acurite: A Python repository from bdwilson

Acurite + Weewx-SDR + SmartHUB (optional) or Pi Pressure Sensor + Acurite Access (optional)

UPDATE 8/2022: I would highly recommend you ditch your Acurite setup. Weewx SDR with Acurite devices always caused me random issues. I have since moved to Ambient Weather WS-1900a and an Ecowitt GW1100. This combination is flawless and well-supported in WeeWX and can send 1 minute updates directly to Wunderground, and works flawlessly in Hubitat. I would urge you to use this opportunity to skip the hoops below and get into something that works without hoops. The above combo will run you less than $200. I've also been able to ditch the Raspberry Pi and move to a dockerized-version of Weewx.

In early 2018 Acurite (Chaney Instruments) made a decision to discontinue support of their SmartHUB device in August 2018, meaning they would cripple the device and turn off their cloud endpoint so it would would not longer be able to send data to their MyAcurite cloud. This announcment went off like a lead balloon and they backpedaled and extended support until Feb. 28, 2019 and gave people a discount for their Acurite Access (a device which didn't provide as frequent updates as SmartHUB AND it didn't support as many sensors - basically a downgrade for many). Users who wanted to continue to send data to MyAcurite were required to upgrade to the Acurite Access to continue to do so. Now that that date is passed, and you'll (likely?) be unable to manage your sensors connected to your SmartHUB in the future, what should you do? Well don't give Chaney any more money...

My solution was to get a discounted Access and keep it in the box until right before the dropdead date, but a better option would be to spend $20 on a USB SDR Receiver and $50 on a Raspberry Pi and own your weather data - keep it local and in your control.

I already had a Rpi 1 B+ and a WiFi dongle - this will work fine as well. The Software Defined Radio device, combined with some linux drivers and Weewx, essentially allows you to sniff the Acurite sensor data as they transmit their info over the air - this means you don't need to give Acurite any more money for their Access device. As an added benefit, if you still have your SmartHUB, you can still use it (if still linked to a sensor), to get pressure data from (since this doesn't come from their sensors). The SmartHUB and Acurite Access are optional in these instructions, but since I had both and wanted the MyAcurite app to work, this covers having both the SmartHUB and Access.

Update 09AUG2019: I bought a $10 on a pressure sensor that is powered by the Pi so the Acurite SmartHUB is now in the trash. You can read how to add that here.

Update 28MAY2020: I'm now getting my pool temps without Acurite - for more info on that see this project page.

Options for Installation

Buy a SDR Receiver and connect it to a Linux box or Raspberry Pi. Weewx can upload your data to Wunderground, CWOP, PWSweather, Open Weathermap, Weather Bug, etc. Your cost is SDR dongle ($20) + Rpi ($30-50).
Pros: Cheapest solution without buying more Acurite hardware. You can send to other weather providers supported by Weewx.
Cons: No MyAcurite app access, no pressure data (pressure data comes from Access or SmartHUB, not the outdoor sensors).
If you want MyAcurite, you need an Acurite Access. You can still use items in #1 if you want local data and uploads to other providers; you can still use MyAcurite (through Acurite Access) to upload to Wunderground. You still won't have pressure data for your local weewx data unless you go to option 3.
Pros: You can use the MyAcurite app to get your weather data and to send to Wunderground.
Cons: You don't get local sensor data unless you also do items in #1. Even if you get local sensor data, you won't get pressure information unless you go to option #3.
If you want local data including pressure and ability to send data to providers other than Wunderground (i.e. Weewx), you'll need to have an old SmartHUB device that is still linked to some sensor and the items in #1. If you have an old SmartHUB device that just became recently unsupported, this is where many of you will be at.
Pros: All original sensor data will exist locally (sensor data + local pressure data from SmartHUB). You can also send data to other providers via Weewx.
Cons: MyAcurite won't work unless you also have an Acurite Access. Other con is that you'll have to run your old SmartHUB just to get pressure data, so you could be running two hubs (SmartHUB and Acurite access) simultaneously which seems wasteful.
If you want local data including pressure and ability to send data to providers other than Wunderground (i.e. Weewx), and you don't want/have SmartHUB device but you're comfortable soldering and ok spending $10 on a pressure sensor, then go this route. The device gets power from your Rpi, so no powering the otherwise dumb SmartHUB, nor do you need to trick your Pi into being a network bridge to get data from your SmartHUB - just throw it in the trash. Pros: All original sensor data will exist locally (sensor data + local pressure data from Pi sensor). You can also send data to other providers via Weewx.
Cons: MyAcurite won't work unless you also have an Acurite Access. You'll need to solder pins to a pressure sensor and wire 4 dupont cables to your pi.

