AutoWx.txt ver 6.2B  

THE AUTOWX PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN BY Les Blalock, N5KOA, AND IS AVAILABLE FROM
HIM AT THE BELOW ADDRESS.  DO NOT SEND DISKS, BUT ABOUT $5.00 to COVER DISK
AND POSTAGE:    1711 Pagewood
                Odessa, TX  79761
                (915) 332-7112 day
                      332-1942 fax
                      367-0408 eve

The program is also available on the ARRL BBS at (201) 666-0578.

THERE IS NO LONGER ROOM TO PROVIDE THIS PROGRAM NOR DOCUMENTATION AS PART OF
APRS DISTRIBUTION.  APRS (Bob Bruninga) has nothing to do with this program
and is providing this txt file for your information only.

*** 90% of the original AUTOWX.DOC FILE has been expunged.  Enough remnants
have been left to give you a feel for its capabilities, but certainly not
enough to figure out what it does.  COntact the author above.

THE FULL FILES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE APRS XTRA.zip fiiles.  See XTRAMAPS.txt


DESCRIPTION:
AutoWX (Auto-Weather) is an IBM compatible packet program that accepts
weather data from the Ultimeter II weather station and makes the data
available on packet by direct connect requests and/or via automatic
beacons (in APRS beacon format).  The program assumes you are using two
serial ports (COM1 and COM2) and that the U-II is connected to one, the
TNC to the other.  Use ALT-H for online help.  The program works very
well on an XT with 256K RAM and a single floppy disk drive.  XT's are
often GIVEN away now days and one could be dedicated full time to this
application.....

Weather data can be tracked on the AutoWx screen in three different
formats:  (0) the status line at the bottom of the screen will show the last
time someone connected and requested weather data and how many times weather
has been requested since the program was last started.  (1) will cause
weather data to be printed on the screen every time an update is performed. 
(2) will cause the status line to be updated every time the program updates
weather data.  You can use option 1 and scroll back through the data with the
PC Magazine utility PERUSE.COM....

The WX.DAT file is an ASCII file that tracks the high and low
temperatures and high wind speed for the day.   The file is updated
whenever the Hi's and Lo's are edited (ALT-E) and when the program is
terminated with ALT-Q.  The Hi's & Lo's can be edited by typing ALT-E
during the program....

The U-II data is read continuously and logged to disk every 5 minutes. 
Whenever the data is logged, it is also printed on the screen (if you
selected option 1 or 2 in the configuration of the status line). 

If another packet station connects and sends "//wx", AutoWx will update
and send the current weather data and Hi's and Lo's for the day.

While a station is connected, the APRS Beacon is suspended.  Also, if
UPDATES are OFF a connected user will see the message, "Weather
data temporarily not available...".  The last ten stations that
connected can be viewed by pressing the PgDn key.

Automatic beacons can be toggled ON/OFF with ALT-B.  The beacon will be
digi'd through any valid path specified in the UNPROTO tnc parameter.

Every 5 minutes the program updates the binary logfile named in the
WX.CFG file.  This file can be read with the Ultimeter II Data Display
program (Vers 1 & 2).  Log files can be appended to each other by
using the COPY /B command....

The AutoWx program reads the Ultimeter II port continuously and, when
logging, logs the highest windspeed recorded during the last 5 minutes.
However, the U-II data sends serial data every 4 seconds (on average)
but reads sensors about every 1.5 seconds and there may be differences
in the high windspeed recorded on the U-II display and that recorded by
AutoWx.
               -------------------------

AutoWx is released for the use by other licensed amateur radio operators
and no payment or registration fees are necessary.  The program is
copyright protected and I choose to retain all rights to the code. 

Comments and questions can be directed to N5KOA at N5RKN.#WTX (Odessa,
TX).  Please drop him a line if you try the program.  Disk copies are
available only when accompanied with enough green stuff to pay for the
postage, disk, etc. DO NOT SEND DISKETTES!

Les Blalock, N5KOA

