Own weather web site server & lightning detector
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2016 6:45 pm
After several trials and a few software bugs I have finally managed to host my own website. No longer having to rely on a 3rd-party for their service I am hosting my Otter Valley Weather website on my own hard drive on my weather computer. There is a program within Windows 10 (and earlier versions) called IIS (Internet Information Services) that can be activated and it is then relatively straightforward to get Windows to act as a website server running in the background. It uses minimal CPU and memory and yet the size of your website is only limited by the size of your hard drive.
I am on fibre-to-cabinet here with an upload speed of around 10 Mbits/second, this is more than enough for a fast outgoing web connection, much faster (and more reliable) than the service I used to pay for (at £37 per year). All I had to do was get my web addresses (www.ottervalleyweather.me.uk or www.ottervalley.co.uk) to point to a free dynamic domain website (because I don't have a static IP address) and there you have it. It's been running for a couple of months now without a hitch and it seems to be very quick and very reliable.
Also, I have recently installed a lightning detector. A few problems getting the old lightning detector PCI hardware installed on my PCI Express motherboard but all sorted now. There is still a lot of calibration to do so the real time lightning strikes can occasionally be way off the mark. I have installed the antenna on a 3 metre plastic pole on the side of the house. The maximum detection range seems to be around 600 kms but due to the hills around I think in some directions that is rather hopeful. It's early days yet but tracking the recent thunderstorms has been very interesting. You can view the lightning stikes in real-time on my website. Any feedback on the website, layout, lightning detection etc would really be appreciated.
I am on fibre-to-cabinet here with an upload speed of around 10 Mbits/second, this is more than enough for a fast outgoing web connection, much faster (and more reliable) than the service I used to pay for (at £37 per year). All I had to do was get my web addresses (www.ottervalleyweather.me.uk or www.ottervalley.co.uk) to point to a free dynamic domain website (because I don't have a static IP address) and there you have it. It's been running for a couple of months now without a hitch and it seems to be very quick and very reliable.
Also, I have recently installed a lightning detector. A few problems getting the old lightning detector PCI hardware installed on my PCI Express motherboard but all sorted now. There is still a lot of calibration to do so the real time lightning strikes can occasionally be way off the mark. I have installed the antenna on a 3 metre plastic pole on the side of the house. The maximum detection range seems to be around 600 kms but due to the hills around I think in some directions that is rather hopeful. It's early days yet but tracking the recent thunderstorms has been very interesting. You can view the lightning stikes in real-time on my website. Any feedback on the website, layout, lightning detection etc would really be appreciated.