Table of Contents

General

1. How do I get a demo or working version of HortPlus products?
2. Tell me about updates and upgrades
3. Dr David Manktelow tells all about Fireblight!
4. How does MetWatch help with secondary (conidial) Black spot infections?
5. What is a GDD?
6. What is a Chill Unit?

MetWatch

1. Forecast is not updating

Weather stations and weather information

1. Are there any special considerations with the cylindrical vs flat plate leaf wetness sensors?
2. How To Determine Which Weather Station Access Software You Are Using
3. After Jan 1, 2001 I started having problems with accessing weather stations
4. What do I need to know about weather station leaf wetness sensors?
5. How do I automate getting data from my weather stations?
6. Any tips on setting up a Campbell weather station?

Spray Log

1. How flexibile is the Spray Log?  Will it fit into my operation?
2. Problem with setting up Spray Log after an update
3. I cannot see any reports listed in Spray Log
4. How do I add a new material in Spray Log?
5. I have a database problem.  How do I repair it?
6. I am getting error messages about aliases after updating
7. Backup and Restore programme will not let me use D: drive

MetWatch

1. I already have a weather station.  Can MetWatch use data from this station?
2. Will the MetWatch disease models work in my district?
3. Are there other disease infection risk models available
4. What about disease models that are still in the research phase?
5. The disease display in MetWatch is blank.  What is happening?
6. MetWatch seems to be "frozen".  What is happening?
7. I get a "validity" error" when downloading a weather station - why?
8. I think I am having Y2K date related problems.  What do I do?
9. I can download the weather station, but no data shows in MetWatch
10. Any tips on creating a new met data file?
11. How do I fill in a gap in my weather data?
12. Every time I download weather data I seem to get weeks of data.
13. How do I add a new weather station or update access details?
14. Is it possible to add text data to the MetWatch disease information?
15. How do I import temperature data from the Quick Measure Temperature Loggers?
16. Error when importing data that spans daylight savings settings
17. How do I import "extra" weather variables for use in MetWatch?
18. Getting an error such as "... is not a valid floating point value"
19. Loading data from a Tiny Tag recorder and getting message "Time is not a valid time"
20. I get an error: "Exception EReportPrinter in module...".
21. No data shows in MetWatch, and the title bar shows a very odd date.

Weather Forecast

1. When does my annual subscription run out, and how do I renew?
2. Any hints on interpreting the Forecast Viewer output?
3. What does "Timed Out" mean when trying to get the weather forecast?
4. Why does the list of weather forecasts show a different weather station to mine?
5. How do I get a table of numbers for the forecast in addition to the graph?
6. Now I can see the table of numbers for the forecast, how do I print it?
7. I get an error "Host not found"

MetWatch Online

1. Forecast is not updating

Quick Measure Calipers System

1. My Quick Measure Calipers System icons are missing!
2. How Do I Set Time and Date on Workabout?
3. Problem communicating between Psion Workabout and PC using RCOM
4. Troubleshooting connection problems with PsiWin
5. How do I splice two files together to import to Link Master?
6. 'Type Mismatch' when commiting data to database
7. How do I take a screen shot of the Workabout for use in a report?

Quick Measure MicroLogger (Temperature) System

1. The Starter Kit looks great!  What do I do with it now?
2. How do I use Quick Measure Temperature Logger data in MetWatch?
3. How accurate are the temperate loggers?

Ascospore Release Model

1. What is the difference between the red and blue bars on rainfall graph?

Quick Measure Penetrometer System

1. How do I have the penetrometer system send data to Access rather than Excel?
2. I am occasionally getting a series of erroneously low readings on the penetrometer
3. What does the electronic penetrometer actually measure
4. I get low readings  sent through every once in a while
5. What is the approximate resolution of the Penetrometer System
6. Maturity Monitor software will not run

AND Weigh Scales

1. How do I setup the AND weigh scales for use with the Dry Matter module

Lab Automation Software

1. Sample Reception: Selecting Maturity Area information

Forecast is not updating

If the forecast is not updating in MetWatch Online it is likely that your internet browser's cache is full.  To clear the cache:

In Internet Explorer 6:

In Internet Explorer 7:

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How do I get a demo or working version of HortPlus products?

Demos of most HortPlus products can be downloaded from this web site.  Click the following link to go to the download page for HortPlus products.  Most demo versions of our products can be converted to fully working copies by running an authorisation programme that we will send you when you decide to purchase.

HortPlus products can be purchased from re-sellers, or direct from HortPlus.   On-line sales are coming, but in the meantime you just need to contact us and we can tell you about payment options. 

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Tell me about updates and upgrades

HortPlus is continually refining and improving its products.

Free updates are often made available to clients and they can be downloaded from the web.  Return to the home page, select Support, then select updates. 

Major upgrades will occasionally be released, for which there is usually a charge.   Older versions of the software will continue to be supported for 18 months from the release of a new version.

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Will the MetWatch disease models work in my district?