I chose to go with #3 initially, but then moved to #4 because I already had a Pi, and a SmartHUB, but pressure data from the old SmartHUB isn't completely accurate as it's manipulated by Acurite - plus you're having to power this device and trick your pi into getting data from it. Just trash your SmartHUB and go with option #4.

Installation

Install Rasbian on your PI device. This guide is the best that I've found, so use it unless you know what you're doing or already have a PI installed. If you're bringing your own or already have one setup, make sure you are using Wifi for LAN. Your Pi will serve 2 purposes - run Weewx backend and web server (via Wifi) and act as place for your SmartHUB to submit it's pressure data to (via wired ethernet - your Pi will answer for hubapi.myacurite.com).
Install Weewx, SDR tools, Weewx-SDR, connect up your SDR device and make sure you see your sensors show up.

$ sudo apt-get install weewx git cmake libusb-1.0-0-dev
$ mkdir git
$ cd git
$ git clone git://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433
$ git clone git://git.osmocom.org/rtl-sdr.git
$ cd rtl-sdr
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ cmake ../ -DINSTALL_UDEV_RULES=ON -DDETACH_KERNEL_DRIVER=ON
$ make
$ sudo make install
$ sudo ldconfig
$ cd ..
$ cd ..
$ cd rtl_433
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ cmake ../
$ make
$ sudo make install

Now do a test.

$ sudo rtl_433 -G
rtl_433 version 18.12-102-g44a5c13 branch master at 201902161227 inputs file rtl_tcp RTL-SDR
Trying conf file at "rtl_433.conf"...
Trying conf file at "/root/.config/rtl_433/rtl_433.conf"...
Trying conf file at "/usr/local/etc/rtl_433/rtl_433.conf"...
Trying conf file at "/etc/rtl_433/rtl_433.conf"...
Registered 114 out of 120 device decoding protocols [ 1-4 6-8 10-17 19-26 29-64 67-120 ]
Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Exact sample rate is: 250000.000414 Hz
[R82XX] PLL not locked!
Sample rate set to 250000 S/s.
Tuner gain set to Auto.
Tuned to 433.920MHz.
Allocating 15 zero-copy buffers
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
time      : 2019-03-01 20:56:17
model     : Acurite 5n1 sensor                     sensor_id : 2986          channel   : A             sequence_num: 0           battery   : LOW           message_type: 56          wind_speed: 0.0 kph       temperature: 42.1 F       humidity  : 99
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
time      : 2019-03-01 20:56:17
model     : Acurite 5n1 sensor                     sensor_id : 2986          channel   : A             sequence_num: 1           battery   : LOW           message_type: 56          wind_speed: 0.0 kph       temperature: 42.1 F       humidity  : 99
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
time      : 2019-03-01 20:56:17
model     : Acurite 5n1 sensor                     sensor_id : 2986          channel   : A             sequence_num: 2           battery   : LOW           message_type: 56          wind_speed: 0.0 kph       temperature: 42.1 F       humidity  : 99

Now you're in business. Now get the Weewx-SDR driver.

