Home Weather Station

Rew

I've seen plenty of these before ranging from simple temperature and pressure up to wind, and rain sensors.

Are they worth it, any ones in particular worth looking at?

gbee

We already have a good thread on this very subject. Lots of great info in it to digest and it should not be too deep as it gets updates frequently.

Short answer, if you are serious about your weather then you need to buy a professional kit, for about €500 all in [as a starter kit].

Go to the Argos site and sample the weather furniture and read the reviews. Most table top stations with outside sensors are primarily designed as household objects rather than as scientific instruments.

Rew

Cheers ill dig that out

ednwireland

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056123664&highlight=weather+station

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=71548509

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=69280156

to get you going

kenmc

The wireless sensor on my toy has died, and I can't seem to find a replacement for it at a reasonable price. Was looking around some of the threads above, and saw the WH3080 for eur114. Am tempted to get this, but I don't know how useful it will be; the garden is small, and although reasonably open, it has trees, houses etc around. I'm not in a position to mount the anemometer/wind vane on the chimney or anything (rented house). The garden is like this



Although I suppose if the Euro survives and I buy a place of my own then I'd maybe in a better position.

I'm never going to get into any sort of forecasting, I'd be more using it just for curiosity (and to check how many layers I need to wear without going outside!)

Is this thing overkill for what I want? If so can someone recommend something a bit more suitable?

And if this is NOT overkill, can anyone please tell me the pros/cons of the one listed above compared to say this ws2350.

Thanks!
Kenmc

ednwireland

first one has a light level sensor (only difference imo)

as to siting you have what you havem, my wind sensor is in a fairly sheltered spot so it always undereads (if its hitting 40+kmh its pretty windy )

but not too worried in all honesty just doing it for my own interest

(i upload to my website see mysig)

Strangegravy

http://mobile.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=220865

Bought this on sale in Maplin for around 55-60 euro, was looking for something with a PC link but the price would have doubled so I checked the reviews on this one and bit the bullet.

I love it! I'm in no position at the moment to be spending a small fortune on a more professional weather station, but I'm glad I bought this, perfect for the back garden, and seems to be quite accurate when I compare it to Shannon readings, my closest proper station.

Just need the cold to really test it!!

kenmc

I like the idea of being able to connect it to a PC to archive the data. So on the maplin site I saw this:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/usb-touchscreen-wireless-weather-forecaster-228825
how would this compare to the others?
Ken

vonbarracuda

Strangegravy wrote: »

http://mobile.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=220865

Bought this on sale in Maplin for around 55-60 euro, was looking for something with a PC link but the price would have doubled so I checked the reviews on this one and bit the bullet.

I love it! I'm in no position at the moment to be spending a small fortune on a more professional weather station, but I'm glad I bought this, perfect for the back garden, and seems to be quite accurate when I compare it to Shannon readings, my closest proper station.

Just need the cold to really test it!!

+1
I have this one too , its basic but does what I need for the price. Maybe next year Ill upgrade to a better one with Pc link up

gbee

kenmc wrote: »

I like the idea of being able to connect it to a PC to archive the data. So on the maplin site I saw this:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/usb-touchscreen-wireless-weather-forecaster-228825 how would this compare to the others? Ken

They are all essentially the same, I have this one branded as a WH181, this model should have a few tweaks made to it by now, and at the price, I think it's good, I paid just shy of €200 in Maplin in Cork just 12 months ago.

This model and the first one you linked to, WH3080, has everything on a nice mounting pole so you can just stick it in the middle of the garden until you sort out a location and mount a bigger pole for it.

My one suffers from spikes, a passing Taxi or Garda car can set off wind or temperature alarms and my temperature needs adjusting via the software as I read quite high in the warm days and quite low on the colder events.

Wind mine is just ten feet off the ground and I'm still trying to gauge it, it seems to be under but graphs follow the basic high and lows. Wind direction is a mess though, it's just too close to the ground and the sensor itself is not accurate enough for a lofty position anyway. I've recently mounted a wind sock to check the direction that it is showing and it agrees ~ but prevailing winds on any given day seeming come to my WS from a different angle.