Yes but you may need to do some validation first to gain confidence. Every effort has been made to ensure the reliability of the models but they have not been tested for every situation. We advise you to take a cautious approach to using the models in an area where they have not been tested.

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How does MetWatch help with secondary (conidial) Black spot infections?

A grower wrote in "I seem to have been caught with a primary blackspot infection, which
I don't want to turn into a major secondary infection.  Does HortPlus Metwatch predict when a condia infection has ocurred?"

Dr Robert Beresford of HortResearch provides the answer.  "Metwatch lists potential conidial infection events when you click 'yes' to night start in options. However, in a situation where severe primary infection has become established, there is no alternative but to maintain good fungicide cover for the rest of the season. It is strongly recommended to follow the black spot assessment protocol in the IFP manual. That assessment should be done about early December, and fungicide decisions should be based on the monitored black spot level, as a well as on occurrence of conidial infection periods."

So while MetWatch can provide you with information on secondary conidia infection events, you will need to exercise a different control strategy from primary infection events.

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Are there any other disease infection risk models?

There is a wide range of disease models available throughout the world.  We plan to incorporate some of these into MetWatch. This will depend on demand so if you have a favorite model contact us.  You might be surprised how quickly the model can be incorporated into MetWatch.

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What about disease models that are still in the research phase?

For models still under development, we plan to release a research version of MetWatch that will allow you to enter and manipulate the parameters for the model.  Contact us if this is of interest to you.

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What is a GDD or GDH?

GDD stands for Growing Degree Day and it used to monitor the effect of temperature during the season on crop growth, development and maturity.  It is calculated by subtracting a base temperature from the daily average temperature. If the number is less than 0, the GDD is 0.  If  the average daily temperature is 15ºC and the base temperature is 10ºC there are 5 GDD’s.  The base temperature is assumed to be the temperature at which plant development slows or stops.  GDD’s for each day are usually added together to give a GDD accumulation.  This accumulation can be used as a comparison with previous years or to estimate the time for a crop to reach maturity.

Similarly Growing Degree Hours (or GDH) are calculated using the same principles, but using hourly temperature data rather than averge daily temperature.   Some researchers will convert GDH to a psuedo-GDD by dividing the daily total of GDD by 24.  

It is important when comparing GDD or GDH that you know how they have been calculated so that you are comparing like with like.

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What is a Chill Unit?

A Chill Unit measures temperature below a base temperature to give a measure of how cold a period of time such as the winter has been, similar to the way a GDH or Growing Degree Hour provides a measure of plant response to warmth.

Follow this link for a more detailed answer about chill units.

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Are there any special considerations with the cylindrical vs flat plate leaf wetness sensors?

Flat plate leaf wetness sensors are the de facto standard sensor for monitoring leaf wetness for use with disease models such as those found in Hortplus' MetWatch software.   However, cylindrical sensors do have some very useful characteristics and are being used increasingly, especialy on some of the stand alone weather stations such as the TinyTags.  There are some issues around how best to interpret the information from these sensors. Dr Robert Beresford of HortResearch offers this advice: 
(1) Set the Leaf Wetness Threshold to the midrange of the readings, and
(2) Set Canopy Drying Time to a longer setting such as 8 hours.
Typically the cylindrical sensors are only wetting up to around 80% at full reading in which case use MetWatch's menu item Options | General to set the Threshold to 40% (1/2 of the range). And set Canopy Drying Time to 8 hours.

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How To Determine Which Weather Station Access Software You Are Using

HortPlus weather station access is provided by two different software packages. Newer modems require the "32-bit" version of the software, while many modems can use the "16-bit" software.

To determine which weather station access software you are using:

1. Start your weather station access software as you normally do, but do not call the station.
2. Click on Help | About
3. If the version information mentions "32-bit" or "enhanced" then you are using the 32-bit version of the software. Otherwise you are using the "16-bit" version.
4. While you are looking at the version information, check the date of release information. If it is 1999, you should update your weather station access software by going to the HortPlus web site where you can get a free update: www.hortplus.com/Updates/Updates.htm

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After Jan 1, 2001 I started having problems with accessing weather stations

Some of the Campbell weather stations experienced a bit of a problem with the midnight record occuring between December 31, 2000 and January 1, 2001. In technical jargon, this causes the Hortplus weather station downloading software to spit the dummy!  A free update which enables the weather station access software to handle this problem is available to clients by clicking here.  If you do not know which version of the weather station access software to download, check the article on how to determine which access version you are using.

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I already have a weather station.  Can MetWatch use data from this station?

MetWatch allows data from many logger types to be imported but the data must be in a specific format.  We currently directly support downloading from weather stations produced by Campbell, GPSE, Metos, Environdata, and MCS.  Data from other weather stations can be imported with the Edit|Load Met Data From File menu item.   This is covered in the on-line help of MetWatch. 

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How flexibile is the Spray Log?  Will it fit into my operation?

One of you e-mailed us with a comprehensive list of quesitons about the Spray Log.   We thought that these well thought out questions would be on a lot of people's minds!  Follow this link to see the Question and Answer session.

