Setup Guide

How to connect your station, and the data PWS Dash shows from each provider.

In the app, open Add station, choose a provider, and enter the fields below. PWS Dash saves a station only after a current reading succeeds. Credentials are saved on your device and sent to that provider when PWS Dash requests readings.

Already connected? Choose a refresh interval when sharing a key with other apps or devices.

Weather Underground

The Add station fields are Station ID, API key, and Station name (optional). Tap Save station.

  1. Sign in at Weather Underground's API keys page. That page asks you to sign in before it shows a key. Copy the key into API key.
  2. Sign in and enter the station ID Weather Underground assigned to your personal weather station in Station ID. Personal Weather Station Network is Weather Underground's overview of the network.
  3. Station name (optional) is the name PWS Dash uses. Leave it blank to use the name from the station report.

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Ambient Weather

The fields are API key and Application key. Tap Find my devices, choose a device, then optionally enter Station name (optional) and tap Save station.

  1. Sign in at Ambient Weather and create both keys on the account page, under Account, then API Keys. That is the path in the Ambient Weather REST API and in the app.
  2. Enter those keys in API key and Application key, then tap Find my devices.
  3. Choose the device. PWS Dash lists the name, location, and MAC from that account. Only a device with a current report can be saved.

Year history is not available for Ambient Weather. Day, Week, and Month use the station's records.

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Ecowitt

On iPhone the fields are MAC or IMEI, Application key, API key, and Station name (optional). On Android the identity field is labeled Device MAC or IMEI. The other labels match. Tap Save station.

  1. Create an application key and an API key in your Ecowitt account, then enter them in Application key and API key. Ecowitt's API documentation is here.
  2. Enter the weather station's MAC address or IMEI in MAC or IMEI (Android: Device MAC or IMEI).
  3. Station name (optional) is the name in PWS Dash. The MAC or IMEI stays the device identity.

Rain comes from one gauge: the tipping-bucket rainfall group when the station reports it, otherwise the piezo gauge. PWS Dash does not add the two together.

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The fields are API key, API secret, and Station ID. There is no station name field. Tap Save station.

  1. Sign in and open the WeatherLink account page.
  2. Click Generate v2 Key. Copy the API key into API key and the API secret into API secret. Generating again replaces the secret and keeps the same API key. Davis documents this on the v2 API tutorial and the authentication page.
  3. Enter the station ID in Station ID. Davis accepts the integer station ID from the stations API, or the UUID in the browser address bar when that station is open on WeatherLink.com. It is not the Device ID (DID). See What is a Station ID?

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PWSWeather

The fields are Station ID, Client ID, and Client secret. iPhone also has Station name. Android labels that field Station name (optional). Either way the name can be left blank. Tap Save station.

  1. Share the station on PWSWeather. The contributor plan includes a free Xweather API account.
  2. Register an application on that account. Xweather's authentication guide calls the credentials a client ID and secret key. The common queries page says they are under the Apps section of the members area. Enter them in Client ID and Client secret.
  3. Enter the station ID in Station ID. You can include or omit the PWS_ prefix. PWS Dash stores it with that prefix. The observations endpoint uses the same id form.

PWS Dash does not show a rain rate or a separate 24-hour rain total for PWSWeather.

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Weewx

Choose a JSON skin first. On Android the heading is Choose your JSON skin. The choices are weewx-json (weewx.json or current_minimal.json) and Belchertown (weewx_data.json). Then enter HTTPS JSON file URL and Station name (optional), and tap Test & save.

  1. For weewx-json, install the extension so it writes weewx.json into the report folder. The weewx-json readme says wee_extension --install adds that file to HTML_ROOT. The smaller file is the current_minimal.json template.
  2. For Belchertown, install the skin and publish its site where you can open it over HTTPS. The quick start is on weewx-belchertown. The skin generates weewx_data.json from json/weewx_data.json.tmpl.
  3. Paste the full address of the published file into HTTPS JSON file URL. It has to be HTTPS, end in .json, and it cannot include a username, password, or fragment.

Current conditions are read from your published file. History charts aren't available from these files.

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Refresh interval

Open your station's Connection settings, then Refresh interval. Enter seconds, including decimals such as 2.4, and tap Save interval. The default is 60 seconds. The app clamps smaller values to the minimum for your provider and your saved stations sharing that key.

The info button beside the field explains the provider's limit and shows these tables. A connection is any app, device or station polling with the same key or configured JSON address. Each station counts separately, even on the same device. PWS Dash counts your own saved stations automatically; add other apps and devices when choosing a longer interval.

The tables divide the short request window by its request budget and multiply by connections, rounding up to a tenth of a second. For more than five connections, multiply the 1-connection value by the number of connections. Hourly, daily and subscription allowances still apply; choose a longer interval when needed. Recent current readings can be reused for up to 60 seconds, and existing History caching and retry handling stay in place.