Cumulus.ini (preserving history): Difference between revisions

From Cumulus Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
m (→‎Section: Station: Clarifying that Lat and Long are entered unsigned in station setting screen)
m (→‎Other weather station/instrument specific:: Added how to set RG11 parameters)
Line 430: Line 430:
|-
|-
|RG11port=1
|RG11port=1
|Specifies the COM port to use for [[Rain_measurement#Optical_Rain_Gauge | Hydreon RG-11 rain detection devices]]. 1 = COM1
|Specifies the COM port to use for [[Rain_measurement#Optical_Rain_Gauge | Hydreon RG-11 rain detection devices]]. 1 = COM1. Set on RG11 screen within configuration menu, see its ''Help'' for more information.
|-
|-
|RG11TBRmode=1
|RG11TBRmode=1
|Specifies the Hydreon RG-11 rain device mode of operation.
|Specifies the Hydreon RG-11 rain device mode of operation.
*0 = Rain detection mode - "It's Raining"
*0 = Rain detection mode - "It's Raining"
*1 = Tipping bucket mode
*1 = Tipping bucket mode. Set on RG11 screen within configuration menu.
|-
|-
|RG11tipsize=0.01
|RG11tipsize=0.01
|Specifies the tipping bucket size for Hydreon RG-11 rain detection devices. The 'tip size' must be specified in the units that you have configured Cumulus to use for rain.
|Specifies the tipping bucket size for Hydreon RG-11 rain detection devices. The 'tip size' must be specified in the units that you have configured Cumulus to use for rain. Set on RG11 screen within configuration menu.
|-
|-
|RG11port2=
|RG11port2=
Line 445: Line 445:


RG11tipsize2=
RG11tipsize2=
|Settings to connect a second Hydreon RG-11 rain detection device.
|Settings to connect a second Hydreon RG-11 rain detection device. Set on RG11 screen within configuration menu.
Note that you must have one RG-11 set to "It's raining" mode and the other to "tipping bucket" mode. Cumulus does not validate this.
Note that you must have one RG-11 set to "It's raining" mode and the other to "tipping bucket" mode. Cumulus does not validate this.
|}
|}

Revision as of 07:20, 31 July 2013

The cumulus.ini configuration file is located in the directory in which you installed Cumulus. It is a text file containing initialization parameters used by the Cumulus application, and is read only when Cumulus starts up. Parameter lines are in the form 'attribute=value' and grouped into sections. Cumulus re-writes the contents of the application configuration screens to the file when it shuts down.

Editing the file

Settings controlled by application

Many configuration parameter lines are changed from the various application configuration pages, and those screens should ensure your replacement values are acceptable. You should never edit these directly in the file while Cumulus is running, as Cumulus will replace these parameters with the contents of the relevant application Edit/View/Configuration screens to the file when it shuts down. You can edit them in the file with Cumulus stopped, but beware of selecting invalid values for these parameters, generally it is safer to use the application to edit them (unless you are importing values from another setup), and Cumulus will read the new values when it restarts.

Settings independent of application

Some configuration settings can only be applied by editing this file to insert a new parameter line; they do not appear anywhere in the configuration screens. Cumulus does not write these values back out to the file on shut down, so they do not appear with default values - in other words, you need to add them if you want to set them. Make sure you place these additional parameters in the correct section as listed below.

General notes

  • It is best to take a copy of the existing cumulus.ini file before you make any changes (either by using application screens or by editing the file), so you can return to the original if necessary.
  • If your system is configured to use a comma for a decimal separator, then you should use a comma in any decimal values that you set in this file.
  • You should use a text editor (not a rich text editor nor word processor) to edit this file as only letters, numerical digits, decimal separators and the equals symbol are allowed in any parameter. If you use a spreadsheet program to make use of the manipulation it offers, ensure it is set to output in pure text.
  • The parameter lines (attribute=value) can be in any order, but must be in the correct section. You might find it helpful to sort the attributes within a section into alphabetical order, to ensure you have no duplicates and to make it easier to find the particular parameter line you may wish to edit in the future.

File Contents

Introduction

All installations (using the latest release of Cumulus) will contain the following sections (although the order in the file may be different to that in this article).

Some sections relate to the external websites that Cumulus can optionally supply with updates. These are set by configuration screens and the whole sections will always be present. If you do not use those services their parameters will be set to the defaults.

Each new version of cumulus may add additional parameters set by revised configuration screens (these initially appear at the end of the relevant section), and/or permit additional parameters to be added manually (these can be inserted anywhere within the section). If you are using an old version, then checking the release information may be advisable to identify the sections applicable to your build and the parameters allowed within those sections may be a subset of those listed below. Equally if you are using a beta build, there may be changes to the information shown below with additional sections and/or additional parameters under test.

The entries shown in the 'parameter line entry' column include the default value from the configuration screen where applicable, a typical example value where appropriate, or just the attribute and an equals sign where there is no typical value.

Section: Station

See individual parameters for specific instructions on setting them. In many cases this is by using Station Configuration Screen, but if the parameter line does not exist in your file, then insert it using a file editor.

Parameter Line Entry Function
[Station] Section name - the following parameters relate to the station configuration.
Type=-1 Station Type as set by the checked radio box in the Station Configuration Screen, Station Type block
  • 0=Vantage Pro
  • 1=Vantage Pro2
  • 2=WMR-928
  • 3=WM-918
  • 4=EasyWeather (using .dat file)
  • 5=Fine Offset/Watson/MyDel etc
  • 6=WS2300
  • 7=Fine Offset with Solar Sensors
  • 8=WMR100
  • 9=WMR200
Model="your Model description" The weather station model description (you choose what text appears for this on (from version 1.9) 'Display' settings screen within Configuration menu - the field is at the bottom left of that screen).
Port=0 Com port in your computer which is connected to your weather station if connected via a serial port. Defaults to port 0.
Latitude=0 You are advised not to directly edit this parameter in the file, but to type Latitude (unsigned) Degrees, Minutes, Seconds and select 'N' or 'S' in the Station Configuration Screen Location block.

Value in this parameter is Latitude in Decimal Degrees based on what you have entered, Positive for North, Negative for South

Longitude=0 You are advised not to directly edit this parameter in the file, but to type Longitude (unsigned) Degrees, Minutes, Seconds and select 'E' or 'W' in the Station Configuration Screen Location block.

Value in this parameter is Longitude in Decimal Degrees based on what you have entered, Positive for East, Negative for West

LatTxt= You are advised not to directly edit this parameter in the file, but to type Latitude Degrees, Minutes, Seconds in the Station Configuration Screen Location block.

Latitude in text string format of hemisphere D, M and S. HTML ampersand codes are used for spaces and unit characters.

LonTxt= Longitude in text string format of hemisphere degrees, minutes and seconds. HTML ampersand codes are used for spaces and DMS characters.
Altitude=0 your station altitude as entered in the Station Configuration Screen Location block. See Cumulus Help for that screen.
AltitudeInFeet=1 Altitude measurement unit as set in the Station Configuration Screen Location block.
  • 0 = meters ASL
  • 1 = feet ASL
Humidity98Fix=0 Selected in the Station Configuration Screen Settings block.
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, humidity displayed and recorded as 100% if your sensor registers a relative humidity of 98% or greater. Normally only useful for Oregon Scientific stations.
Wind10MinAverage=0 Selected in the Station Configuration Screen Settings block.
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, Cumulus will calculate and display a 10-minute average wind speed instead of using the value supplied by the station.
CalculatedDP=0 Selected in the Station Configuration Screen Settings block.
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled, Cumulus will calculate the dew point instead of using the value supplied by the station. This avoids the restriction in the Oregon Scientific stations where the dew point can never be below freezing point.
CalculatedWC=0 Selected in the Station Configuration Screen Settings block.
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled, Cumulus will calculate the wind chill instead of using the value supplied by the station. Note that some stations (Fine Offset, for example, do not supply a wind chill value anyway, so Cumulus always calculates it). You should set this if you have specified any calibration values for wind or temperature, so that Cumulus can also apply those values to the wind chill.
UseWindChillCutOff=1 Calculate Wind chill only if temperature less than 10°C rule.
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, this line needs to be added in the [Station] section of the Cumulus.ini

Note that CalculatedWC=1 is needed for this setting to have any effect (if your station is a type that supplies wind chill itself); i.e. you need to set Cumulus (see directly above) to calculate the wind chill if it is to apply a rule based on temperature.

