Failed to locate file on METAR download attempt

[DaveH]

Hello,

Everything is working great, except there appears to be an issue downloading the METAR data.

I do see data coming in from META, like this log entry:

Wed 06-17-2015 19:09:01 - Detected Precipitation of 0.04 inches in Last Hour in METAR Data (24 Hr Running Total is 0.07 inches).

But I frequently see failures to download the METAR data, too:

Thu 06-18-2015 00:09:48 - Failed to locate file on METAR download attempt

Recently I figured out how to get the email working (after a long period of frustration!) by setting the dns to google's dns (8.8.8.8) but I still see this one remaining issue. It does seem to work fine, so I 'm just concerned about this error in the logs. Any thoughts on this?

thanks, Dave

[Support]

Hi,

This can happen from time to time should server data from NOAA be busy or some other network issue.

What version of HF are you currently running?

Are there just occasional errors of this type or are there long periods of time with this error message in the log?
Are you seeing NOAA forecast and temperature data download errors during the same time period?
What METAR ID are you currently using?

You can always switch to the WUG station nearest you to try that source for weather data. (Settings page option).

HydroFLASH Support

[DaveH]

Hello,

Thanks for your reply.

Installed version is 3.00.20

I see this error just about every day. On many days there is also weather data, but over the last 2 days the entire log entires are:

Thu 06-18-2015 00:09:48 - Failed to locate file on METAR download attempt
Fri 06-19-2015 12:09:01 - Failed to locate file on METAR download attempt

My METAR station is set to: DENVER CENTENNIAL AIRPORT, CO, United States (KAPA)

I can try the WUG station, but it's hard to understand how the system is detecting rain delays, etc. but also says it's not getting the METAR data!

thanks, Dave

[Support]

HydroFLASH downloads METAR data each hour at a random minute past the top of each hour determined at boot up.
In the log data you provided it looks like it was not successful just after midnight and then again just after noon. All other hourly downloads were successful.
Typically this indicates a network issue and could be for any number of reasons both local to you and externally between you and the NOAA server.
There are 3 repeated attempts to connect and download the METAR data before generating this log entry each hour. If this is simply a random event it would be hard to determine where the "pipe" was broken and since your are not seeing the NOAA forecast data unavailable errors in the log, it would suggest that it is a issue outside your location as the NOAA forecast data is obtained from an entirely different site.

Rain delays are generated by up to 3 inputs.
1. METAR or WUG weather station rain totals for a 24 hour period and triggered by the precipitation level you enter as the minimum required to trigger a rain delay.
2. Preemptive Rain Delay triggered by the NOAA predicted forecast data based on the number of days to look ahead you entered and the minimum percent chance of precipitation you specify.
3. Local Rain Sensor - Single trigger input from your rain sensor that delays for the specified hours.

All of the above can be enabled, disabled and values entered for each on the settings page.

Hope this helps.

HydroFLASH Support