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I get a "validity" error" when downloading a weather station - why?

Sensors on the weather stations can drift over time or malfunction.  Humidity probes for example are often prone to drift and you will begin to see readings exceeding 100% humidity.   Ranges of valid readings are set for each type of weather variable, and readings outside these limits (eg over 100% humidity will trigger the software to alert you to the problem).

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What do I need to know about weather station leaf wetness sensors?

Leaf wetness is extremely important in assessing disease risk.  Drying of the leaves for a certain minimum time will break the disease development cycle and "reset the clock".  A variety of sensors have been developed to enable automatic monitoring of leaf wetness, generally based on the principle of reduced resistance to an electrical current as the sensor becomes wetted.  An explanation and comparison of leaf wetness sensors has been undertaken by Henshall and Beresford.  

For a very detailed treatise on the complexities and uncertainties of measuring leaf wetness check out "The Leaf Surface Wetness Duration Home Page"

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Problem with setting up Spray Log after an update

When the HortPlus Spray Diary is installed on some computers that have previously been running Orchard 2000 a problem may occur with Paradox aliases and/or directories.   Check out the following article on how to overcome this problem if it should occur.

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I cannot see any reports listed in Spray Log

Some users find that whey they first install Spray Log, the list of reports on the Reports tab is blank.  This is a  result of incomplete information in the file called Diary.ini which should reside in your C:\Windows folder.  Ensure you have a file in your Windows folder called Diary.ini and that it contains at least the following information:

;DEFAULT SETTINGS FOR THE ORCHARD DIARY

;Various preference settings
[System]
DefaultTask=SPR
WeatherConditions=5
Reports=4
RunMenuItems=1
ReportsDir=c:\orch2000\apps\spraylog\reports
DefaultWaterRate=2000
DefaultWaterConc=1
SeasonStartMonth=8

[Weather Conditions]
Condition1=Calm
Condition2=Light breeze
Condition3=Moderate breeze
Condition4=Strong breeze
Condition5=Overcast

[Report1]
Name=Block Material Costs
ExeName=D_COST.EXE

[Report2]
Name=Material Use Report
ExeName=D_USE.EXE

[Report3]
Name=Enza/Watties Report
ExeName=D_ENZA.EXE

[Report4]
Name=Grape Report
ExeName=D_GRAPE.EXE

Note that the entry ReportsDir=C:\HortPlus\apps\spraylog\reports
may vary with the directory into which you have installe Spray Log.
Ex-Orchard 2000 users will likely need this entry to read ReportsDir=c:\orch2000\apps\spraylog\reports

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How do I add a new material in Spray Log?

Adding a new product to the SprayLog database can be a bit confusing the first time. Once you understand how the information is organised, you will find it very easy to do.  See the following article for full details on how information is organised in Spray Log, and how to add new materials to the database.

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I have a database problem.  How do I repair it?

If you suspect that you have a problem with the Spray Log database you can run the database fix utility which we provide to you for FREE.  Follow this link to download the database fix utility.  Running the fix utility on a database that is not damaged is not a problem, you will not create a problem where none existed before.

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I am getting error messages about aliases after updating

After updating to the 32-bit verions of SprayLog some users are reporting error messages to do with aliases not being found or not existing.  On the CD from which you installed SprayLog you will find a file called "Idapi32.exe".   Use Windows explorer to find the file, then double-click on it to run it.   This will extract a new aliases configuration file and save it to the right directory for you.  If you have one of the very early 32-bit SprayLog Update CDs you will need to download and run the file from this link.

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Backup and Restore programme will not let me use D: drive

If you installed Spray Log to a drive other than the C:\Hortplus folder you will have discovered a wee bug where the Backup and Restore utility will not point at the right folder!  As a workaround to this problem you will need to create a text file on your C: drive in the Windows folder called C:\Windows\Orch2000.ini   into which you will enter the lines:

[Global]
Directory=d:\hortplus

Make sure you use the square brackets for the first line, and then save the file as a text file.  Next time you start Backup and Restore all should be well!  Modify the "Directory=" entry to reflect the folder where you installed.

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How do I automate getting data from my weather stations?

Some people do not like to select the weather station and then start the download process, they would like the process more automated.  If you add the phrase "start exit" (without the quote marks) to the end of the command line used to run each station then download will run seamlessly, eg add "start exit" to the shortcut you use to download a weather station:

C:\HORTPLUS\APPS\METLOAD\METLOAD.EXE XXX.ini start exit

where XXX is the three letter code for the weather station.  Note that there is a short delay when MetLoad first comes on screen to allow the computer to wake up from sleep mode if you are running the shortcut from a scheduler.

You may find that the automation process is hampered by the "DOS box" not closing down when the download is completed but before the data is processed.  In this case, you will need to right-click on the blue title bar when the DOS box is showing, and select properties from the menu that is displayed. You will see a box labelled something like "Close on Exit" on the program tab. Put a tick into that box, then click apply and exit.  You only nee to do this once to set the property.

