Wather radio and x10?

[SSzretter]

I have a Midland weather radio, and it has a mini din connector on the back that the manual mentions is "x10" compatible.

Can anyone explain this and share links, etc. ?

[JMac]

I have one also and was never able to have the weather warning trigger a powerflash module and macro.  The folks at Midland couldn't help me either.  It has been some time since I have dealt with it though so I would be interested in your results.  Good luck !

[HA Dave]

I have a Midland weather radio, and it has a mini din connector on the back that the manual mentions is "x10" compatible. Can anyone explain this and share links, etc. ?

This has come up before (http://forums.x10.com/index.php?topic=17885.msg99311#msg99311). But I can't remember reading of any successful modifications or connections of a weather alert radio.. of any brand. I myself have a Midland 74-109... an older model alert radio... as well as a new Radio Shack brand one. I tried finding the PDF manual for my Midland radio on-line. Apparently.. like myself.. my midland radio is pre-digital.

The expected X10 device to use here would be the powerflash module... to trigger some macro.. or series of events. I would guess, [X10 compatable would mean] that the speaker jack ether produces enough "juice" to trigger the powerflash (position setting "A") or that the jack is open until the alert closes the contact (position setting "B" on a powerflash module). The powerflash module can work ether way. my multimeter bit the dust just the other day so I can't say which MY midland does.

This sounds like an interesting project. I may replace my multimeter and do some tests next week if I can find the time.

So what is your desired results from the modification? Do you wish to flash some lights when the alert sounds or amplify the announcement or text message cell phones?

[SSzretter]

Well, the radio I have, Midland WR-100 has two ports, one labeled 'remote alert' , the other 'pc'.

I believe the remote alert port is for a remote speaker or whatever.

I am not sure about the pc port, I was HOPING it might be some sort of data feed, like the text that displays on the LCD, which I would be able to feed into a PC and then do something with it...

I know my dad had some kind of x10 temperature monitoring stuff hooked up to his computer at one point - I thought that was what it might have meant, but maybe not.

[JMac]

I remember the folks at Midland said that the "PC" port was for their technicians (probably for updates).  I had hoped that the remote alert (which I had understood was for a remote light so that the hearing impaired could see the alert) would trigger a Power Flash and macro.  I was not successful with setting that up, however.

[HA Dave]

.... I was HOPING it might be some sort of data feed, like the text that displays on the LCD, which I would be able to feed into a PC and then do something with it...

No... I am pretty sure not. A remote speaker or light maybe..

[Knightrider]

not that i'm recommending any of this, but the speaker output on the radio will drive a powerflash in one of it's modes.  hint hint. 

Even the piezo element driver on my smoke alarms push enough voltage to trip the powerflash.

[HA Dave]

... the speaker output on the radio will drive a powerflash in one of it's modes. 

But how can he get the alert info/data into the PC? I don't think the info I am getting from WeatherAloud would quite fill-the-bill. I don't know exactly what can be gleamed from PC Companion for weather... sorta hoping someone can chime in with that.

SSzretter exactly what weather info do you want/need... general info and forecasts... or bad weather/storm alerts?

[Knightrider]

My use is to turn on selected lights when the radio goes active.

I have a yet to be published mod that involves a two stage tone decoder on a fire band receiver that turns on lights when the FD gets called out at night, plays the tone from "Emergency!" on the PC and will eventually remote start the car.

While I may not be the one to run to a volunteer fire call, my son (20 and still living at home) hardly misses a run.

[HA Dave]

Tuicemen should jump in here (with a post)... isn't he working on the X10weatherwatcher? It is sorta a weather station to PC setup... isn't it?

[Tuicemen]

Tuicemen should jump in here (with a post)... isn't he working on the X10weatherwatcher? It is sorta a weather station to PC setup... isn't it?

X10WeatherWatch was made to work with personal weather stations it reads data from a CSV file.
AmbientWeather makes a free program WeatherExchange that fetches info from Stations over the net and writes that info to a CSV file which maybe used with X10WeatherWatch as well.

X10WeatherWatch is a plug-in for PcCompanion which in the future will generate it's own CSV file for X10WeatherWatch
It will trigger x10 commands for any weather condition but isn't what the OP is looking for (but I've been wrong before)

[pconroy]

I'm kinda curious - if you don't mind - what you'd want the X10 side to do?

I have a WS2308 weather station - which has a decent PC interface.
I wrote software to monitor various values and alert me (email, phone, SMS) if the MAX/MINs are exceeded.

I guess I could have the home server trigger some X10 stuff - based on weather values, but I'm drawing a blank on what would be useful.

Just curious.
thanks

[Tuicemen]

I'm kinda curious - if you don't mind - what you'd want the X10 side to do?

well
There are all kinds of things you could trigger and if you have a weather station with extra sensors the tasks increase.
you could trigger your lawn sprinklers not to common if it is a rainy day
you could turn on fans for cooling, heaters to prevent pipes from bursting.
Those are just a few things that come to mind.
When you get your email alerts what do you do with that info?
Can X10 automate some process that you do?

Many users utilize the temperature triggers built into PcCompanion what they trigger with the info is stuff I never would have thought of!
Many say they don't have enough triggers

[pconroy]

When you get your email alerts what do you do with that info?

Usually just SSH into my home server and peek around. 
Yeah - I can see that now, if I had an automated sun shade, it would be nice to retract it when the wind starts blowing.