ChillHourThreshold=45 The temperature threshold is specified in the units that you use in Cumulus (see Heat/cold_degree_days_and_Chill_hours)
ChillHourSeasonStart=10 The season start figure is the calendar month number (1 to 12)
RolloverHour=0 Log roll over time as selected on the Station Configuration Screen
  • 0 = midnight
  • 9 = 9am/10am
Use10amInSummer=1 Daylight saving correction for 9am roll over
  • 0 = Use 9am in summer (use 10am not checked on Station Configuration Screen)
  • 1 = Use 10am in summer selected on Station Configuration Screen

SnowDepthHour=9

Snow lying/falling roll over time (time when yesterday's values in log.xml are forgotten)

Note this time is independent of your rollover time selections in the two preceding parameters.

  • 0 = midnight (default)
  • 9 = 9am, this line needs to be added in the [Station] section of the Cumulus.ini
ConfirmClose=0 Confirm you wish to close Cumulus application after telling it to close
  • 0 = Disabled, application will close immediately
  • 1 = Enabled, application will prompt for confirmation that you wish to close it (do not use this if you might suspend/standby/hibernate your computer)
CloseOnSuspend=1 If this is selected, on the Station Configuration Screen, Cumulus will close if you suspend/standby/hibernate your computer. You should not select 'Confirm shutdown' if you use this option.
  • 0 = Disabled, application will not close if you suspend/standby/hibernate your computer (it is highly recommended you close Cumulus manually before your computer is put into suspend/standby/hibernate state)
  • 1 = Enabled, application will close on suspend/standby/hibernate of your computer (recommended if your computer can go into any of these states when left alone)
DataLogInterval=2 Data log interval as selected in the Station Configuration Screen Data log interval block
  • 0 = 1 min
  • 1 = 5 mins
  • 2 = 10 mins
  • 3 = 15 mins
  • 4 = 20 mins
  • 5 = 30 mins

Note: This can be set to match your station logging interval, then if you restart Cumulus and if Cumulus is able to read logged data from your station the frequency of logged information in your Monthly_log_files will be unchanged between the periods Cumulus is running and the periods when it is stopped. Some Cumulus users set their station logging interval at a longer time so that the station does not overwrite the memory locations over the longest period they might be away from it, but this Cumulus logging interval to be one of the two shorter times so they retain the maximum measurement detail in case of any need to correct rogue measurements.

WindUnit=0 Wind speed measurement unit Cumulus records in as selected in the Station Configuration Units block
  • 0 = m/s
  • 1 = mph
  • 2 = km/h
  • 3 = kts
PressureUnit=0 Pressure_Measurement unit Cumulus records in (as selected in the Station Configuration Units block)
  • 0 = mb
  • 1 = hPa
  • 2 = in

These are the labels that Cumulus applies on its screens and web pages, most weather stations work in one unit (e.g. hPa for Fine Offset) and so the values are converted to any of the 3 listed during processing

RainUnit=0 Rain_measurement unit Cumulus records in (as selected in the Station Configuration Units block)
  • 0 = mm
  • 1 = in
TempUnit=0 Temperature measurement unit Cumulus records in (as selected in the Station Configuration Units block)
  • 0 = Celsius
  • 1 = Fahrenheit
LocName= Location Name (as entered on the Station Configuration Screen)
LocDesc= Location Description (as entered on the Station Configuration Screen)
StartDate=13/08/2009 By default this will be set to the date of initial installation of the Cumulus application. See Monthly_log_files#Importing_pre-Cumulus_data
LastLoggerDownload=13/08/2008 12:48:52 The date/time of the last down load from your weather station (note: no longer used); see <#LastDataReadT> and Timestamp
YTDrain=0 Year to date correction if starting part way through year as entered in the Station Configuration Screen. Value is entered in your current Rain_measurement units. Default is 0.
YTDrainyear=0 The year for which the YTDrain is to be applied. Default is 0 meaning not applied to any year.
UseDataLogger=1 If selected, at start-up, Cumulus will download data from the stations data logger (if it has one) to catch up from the point where Cumulus was last shut down.
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled (Default)
UseCumulusForecast=0 From the Station Configuration Screen Forecast block, if selected Cumulus will generate a simple weather forecast, if your station does not supply one, or as an alternative to the one supplied by your station. See the Forecast webtag for more information.
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled
UseCumulusPresstrendstr=0 Set in the Station Configuration Screen Settings block. If selected Cumulus will generate the name for the current pressure trend, e.g. "Falling", "Rising quickly" etc, instead of the one supplied by your station. The names used are those in the UK Shipping Forecast. Note that some stations do not supply this anyway, so setting this has no effect (Cumulus always generates the names for those stations).
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled
FCpressinMB=1 Forecast pressure unit as selected in Station Configuration Forecast block
  • 0 = inches
  • 1 = mb
FClowpress=950 Low Pressure extreme limit as entered in the Station Configuration Forecast block. Default is 950mb
FChighpress=1050 High Pressure extreme limit as entered in the Station Configuration Forecast block. Default is 1050mb
UseZeroBearing=0 Set this in the Station Configuration Screen Settings block.
  • 0 = Disabled, Cumulus displays the current bearing read from the station (i.e. the last direction the wind was blowing from before it became calm). Note that the average wind bearing will always display zero bearing if there has been no wind for the last 10 minutes, as the average bearing takes wind speed into account.
  • 1 = Enabled, Cumulus display a bearing of zero (and '---' for the compass point) when the wind is calm
WarnMultiple=0 Multiple Instances of Cumulus running on PC
  • 0 = Disabled, (default) Multiple instances allowed.
  • 1 = Enabled, prevents multiple instances of Cumulus from running. Requires a Cumulus restart to take effect.
CloudBaseInFeet=1 Cloud base measurement unit
  • 0 = metres
  • 1 = feet (default)
RTdisconnectcount=N By default, the 'realtime' ftp connection stays connected. You can make it disconnect periodically by adding an Option to periodically disconnect the realtime FTP connection, the theory being that it will not get stuck if the server dies, and will keep trying to reconnect.

N must be a positive integer. For example set N to '60'; it represents the number of realtime ftp uploads between disconnections - so 60 would give an hour if 1 minute realtime interval selected.

Logging=1 Add to cumulus.ini [Station] section to have Cumulus start with debug logging on
AvgSpeedMinutes=N where N is the number of minutes over which Cumulus calculates its average speed, if you have Cumulus set to do this. Default = 10. If you selected 60, then Cumulus would calculate rolling 60-minute average wind speeds.
AvgBearingMinutes=N where N is the number of minutes over which Cumulus calculates (by treating the wind as a vector and taking into account the speed as well as direction) its average bearing. Default = 10.
ListWebTags=1 Add this entry to make Cumulus create (each time it is restarted) a file called webtags.txt that contains an unsorted list of all the webtags that Cumulus supports
RestartIfDataStops=0 Option to restart Cumulus if data stops. This may fix whatever the problem is; it may not. But it should at least stop the same data being repeatedly logged.
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled
ReportDataStoppedErrors=0 Option to turn off reporting of 'data stopped' errors to the Cumulus error log (may be needed with La Crosse stations)
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled
RainSeasonStart=1 The month of the year that is used as the start of the annual 'rain season'. Default = 1 = January.
RainDayThreshold=-1 The threshold value which the daily rainfall has to equal or exceed for the day to be considered a 'rain day'. Default -1 = 0.2mm or 0.01in. Value is entered in your current Rain_measurement units.
NoFlashWetDryDayRecords=1 When set to 1 stops new Longest Wet/Dry Period records being 'flashed'
UseSpeedForAvgCalc=0 When enabled (=1) Cumulus will use the longer-term 'speed' values in the average speed calculation. The 'Use 10-min average wind speed' option must be selected for this option to have any effect.
HourlyForecast=0 If Cumulus is set to generate a forecast, this setting (=1) causes the forecast to be updated only once an hour (on the hour).
RoundWindSpeed=0 When set to 1, this setting causes wind speeds rounded to the nearest integer.
ErrorLogSpikeRemoval=0 ??keeps the number of messages in the error log window to a maximum of 256?
UVdecimals=1 UV values are now displayed and logged as whole numbers by default. You can change this by adding this entry specifying the number of decimal places.
  • 0 = Integer Values (default)
  • n = Number of decimal places
NoSensorCheck=1 The option (for 'incomplete' stations) to disable the sensor check described in this FAQ
  • 0 = Sensor check enabled (default)
  • 1 = Sensor check disabled