If you are looking for total automation, you can use the Scheduler found in Windows 98 or Norton's Scheduler to automate the downloading of weather stations.  So for example you can have the computer automatically call up your weather station(s) at 7:00 each morning. 

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Any tips on creating a new met data file?

MetWatch stores weather data in a file with the extension "que".  A new file is created in MetWatch using the menu item File | Create Met File.  A setup wizard will step you through creating a new file.  By convention we create a new data file in MetWatch to store the weather data from one weather station for one year.  In the Southern Hemisphere our growing season the spans calendar years, so it makes the most sense to have a data file which is in synch with the growing season.  We use 1 June as the starting date for the met file, and 31 May as the end date.

Each weather station is usually assigned a three-letter code name.  We use these in the file naming conventions.  When you need to input the name for the new file use a combination of: station name, start year, stop year.  So for example for a file for Manatuke, Gisborne (MTK) for the 1999/2000 growing season you would create a file called MTK9900
ie start date 1/6/1999,  end date 31/5/2000

MetWatch calculates the time of sunrise and sunset for use in some of the disease models, so you need to know the latitude and longitude of the weather station when creating a new met file.  

When creating the met file you will also be asked when daylight saving starts and stops.   In New Zealand daylight saving normally starts the first Sunday of October, and ends the third Sunday of March.  If you do not adjust the time on the weather station for daylight saving, then say "no" in response to the relevant question as shown below.

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Any tips on setting up a Campbell weather station?

The following information comes from weather station guru Warwick Henshall at HortResearch.  Thanks Warwick for these notes on how you set up the HortResearch weather stations!

(1) For temp probes housed in a small screen, we keep a 10-min running average, and use that for max & min air temps. This is to make max/min approximate a Stevenson screen (longer time constant than small metal or plastic screen).

(2) Our logger time stays on NZST. During daylight savings, the 9am output is at 0800 NZST; otherwise at 0900.   Note that when you create a MetWatch file you are asked about when daylight saving starts and finishes; and if the weather station's time is changed for daylight saving.

(3) Output arrays are:

Array 20 hourly:
Array ID,Day,Time(Hour-Min),DB Temp(Av),WB
Temp(Av),Wetness(Av),Rainfall(Total), then anything else.
At a few sites there is no DB temp.

Array 30 "9 am":
Array ID,Day,Time(Hour-Min),MinTemp,MaxTemp,Rain(Total),then
anything else such as Grass Min, Wind Run if recorded.

Array 50 midnight:
Array ID,Day,Time(2400),MinT,MaxT,Year,MinBattery

(So the year only appears in Array 50.)

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The disease display in MetWatch is blank.  What is happening?

If there are no disease events to show on a screen in MetWatch, the top panel will show nothing at all, including no day/night white/gray bars.  This is correctly reporting that there is no disease events; however, without the bars it is a bit disconcerting!   This will be changed in a future release of MetWatch so that the day/night bars are always shown regardless of whether there are any disease events to show. 

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MetWatch seems to be "frozen".  What is happening?

If you are viewing a disease summary or weather summary on screen and then switch to another application - say Excel to paste in some weather data, you may come back to MetWatch and find it "frozen".  You can see the MetWatch screen, but you cannot press any buttons or select any menu items.  What has happened is that the form you were previously looking at for the weather or disease summary is lurking in the background and needs to be made visible before you can proceed.  To make the form visible you need to hold down the "Alt" key on you keyboard, adn then press "Tab".  This brings up a list of running programmes which you scroll through by pressing the "tab" key (while still holding down the "Alt" key).  When you find the hidden form, release both alt and tab and you should see the missing form which you can now close. This will be fixed in a future updated.

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I think I am having Y2K date related problems.  What do I do?

There are a couple of things to do to make HortPlus products Y2K compliant. 

Firstly, you need to ensure that you set the computer's date format to a four digit year.  The next time you restart the programme the new format should be in effect.   To change the date format:

For many programmes this is enough to give you Y2K compliance.  However, there are downloads available for MetWatch and SprayLog users which will make them Y2K compliant.   The following link will take you to the appropriate location to download the updated software.

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I can download the weather station, but no data shows in MetWatch

Firstly, make sure that the date range to display, including the year, is correct!   This is often the source of the problem when you have been viewing data from different years.

If the date is set correctly, it is likely that you have changed "years".   By convention a MetWatch weather file holds one calendar year of data.  Also by convention in the Southern Hemisphere we use the year from June 1 to 31 May.  Around June 1 of each year you will want to create a new weather data file to hold the weather station data, and to modify the download software so that the new data is put into the new file.

Contact HortPlus to update your weather station access.

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How do I fill in a gap in my weather data?

Normally your downloading software is set to collect data off of the weather station starting at the last time you accessed the station.  If you have a problem downloading a weather station it may result in a gap in the weather data you have on file.   To force the downloading of data which covers the gap period, try the following:

1. Select Start|Programs|HortPlus|Modem Setup
2. Change the "Weather Station Download Method" to "Fixed Number of Days". Enter a number e.g. 50
3. Click Save
4. Download the weather station [this may take some time]
5. Select Start|Programs|HortPlus|Modem Setup again
6. Change the "Weather Station Download Method" back to "All Data Since
   Last Call"
7. Click Save.