$ wget -O weewx-sdr.zip https://github.com/matthewwall/weewx-sdr/archive/master.zip
$ sudo wee_extension --install weewx-sdr.zip
$ sudo wee_config --reconfigure --driver=user.sdr --no-prompt
# Run sdr.py to determine how to map your sensors. 
$ cd /usr/share/weewx
$ sudo PYTHONPATH=. python user/sdr.py --cmd="rtl_433 -M utc -F json -G"
out: ['{"time" : "2019-03-02 01:58:25", "model" : "Acurite 5n1 sensor", "sensor_id" : 2986, "channel" : "A", "sequence_num" : 0, "battery" : "LOW", "message_type" : 49, "wind_speed_kph" : 0.000, "wind_dir_deg" : 270.000, "rain_inch" : 87.580}\n', '{"time" : "2019-03-02 01:58:25", "model" : "Acurite 5n1 sensor", "sensor_id" : 2986, "channel" : "A", "sequence_num" : 1, "battery" : "LOW", "message_type" : 49, "wind_speed_kph" : 0.000, "wind_dir_deg" : 270.000, "rain_inch" : 87.580}\n', '{"time" : "2019-03-02 01:58:25", "model" : "Acurite 5n1 sensor", "sensor_id" : 2986, "channel" : "A", "sequence_num" : 2, "battery" : "LOW", "message_type" : 49, "wind_speed_kph" : 0.000, "wind_dir_deg" : 270.000, "rain_inch" : 87.580}\n']
parsed: {'channel.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': u'A', 'rain_total.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': 87.58, 'wind_dir.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': 270.0, 'dateTime': 1551491905, 'battery.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': 1, 'wind_speed.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': 0.0, 'usUnits': 1, 'status.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': None}
parsed: {'channel.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': u'A', 'rain_total.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': 87.58, 'wind_dir.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': 270.0, 'dateTime': 1551491905, 'battery.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': 1, 'wind_speed.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': 0.0, 'usUnits': 1, 'status.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': None}
parsed: {'channel.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': u'A', 'rain_total.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': 87.58, 'wind_dir.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': 270.0, 'dateTime': 1551491905, 'battery.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': 1, 'wind_speed.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': 0.0, 'usUnits': 1, 'status.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet': None}

If you see above, the output allows you to map your sensor(s) to Weewx. It should look similar to this, but for more info, check Weewx-sdr instructions. This will go in /etc/weewx/weewx.conf. If you have more sensors, you can use extraTemp1, extraTemp2 and extraTemp3 as sensor names to map addіtional data to.

# collect data from Acurite 5n1 sensor 0BAA and t/h sensor 24A4
[SDR]
    # The driver to use
    driver = user.sdr
    # cmd = rtl_433 -M utc -F json -G  # you can uncomment this if you have
    # issues - check your logs! 
    path = /usr/local/bin
    ld_library_path = /usr/local/lib
    [[sensor_map]]
        windDir = wind_dir.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet
        windSpeed = wind_speed.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet
        outTemp = temperature.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet
        outHumidity = humidity.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet
        rain_total = rain_total.0BAA.Acurite5n1Packet
        inTemp = temperature.3969.AcuriteTowerPacket
        inHumidity = humidity.3969.AcuriteTowerPacket
		# I have more sensors, so I added them below, you may not.
        #extraTemp1 = temperature_probe.0BF1.Acurite00275MPacket
        #extraTemp2 = temperature.0BF1.Acurite00275MPacket
    [[deltas]]
        rain = rain_total

Restart Weewx

sudo /etc/init.d/weewx stop
sudo /etc/init.d/weewx start

Hopefully you're getting sensor data now, go to http://your.ip.address/weewx and verify that you are getting data from your sensors and check /var/log/syslog if you're not. You won't get pressure data, so here's where your SmartHUB comes in. If you don't have a SmartHUB, you're done. If you want to send your Weewx data to other providers, check the config file in /etc/weewx/weewx.conf - if you want to get pressure data and are OK soldering, then go here to read about how to use a pressure sensor.
If you have a SmartHUB that is configured with at least one sensor, then keep going. Configure your Rpi to be an ethernet bridge. Again, you need to be using Wifi to connect to your lan so you can use ethernet to connect to your SmartHUB. The linked instructions worked perfect for my Pi 1 B+, and should work for newer devices. Don't connect your SmartHUB yet.
Add an entry to /etc/hosts on your device, it should look similar to below, but with the ip address (wireless lan IP) of your Pi, same one from step #4.