Davis family specific:

Parameter Line Entry Function
[Station] Section name - the following parameters relate to the station configuration.
ForceVPBarUpdate=0 Set this in the Station Configuration Screen Settings block. Select to force the Vantage Pro (and Pro2) barometer to update once a minute instead of the default 15 minutes. Note that you may not need this, more recent stations already update every minute
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled
SyncDavisClock=0 When set, at start-up, Cumulus will set the Davis VP/VP2 clock to the same time as the PC
  • 0 = Disabled, default as deselected on the Station Configuration Screen
  • 1 = Enabled
VP2ConnectionType=0 Weather station connection type as selected in the Station Configuration Screen VP type block
  • 0 = serial
  • 1 = usb
  • 2 = TCP/IP
VP2TCPPort=22222 Comunications port used if VP type has TCP/IP selected. Default is 2222
VP2IPAddr=0.0.0.0 Weather station IP address if VP type has TCP/IP selected. Default is 0.0.0.0
VP2SleepInterval=x where x is sleepinterval in milliseconds

This is the period which Cumulus waits between reads of the data from Davis stations. The default is 500 ms; if you suspect that data is being missed, you could try reducing this figure. For VirtualVP users, tests revealed that VP2SleepInterval = 1100 seems to work the best. It updates every two seconds with few exceptions.

VPClosedownTime=x where x is the number of seconds after the start of the re-connect attempts that you want the program to close itself.
VP2PeriodicDisconnectInterval=0 Causes Cumulus to disconnect for the specified number of seconds, once a minute, on the minute (or as close as possible) to allow the Weatherlink IP to connect to the Davis Weatherlink site. Set it to zero to disable, if you are not using the Weatherlink site.
DavisCalcAltPress=1 Davis stations calculate Sea Level Pressure from Station Pressure using a formula based on several parameters such as temperature, humidity, etc, rather than just using altitude as most other stations. CWOP require 'Altimeter Pressure' to be uploaded, i.e. a value calculated simply using altitude. The station does not provide this value directly, nor the station pressure, so Cumulus has to read some extra data once a minute in order to do the calculation. This can take several seconds, so it means that a 'normal' data reading may be missed.

If you don't use CWOP, or you are happy for Cumulus to send Sea-Level pressure to CWOP (the difference is small unless you are at high altitude), set this value to 0. Cumulus will then use the Sea-Level Pressure value instead of the Cumulus calculated Altimeter Pressure.

  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled (default)
LogExtraSensors=0 Set this to 1 if you have additional sensors (e.g. a Davis Leaf Wetness probe) to make Cumulus read, display, and log the readings from the sensors. You don't need to select this for Solar/UV sensors.

Introduced for problems with Fine Offset family, but may be more widely applicable:

  • Note that spike removal correction may be implemented for La Crosse stations using the EW filter settings below.
  • As Cumulus does not check station type before applying any of these settings, ensure for Davis stations (these do not have spike problems) the spike removal filters are set to the defaults shown below.
  • Stations not recognised by Cumulus may be set to create an EasyWeather_Format file requiring the first two parameters below.
Parameter Line Entry Function
[Station] Section name - the following parameters relate to the station configuration.
EWInterval=0 Easyweather logging interval in minutes as entered in the Station Configuration Screen Settings block. Default is 0 meaning not applicable (as not reading observations from Easyweather software output).
EWFile= Easyweather.dat file path/name as entered in the Station Configuration Screen Settings block.
RestartIfUnplugged=0 Cumulus will restart if it detects that a Fine Offset station is unplugged.
  • 0 = Disabled, default i.e. deselected on the Station Configuration Screen
  • 1 = Enabled as selected on the Station Configuration Screen
EWpressureoffset=x.y Got a pressure problem with a Fine Offset station when the pressure 'offset' that Cumulus reads is garbage, so Cumulus just uses zero? Tell Cumulus what offset to use, by using an external text editor to insert this parameter where x.y is the difference between your station (absolute) and sea-level (relative) pressures, in mb/hPa.
EWminpressureMB=900 Cumulus will ignore all pressure readings from the station that are less than this value (units are always hPa/millbars)
EWmaxpressureMB=1200 Cumulus will ignore all pressure readings from the station that are greater than this value (units are always hPa/millbars)
EWmaxHourlyRain=999 An hourly rain rate 'spike removal' filter for weather stations that do not supply rain rate so cumulus has to calculate it; changes in calculated value greater than the value specified here (set in calibration screen of configuration menu) will be ignored by Cumulus when it calculates the rain rate. Cumulus ignores this parameter for other makes of weather station that supply a rain rate to Cumulus.
EWmaxRainRate=999 A rain rate 'spike removal' filter, changes in calculated value greater than the value specified here (set in calibration screen of configuration menu) will be ignored by Cumulus when it calculates the rain rate. Cumulus ignores this parameter for other makes of weather station that supply a rain rate to Cumulus.
EWgustdiff=999.0 A wind gust 'spike removal' filter, changes in calculated value greater than the value specified here (set in calibration screen of configuration menu) will be ignored by Cumulus
EWwinddiff=999.0 A wind speed 'spike removal' filter, changes in calculated value greater than the value specified here (set in calibration screen of configuration menu) will be ignored by Cumulus
EWpressurediff=999.0 A pressure change 'spike removal' filter, changes in read value from any station greater than the value specified here (set in calibration screen of configuration menu) will be ignored by Cumulus
EWTempdiff=999.0 A temperature change 'spike removal' filter, changes in read value from any station greater than the value specified here (set in calibration screen of configuration menu) will be ignored by Cumulus. Replace 999.0 with the maximum difference in degrees C you are prepared to accept between successive data readings
EWhumiditydiff=999.0 A humidity change 'spike removal' filter, changes in read valuefrom any station greater than the value specified here (set in calibration screen of configuration menu) will be ignored by Cumulus
EWduplicatecheck=0 Add this line to cumulus.ini [Station] section if application gets stuck in the download stage.
SyncFOReads=1 Specifies the Fine Offset synchronisation mode of operation.
  • 0 = default
  • 1 = Re-synchronizes each day
ReportLostSensorContact=0 Option to turn off reporting of 'lost sensor contact' for Fine Offset stations. (added Cumulus 1.9.4 b1070)
  • 0 = reporting off
  • 1 = reporting on (default)

Other weather station/instrument specific:

Parameter Line Entry Function
[Station] Section name - the following parameters relate to the station configuration.
WMR928TempChannel=N For WMR928 stations (and other stations using the same protocol, eg WMR968) to use an 'extra' channel as your main temperature sensor, set N to the required channel
WS2300Sync=1 This makes Cumulus check the time that the station is going to communicate with the sensors, and synchronises all of its reads to be 2.5 seconds after that. Experiments have shown that this does not help the bad data situation.
LCMaxWind=X To use the cumulus.ini setting for the La Crosse max wind speed add to the [station] section, where X is the maximum (uncalibrated) wind speed in m/s that you want to allow. (V1.8.8 Build 874 on)
WS2300IgnoreStationClock=0 Option to ignore the La Crosse station clock on logger download.
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled
RG11port=1 Specifies the COM port to use for Hydreon RG-11 rain detection devices. 1 = COM1. Set on RG11 screen within configuration menu, see its Help for more information.
RG11TBRmode=1 Specifies the Hydreon RG-11 rain device mode of operation.
  • 0 = Rain detection mode - "It's Raining"
  • 1 = Tipping bucket mode. Set on RG11 screen within configuration menu.
RG11tipsize=0.01 Specifies the tipping bucket size for Hydreon RG-11 rain detection devices. The 'tip size' must be specified in the units that you have configured Cumulus to use for rain. Set on RG11 screen within configuration menu.
RG11port2=

RG11TBRmode2=

RG11tipsize2=

Settings to connect a second Hydreon RG-11 rain detection device. Set on RG11 screen within configuration menu.

