Weather station data via USB and the HID Human Interface Device port.

[dave_vic_ozz1]

I need to get data from a Weather Station via USB. 

This is the device but sold as Digitech in Australia (Jaycar) and most likely rebadged many times over.

http://www.foshk.com/Weather_Professional/WH1081.htm

Inserting the USB (I have not installed the software) I see the device appear in the HID Human Interface Device of my Control Panel.

My preference is to read data into Labview using the default HID driver. I have trialled Joystick, keyboard and Mouse .vi examples and I can see a USB mouse but cannot see the Weather Station.

Here is the weather Station as seen by Device Manager (copy paste)

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb238/dave_vic_ozz/NI_USB_weather_Station.jpg

I am running Win XP64.

A lot of the forum documents on USB and HID suggest creating a RAW USB driver. They also suggest these drivers require reloading if the system is rebooted. I cannot do this manually on the computer as it will be in a remote location hence why I am interested to use the HID standard driver.

So my first question is, in the  VISA, how do I point to the HID USB location, VID 1941 and  PID 8021  to get any data as it arrives?

Dave

[Anna_K.]

Hello,

First, if you want to use LabVIEW to talk with your device, you will have to do this on another machine since NI LabVIEW is not supported on XP 64bit.

Then, install and investigate the driver that comes with your device, does it have a LabVIEW API? What API does it provide? You should not use VISA if this device already has a specified driver.

[dave_vic_ozz1]

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah XP64 😞 I will have 7 very soon.

The software may have a driver but it will be part of an EXE file. I am unsure of other unwanted items in the file as I need to do a lot on my machine and don't need the grief.

I was hoping to use the generic HID driver to access the data. Is that possible?

Dave 

[dave_vic_ozz1]

I have just loaded MAX on this computer.

How do I point to a HID device in Labview using MAX?

Dave

[Dennis_Knutson]

You don't point to a hid device in MAX. If you want to interface to a HID device, you use the Call Library Node Function. There is no need for the device to appear in MAX unless you are prepared to delete the driver from the vendor, get the low level protocol from them, and write the driver from scratch. Even to use the hid dll, you will need the api from the vendor.

[dave_vic_ozz1]

Thanks.

I have loaded the NI-VISA s/w and I can now see the HID connected weather station but it tells me I do not have admin privileges. Most likely as I am on XP64. Yes, I know it is not supported but it is company policy as WIN 7 not supported in other software applications.

I have a new PC coming this week with 7 and I will do all this again then.

[Dennis_Knutson]

Why did you run the VISA wizard. Did you see any recomendation from anyone in this thread to do that? Do you think that will be easier to figure out than the driver the vendor is actually using?

[dave_vic_ozz1]

The vendor does not supply or load a driver for the device.

[Dennis_Knutson]

You've already said they use the HID driver and they should be able to provide details on how they interface to that. Why do you think creating your own (which the vendor has never heard of), is going to be simpler than using a driver that they obviously have a lot of experience with? Do you think you'll be able to immediately start communicating with VISA with no help from the vendor on the protocol?

[dave_vic_ozz1]

Dennis,

Thanks for your replies.

My problem is simple. I have a device I need to read and a willingness to have a go at doing it. I do not have any support from the device manufacturer. I am sure many will have had this situation before. So I need to reverse engineer the comms from the device.

I know it can be seen as a HID in device manager, I am confident there is a way to get LabView to read the Comms, I just have to do it. 🙂

I accept this is quite a challenge. I hope I can do it. I will need some help along the way.

Dave.