wired to the ISS using a conduit running from the base of the pole to the ISS pole, stretching approximately six feet away from the wall of the house.
11/28 - 11/30/05
  • Permanent mounting of ISS and anemometer scouted and various locations are considered.
11/27/05
  • First version of web page using data from the station goes online.
11/25/05
  • ISS and anemometer moved around a bit to enhance accuracy of observations. Official data collection started today.
11/23/05
  • Station arrived in good condition today. Initial unpacking and assembly of parts. ISS (Integrated Sensor Suite) and anemometer placed outside on 2nd floor patio table for testing.
11/20/05
  • After much deliberation, decided on Davis Vantage Pro2 Weatherstation (VP2) from Davis Technologies. Ordered from online discount retailer in the U.S. on this day.

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