Note that you must have one RG-11 set to "It's raining" mode and the other to "tipping bucket" mode. Cumulus does not validate this.

Section: Offsets

Set these parameters using the Configuration menu and Calibration screen, nothing else can be added to this section.

Parameter Line Entry Function
[Offsets] Section Name - the following parameters are the correction factors for your specific sensors
PressOffset=0 Value by which Measured Pressure to be corrected (Add/Subtract)
TempOffset=0 Value by which Measured Outdoor Temperature to be corrected (Add/Subtract)
HumOffset=0 Value by which Measured Humidity to be corrected (Add/Subtract)
WindDirOffset=0 Value by which Measured Wind Direction to be corrected (Add/Subtract)
InTempOffset=0 Value by which Measured Indoor Temperature to be corrected (Add/Subtract)
WindSpeedMult=1 Multiplier by which measured Average Wind Speed to be corrected. Officially wind speed is measured with sensors at 10m above ground level. If your sensor is not at 10m AGL then a correction multiplier should be applied using the following formula V10/Vh = 1/(0.233 + 0.656*log10(h+4.75)) where "h" is your sensor height in meters.

e.g. if your anemometer is 5m off the ground, V10/Vh comes out at 1.134

WindGustMult=1 Multiplier by which measured Wind Gust Speed to be corrected.
TempMult=1 Multiplier by which measured Temperature to be corrected.
HumMult=1 Multiplier by which measured Humidity to be corrected.
RainMult=1 Multiplier by which measured Rainfall to be corrected.
UVOffset=0 Value by which measured UV to be corrected (add/subtract).
UVMult=1 Multiplier by which measured UV to be corrected

Section: Web Site

All parameters edited in the Internet Configuration screen Sites/Options tab Web Site block.

Parameter Line Entry Function
[Web Site] Section Name - the following parameters relate to your website
ForumURL=http://sandaysoft.com/forum/ A website forum URL
WebcamURL=http://www.sanday.org.uk/webcam/webcam.php URL for your Webcam

Section: FTP Site

See individual entries for how to edit these parameters.

Parameter Line Entry Function
[FTP site] Section Name - the following parameters relate to your website FTP parameters
Host= Selected in the Internet Configuration screen Sites/Options tab. This is either the name or the IP address of the ftp server to which you connect when you upload pages to your web site. You probably used it with an external FTP program when you followed the instructions in the Cumulus help, Readme.txt or Simple_Website_setup.

Leave blank if you are not using ftp, but simply creating the output files on your pc.

Port=21 Selected in the Internet Configuration screen Sites/Options tab. Port used for FTP upload, default =21
Username= Select in the Internet Configuration screen Sites/Options tab your web site FTP login Username
Password= Shows your web site FTP login password as entered in the Internet Configuration Screen (note: this is not encrypted)
Directory= Selected in the Internet Configuration screen Sites/Options tab. Directory (including path) on your server to which FTP will upload the files. Starting point is the position specified by ftp server (see Host above)
AutoUpdate=0 Set in the Internet Configuration Screen Web Settings block.
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled, Cumulus will automatically upload your processed web pages to your web site at regular intervals (as specified by the 'Update Interval') using FTP to the directory as specified in 'Directory'.
UpdateInterval=15 Set in the Internet Configuration screen Sites/Options tab Web Settings block in Interval box. The interval in minutes at which you wish auto updates (either FTP to your website or output to a directory on your pc) to occur. Default 15 minutes.
IncludeSTD=1 Selected in the Internet Configuration Files Tab screen
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled, (default) the standard web files provided with Cumulus will be processed and uploaded at each web update.
IncludeSTDImages=1 Selected in the Internet Configuration Files Tab screen
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled,(default) the standard image files generated by Cumulus (graphs, etc) will be uploaded at each web update to a subfolder of the 'Directory' you specified called 'images'.
EnableRealtime=0 Set in the Internet Configuration screen Sites/Options tab Web Settings block.

The realtime.txt file contains various weather parameters and is used by the CumulusRealtime.swf (shock wave flash) real time wind gauges (as on the supplied 'gauges' web page).

  • 0 = Disabled (default) If you have the 'auto update' option set (and a suitable interval configured), Cumulus will create the realtime.txt file at the specified normal update Interval (not the Realtime Interval) so that you can specify it as an extra file to upload during the 'normal' upload, or use it for any other purpose on your PC.
  • 1 = Enabled, Cumulus will create the realtime.txt file, and upload it to your web site, at the interval specified by Realtime Interval (see below).
RealtimeInterval=3000 Set in the Internet Configuration screen Sites/Options tab Web Settings block. The time in seconds between uploads of the realtime.txt file.
RealtimeFTPEnabled=0 Selected in the Internet Configuration screen Sites/Options tab Web Settings block
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, Cumulus will establish an FTP connection to your web site, so that the realtime.txt file, and any other files you specify, can be uploaded when realtime processing takes place. The 'EnableRealtime' setting must be set to 1 for this setting to have any effect.
RealtimeTxtFTP=0 Selected in the Internet Configuration screen Sites/Options tab Web Settings block

When set to 1 Cumulus will upload the realtime.txt to your web site during realtime processing. The 'EnableRealtime' and 'RealtimeFTPEnabled' settings must both be set to 1 for this setting to have any effect.