Rain: now here all these buckets are very poor and they will need a bit of attention. In the beginning I found mine too tight so it wouldn't tip and then loosened out too much and would tip in the wind and then the spiders just loved it and they gum it up regularly. After my last maintenance I sprayed the whole inside with silicone and very finely sanded the floor as the tipper has dug a trench in the base and it would just tip and stick. Since then though, it has behaved and I'm finally getting some readings that I can compare.

I actually like the look of mine too. I like the Anemometer and the Wind Vane separate.

The touch screen: My model is two models behind the N96GY and they have said they have made improvements to the screen, I've mine mounted high on a wall to get reception and I can't see it. The touch screen membrane is just too thick. I don't use the touch screen

Mine is permanently attached to a USB hub to my PC. The basic software is not too bad but we enter a whole different world here.

kenmc

gbee wrote: »

...

My one suffers from spikes, a passing Taxi or Garda car can set off wind or temperature alarms and my temperature needs adjusting via the software as I read quite high in the warm days and quite low on the colder events.

Wind mine is just ten feet off the ground and I'm still trying to gauge it, it seems to be under but graphs follow the basic high and lows. Wind direction is a mess though, it's just too close to the ground and the sensor itself is not accurate enough for a lofty position anyway. I've recently mounted a wind sock to check the direction that it is showing and it agrees ~ but prevailing winds on any given day seeming come to my WS from a different angle.

Rain: now here all these buckets are very poor and they will need a bit of attention. In the beginning I found mine too tight so it wouldn't tip and then loosened out too much and would tip in the wind and then the spiders just loved it and they gum it up regularly. After my last maintenance I sprayed the whole inside with silicone and very finely sanded the floor as the tipper has dug a trench in the base and it would just tip and stick. Since then though, it has behaved and I'm finally getting some readings that I can compare.

What I get from the above though is that it's not really very accurate at all - spikes from passing RF interference, sticky rainbuckets, and inaccuate wind gauge (which I can accept, as obviously the placement of the sensor is important) - so I'm beginning to wonder if there's much point at all, am I better off just sticking my nose out the door?

gbee

kenmc wrote: »

What I get from the above though is that it's not really very accurate at all -

But one needs to consider the price and at current prices they'd not be too bad at all.

Accuracy comes at a price initially, the Davis Vantage Vue @ approx €400 plus installation

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Davis-Vantage-Vue-Weather-Station/dp/B003YUBOQC


Accuracy also has physical factors, if your site is not a good one, then a better machine is wasted anyway. And finally, one must not forget the education factor value. I've been happy out over time ~ not initially too impressed and I had felt I had wasted my money, but the understanding of the weather phenomena has been greatly facilitated by my WS.

kenmc

Back again with more questions )
Am thinking of getting the maplin one fo £70, can get it delivered to belfast for free, so comes in around 80 euro or so, maybe a little more.
The questions I have though are ;
1) Is it possible to only set up say the thermomemeter and rain gauge, but not mount the wind speed/direction sensors at the same time (just thinking that cos of where I'd be able to place it, they'd be not very accurate)
2) How do you stop birds landing on the sensors? Or is this not really an issue? Reason I ask is that I have 2 bird feeders in the back garden and they tend to perch on top of the feeders, so am hoping they won't do the same to the weather sensors.
Thanks
K

gbee

kenmc wrote: »

Back again with more questions ) K

When it goes up first they think it is another perch. But a little wind will keep the anemometer and wind vane moving so it's only the larger crows that occasionally try and land on calm days.

You might as well set it all up, you get a good length of cable to facilitate a variety of mounting options.

kenmc

ordered. too late now
better come before the snow!

vonbarracuda

kenmc wrote: »

ordered. too late now
better come before the snow!