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Every time I download weather data I seem to get weeks of data.

The normal way to configure the software for downloding the weather stations is to only pick up new data collected since the last download.  You probably have the software setup in one of the other modes used to fix specific problems.  To set the downloading software to pick up only new data:

1. Select Start|Programs|HortPlus|Modem Setup
2. Change the "Weather Station Download Method" back to "All Data Since
   Last Call"Click Save
3. Click Save.

Next time you download you should only get the new data downloaded.

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How do I add a new weather station or update access details?

You have emailed me a file, or sent me a disk, for accessing a weather station - what do I do with it?!

1. If the file was e-mailed to you, copy the attached file onto a floppy disk
2. Put the floppy disk with the weather station file into the appropriate place!
3. Select Start|Programs|HortPlus|Station Update Utility
4. Click Add Weather Station
5. Hightlight the three letter code for the weather station and click OK
6. Close the program and you are ready to download the station

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Is it possible to add text data to the MetWatch disease information?

Yes!  You can add text information to the top (disease) panel of MetWatch using a trick involving the menu item Load / Spray Diary.  Clients have reported using this feature to add text information to MetWatch output ranging from peticide applications to an organic grower's displaying phases of the moon.

1. Setup the data to show in a spreadsheet with one column being the date(s) where information is to be shown, and the column immediately to the right containing the information to display.  Each text string can be up to 5 characters in length.
2. Ensure that the date format of the cells containing the date(s) is set to dd/mm/yyyy which you do by highlighting the relevant cells, selecting Format/Cells/Number/Date and setting to dd/mm/yyyy
3. Next highlight the cells containing the date/text data, and copy it to the windows clipboard (ie Edit/Copy)
4. Paste the information into MetWatch with the Load/SprayDiary option in MetWatch.

Copying text data into MetWatch is very useful for reports and analysis, and takes about 1/10 the time it took you to read these instructions!  The most common mistake made is to not set the date format to dd/mm/yyyy

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How do I import temperature data from the Quick Measure Temperature Loggers?

You can import data from the Quick Measure Temperature Loggers into MetWatch to use MetWatch's analysis and graphing features for Growing Degree Days, Chill Units, etc.   Create  a new weather file by opening MetWatch, selecting menu item File | Create Met File, and then following the instructions. DO NOT specify any dates for daylight savings as there is a bug that will cause the import routine to throw a wee wobbly.  This will be corrected in a future release.

When you export data from the Quick Measure Temperature Loggers you will create a text file.  This file can be re-aranged to provide the correct format for importing into a MetWatch file.  One way to do this is to import the file into Excel (File | Open | Files of Type Text File.  Select Delimited and click Next.  Highlight Tab as a valid delimiter.  Click Next then Finish. 

Scroll down through the area of the resulting spreadsheet containing summary information.  At around row 92 you will see the first of your temperature data with date and time in one column and the temperature data in the column next to it.

Assuming the data starts in row 92, copy these formula into the appropriate columns and then copy the formulas down for each row of data.

Now you can copy the columns C to G containing the date, time, and temperature data by highlighting it and selecting Edit | Copy.  Run MetWatch, open the MetWatch file into which you want to enter the temperature data, click Load | Load Data From Met File.   Put a tick in the temperature box only, remove the tick from any other weather variables.  Ensure that Tab is selected as the data separator as shown in the screen shot below.

Click in the blank area ABOVE the red line, hold down shift and press Insert (Shift-Insert) on the keyboard and your data should appear.  Click OK and the data will be imported into the MetWatch file.

It is a lot quicker than it sounds! 

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Error when importing data that spans daylight savings settings

If you import data (eg temperature data from Quick Measure Temperature Loggers) that spans the end of daylight saving you will get an error message.  This is confirmed as a bug in MetWatch that will be fixed in a future update.

To work around this problem open the MetWatch file, select menu item Edit | Station details. Get to the section on daylight saving and set the start and end dates well away from the period of interest, eg to beginning of file - 1 June - and end of file 31 May.   You should now be able to import the data.

If you need more information on importing temperature data from Quick Measure Temperature Loggers into MetWatch click here.

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How do I import "extra" weather variables for use in MetWatch

MetWatch files can hold data from up to eight weather station probes.  Four are pre-assigned to Air temperature, Leaf Wetness, Rainfall, and Relative Humidity.  The remaining four variables can be assigned to hold data from any weather station probe recording on an hourly basis.

The following example show how to edit the initialisation file for the 16-bit weather station download software.  The initialisation file for each weather station can be found in the Metload folder, usually C:\HortPlus\Apps\MetLoad.  For the 32-bit software you will edit the file GetMet32.ini in an analogous manner (found in C:\HortPlus\Apps\GetMet32).  One last comment... note the shape of the curly brackets in the example "{ }"

Step 1

Start MetWatch and select Edit|Station Details from the top menu. Click
next until you see the Finish button. From here you can add the names of
the extra met variables. Take a note of which Met variable is in each
column [5 6 7 or 8].  Close MetWatch.