192.168.XX.XX  hubapi.myacurite.com

Install apache2 and enable cgi support (this assumes that this host only exists on your LAN and not exposed to the Internet. You're about to enable access to a webserver on your LAN).

$ sudo apt-get install apache2 
$ sudo sudo a2enmod cgi

Create a file and store it in /usr/lib/cgi-bin/myacurite, make it executable and create a directory and file to store pressure data.

$ sudo vi /usr/lib/cgi-bin/myacurite

Contents are based on weewx-interceptor package; Thanks Matthew for Weewx and this. This is not meant to be secure - if you have a hostile LAN, then you should adjust your access list in step 9.

#!/bin/sh
echo "Content-type: text/html"
echo
echo '{ "success": 1, "checkversion": "224" }'
DATA=$QUERY_STRING
echo "$DATA" | awk -F'baromin=' '{print $2}' | awk -F '&' '{print $1}' > /var/lib/bridge-data/pressure

Then change permissions and create the file to collect the data

$ sudo chmod 755 /usr/lib/cgi-bin/myacurite
$ sudo mkdir /var/lib/bridge-data
$ sudo touch /var/lib/bridge-data/pressure
$ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data  /var/lib/bridge-data/

Create a /etc/apache2/conf-enabled/acurite.conf. Change the Allow IP address/network to be whatever you configured for your DHCP range for your bridged network in step 5. The Access list is in case you do expose this server to the Internet, or reverse proxy connections to your internal Weewx server/Rpi.

ScriptAlias /weatherstation/updateweatherstation /usr/lib/cgi-bin/myacurite
<Directory "/usr/lib/cgi-bin">
    AllowOverride all
    Options +ExecCGI -MultiViews +SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
    Order deny,allow
    Deny from all
    Allow from 192.168.6.0/255.255.255.0 ::1/128
    Allow from 127.0.0.1
</Directory>

Restart apache

 
$ sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Copy pond.py (from this repo) to /usr/share/weewx/user and enable in /etc/weewx/weewx.conf (this is based on this).

[Engine]
    [[Services]]
        data_services = user.pond.PondService

Restart Weewx; check /var/log/syslog for errors. If you see rtl_433 errors, you may need to make sure your antenna is plugged in. You can only run 1 instance of rtl_433; so if weewx is running, you can't debug using the commands in step 2, so stop weewx first.

sudo /etc/init.d/weewx stop
sudo /etc/init.d/weewx start

Connect your SmartHUB to your Rpi via ethernet, it should start sending data to your Rpi and writing that pressure data to: /var/lib/bridge-data/pressure. It should not be attempting to send data to hubapi.myacurite.com (which is now dead anyway).
Now you can go to MyAcurite, plug in and register your Acurite Access if you haven't, and migrate your sensors over to your Access. Never connect your SmartHUB to the internet as you may lose it's existing configuration (which doesn't really matter since the only data coming out of SmartHUB that you care about is the pressure that's coming from the hub itself. You're getting the rest of the data via SDR). You can go into MyAcurite and remove your old SmartHUB device as it won't be getting any data anyway.

What did I just do?

You now have a setup that:

Have a setup that receives signals from Acurite sensors and feeds them into Weewx.
You have local weather data via WeeWx and pressure information (optionally if you have an old SmartHUB).
If you replace any of your sensors, go through the sdr script in step #2 and re-map the new sensor ID's.
WeeWX can also submit to Wunderground and others and is much more flexible than just sending data to MyAcurite. I'd also suggest you check out this skin.
If you have an Acurite Access, the MyAcurite app will work, and can optionally submit data to Wunderground (which may be more reliable than Weewx. YMMV.

Bugs/Contact Info

Bug me on Twitter at @brianwilson or email me here.

bdwilson/acurite

Acurite + Weewx-SDR + SmartHUB (optional) or Pi Pressure Sensor + Acurite Access (optional)

Options for Installation

Installation

What did I just do?

Bugs/Contact Info