NOTE: This content is about weather and meteorology, similar to that contained in my WeatherMatrix Blog which ran from 2005-2022 on AccuWeather.com.
2024 NOTE: Support for the Facebook Portal version of Duet (and the Portal itself) have been discontinued. Since the portal resets itself frequently and the Duet app is no longer in the store, these instructions will not work. I have come up with an alternate solution with Amazon Alexa which I will post in the future.
In 1997, I got my first weather station (a Radio Shack WX-200) electronic weather station — one of the first to transmit data online. Since then I’ve continued to be an early adopter of weather stations.
In 2016, I was an Indiegogo supporter for WeatherFlow Smart Weather Station, and in 2019 a Kickstarter backer for WeatherFlow Tempest, the next version of WeatherFlow’s full-featured, 1-piece weather station. I was never able to use the original station, but I put the newer one up at my house after receiving it and it ran for 3 years before the internal battery died and it had to be replaced.
Anyway, one complaint old-school people like me have had about the Tempest Weather Station is that it doesn’t have a console – an LCD or LED screen that displays the weather station’s data. This is because the Tempest is controlled via a phone app (like most things these days). The data is also available on their website.
The most common solution is to use an old iPad to display the Tempest Weather app and show your station’s data. It’s actually a great idea because they have a really nice, modern display. Below is what it looked like. This was not a bad idea and I did that for a while, but then I wanted to use the iPad for something else.
I recently found out that the app doesn’t update very often, sometimes taking 20-60 minutes. The website essentially updates wind speed in real-time and temperature at least once a minute, but it doesn’t display right in Safari on iPads.
I had already purchased a Facebook Portal device to talk to my Mom over video chat when I found out that their new version, the Meta Portal Go (only the “Go” model) can serve as a second screen for iOS, Android and Windows. Over the 2022 Black Friday holiday season, Amazon was selling it for $75 (it’s back up to $135 today).
The software that allows you to do this is kind of a pain to figure out, but once it was setup it works pretty good. Here’s what the Facebook Portal Go looks like with the Tempest website displaying my weather station’s data, essentially in real-time:
(It’s the purple display in the middle).
The Duet Display software was kind of a pain in the ass to figure out, so I thought I’d leave a tutorial here:
- Download Duet for Windows
- Install Duet on your PC
Install Duet from the Portal App Store (click on “Apps” and scroll down and “Get” “Duet Display”)These instructions no longer work, see top of this blog.- Run the Windows software
- Click into the Settings in Duet
- Click on “Enable Duet Air.” (because the Go doesn’t have ethernet)
Next, click on “Portal” (1), “Air” (2), and hopefully you will see “Portal Go Portal” under “Click to Connect.”
It will give some options for Framerate, Performance and Resolution.
If you don’t see that, give it a minute, make sure Duet is running on your Portal Go.
If you do, VOILA! You now have a second monitor for your PC. Now you’re ready to launch TempestWx.com in Chrome and login to see your station. Click on the weather station icon near “Settings” to see the more modern display. Now drag the browser over to the second monitor (your Portal Go). Pretty neat, huh!
Of course, you’ll have to disconnect from the Portal to make a video call on it, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Why didn’t I just get a small second monitor? Unfortunately the windows computer I wanted to use for this project didn’t have USB-C, which those smaller LCD monitors run on, and I’ve already used the second monitor port on it.