Step 2

Start windows explorer and go to the c:\hortplus\apps\metload directory.
Find the INI file corresponding to each weather station and double click
to edit.  (Use C:\HortPlus\Apps\GetMet32\GetMet32.ini if using the 32-bit dialler).

Add entries to the ini file as shown below.  Note that this is just an
example which illustrates how to set up, the variable names and their location in the output file may be different:
  Wind Speed in column 9 of the output file
  Wind Direction in column 10 of the output file
  Soil temp 100mm in column 7 of the output file
  Soil temp 300mm in column 8 of the output file

The 4 lines for the humidity entry have been shown as a point of reference for where to add the extra information.  Do not alter any of the information already in the file.

HumidityLocation=11
HumidityRecording=1
HumidityOffset=0
HumidityMultiplier=1

{Wind Speed}
Met5Location=9
Met5Recording=1
Met5Offset=0
Met5Multiplier=1

{Wind Direction}
Met6Location=10
Met6Recording=1
Met6Offset=0
Met6Multiplier=1

{Soil temp 100mm}
Met7Location=7
Met7Recording=1
Met7Offset=0
Met7Multiplier=1

{Soil temp 300mm}
Met8Location=8
Met8Recording=1
Met8Offset=0
Met8Multiplier=1

Save the initialisation file, download the station, and use the MetWatch menu item View | Additional Weather Records to view the data. 

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Getting an error such as "... is not a valid floating point value"

There are a couple of possible reasons for this. 

This is an error usually seen by European users!  MetWatch uses the non-European convention of the "." character as the decimal indicator.  Europeans often use the comma as the decimal indicator.  You can easily set the decimal indicator to "." by changing your Windows Regional Settings.

Click Start | Settings | Control Panel | Regional Settings | Number

then set the Decimal Symbol to "." (without the quotes of course), and click on Apply then OK.

Re-start MetWatch and all should be well.

We have also seen this error crop up with an Australian client importing data from a non-Campbell weather station.  Despite all number and date formats being set explicitly with control panel regional settings, it was not until they changed the language setting from English(Australian) to English(New Zealand) that the error went away.  We are working on this area of MetWatch.

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Loading data from a Tiny Tag recorder and getting message "Time is not a valid time"

Not our fault!  The later versions of the GLM software shipped by Gemini with your Tiny Tag loggers now append information to the logger's title which causes the title to be too long for MetWatch to handle.  The solution is to shorten down the title of your logger to say three letters using the Gemini GLM software.  (Connect your logger to the PC, run Gemini GLM software, Connect, then alter title and save.  Talk to your Gemini Tiny Tag dealer if you need further instructions on this).  HortPlus will change MetWatch in a future update to accomodate Gemini's ad hoc change.

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I get an error: "Exception EReportPrinter in module...".

The error "Exception EReportPrinter" occurs when there is a problem encountered with a printer driver in Windows.  The solutions is to re-install the printer driver.  To do this:

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No data shows in MetWatch, and the title bar shows a very odd date.

This is an interesting one!  Thanks to Reid Fletcher for catching it. 

That should be it.  Next time you run MetWatch all should be well with the world.

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When does my annual subscription run out, and how do I renew?

To find out when your annual subscription for the weather forecast terminates run the Forecast Retrieval System and select menu item File | Register forecast.  The date listed as Expiry Date is the end of your forecast subscription period. 

When you are ready to renew your subscription:

We will send you your new registration code as soon as we receive payment from you along with a tax receipt.  Your new subscription period will start right after your current subscription period runs out, so you do not lose any subscription time by renewing a bit early.

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Any hints on interpreting the Forecast Viewer output?

Click on the image below to see a larger version... one you might be able to read!   This will open a new window which you can close with the upper right hand corner "X" after you are done with it.

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What does "Timed Out" mean when trying to get the weather forecast?

"Timed Out" is a general computer term which means that two computers or devices have not been able to establish communications with each other in a pre-set amount of time.  After you select the forecast(s) to retrieve and then click on "Get Forecast", a command is sent to your Internet Service Provider's (ISP) computer asking it to connect to our computer and get the file containing the forecast data (this a bit of a simplification but good enough for our purposes here!).  If the two computers cannot establish and maintain communications then a "Time Out" error occurs.  In the case of retrieving the forecast this usually means that your ISP's computer is very busy and could not finish servicing your request within the alloted time.   Try again later is usually the solution, but if the problem continues please contact us.

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Why does the list of weather forecasts show a different weather station to mine?

The weather forecast for an area is centred on a specific weather station.  That weather station's name is shown in the list.  The MetWatch system is smart enough to know to show the correct weather forecast for the currently opened MetWatch weather file even if it has a different name from the name on the list for your area's forecast.

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How do I get a table of numbers for the forecast in addition to the graph?

