Weather Stations

[Redneck in training]

We have Davis Vantage Pro2 little more than 2 years. The anemometer broke some time after warranty expired but Davis shipped us test switch and when proved that the electronics was OK shipped new anemometer for free with only few questions asked and wanted the old bak. The new anemometer was somewhat different. It almost felt like the original had an issue they knew about.
The humidity measurement as reported to the web was wrong for some time due to incorrect setting in the little box that talks to the internet. Once I found the error I fixed the setting.
I had constant problem with birds pooping in the rain gage. To prevent that I installed stainless steel spike crown on the rim of the rain collector and also bought a fake owl that sits near the PWS.
The anemometer was located about 6ft high for over a year and last summer I finally moved the station farther away from the obstacles (300 ft away from the closest one) and placed the anemometer 30.8 ft high.
I also found that the temperature was affected by the proximity of the station to the wooden pole it was attached to. So it si now mounted on a cantilever about 3 ft long.
The flowers behind the PWS is prairie restoration project in progress.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I would love to find an IP based system that is easy to use and configure. No wireless stuff, no batteries! Most more sophisticated systems seem to have the hardware seperate from the software and this just makes it too complicated for me to even consider.

IS it too much to ask for, when we spend good money on something to have it labelled in English? We should demand this, as consumers! Enough of these stupid (meaningless) ICONS already.

 

[Scooby074]

We have Davis Vantage Pro2 little more than 2 years. The anemometer broke some time after warranty expired but Davis shipped us test switch and when proved that the electronics was OK shipped new anemometer for free with only few questions asked and wanted the old bak. The new anemometer was somewhat different. It almost felt like the original had an issue they knew about.
The humidity measurement as reported to the web was wrong for some time due to incorrect setting in the little box that talks to the internet. Once I found the error I fixed the setting.
I had constant problem with birds pooping in the rain gage. To prevent that I installed stainless steel spike crown on the rim of the rain collector and also bought a fake owl that sits near the PWS.
The anemometer was located about 6ft high for over a year and last summer I finally moved the station farther away from the obstacles (300 ft away from the closest one) and placed the anemometer 30.8 ft high.
I also found that the temperature was affected by the proximity of the station to the wooden pole it was attached to. So it si now mounted on a cantilever about 3 ft long.
The flowers behind the PWS is prairie restoration project in progress.

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Davis changed the anemometers from a reed switch to hall effect recently (within the last couple years I think). The HE switch is much more reliable.

I havent had issues with birds on mine but on this years(?) revision to the rain gauge, they added some bird spikes like you did and improved the screen inside. I was having issues with the flat screen in mine letting pine needles through so Im glad to see they addressed the issue, but I installed some fine screen in mine to stop the needles and so far so good.

 

[Scooby074]

I would love to find an IP based system that is easy to use and configure. No wireless stuff, no batteries! Most more sophisticated systems seem to have the hardware seperate from the software and this just makes it too complicated for me to even consider.

IS it too much to ask for, when we spend good money on something to have it labelled in English? We should demand this, as consumers! Enough of these stupid (meaningless) ICONS already.

The Davis stations are super easy too hookup, even a caveman could do it:thumbsup: If you can plug in a USB you can broadcast your data. If you want to upload without a PC running, it gets a bit more complicated, but still pretty doable especially with the WeatherlinkIP .

The screen on my Davis VP2 is nice and simple (and labeled in ENGLISH!) as well. Im not much on fancy graphics, I like a nice, clean display.

 

[Scooby074]

I hate it when that happens..I need a new anemometer for mine $105 and it's 8 years old new setup for $400 tough decision.

FYI Davis will do a complete referb on a VP2 for $150+shipping. Thats for the entire unit, and they will upgrade components to the most recent version (like the anemometer). $100 for a Vue. $200 for a VP2 with the powered temp sensor. I believe they will even mail the parts if you want to DIY and save on shipping. Its a pretty decent option that not many are aware of.

 

[Wagtail]

IS it too much to ask for, when we spend good money on something to have it labelled in English? We should demand this, as consumers! Enough of these stupid (meaningless) ICONS already.

It's an international world now, Mate, and products are sold to all sorts of people... languages AND power sources.

Besides that, you live in Canada. Therefore it would have to be labelled in English and French. :laughing: Plus, would the 'English' be proper or Americanized?

 

[B7510HSD]

FYI Davis will do a complete referb on a VP2 for $150+shipping. Thats for the entire unit, and they will upgrade components to the most recent version (like the anemometer). $100 for a Vue. $200 for a VP2 with the powered temp sensor. I believe they will even mail the parts if you want to DIY and save on shipping. Its a pretty decent option that not many are aware of.

Actually I did this about 5 months ago and now it went bad 90 day warranty..

 

[Scooby074]

Actually I did this about 5 months ago and now it went bad 90 day warranty..

Not good! Did you contact Davis? Did they give a new style anemometer when they refurbed?

 

[B7510HSD]

Not good! Did you contact Davis? Did they give a new style anemometer when they refurbed?

No they did not guess they figured mine was working..I did send an email actually sent another one today.

 

[OldMcDonald]

IS it too much to ask for, when we spend good money on something to have it labelled in English? We should demand this, as consumers! Enough of these stupid (meaningless) ICONS already.