Do you have a Link for the one you ordered? I might have the same as you If you need any help setting it up.
Its very straight forward

kenmc

vonbarracuda wrote: »

Do you have a Link for the one you ordered? I might have the same as you If you need any help setting it up.
Its very straight forward

http://www.maplin.co.uk/usb-touchscreen-wireless-weather-forecaster-228825

rilz

I got a mickey mouse wireless weather station for £4.99 from play.com on one day only deal. Gives me outside temp - inside temp and weather for 24 hours ahead. All I need lol:D

http://www.play.com/Gadgets/Gadgets/4-/24317045/-/Product.html

kenmc

i got something similar last xmas as a present. the outside sensor stopped working, and it was looking like around 25 euro or something to get a replacement from the only place i could find. feck that!

tphase

rilz wrote: »

I got a mickey mouse wireless weather station for £4.99 from play.com on one day only deal. Gives me outside temp - inside temp and weather for 24 hours ahead. All I need lol:D

http://www.play.com/Gadgets/Gadgets/4-/24317045/-/Product.html

nice bargain, looks similar to this without the solar changer
http://uk.oregonscientific.com/cat-Weather-sub-ECO---Solar-prod--ECO-Solar-Charging-Weather-Station.html#
picked one up at tkmax for E35 recently

rilz

tphase wrote: »

nice bargain, looks similar to this without the solar changer
http://uk.oregonscientific.com/cat-Weather-sub-ECO---Solar-prod--ECO-Solar-Charging-Weather-Station.html#
picked one up at tkmax for E35 recently

Looks quite alike. Have been reading more into it. Cheers.

alfalad

Are there any stations that you could have report to your ipad (or similar)? I know you can get some that will link to your pc, and many that have there own console, but is there one that will feed from your mac to ipad nice and neatly?

gbee

alfalad wrote: »

but is there one that will feed from your mac to ipad nice and neatly?

Whilst one can never say no, the facility for WiFi is not supported on many, perhaps most weather stations, in fact USB is still considered cutting edge, some of the professional software weather support writers still don't support USB.

It's that kind of market. Most will allow updating to the web and from here you can arrange a report to be sent to your iPhone/Pad etc.

kenmc

Yeah there's probably nothing to stop you writing an app to pull the data from the head unit and send it (email, website, sms etc) to your handheld. That's what I'll probably (slowly) do for mine, so I can leave the headunit plugged into the media server downstairs and I can see the data on my phone from the comfort of my bed

Of course that might well change when I get my new toy; currently in the belfast office, hoping to have it by Thursday

john mayo 10

I was n galway 2day,went into malpins and spotted a home weather station for sale, its the same one that was mentioned earlier n this thread. The missus was with me and she suggested getting it for me as a xmas present .I wasnt going to say no so we head home later n the day with me planning to set it up for the upcomming storms:D.But no, She had other ideas.Shes just gone and hid the fecking thing on me now till xmas morning. We are currently not speaking:mad::mad::mad:

Wild Bill

kenmc wrote: »

ordered. too late now
better come before the snow!

I'm not sure how good a rain gauge is at recording snow!

kenmc

Wild Bill wrote: »

I'm not sure how good a rain gauge is at recording snow!

twas more about the snow delaying delivery

gbee

john mayo 10 wrote: »

ot speaking:mad::mad::mad]

Weather is fickle, there is always another storm. Love like you have, well that's worth nurturing. See you Christmas Day.

alfalad

kenmc wrote: »

Yeah there's probably nothing to stop you writing an app to pull the data from the head unit and send it (email, website, sms etc) to your handheld. That's what I'll probably (slowly) do for mine, so I can leave the headunit plugged into the media server downstairs and I can see the data on my phone from the comfort of my bed

Of course that might well change when I get my new toy; currently in the belfast office, hoping to have it by Thursday

Your assuming I can write an app! It was more a case of most units or even computer programes seem to be quiet dated looking. Something that looked a bit more user friendly and could be easily hooked to a computer and therefore wifi I would have thought would be jumped at by station makers. The Oregon Scentific look quite good and if they were to make a version that would report to your own hand held device that would be excellent.

Strangegravy

john mayo 10 wrote: »

I was n galway 2day,went into malpins and spotted a home weather station for sale, its the same one that was mentioned earlier n this thread. The missus was with me and she suggested getting it for me as a xmas present .I wasnt going to say no so we head home later n the day with me planning to set it up for the upcomming storms:D.But no, She had other ideas.Shes just gone and hid the fecking thing on me now till xmas morning. We are currently not speaking:mad::mad::mad:

Be warned, this is the one I have, and I tend to carry it around from room to room just in case I miss something... the wife just laughs at me!

gbee

Strangegravy wrote: »

Be warned, .. the wife just laughs at me!

