Tempest obs_st not being transmitting and rapid_wind missing transmissions over UDP when offline

Thank you for the prompt to double check the app behaviour, @sunny. I’ve got some more clarity on that listed below.

@eric, Thank you for that information. I will try my best to touch on the points you make.

When I disconnect internet, I leave the LAN setup completely in tact. I only remove the cable modem from the mix. When I log into the router, I can see that the hub still maintains it’s DHCP assigned IP address. Also, I still receive some data, just not the obs_st and rapid_wind less frequently.

Yes, the backfill makes sense. I should still expect to see the obs_st without internet and then again when I reconnect internet - so in a dataset spanning a period without internet followed by a period with internet, I should expect to see each obs_st data stream twice, once during the normal 1 minute cycle, and once as a backfill. Am I understanding that correctly?

I will do my best to explain each wireless connectivity scenario I have tried with the app.

Here’s my version information:

  • iPhone 7 Plus (MN632LL/A)
  • iOS 14.7 (18G5042c)
  • Tempest app version 4.19 (501)
  • Hub firmware revision 170
  • Station hardware revision 1
  • Station firmware revision 156
  1. With the setup disconnected from WAN, and with both the hub and phone still connected to WiFi/LAN (and bluetooth enabled), the app will load the screen in Figure 1. When I tap the station icon in the upper right, the icon will turn dark blue from a light blue. (Figure 2) The app will then freeze similar to the behaviour in this post


Figure 1: Hub and phone connected to LAN without WAN access.


Figure 2: Hub and phone connected to LAN without WAN access after station icon as been tapped.

  1. With the hub connected to WiFi/LAN without internet access, I am able to access the data stream over bluetooth so long as my phone is able to phone home using cellular. (Figure 3)


Figure 3: Hub connected to WiFi without internet, but phone connected to internet via cellular, and to hub via bluetooth.

  1. However, with my phone is airplane mode (with cellular and WiFi antennas disabled, and bluetooth enabled, the app does not display data and freezes. (Figure 4)


Figure 4: Hub connected to WiFi without internet, and phone connected only to bluetooth (WiFi and cellular disabled).

  1. If I start with tempest app with only cellular enabled, allow the data to load via bluetooth, and then disable cellular, I am able to keep receiving data via bluetooth without internet. (Figure 5) If I background the app of restart it, I will get the same results as in 3 above.


Figure 5: Hub connected to WiFi without internet, and phone connected to cellular and bluetooth to start data stream, then cellular disabled.

I have also tried each of the scenarios again with my VPN disabled and the results are the same.

Finally, I was fortunate enough to have a storm pass through while I was collecting data on my Arduino. I noticed that the tempest app correctly showed lightning and rain start events leading up to and during the storm, but the UDP data did not show any evt_precip or evt_strike data streams.

I am attaching the UDP data stream with the hub connected to WiFi. Ignore the DEBUG line.

20210701_UDPcolletion.txt (169.4 KB)

I also tested for the lightning and rain event signals with the hub and phone connected to the WiFi first with internet to load the data, then I disconnected internet and the lightning events as displayed in the app went from ever ~4-10 seconds at 20-35 km to every 60 seconds at 1 km (which would be the same data supplied by obs_st that I collect in my UDP backfill). This makes it seem as thought the evt_precip and evt_strike data streams are only available when online. Is this correct? (Okay, I see that @eric mentions this will be fixed in upcoming firmware in this post. Thanks!) I am on firmware revision 156 already - thanks @sunny.