Help for newbie please

[metroman]

Hi,
I am having to reset my weather station every few days,I have replaced the batteries in the outside sensor and the batteries in the indoor console. Each time I reset the station,it works okay for another few days, and then packs in again. Anyone on the forum any idea as to what could be causing this. Thanks.
Martin

[AllyCat]

Hi Martin,

Basically because it's a £50 system, not a £500 system (Davis) or a genuine "Professional" system (perhaps £5000). Due to relatively poor design and Quality Control "Not all Fine Offsets are Created Equal", so you might be unlucky with the equivalent of a "Friday Car" in days of yore.

Firstly you need to be more specific about who supplied the "1080", recent Maplin units appear to have a software bug which can cause USB lockups, but they are actually 1081s. Class Ohlson's are 1080's but use an 868MHz radio frequency which can be more obstructed by materials in the path between the transmitter and receiver.

But what do you mean by "packs in again", is the USB interface completely locking up, or are you just seeing "Lost Sensor Contact"s. Any of the latter indicate that the wireless link is "struggling" and needs remedial action (perhaps, but not necessarily, returning the kit as "unfit for purpose").

Cheers, Alan.

[metroman]

Hi,
Thanks. Usually when I check the weather station,the outside temp display is blank, and when I look on cumulus,the error is lost sensor contact. It is a clas Olson one, but out of warranty now. Another thing is, the outside sensor/anemometer/wind direction indicator is mounted on a pole attached to my garden shed,and the indoor console is in the spare room,which is at the front of the house with the omputers in. Could be the distance,but it has been okay in the past. I had to reset it this morning, I will see how long it goes. I could re-position the console downstairs in the dining room, which is a lot closer to the outside sensors. I would just have to keep downloading the data to my laptop.
Martin

[RayProudfoot]

Basically because it's a £50 system, not a £500 system (Davis) or a genuine "Professional" system (perhaps £5000). Due to relatively poor design and Quality Control "Not all Fine Offsets are Created Equal", so you might be unlucky with the equivalent of a "Friday Car" in days of yore.

But what do you mean by "packs in again", is the USB interface completely locking up, or are you just seeing "Lost Sensor Contact"s. Any of the latter indicate that the wireless link is "struggling" and needs remedial action (perhaps, but not necessarily, returning the kit as "unfit for purpose").

Cheers, Alan.

Irrespective of the price paid under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 goods should be "of merchantable quality". Martin doesn't say how long he's had it but if it's only for a few months I suggest he returns it to the retailer and requests a replacement. If it's less than 28 days he can request his money back.

Lesser quality weather stations won't have the quality of components of more expensive stations but they should work. If it packs up after 5 years then that wouldn't be unreasonable for the price paid.

[AllyCat]

It is a clas Olson one, but out of warranty now.

Hi Martin,

Are you sure, since Clas Ohlson offer a two year Warranty? But more generally, for the first six months the onus is on the seller to "prove" that the product was NOT faulty, after that time the onus is on the purchaser to prove that it IS/was faulty.

However, the system may not necessarily be faulty, perhaps for example, a neighbour has installed a wireless system which interferes with the station. Also, I believe FO only publish "typical" specifications, so it may be difficult to determine if it is truly faulty.

My concern is that you keep needing to "reset" the station. Does it not recover if you simply move the Console close(r) to the transmitter? If it does recover then you may need to improve the wireless link (move the receiver closer to the transmitter, or away from potential sources of local interference such as phones, WiFi or perhaps a computer!). But if it fails to re-sysnchronise then a "real" fault may be implied (or there is interference from a similar local system, etc.).

Cheers, Alan.

[metroman]

Hi,
It was purchased at Christmas last year,not too sure about the two warranty from Clas Ohlson. I have checked it this morning,and it is okay. I have the console in the spare room where the computers are, I would say the distance is about 50 metres from the outside . Like I said, I could try the console nearer the outside sensors, to see how it performs. In the meantime, I will check the class Ohlson warranty. Each time the error is lost sensor contact,so like you say,is it just searching for a signal. When I do reset it,it only takes about 15 mins for the display to come back to normal(ie:outside temp showing, and time set correctly by radio control.
Martin

[metroman]

Hi,
Yes, it has a two year warranty,but at the moment I have mislaid the receipt. I know I have the receipt,it's just a case of finding it,but I don't think that the unit is faulty. It worked flawlessly for the last 24 hours. Another thing is, I am using alkaline batteries,would it be better using lithium batteries? I will keep an eye on it,and if nessessary, move the console closer to the outdoor sensors,as at present the signal has to come from the garden shed thru the garden,thru the house and into the spare room,which as I said is about 50 metres from the shed.
Martin

[AllyCat]

Hi Martin,

To be honest, 50m is probably as much as can be reasonably expected, through several walls at 868MHz, so IMHO that alone doesn't make it "faulty". I think many/most FO users would be very happy to get that range reliably.

Lithium non-rechargeable cells are unlikely to work significantly better than fresh alkaline cells, but they do maintain their voltage over life (and at ultra-low temperatures) far better than alkalines, so they are probably a good choice for these stations (they may well outlive the station ).

Cheers, Alan.

[metroman]

Hi Alan,
Thanks very much for your help. The station is still working okay,so fingers crossed for now.
Martin

[metroman]

Hi,
Temp display went blank,but it started to display again after about 5mins. Working okay now.
Martin

[philcdav]

Hi guys.

just a comment on the new 'solar units' .

I upgraded to the 3080 in November and immediately ran into issues.

Lost contact, missing data, you name, I had it.

After several weeks of experimenting I have noted the following.

The new unit appears to have a weaker radio signal.

My new units were fitted in exactly the same physical location to within a couple of mm, with about 15m between sender (4m agl) and console (1m agl)

In a fit of frustration I ran the console outside at a distance of 1 m and all was good for 24 hrs. Then I moved it indoors at a distance of 10m but thru a double glazed door. Again, all good for another 24 hours.

Finally it went back into the radio room at a distance of 15 m but now at 2m agl and its now been good for 7 days.

So, my only conclusion is that the extra receiver height has solved the issue. No 'lost contacts' at all for 7 days.

The old unit ran for 4 years at the 'lower' height so power would seem to be the only issue?

[metroman]

Hi,
I have had my display unit downstairs in the kitchen for the last few days because of the lost sensor contact/reseting problems that I had. It has worked flawlessly while downstairs, I did think that there was a problem with the unit, but obviously just the distance I had the display from the outside sensors. I will just leave it down there now, and keep downloading the data to computer.
Martin

[metroman]

Hi,
Been having a problem with the wx station. I have cumulus running on an old windows xp machine, but I don't have the wx station connected all the time, only when the memory is full and I need to upload to the pc. When I connect the wx station to the pc, it records okay, but does not upload data from the internal memory. Don't know what I am doing wrong!! any help please? tried all the obvious stuff, thanks
Martin

[steve]

Have you turned off the 'use data logger' setting (station settings), by any chance? A number of people seem to have done this for some reason, and then wonder why Cumulus isn't downloading data from the data logger...

If you do still have that set, zip up the diags folder and attach it, and I'll take a look.

[metroman]

I have the data logger box ticked, but I will zip the diags folder over the weekend and post it. thanks
martin