So did mine, do did my wife, but now she's doing most of the reading and running in for the handheld anemometer and questioning why the rain alarm is not sounding and she has completely stolen my first scanner for a good while my now and my best receiver for broadcast radio.

Let her laugh I say.

kenmc

it came! will play with it over the weekend and see how it goes.

jdee99

alfalad wrote: »

Your assuming I can write an app! It was more a case of most units or even computer programes seem to be quiet dated looking. Something that looked a bit more user friendly and could be easily hooked to a computer and therefore wifi I would have thought would be jumped at by station makers. The Oregon Scentific look quite good and if they were to make a version that would report to your own hand held device that would be excellent.

I am running a Davis Vantage Vue with Weather Display software on a iMac with Lion OSX. Cant write apps but the data is published on the internet through a web page (see www.carrowhawny.com) so I can get it on iPad etc.

Data is transmitted wireless to my iMac and then ftp'd to website etc.

JD

Wild Bill

jdee99 wrote: »

I am running a Davis Vantage Vue with Weather Display software on a iMac with Lion OSX. Cant write apps but the data is published on the internet through a web page (see www.carrowhawny.com) so I can get it on iPad etc.

Data is transmitted wireless to my iMac and then ftp'd to website etc.

JD

Cool! I have a "Vantage PRO 2" - how the heck do I get it on the internet???

(It beams stuff up from outside to a desktop unit and can be loaded automatically to the PC)

eastmayo

got my davis vantage vue back 2day,was gone for repair the last month,the iss was causing hassle for me of and on since i got it back in jan.when ever there was strong winds and rain low battery would come up on console,kept changing battery until it stoped,it was letting dampness in,so they sent me a new iss today:D,they have put some glue over the sencers beside the battery,hope it keeps going this time;)

kenmc

Up and running with temp and pressure anyway. Not much data at the moment, will try add at least the rain gauge over the weekend. Not sure where to mount the wind gauges yet. Just grabbed a free website : http://goatstownweather.atwebpages.com/

Wild Bill

kenmc wrote: »

Up and running with temp and pressure anyway. Not much data at the moment, will try add at least the rain gauge over the weekend. Not sure where to mount the wind gauges yet. Just grabbed a free website : http://goatstownweather.atwebpages.com/

Your wind-guage must be 10m above ground level - and what's this about seagulls in Goatstown?

How do you "grab a website"??

I hate being technologically challenged.

It's worse than having a vertically challenged anemometer.

kenmc

seagulls are stock photo, hate it, didnt have time to change the layout from that which cumulus provides.

the wind gauge can go anywhere I can put it! but the accuracy will be way off.

and to grab a website, go to any if the free hosting providers and sign up, and claim a site name. cumulus can do the rest for you in terms of uploading the data, else teach yourself how to write a webpage

talkabout

Decent value

http://www.maplin.co.uk/usb-touchscreen-wireless-weather-forecaster-228825?ordercode=N96GY&C=Email-Newsletter&U=11P13-2-N96GY&T=1054674&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=N96GY&utm_campaign=11P13-2

Pangea

talkabout wrote: »

Decent value

http://www.maplin.co.uk/usb-touchscreen-wireless-weather-forecaster-228825?ordercode=N96GY&C=Email-Newsletter&U=11P13-2-N96GY&T=1054674&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=N96GY&utm_campaign=11P13-2

Thats the one you have isn't it?
I notice there is a weather thermometer on it and a wind gauge, since the wind gauge is meant to be high and the thermometer is meant to be around 1.2metres, doesn't having them at one height mean less accuracy?

talkabout

Yeah, i have that one, its a grand job considering the money. I have mine mounted on a pole off the shed, you can mount the sensors at different heights but i mounted mine at about 3m. I got it on line from maplins last November but they also have a store in Derry.

kenmc

Feck, I paid 69.99 gbp online last week, it's down a tenner . arse

gbee

Pangea wrote: »

doesn't having them at one height mean less accuracy?