ActiveFTP=0 Set in the Internet Configuration Screen Sites/Options tab Web Settings block
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, Cumulus will use 'active' FTP mode instead of the default 'passive' mode. You should only select active mode if you are having problems with FTP uploads.
FTPRename=0 Selected in the Internet Configuration screen Sites/Options tab Web Settings block
  • 0 = Disabled default,
  • 1 = Enabled, the new update is loaded using temporary names, files are renamed on the sever afterwards
DeleteBeforeUpload=0 Selected in Internet Configuration Screen Sites/Options tab Web Settings block
  • 0 = Disabled default
  • 1 = Enabled, files are deleted from sever before the new update is loaded
ResizeGraphs=0 Selected in the Internet Congfiguration Screen Web graphs block.
  • 0 = Disabled (default) Cumulus uploads the default 750 x 300 pixel graphs.
  • 1 = Cumulus resizes the large graph images when creating them for upload to your web site. Specify the required height and width in the corresponding boxes. Note that the images are simply scaled to the new size; there will be some loss of quality
GraphHeight=300 Graph height, default is 300 (pixels)
GraphWidth=750 Graph width, default is 750 (pixels)
ImageFolder= Set in Internet Configuration Screen Files tab. Path and file name in LOCAL folder to which the generated image files are also copied at each web update interval, either the 'normal' interval, or the 'realtime' interval, depending on next parameter. Used if you want backups of generated images. See Cumulus Help.
ImageCopyRealtime=0 Set in Internet Configuration Screen Files tab.
  • 0 = files copied in 'normal' interval each web update (default)
  • 1 = files copied in 'real time' interval.
ExtraLocal[0-9]= Set in Internet Configuration Screen Files tab. Path and file name on local computer for alternate files #0 through #9. See cumulus Help for details of how to specify reading current monthly log here.
ExtraLocal[10-99]= Path and file name on local computer for alternate file #10 through #19. These additional files can only be set via the configuration file, they are not visible in the Internet Configuration screen Files tab.
ExtraRemote[0-9]= Path and file name on web server for alternate files #0 through #9. Set in Internet Configuration Screen Files tab. See cumulus Help for details of how to specify creating current monthly log here.
ExtraRemote[10-99]= Path and file name on web server for alternate file #10 through #19. These additional files can only be set via the configuration file, they are not visible in the Internet Configuration screen Files tab.
ExtraProcess[0-9]=0 Set in Internet Configuration Screen Files tab.
  • 0 = Disabled, (default) file will not pass through the cumulus 'tag processor'.
  • 1 = Enabled, file will be passed through the 'tag processor' in Cumulus, in the same way that the standard Cumulus web pages are. This allows to you to create your own web pages into which Cumulus will insert the various weather parameters. See the "Web tags" section of the help file for a list of the tags which you can use. Cumulus will create a temporary file to hold the processed version of your file and then upload that.
ExtraProcess[10-99]=0 Set in this config file only.
  • 0 = Disabled, file will not pass through the cumulus 'tag processor'.
  • 1 = Enabled, file will be passed through the 'tag processor' in Cumulus, in the same way that the standard Cumulus web pages are. This allows to you to create your own web pages into which Cumulus will insert the various weather parameters. See the "Web tags" section of the help file for a list of the tags which you can use. Cumulus will create a temporary file to hold the processed version of your file and then upload that
ExtraBinary[0-9]=0 Set in Internet Configuration Screen Files tab.
  • 0 = not binary (e.g. HTML file)
  • 1 = Binary (e.g. images)
ExtraBinary[10-99]=0 Set in this config file only.
  • 0 = not binary (e.g. HTML file)
  • 1 = Binary (e.g. images)
ExtraRealtime[0-9]=0 Set in Internet Configuration Screen Files tab. If you select this for any files, you will also need to select the Realtime option.
  • 0 = Disabled, (default) file uploaded as part of normal upload
  • 1 = Enabled, file uploaded during Realtime upload
ExtraRealtime[10-99]=0 Set in this config file only. If you select this for any files, you will also need to select the Realtime option.
  • 0 = Disabled, file uploaded as part of normal upload
  • 1 = Enabled, file uploaded during Realtime upload
ExtraFTP[0-9]=1 Set in Internet Configuration Screen Files tab.
  • 0 = Disabled, File copied to the location specified in the Remote Filename box.
  • 1 = Enabled, (default) File uploaded by FTP

Not intended for standard Cumulus web pages (tick box at top of screen, missing files will be ignored), nor for NOAA reports (FTF for them set up in NOAA Setup within Configuration menu).

ExtraFTP[10-99]=1 Set in this config file only.
  • 0 = Disabled, File copied to the location specified in the Remote Filename box.
  • 1 = Enabled, File uploaded by FTP
ExternalProgram= The name (including path) of a command-line program to be run at the 'normal' web update interval, after all of the processing has been performed.
ExternalParams= The corresponding 'paramaters' for 'ExternalProgram' used to specify any parameters to be passed to the command.
RealtimeProgram= The name (including path) of a command-line program to be run at the 'realtime' web update interval, after all of the processing has been performed.
RealtimeParams= The corresponding 'paramaters' for 'RealtimeProgram' used to specify any parameters to be passed to the command.
DailyProgram= The name (including path) of a command-line program to be run once a day, after the daily 'rollover' has been performed.
DailyParams= The corresponding 'paramaters' for 'DailyProgram' used to specify any parameters to be passed to the command.

Section: Display

Set these parameters using Configuration menu and either Display or Colours screens.

Parameter Line Entry Function
[Display] Section heading - the following parameters affect the way things are displayed.
Heading=My Weather Title Heading on the Main Screen. Set in the Display Configuration Screen General block
SavePosition=0 If set to 1, the current position of the main window will be saved to Cumulus.ini#Section:_MainForm when Cumulus closes, and the window will open again at that position the next time Cumulus starts.
StartMinimised=0 If set to 1, Cumulus will start with the main window minimised, either to the system tray or the task bar, depending on the 'MinimizeToTray' setting (see next parameter).
MinimizeToTray=0 Set in the Display Configuration Screen General block
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, causes Cumulus to appear as an icon in the system tray when it is minimized. The icon will flash if a record is broken or an error occurs. Double click on the icon to restore the main window (or right click on the icon and use the pop-up menu).
ForecastCentred=0 Set in the Display Configuration Screen General block.
  • 0 = Disabled, (default) Forecast appears left justified on main screen
  • 1 = Enabled, Forecast appears centred on main screen
FontColour=4227327 Decimal code for the screen font color
BackColour=12632256 Decimal code for the application background color
HeadingColour=10485760 Decimal code for the screen heading color
ClockColour=-16777201 Decimal code for the main screen clock background color (
DisplaySolarData=0 Set in the Display Configuration Screen General block.
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = causes Vantage Pro solar data (ET, UV and Solar radiation) to be displayed on the main screen (if supported by the station), or extra sensor data in the case of Oregon WMR-928 stations.
DisplayCloudBase=0 Set in the Display Configuration Screen General block.
  • 0 = Disabled, (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, the calculated cloud base is displayed on the main screen. The calculation is a simple one; 1000 feet for every 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit difference between the temperature and the dew point.
TwelveHourClock=0 Set by left click on clock on main screen
  • 0 = 24Hr clock mode
  • 1 - 12 Hr am/pm clock mode
WMR928Channel1Caption=Extra channel 1 Set the captions on the main screen which are displayed along with the extra channel data for WMR928 stations.
WMR928Channel2Caption=Extra channel 2 Set the captions on the main screen which are displayed along with the extra channel data for WMR928 stations.
WMR928Channel3Caption=Extra channel 3 Set the captions on the main screen which are displayed along with the extra channel data for WMR928 stations.
WindGaugeRange=50 Sets the default full scale deflection of the wind speed gauge
SnowUnitText=cm Snow measurement unit. Default is cm. Can be any unit you like, but all values must be an integer (without any decimal part)!
DisplayHumidex=0 Set in the Display Configuration Screen General block
  • 0 = Disabled (default) Heat_index displayed on main screen. The heat index is calculated only if the actual temperature in the shade (not in direct sunlight) is above 27 °C (80 °F), so normal temperature shown here for cooler temperatures.
  • 1 = Enabled, calculated Humidex value to be displayed on the main screen instead of Heat Index. Note that Cumulus displays degrees C or F for Humidex, whereas strictly speaking it is unitless. This is for the convenience of those who use Fahrenheit but would still prefer to see Humidex displayed, where it might be confusing to show the unconverted value.
LegendSymbolWidth=3 The width of the plot lines in graph legends
WindRoseColour=8388608
ShowCurrentConditions=0 Set in the Display Configuration Screen General block
NumWindRosePoints=16 Set in the Display Configuration Screen Graphs block

The number of points to plot on the Wind Rose diagram (suggest 8 for FO stations)