If you "left-click" on the weather graphs in MetWatch you will get a table of values for the actual weather data.  To see the forecast weather data, click on the menu item labeled View, then select Hourly Forecast.  A spreadsheet-like table will be displayed showing the weather data that was last downloaded.

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Now I can see the table of numbers for the forecast, how do I print it?

If you are running version 2 of MetWatch you will see a button labelled Print which - no surprise - prints the table of forecast values.  If you are running version 1 of MetWatch you will need to click on the Copy button which places a copy of the information on the "Windows clipboard".  You can then go into your favourite spreadsheet or word processor and paste the information in by clicking on menu item Edit then Paste.

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I get an error "Host not found"

If you get an error message "Host not found" when you try to retrieve the forecast check your setup configuration by :

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My Quick Measure Calipers System icons are missing!

If the main batteries and the backup battery are allowed to go flat on your Psion Workabout, then you will need to go through some simple set up procedures on your Workabout.

Firstly, replace the main and backup batteries.  Make sure you install them correctly!

When you start the Workabout you will likely get a message saysing something about insert startup SSD or press menu.  Press menu, and then select System Screen.   This will bring up the graphical interface, but without the icons for the Quick Measure Calipers programme or the Transfer programme.  To install the Calipers and Transfer programmes:

Don't forget to set the date and time while you are on the Workabout as they will be incorrect after changing the batteries.  See Frequently Asked Question How Do I Set Time and Date on Workabout to find out how to set you Workabout's time and date.

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How Do I Set Time and Date on Workabout

To set the time and date on the Workabout handheld computer:

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Problem communicating between Psion Workabout and PC using RCOM

If you are running a Quick Measure System using the Psion Workabout handheld computer (eg Quick Measure Calipers System) you may need to update your PC software for communications between the Workabout and PC.  Psion has acknowledged there is a problem with their communications software package (RCom) when run on high speed computer with a newer version of Windows... which pretty much translates to any PC purchased within the last 2-3 years!  Psion has provided a fix, click here for more information.

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Troubleshooting connection problems with PsiWin

The PsiWin communications software enables you to connect your Psion Workabout and a PC, and to use a Windows Explorer-style interface to browse, copy, and move files between the two computers.  If you are unable to get your Psion Workabout to connect to your PC check the following:

Call for help if still having problems.

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How do I splice two files together to import to Link Master?

If you have inadvertently created two Quick Measure export files for a location (eg using the Quick Measure Calipers System), you can splice them together so they are imported into Link Master correctly.  This may seem like a lot of steps but it will take you about 1/2 minute if you need to do it a second time!

1. The files that you import into Link Master from the calipers have "header information" at the top, followed by lines of data - one line per fruit measured.
2. You can use the Windows programme Notepad to do the necessary editing. To run Notepad use the Windows Start button: Start / Programs / Accessories / Notepad
3. As an example, say you have two files Grafas and Grafas2. You need to take the data from the SECOND file (Grafas2), and append the DATA to the end of the first file.
4. In Notepad, open the SECOND file Grafas2 by going to File / Open and look in folder   C:\Orchmstr\dbases\monitor\newdata
5. Ignore the header information and copy the measurement data by highlighting it and then selecting Edit / Copy.
6. Now open the FIRST file (Grafas) by going to File / Open.
7. Move to the bottom of the file on a new line and copy the data in using Edit / Paste.
8. Make sure you do not leave a blank line between the two chunks of data.
9. Now save to a new file using File / Save As so that you have the oringial files in case something goes wrong. Save As Grafas3 for example.
10. Use Link Master to import the file Grafas3 into the database as normal.
11. Finally clean up by using Windows Explorer to delete the two files Grafas and Grafas1 after you know that the data have been successfully imported.

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'Type Mismatch' when commiting data to database

The most likely reason for this is an inappropriate date format on your computer.

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How do I take a screen shot of the Workabout for use in a report?

Simultaneously press Psion-Ctrl-Shift-S (no kidding!).  This will create a file on the Workabout called M:\Screen.pic.  This file can be converted to a BMP file on the PC using PsiWin 1.1.  Select the file screen.pic and press F8 or use menu File | Copy and convert.  NOTE: PsiWin after version 1.1 lost the pic format converter so you must use version 1.1 for the conversion.  Download version 1.1 here: Disk1, Disk2, Disk3.  Unzip all three to a folder and run setup.exe.  There seems to be no problem having more than one version of PsiWin on a computer, just don't run them at the same time.

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What is the difference between the red and blue bars on rainfall graph?

The red bars are daytime rain and the blue are nighttime. The daytim rainfall (red) is supposed to be the most important.

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The Starter Kit looks great!  What do I do with it now?

To install the HortPlus Micrologger software run the setup programme off the floppy disk by using Start | Settings | Control Panel | Add/Remove programmes then clicking on Install and then use the browse button to select A:\Setup.exe and follow onscreen instructions from there. The setup programme will create the necessary folders for installation and the default path names should be accepted.