For this instrument, one is not going to get accuracy and for ongoing maintenance, easy accessibility is paramount.

I've mine staggered on a pole with the wind sensors at 4m approx and rain and temp about 1.5m and yes, there is a degree of stability and it could follow on that making them higher still might, just might improve things more, but they are not accurate or robust enough in and of themselves for ambitious mounting.

If you were talking Davis or better, I'd agree with you completely.

jdee99

Wild Bill wrote: »

Cool! I have a "Vantage PRO 2" - how the heck do I get it on the internet???

(It beams stuff up from outside to a desktop unit and can be loaded automatically to the PC)

Hi - I did the website by using a program called Weather Display h**p://www.weather-display.com and using free php scripts (all the instructions are included with the scripts and how to set up the software) from here [url]h**p://saratoga-weather.org/scripts.php[/url]

I hasten to add I know nothing about building websites but mine (www.carrowhawny.com) was all done using the above websites.

JD

Reckless Abandonment

talkabout wrote: »

Yeah, i have that one, its a grand job considering the money. I have mine mounted on a pole off the shed, you can mount the sensors at different heights but i mounted mine at about 3m. I got it on line from maplins last November but they also have a store in Derry.

Hey Talkabout, got that weather station the other day love it, but find it loses connection with the external instruments ever so often , have you had any problems with your's or am I missing something in the settings, Thanks

talkabout

Reckless Abandonment wrote: »

Hey Talkabout, got that weather station the other day love it, but find it loses connection with the external instruments ever so often , have you had any problems with your's or am I missing something in the settings, Thanks

Never really had a problem with losing the signal. It has happened a few times and i changed the batteries and no problems since, thats not to say that it never happens but once in a blue moon. I find the reading very accurate considering the cost of the station, i compare my readings to NRA stations about three miles away.

gbee

For best signal one really needs line of sight with the minimum of obstacles between them.

Copper pipes and cylinders will disrupt the signal, maybe even completely. Thick walls will also reduce and eventually totally block the signal. I have my receiver high on the wall to facilitate continuous signal reception.

[My own signal comes 30ft from the sensor through the garden shed, through the kitchen and through the tool room with water pipes so I guess I'm pushing it a bit and I do suffer a few outages]


On one hand the sensor unit needs to be placed lower to the ground, this is however, a poor position for guaranteed continuous reception.

As noted already, I too have replaced the batteries twice already and my unit is just over a year old. I don't know if this is saying anything about the unit's power consumption, its claims or the actual batteries.

rilz

Went into Winemark earlier in week for some xmas drink and when buying wine, bacardi, Vodka and Whiskey they had a free weather station on offer on filling out a questionaire.
Looking forward to getting it now.:D

tylercollins

Would this one be worth buying?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/usb-wireless-weather-forecaster-223254

gbee

My WS is just about 15 months old and I've been routinely getting read errors.

I've replaced the batteries four times now in the sensor unit that should have lasted two years.

I've replaced the batteries in the base unit twice that should have lasted three years.

Now this bit. My old batteries were replaced @ 1.47v whereas 1.3v would be considered flat. I'm using the partially discharged batteries in torches and getting brilliant light.

Lumi

gbee wrote: »

My WS is just about 15 months old and I've been routinely getting read errors.

I've replaced the batteries four times now in the sensor unit that should have lasted two years.

I've replaced the batteries in the base unit twice that should have lasted three years.

Now this bit. My old batteries were replaced @ 1.47v whereas 1.3v would be considered flat. I'm using the partially discharged batteries in torches and getting brilliant light.

I had the same station for almost three years before upgrading and only replaced the batteries once so it sounds like you have a fault somewhere in the unit

I suggest that you register and post details of your problem here
http://sandaysoft.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=13&sid=9a03517afc7c9757718775125e2be810 as they have a large number of Fine Offset/Maplin Weather Station owners using the forum and they are exceptionally helpful and have vast amount of experience with regards to the problems you can encounter with them

Good luck.