Totally agree. It is worse in Europe. There is some law about having to print ingredients (food) and/or instructions in x number of languages, but it seems the manufacturer chooses the languages. I do not read Arabic or Greek. I can get by with most of the Romance languages - at least I can follow them as well as Chinese English, but sometimes they only have Eastern European ones. Fat lot of use that is to a native Portuguese.

As for the Icons......they are almost all meaningless to me too, and many other people I know.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I will look into the Davis. Thanks. I hate to impose or hijack the thread but am curious if it would do what I need. My internet comes in on an 80 foot tower a couple of hundred feet from the house. There is hydro there and a coax that runs the internet to the house. I wish to have the weather instruments there. Temperature, wind speed and direction. But very important, gust speed which I believe almost no wireless anemometers (sp?) have! Oh, maybe humidity as well. And that's about it, but all hard wired up the tower.

So I am guessing, the weather instrument data collecting device as well a web server would have to be located here.

And then I would like to view this information on my PC (connected to the LAN) at the house or on a smart phone (which I don't even own yet) via WIFI at the house.

Do able?

As far as Icons, even the basic ones like Turtle and Hare, I have to think about for just a second or so. Fast and Slow, I would not have to think about. But nothing could beat the ridiculous icons on the warning lamps of my JD tractor. Curious if there is some international registry for these, so that at least they are the same between manufacturers.

 

[Redneck in training]

I will look into the Davis. Thanks. I hate to impose or hijack the thread but am curious if it would do what I need. My internet comes in on an 80 foot tower a couple of hundred feet from the house. There is hydro there and a coax that runs the internet to the house. I wish to have the weather instruments there. Temperature, wind speed and direction. But very important, gust speed which I believe almost no wireless anemometers (sp?) have! Oh, maybe humidity as well. And that's about it, but all hard wired up the tower.

So I am guessing, the weather instrument data collecting device as well a web server would have to be located here.

And then I would like to view this information on my PC (connected to the LAN) at the house or on a smart phone (which I don't even own yet) via WIFI at the house.

Do able?

As far as Icons, even the basic ones like Turtle and Hare, I have to think about for just a second or so. Fast and Slow, I would not have to think about. But nothing could beat the ridiculous icons on the warning lamps of my JD tractor. Curious if there is some international registry for these, so that at least they are the same between manufacturers.

You can have Davis PWS wired but the wireless version is easier to implement as long as the distance between the PWS and the Monitor is less than 1000 ft. The PWS comes with a TP-Link web server that connects to the Monitor to get the weather data and to Ethernet or WiFi to push the data to Internet weather service(s) of your choice. Once the data is on Internet you can view it on any computer or smart phone connected to Internet
Most PWS brands have this capability.

 

[wcampbell47]

For 289 bucks I can but a lot of Wally World plastic rain gages....

Yeah but it does not give you all this from the comfort of your home.

 

[Redneck in training]

Well equipped Davis Vantage Pro2 is more than 1000 USD.
You can make one very cheaply by yourself though. Hang a rock on a rope on a tree branch so you can see it from the window.
Weather Station | Funny Signs | Entertainment
If you like to tinker with electronics there are many links to DIY PWS on Internet.
In example : How I Made a Custom Arduino Weather Station | Toptal

Here is a source of PWS Home

 

[sodamo]

Complete VP2 and 6555 Ethernet connector just about $700 via Amazon, unless you are talking some extra sensors.

David Sent from my iPad Air using TractorByNet

 

[RobA]

...My internet comes in on an 80 foot tower a couple of hundred feet from the house. There is hydro there and a coax that runs the internet to the house...

I'm interested in this setup. Who owns the tower? How is it connected to the internet? Who is the provider?

 

[B7510HSD]

If you want a Davis check out this site bought 2 from him great service sign up for free account and get the discount Davis prices.
https://www.rainmanweather.com/site/

 

[Country Geek]

I use a Vantage Vue with a console. As others have said you can add the WeatherLinkIP dongle to the console and the console will do all of the uploading for you. While the dongle is for a wired Ethernet connection, you can buy a wifi adapter for it cheap on Amazon (for example: Amazon.com: IOGEAR Universal Ethernet to Wi-Fi N Adapter for Home or Office GWU627 (Black): Electronics).

So the Vantage Vue sensor suite talks to the console with the dongle which does the uploading to the internet. No computer required. It's literally set and forget, I haven't done anything with it in like 2 years and it's still working.

Davis gear set up this way uploads to weatherlink.com site that Davis manages and also feeds the weatherlink app that Davis provides that is pretty slick. However you can also create an account on other weather sites like wunderground, point them to your weatherlink account, and they will get the data too. Wunderground does a great job of maintaining history. Here's an example of a Davis weather station on wunderground (note this is not mine, just one I picked at random): West Juneau Weather | Personal Weather Station: KAKJUNEA2 by Wunderground.com | Weather Underground

And yes it does wind gusts as well as steady wind speeds.

Davis gear isn't the cheapest. But it does seem to work the best.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

FWIW, the 1001 I have was child's play to set up.

Stick in the rechargeable batteries that came with and peel the protective sticker off of the built in solar panel.

Mount it on a pole somewhere in WiFi range and level it using at the built in bubble level and aligning it pointing it north (I used an Army compass and my iPhone's built in compass).

Go to underground at sign up for a weather station and get a call sign and password.

Enter the call sign and password into the monitor, as well as your longitude and latitude.

Done.

 

[bigtiller]

Childs play to some is equal to Greek pig latin to others. There is almost always a confusing question asked, that is impossible to answer......unless a child is around.