Page 1 of 1

Which weather station to buy??

Posted: Wed 16 Mar 2016 10:33 pm
by WetCoast
Hi All,
I'll looking for recommendations as to which weather station to purchase. I currently have an "Ambient Weather" (fine offset) that has stopped reporting the wind speed. I tried repairing it but couldn't see anything obviously wrong. Now I'm thinking of replacing it, so... which one should I buy?

Thanks in advance,
Gord

Re: Which weather station to buy??

Posted: Thu 17 Mar 2016 9:12 am
by RayProudfoot
Gord,

You don't mention a budget so recommendations are difficult. You could just buy another Fine Offset equivalent but the chances are it would only last up to 5 years and then another replacement would be required.

Or you could spend more in the probability the station could last up to 10 years and maybe more. Have a look at Davis VP2 or Vue stations. I don't know where in the world you live so the price will vary quite a lot depending on that.

Re: Which weather station to buy??

Posted: Sat 28 May 2016 5:49 am
by WetCoast
Thanks Ray. Sorry I didn't reply before this but for some strange reason I was not 'subscribed' to this thread and only saw your reply today. Anyway...
I managed to fix my Fine Offset weather station, (pinched/broken wire between the anemometer and the other electronics) so I'm kind of happy for that, which means I can take a bit more time looking for a replacement (hopefully years??)

The station I have now is OK for a started station but next time I'd probably get one that was a bit more sophisticated. Not sure exactly. One of the things I dislike about this station is the fact that the console keeps losing contact with the weather unit outside. It's not that far away, certainly withing the 'claimed' distance. Strange thing is it seems to work best if I leave the console on the floor, not sure why that is...

BTW, I live in Canada near Vancouver. I purchased this unit from somewhere in the States, I believe Arizona.

Thanks again for the reply,
Gord

Re: Which weather station to buy??

Posted: Sat 28 May 2016 7:59 am
by RayProudfoot
Hi Gord,

I had a similar problem with the poor signal when I had an Oregon Scientific thermometer in the garden. Despite my console being only 50ft away it would lose the signal quite frequently. In comparison the Davis is rock-solid.

There's no need for an immediate decision as you have your station working again unless the loss of signal drives you mad.

Re: Which weather station to buy??

Posted: Fri 20 Oct 2017 2:19 pm
by JoeBOB
Thanks Ray. Sorry I didn't reply before this but for some strange reason I was not 'subscribed' to this thread and only saw your reply today. Anyway...
I managed to fix my Fine Offset weather station, (pinched/broken wire between the anemometer and the other electronics) so I'm kind of happy for that, which means I can take a bit more time looking for a replacement (hopefully years??)

The station I have now is OK for a started station but next time I'd probably get one that was a bit more sophisticated. Not sure exactly. One of the things I dislike about this station is the fact that the console keeps losing contact with the weather unit outside. It's not that far away, certainly withing the 'claimed' distance. Strange thing is it seems to work best if I leave the console on the floor, not sure why that is...

BTW, I live in Canada near Vancouver. I purchased this unit from somewhere in the States, I believe Arizona.

Thanks again for the reply,
Gord
Gord,

Not sure how your existing station is running these days. I thought I'd share my experience. I like the Davis Pro2, but of course, it's a relatively expensive unit by the time you purchase all "goodies" that you might want with it. :lol:

It looks like wxobservation likes the Davis Vantage Vue. Does anyone else here have experience with it? It's less expensive, but still has the same accuracy as the Pro2.

Good luck with your search!
JoeBOB

Re: Which weather station to buy??

Posted: Fri 10 Nov 2017 8:06 pm
by CBers
I was going to start a new "Which Weather Station to buy" thread, then I found this one :D

My 4-year-old Maplin N96FY has started freezing on the temperature and wind-speed, even though when you allow CUMULUS to do catch-up, you see all of the values loaded since the last load.

So, assuming I can't figure out what needs fixing, I'm going to buy another weather station.

So, given a budget of around £250, what is the best to work with CUMULUS please ??

I assume CUMULUS is still being developed, as I notice no release since January this year.