ChartLineWidth=2 The width of the plot lines in the graph body
ClockDigitColour=4227327
WindRoseTransparency=50
WindGaugeAnimated=1 Animate the Wind Gauge pointer movement
  • 0 = Disabled,
  • 1 = Enabled (default)
WindGaugeAnimationFactor=2 This sets the speed of the wind gauge animation. Lower values correspond to a faster animation speed. Be careful not to set the animation too slow, particularly with stations which update frequently (e.g. Davis) as the animation will never catch up, and will use significant CPU time.
CompassColour=12632256
CompassTickColour=16711680
CompassLabelColour=16777215
CompassBearingColour=0
CompassCurrentPointerColour=255
CompassAveragePointerColour=16711680
WindRoseLabelColour=0
TransparentGauges=0 The square backgrounds of the three wind gauges on the Cumulus main screen can be the same colour as the main window background, or, with this option selected, the images will be processed to make the background colour transparent.
LogFTPErrors=1 Controls logging of FTP errors to the Cumulus Error Dialog display, set to 0 to suppress the logging of FTP errors.
LabelColour=0 Parameter labels on main screen - default black. Note alarm conditions can change label colour (see next 2 parameters).
AlarmColour=255 Parameter labels on main screen - default red - when an alarm is set for that parameter
PastAlarmColour=16711680 Parameter labels on main screen - default blue - when an alarm is cleared for that parameter
PanelHeadingFontColour=0
PanelLineColour=0
PanelBorderColour=8421504
PanelGradientColourFrom=16777215
PanelGradientColourTo=13226453
WindGaugeArcColour=16773091
WindGaugeTickColour=9841920
WindGaugeFontColour=9841920
WindGaugeInnerCircleColour=16765615
WindGaugeNeedleColour=128
WindGaugeInnerCentreColourFrom=16765615
WindGaugeInnerCentreColourTo=16765615
WindGaugeOuterCentreColourFrom=16765357
WindGaugeOuterCentreColourTo=16711680
WindGaugeOuterCircleColour=16765615
WindGaugeOuterRimColour=9470064
WindGaugeAverageSectorColour=32768
WindGaugePeakSectorColour=33023
WindRoseAxesColour=8388608
WindGaugeNeedleShineColourFrom=1049273
WindGaugeNeedleShineColourTo=328090
DisplayBeaufortDesc=1 Set in the Display Configuration Screen General block

If set to 1, the Beaufort description of the current average wind speed will appear in the header of the wind panel on the main screen. If set to 0, it will instead appear as a 'tool tip' for the wind panel.

DisplayBarometerTrendText=1 If set to 1, the description of the current barometer trend will appear in the header of the barometer panel on the main screen. If set to 0, it will instead appear as a 'tool tip' for the barometer panel.
UpdateAtStartup=1 If set to 1, the the display will be updated as data is downloaded and processed from the station's logger. This increases the time taken to process the data. If set to 0, it makes the download faster; this may be significant if there is a lot of data to download.
IndependentGraphsWindow=0
DigitBackground=0

Section: Graphs

Set many of these parameters using Configuration menu and either Display (Graphs block) or Colours screens. Set the colours of the data lines on graphs/charts and Select whether to plot particular data by using View menu and Graphs option, then right click over the relevant graph. Set the SAG colours and axis position by using View menu and Select-A-Graph option, the settings for different observations are at the foot of the screen.

Parameter Line Entry Function
[Graphs] Section Name - the following parameters relate to your graph settings
GraphHours=12 The number of hours data to be displayed in temperature (outdoor, heat index, wind chill, dewpoint and apparent temperature), humidity, rainfall rate, rainfall, pressure, solar radiation, UV index, wind speed and wind direction graphs.

You can enter any multiple of 12 from the Display Settings Screen, and you can also edit cumulus.ini and set this item to any other value. But note that setting it to a non-standard value is unsupported (i.e. if it causes problems, I probably won't fix them) and if you change any display settings, the value will get reset to a supported value (so you'll need to edit cumulus.ini again).

ChartMaxDays=7 How many days of values to plot on the daily min/average/max temperature, daily sunshine, and daily rain charts (default=7)
Background=12632256 Decimal value for the Graph and Chart background colour.
WindColour=65535 Decimal value for the 10 minute average wind speed plot colour
GustColour=8421376 Decimal value for the Wind Gust plot colour
RainColour=9527753 Decimal value for the Rain plot colour
RainTodayColour=9527753 Decimal value for the Rain Today plot colour
TempColour=9527753 Decimal value for the Outside Temperature plot colour
HeatIndexColour=16711680 Decimal value for the Heat Index plot colour
AppTempColour=8388736 Decimal value for the Apparent Temperature plot colour
PressColour=9527753 Decimal value for the Pressure plot colour
WindDirColour=255 Decimal value for the Wind Direction plot colour
DewPointColour=255 Decimal value for the Dew Point plot colour
WindChillColour=32768 Decimal value for the Wind Chill plot colour
MinTempColour=16711680 Decimal value for the Minimum Temperature chart plot colour
MaxTempColour=255 Decimal value for the Maximum Temperature chart plot colour
AvgTempColour=32768 Decimal value for the Average Temperature chart plot colour
DailyRainColour=32768 Decimal value for the Daily Rain chart plot colour
InsideTempColour=0 Decimal value for the Inside Temperature plot colour
InsideHumColour=255 Decimal value for the Inside Humidity plot colour
OutsideHumColour=16711680 Decimal value for the Outside Humidity plot colour
Graph3D=0 3D or normal graph selection as selected in the Display Configuration Graphs block
  • 0 = normal graph selected
  • 1 = 3D graph selected
PlotLatestGust=0 Plot Latest Gust selection as selected in the Display Configuration Graphs block
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled
OriginIsSouth=0 Wind Direction Graph Y Axis origin
  • 0 = North as Origin (default)
  • 1 = South as Origin
ShowFreezingLine=0 Draw a horizontal line on the temperature graph at 0°C/32°F
TempVisible=1 Select whether to plot the outside air temperature on the temperature graph
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled
HIVisible=0 Select whether to plot the heat index on the temperature graph
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled
DPVisible=1 Select whether to plot the dewpoint values on the temperature graph
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled
WCVisible=1 Select whether to plot the wind chill values on the temperature graph
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled
AppTempVisible=1 Select whether to plot the apparent temperature values on the temperature graph
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled
InHumVisible=1 Select whether to plot the indoor humidity values on the humidity graph
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled
OutHumVisible=1 Select whether to plot the outdoor humidity values on the humidity graph
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled
GraphGradientEnabled=0 Use gradient shading on the graph background
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled
GradientStart=12632256
GradientMiddle=16777215
GradientEnd=8421504
SAGintempcolour=32768 (Select-A-Graph)
SAGouttempcolour=255
SAGpressurecolour=16711680
SAGraintotalcolour=8388608
SAGrainratecolour=16776960
SAGgustcolour=16711935
SAGpeakgustcolour=65280
SAGspeedcolour=8388736
SAGinhumcolour=32896
SAGouthumcolour=8388608
SAGheatindexcolour=128
SAGwindchillcolour=8421504
SAGwinddircolour=0
SAGdewpointcolour=8421376
SAGsolarradcolour=65535
SAGmaxsolarradcolour=16711935
SAGapptempcolour=0
SAGuvindexcolour=65280
SAGintempaxis=L (Select-A-Graph)
SAGouttempaxis=L
SAGpressureaxis=L
SAGraintotalaxis=L
SAGrainrateaxis=L
SAGgustaxis=L
SAGpeakgustaxis=L
SAGspeedaxis=L
SAGinhumaxis=L
SAGouthumaxis=L
SAGheatindexaxis=L
SAGwindchillaxis=L
SAGwinddiraxis=L
SAGdewpointaxis=L
SAGsolarradaxis=L
SAGmaxsolarradaxis=L
SAGapptempaxis=L
SAGuvindexaxis=L
SAG3D=0
SAGgradientback=0
SAGleftgrid=1
SAGrightgrid=1

Section: Alarms

Set these using the Edit menu, Alarms screen.