The next step is to run the Logger Setup programme which you only need to do once to establish which port on the computer you are using. Plug the reader (the thingie with the two holes in it) into the back of your PC. Go to Start | Programs | HortPlus | Logger Setup. In the bottom left hand corner you will see a button saying Auto Detect. You will get a warning to which you can answer OK or Yes. Click on that and when it says it has discovered a "one wire device" answer Yes and the software will configure itself and exit.

After that you just need to run the logger software by going to Start | Programs | HortPlus | HortPlus Micrologger.

Pop a button into either hold of the reader. You should now see three tabs:

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How accurate are the temperate loggers?

We are often asked how accurate are the Quick Measure Temperature Loggers.  The manufacturer claims an accuracy of ±1ºC with a recording resolution of either 1/2ºC or 1/8ºC depending on the model  . Typically we see the vast majority of loggers with an accuracy of ±0.5ºC or better.  The temperature sensors of individual loggers are QCed at the factory with NIST-traceable equipment, but the loggers are not issued with calibration certificates.  Some clients will put the loggers into a stirred ice bath to calibrate individual loggers and record an "offset value" for each logger.  An ice bath calibration will give you greater accuracy and higher confidence, and will provide the type of documentation required for eg EUREPGAP.

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How do I have the penetrometer system send data to Access rather than Excel?

The loadcal software transfers data around via DDE.  It publishes itself as a server conversation with the name FirmSense.  The data associated with this conversation is FirmData.

The following is a non-technical description of how to get data from the penetrometer system sent to practically any Windows application.

Your software needs to establish a DDE link to the server called FirmSense and respond to an OnData Change event of some sort.  Typically what happens is the link is established and the server yells out whenever new data is available.  Your software selectively listens for these yells and picks up the new data from the pigeon hole that the server leaves it in. 

In Access you will want to look in the help system for functions such as DDEInitiate, DDERequest, and DDETerminate.

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I am occasionally getting a series of erroneously low readings on the penetrometer

Some users of the Quick Measure Penetrometer System have reported that they will occassionally get a series of very low readings off the penetrometer.  The penetrometer is subject to interference from radio frequencies such as cell phones, portable phones, and R/Ts.  Ensure that you do not have cell phones, portable phones, or R/Ts near the penetrometer when it is in operation - including through a wall in the next room.  Work is ongoing to give recommendations regarding what "too near" is. 

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What does the electronic penetrometer actually measure

There are two situations, one for very firm fruit and one for soft fruit.    These are called Type 1 and Type 2 profiles in the research literature.

For very firm fruit, the penetrometer is measuring the "yield point". This is the point at which the flesh collapses under the weight applied by the penetrometer tip. Note that this is not the reading when the tip has penetrated to the depth set by the microswitch nor is it always the maximum value.  You will notice a sharp snap of the tip into the fruit.   The  reason for using the yield point is to give measurements comparable to a manually operated penetrometer  where the opertor will generally relax the pressure on the probe when the fruit "snaps".

Soft fruit does not have a clearly defined yield point as the tip gently pushes into the fruit. For these fruit, the penetrometer is measuring the maximum force applied during the measurement, up to the microswitch depth setting.

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I get low readings  sent through every once in a while.

Here is a checklist of things to check to ensure the penetrometer is setup correctly:

Micro-switch

"Loadcal" Software setup

Run the penetrometer software "Loadcal".  Click on menu item Setup:

Cell phones, portable phones, and R/Ts

Some users of the Quick Measure Penetrometer System have reported that they will occassionally get a series of very low readings off the penetrometer.  The penetrometer is subject to interference from radio frequencies such as cell phones, portable phones, and R/Ts.  Ensure that you do not have cell phones, portable phones, or R/Ts near the penetrometer when it is in operation - including through a wall in the next room.  Work is ongoing to give recommendations regarding what "too near" is. 

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What is the approximate resolution of the Penetrometer System

The Quick Measure Penetrometer System has approximately 3996 "intervals" so a 20kg capacity load cell will have an approximate resolution of 5g while a 15kg load cell has a resolution of approximately 4g.  For various reasons the software reports in increments of 0.1kg (100g). 

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Maturity Monitor software will not run

The Maturity Monitor software uses the Borland Database Engine (BDE).  There is a quirk in the BDE that it will simply wait endlessly (but not produce any error message) when it is run on a computer with Windows 98 AND the screen resolution set to 16 colours.  Weird but true!  Solution is to set the screen colours to 256 and all is well again!

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How do I setup the scales for use with the Dry Matter module

The AND weigh scales must be "streaming" data to the PC to work with the Dry Matter module of the HortPlus Lab Automation System.
>> Click here for step-by-step instructions

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Sample Reception: Selecting Maturity Area information

When entering a new sampling into the Sample Reception system, you must enter the ID information for the Maturity Area the sample was sourced from.  The list of Maturity Areas can be very long, making selection tedious and occasionally error prone.  You can use the "Filter" in the Maturity Area select list to speed up this process and make it more accurate.
>> Click to view short video on using filter

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