I don't run CUMULUS MX, but the original CUMULUS 1, v1.9.4 :)

Thanks in advance.

Re: Which weather station to buy??

Posted: Fri 04 May 2018 2:27 am
by Brandos
Another vote here for the Davis Vantage Vue. I have been using it for nearly a year after reading the reviews on this website https://www.weatherstationadvisor.com/

When it's time for an upgrade and when I have the spare cash :lol: I will step up to the Pro2 with the fan aspirated radiation shield.

Re: Which weather station to buy??

Posted: Fri 04 May 2018 12:39 pm
by PaulMy
I am just replacing my 2008 Davis VP2 with a VP2 Plus and 24-FARS.
The VP2 has operated flawlessly for these 10 years and is still working great. The only thing I have done to it is replace the ISS battery in 2010 and 2017, just because I thought I should. It will find a good home for itself for more service to someone.

Enjoy,
Paul

Re: Which weather station to buy??

Posted: Fri 04 May 2018 1:08 pm
by RayProudfoot
My VP2 was bought in April 2009 and as far as the ISS is concerned the only thing I have changed is adding a daytime FARS and a new rain bucket as a friend who has a relative in the US was able to take advantage of a cut-price deal for spares.

My friend has a VP2 but his temperature sensor stopped working back in the winter and because it's on his roof he hasn't got around to replacing it yet. Hopefully that is not a difficult job?

The most troublesome component has been the anemometer. One blew down in Jan 2014 and its replacement had bearing problems a couple of years ago but was replaced gratis by ProData. :clap:

My website is 9 years old next Thursday and in all that time the VP2 and Cumulus have done a sterling job. :clap: I'm also indebted to Steve for hosting my website. :clap:

Re: Which weather station to buy??

Posted: Sun 06 May 2018 10:15 pm
by ExperiMentor
You say "My 4-year-old Maplin N96FY has started freezing". Well my old Maplin N96FY (a Fine Offset, rebranded), which Maplin were often selling half price (£50, $70) has been going strong for 8-9 years now. It's a long way from the base station, connection never fails and the batteries last for years. The only problem I ever had was the wind speed gauge got broken in hailstones. They were the size of golf balls mind, and caused £8,000 of damage to each of my two cars, plus another few thousand for redoing damaged varnish and shutters on the house. Insurance refused to pay for the weather station, but the spare part was only £2.50.

So I now have a complete spare station in the attic. Might come in useful now that Maplin went bankrupt. Many years before I need something better!

Re: Which weather station to buy??

Posted: Sun 06 May 2018 10:35 pm
by uncle_bob
WetCoast wrote: One of the things I dislike about this station is the fact that the console keeps losing contact with the weather unit outside. It's not that far away, certainly withing the 'claimed' distance.
Hi Gord,
This issue is very well known and also Wind speed spikes.

It annoyed me so much that I tossed out the transmitter and console and used the anemometer and rain sensor with a WeatherDuino Pro2 that I built.
The WeatherDuino gives you the precision data of a Davis but with a lot more flexibility and a lot less cost.

Building your own isn't everyone's cup of tea as it does require a little bit of electronic know how. But it's a lot of fun and very satisfying.

Re: Which weather station to buy??

Posted: Mon 07 May 2018 3:28 pm
by AllyCat
Hi,
ExperiMentor wrote:my old Maplin N96FY (a Fine Offset, rebranded), which Maplin were often selling half price (£50, $70) has been going strong for 8-9 years now.
Ah yes, that was probably the "old" version where the "wireless protocol" was far better engineered than later versions (but almost impossible to "hack"). However, the issue with Fine Offset stations has always been the (lack of) "Quality Control". Some can be excellent, but I recently had one (Maplin) transmitter that couldn't work reliably through a standard brick wall (25 cms) and about 3 metres of air !

Cheers, Alan.

Re: Which weather station to buy??

Posted: Mon 07 May 2018 7:51 pm
by ExperiMentor
AllyCat wrote:Ah yes, that was probably the "old" version
I hope that doesn't mean my 'spare' turns out to be useless!