Parameter Line Entry Function
[Alarms] Section Name - the following parameters relate to your alarm settings
alarmlowtemp=0 Select in Edit Alarms Screen
  • 0 = Disable low temperature alarm (default)
  • 1 = Enable Low temperature alarm
LowTempAlarmSet=0 Setting for low temperature alarm point (degrees)
LowTempAlarmSound=0 Alarm Action
  • 0 = Disable, (default) no sound on alarm
  • 1 = Enable sound on alarm
LowTempAlarmSoundFile=C:\Cumulus\alert.wav Path and file name of sound file for Low Temperature alarm
alarmhightemp=0 Select in Edit Alarms Screen
  • 0 = Disable high temperature alarm (default)
  • 1 = Enable High temperature alarm
HighTempAlarmSet=0 Degrees above which alarm will occur.
HighTempAlarmSound=0 Alarm Action
  • 0 = Disable, (default) no sound on alarm
  • 1 = Enable sound on alarm
HighTempAlarmSoundFile=C:\Cumulus\alert.wav Path and file name of sound file for High Temperature alarm
alarmlowpress=0 Select in Edit Alarms Screen
LowPressAlarmSet=0 Pressure below which you wish Low Pressure alarm to occur
LowPressAlarmSound=0 Alarm Action
  • 0 = Disable, (default) no sound on alarm
  • 1 = Enable sound on alarm
LowPressAlarmSoundFile=C:\Cumulus\alert.wav Path and file name for sound file to play for Low Pressure Alarm
alarmhighpress=0 Select in Edit Alarms Screen
  • 0 = Disable low High Pressure alarm (default)
  • 1 = Enable High Pressure alarm
HighPressAlarmSet=0 Pressure above which you wish High Pressure alarm to occur
HighPressAlarmSound=0 Alarm Action
  • 0 = Disable, (default) no sound on alarm
  • 1 = Enable sound on alarm
HighPressAlarmSoundFile=C:\Cumulus\alert.wav Path and file name for the sound file used for the High Pressure Alarm
alarmhighraintoday=0 Select in Edit Alarms Screen
  • 0 = Disable High Rain today alarm (default)
  • 1 = Enable High Rain today alarm
HighRainTodayAlarmSet=0 Rain level above which alarm to occur
HighRainTodayAlarmSound=0 Alarm Action
  • 0 = Disable, (default) no sound on alarm
  • 1 = Enable sound on alarm
HighRainTodayAlarmSoundFile=C:\Cumulus\alert.wav Path and file name for the sound file used for the High Rain Today Alarm
alarmhighrainrate=0 Select in Edit Alarms Screen
  • 0 = Disable High Rain Rate alarm (default)
  • 1 = Enable High Rain Rate alarm
HighRainRateAlarmSet=0 Rain rate above which you wish alarm to occur
HighRainRateAlarmSound=0 Alarm Action
  • 0 = Disable, (default) no sound on alarm
  • 1 = Enable sound on alarm
HighRainRateAlarmSoundFile=C:\Cumulus\alert.wav Path and file name for the sound file used for the High Rain Rate Alarm
alarmhighgust=0 Select in Edit Alarms Screen
  • 0 = Disable High Gust alarm (default)
  • 1 = Enable High Gust alarm
HighGustAlarmSet=0 Gust speed above which you wish alarm to occur
HighGustAlarmSound=0 Alarm Action
  • 0 = Disable, (default) no sound on alarm
  • 1 = Enable sound on alarm
HighGustAlarmSoundFile=C:\Cumulus\alert.wav Path and file name for the sound file used for the High Gust Alarm
alarmhighwind=0 Select in Edit Alarms Screen
  • 0 = Disable High Average Wind alarm (default)
  • 1 = Enable High Average Wind alarm
HighWindAlarmSet=0 Average Wind speed above which alarm to occur
HighWindAlarmSound=0 Alarm Action
  • 0 = Disable, (default) no sound on alarm
  • 1 = Enable sound on alarm
HighWindAlarmSoundFile=C:\Cumulus\alert.wav Path and file name for the sound file used for the High Wind Alarm
SensorAlarmSet=0 Select in Edit Alarms Screen
  • 0 = Disable sensor contact lost alarm (default)
  • 1 = Enable sensor contact lost alarm
SensorAlarmSound=0 Alarm Action
  • 0 = Disable, (default) no sound on alarm
  • 1 = Enable sound on alarm
SensorAlarmSoundFile=C:\Program Files\Cumulus\alert.wav Path and file name for the sound file used for the Sensor Contact lost Alarm
alarmtempchange=0 Select in Edit Alarms Screen
  • 0 = Disable Temperature Change alarm (default)
  • 1 = Enable Temperature Change alarm
TempChangeAlarmSet=0 Temperature change value to trigger the alarm
TempChangeAlarmSound=0 Alarm Action
  • 0 = Disable, (default) no sound on alarm
  • 1 = Enable sound on alarm
TempChangeAlarmSoundFile=C:\Program Files\Cumulus\alert.wav Path and file name for the sound file used for the Temperature Change Alarm
alarmpresschange=0 Select in Edit Alarms Screen
  • 0 = Disable Pressure Change alarm (default)
  • 1 = Enable Pressure Change alarm
PressChangeAlarmSet=0 Pressure change value to trigger the alarm
PressChangeAlarmSound=0 Alarm Action
  • 0 = Disable, (default) no sound on alarm
  • 1 = Enable sound on alarm
PressChangeAlarmSoundFile=C:\Program Files\Cumulus\alert.wav Path and file name for the sound file used for the Pressure Change Alarm

Section: WUnderground

Set in the Internet Configuration Screen sites/Options tab

Parameter Line Entry Function
[Wunderground] Section Name - Parameters for your Weather Underground site
ID= Your Weather Underground station identifier (note: not your user name).
Password= Your Weather Underground password. (note: not encrypted)
Enabled=0 Set if you wish to upload to your Weather Underground site
  • 0 = Disabled, (default) no Weather underground site
  • 1 = Enabled, data sent at the interval specified below
RapidFire=0 'rapid fire' mode.
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, You should also tick 'Enabled'. Rapid fire updates occur every 5 seconds.
Interval=15 Time in minutes between uploads to Weather Underground. (default = 15)
SendUV=0 Current UV value
  • 0 = Disabled (default) no UV info sent
  • 1 = Enabled, UV value sent with the data
SendSR=0 Solar Radiation
  • 0 = Disabled (default) no solar data sent
  • 1 = Enabled, Solar Radiation value sent with data
SendAverage=0 Causes average wind speed and directon to be sent rather than instantaneous/gust speed and direction.
  • 0 = Disabled (default) instantaneous/gust speed data sent
  • 1 = Enabled, average wind speed sent with data
CatchUp=1 If possible send missing historic data to the server on startup
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled (default)

Section: Twitter

Set in the Internet Configuration Screen sites/Options tab

Parameter Line Entry Function
[Twitter] Section Name - the following parameters relate to your Twitter site parameters
User= your Twitter login username
Password= your Twitter login password (note: this is not encrypted)
Enabled=0 Set in Internet Configuration Screen Twitter block
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, tweats sent at the specified interval.
Interval=60 interval in minutes that Tweats will be sent.
OauthToken= Twitter inserted authentication token parameter - you can delete this line with Cumulus stopped
OauthTokenSecret= Twitter inserted authentication token parameter - you can delete this line with Cumulus stopped

Section: PWSweather

Set in the Internet Configuration Screen sites/Options tab

Parameter Line Entry Function
[PWSweather] Section Name - the following parameters relate to your PWS weather site parameters
ID= Your PWS Weather station identifier (note: not your user name)
Password= your PWS weather site login password (note: this is not encrypted)
Enabled=0 Select in Internet Configuration Screen PWS Weather block
  • 0 = Disabled (default) no data sent to PWS
  • 1 = Enabled, data sent to PWS at the specified interval
Interval=15 Interval in minutes that updates will be sent to your PWS weather site
SendUV=0 Current Ultra Violet level
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, UV level sent with normal data
SendSR=0 Solar Radiation level
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, Solar radiation reading sent with normal data
CatchUp=1 If possible send missing historic data to the server on startup
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled (default)

Section: APRS

Set in the Internet Configuration Screen sites/Options tab

Parameter Line Entry Function
[APRS] Section Name - the following parameters relate to your APRS weather site parameters
ID= Your APRS identifier
pass=-1 your APRS password (Note: not encrypted)
server=cwop.aprs.net The APRS server to use
port=14580 The port number to use on the APRS server.
Enabled=0 Select in Internet Configuration Screen APRS Settings block
Interval=9 Time in minutes between uploads to the APRS server
APRSHumidityCutoff=1 For Oregon Scientific, so it doesn't report humidity to APRS when the temperature is below -10°C
SendSR=0 Solar Radiation level
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, Solar radiation reading sent with normal data

Section: WOW

Set in the Internet Configuration Screen sites/Options tab

Parameter Line Entry Function
[WOW] Section Name - the following parameters relate to your WOW weather site parameters
ID= Your WOW station ID
Password= your WOW password (Note: not encrypted)
Enabled=1 Updates enabled/disabled
Interval=15 Time in mimutes between uploads to the WOW server
SendUV=0 Current Ultra Violet level
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, UV level sent with normal data
SendSR=0 Solar Radiation level
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, Solar radiation reading sent with normal data
CatchUp=1 If possible send missing historic data to the WOW server on startup
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled (default)

Section: Weatherbug

Set in the Internet Configuration Screen sites/Options tab

Parameter Line Entry Function
[Weatherbug] Section Name - the following parameters relate to your Weatherbug weather site parameters
ID= Your Weatherbug station ID
Password= your Weatherbug password (Note: not encrypted)
Enabled=1 Updates enabled/disabled
Interval=15 Time in mimutes between uploads to the Weatherbug server
SendUV=0 Current Ultra Violet level
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, UV level sent with normal data
SendSR=0 Solar Radiation level
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled, Solar radiation reading sent with normal data
CatchUp=1 If possible send missing historic data to the server on startup
  • 0 = Disabled
  • 1 = Enabled (default)

Section: xAP

Set in the Internet Configuration Screen sites/Options tab

Parameter Line Entry Function
[xAP] Section Name - the following parameters are used if you have enabled xAP in the Station Configuration xAP Settings block
Enabled=0 When set, Cumulus will periodically send out xAP weather reports. See http://www.xapautomation.org/ for more details
  • 0 = Disabled (default)
  • 1 = Enabled
UID=4375 Sets the UID for xAP messages. You should only need to change this if you have more than one instance of Cumulus running on a network.
Port=3639 IP port your computer uses to send data to xAP

Section: NOAA

All these can be set in the NOAA Setup Screen in Configuration menu. You might select to close Cumulus, and edit the 'Norm' parameters by using a external editor to manipulate into required format, copy, and paste, the values from another source (as there are a lot of figures to type in).

Parameter Line Entry Function
[NOAA] Section Name - the following parameters are set from the NOAA Setup dialog in Cumulus
Name= Your NOAA Station name
City= NOAA location city
State= NOAA location state/county/province or the equivalent in your nation
12hourformat=0 Use 12 or 24 hour time format in the reports
  • 0 = 24 hour format (default)
  • 1 = 12 hour format
HeatingThreshold= The temperature which is to be used to calculate heating degree days
CoolingThreshold= The temperature which is to be used to calculate cooling degree days
MaxTempComp1=27 The value used in the reports for the counts of days with max temperatures above the specified temperature.
MaxTempComp2=27 The value used in the reports for the counts of days with max temperatures below the specified temperature.
MinTempComp1=0 The value used in the reports for the counts of days with min temperatures below the specified temperature.
MinTempComp2=-18 The value used in the reports for the counts of days with min temperatures below the specified temperature.
RainComp1=0.2 The value used in the reports for the counts of days with rain totals greater than (or equal to) the specified amount.
RainComp2=2 The value used in the reports for the counts of days with rain totals greater than (or equal to) the specified amount.
RainComp3=20 The value used in the reports for the counts of days with rain totals greater than (or equal to) the specified amount.
AutoSave=0 If set, when Cumulus does the end of day reset, it will auto create NOAA-style reports for the month and year corresponding to the day which has just ended.
NOAAUseUTF8=0 (Added in Cumulus 1.9.4 beta build 1078) Specifies the 'Character set' in which NOAA reports are generated whether automatically (by Cumulus just after rollover) or manually (by selecting Save in NOAA Monthly/Annual Reports screen within Edit menu).
  • 0 = Uses the encoding used for the viewer's operating system's default ANSI code page.
  • 1 = Uses UTF8 ((UCS Transformation Format—8-bit) format - the dominant character encoding for the World-Wide Web as using one to three bytes it represents most characters in common use covering most languages.
NOAATempNorm[Jan-Dec]= Long term temperature averages for each month, used for 'departure from the norm' calculations.
NOAARainNorm[Jan-Dec]= Long term rainfall averages for each month, used for 'departure from the norm' calculations.
AutoFTP=0 If set, when Cumulus does the first FTP upload after the daily reset, it will also upload the latest auto-created monthly and yearly NOAA-style reports. Note that you must already have regular (non-realtime) FTP configured.
MonthFileFormat="NOAAMO"mmyy".txt" Defines the format of the filename used for the monthly reports, using date formatting characters (see Webtags#Time.2FDate_.27format.27_Parameter). The default uses a 2 digit number for the month, but you may prefer the full month name or an abbreviation in your language. Note that any characters which are not date formatting characters should be in double quotes.
YearFileFormat="NOAAYR"yyyy".txt" Defines the format of the filename used for the yearly reports, using date formatting characters (see Webtags#Time.2FDate_.27format.27_Parameter). Note that any characters which are not date formatting characters should be in double quotes.
FTPDirectory= The FTP directory into which Cumulus will attempt to upload the latest NOAA-style reports. You must give the full path from the point of login, and do not supply a trailing 'slash'. Note that the directory must actually exist on the server.

Section: Solar

Set mostly in solar block at foot of Station Settings screen of Configuration menu.

Parameter Line Entry Function
[Solar] Section Name - the following parameters are set from the Solar Setup dialog in Cumulus
SunThreshold=75 If you have a solar sensor: Cumulus tries to determine whether the sun is shining by determining whether the current solar radiation value is above a certain percentage of the current theoretical maximum. The value you supply here is used as that percentage. The default value is 75%.
RStransfactor=0.8 Cumulus uses the Ryan-Stolzenbach formula to determine the current theoretical maximum solar radiation at your location at the current moment in time. This formula has a factor to allow for the transmission of the radiation through the atmosphere; the default is 0.80.
SolarMinimum=0 This setting allows you to specify a minimum solar radiation value which needs to be reached before it can be considered to be sunny. Note that this setting does not replace the calculation using the current theoretical maximum, it specifies an additional condition which has to be met. This setting therefore allows you to cater for the periods at the beginning and end of the day when the theoretical maximum is very low.
LuxToWM2=0.0079 Edit cumulus.ini to add this parameter if you have a Fine Offset station with a solar detector. These supply 'Lux' values rather than 'W/m2' values that Davis stations supply. Cumulus attempts to convert from Lux to W/m2 using the supplied multiplication factor.
UseBlakeLarsen=0 Called B/l on screen. Set this to 1 if you have a Blake-Larsen Sun Recorder, and you want Cumulus to get today's sunshine hours from it. You need to configure the Blake-Larsen software to put the SRsunshine.dat file into the Cumulus data folder so that Cumulus can read it.

Section: MainForm

This section also appears in a shorter cumulus.ini stored in the reports sub-directory where it stores the position of your last saved NOAA form. Cumulus updates this section of the main cumulus.ini on closing, after you move the screen around on your monitor, if you have set 'Save main window position' on Display settings screen.

Parameter Line Entry Function
[MainForm] Section name - the following parameters relate to the Cumulus screen position.
Left=100 The last saved Cumulus main screen position, in pixels from the left-hand edge of the screen.
Top=50 The last saved Cumulus main screen position, in pixels from the top edge of the screen

Section: Proxies

Cumulus 1.9.4 beta build 1061 introduces these. Currently, search the forum using the term 'proxies' for more details. They will be described here when 1.9.4 becomes a full release, currently they are being tested.

HTTPProxyName=

HTTPProxyPort=

HTTPProxyUser=

HTTPProxyPassword=