PERSONAL WEATHER STATIONS: Queries and Advice

19-04-2020 6:26pm

SouthWesterly wrote: »

Guys I finally put my blessed 5-1 up but it's not receiving data from the sensor.

It's about 30 feet away from the base but is over a hedge(just). Does it need line of site.
I can raise it if needed.
I tried setting it up beside each other but still no joy.

TIA

I don't know the system you're using, but is there a "sensor search" function to pair the sensors on first use?
Or a channel selector at each end?

SouthWesterly · 19-04-2020 7:31pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I don't know the system you're using, but is there a "sensor search" function to pair the sensors on first use?
Or a channel selector at each end?

This one
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0170A47DI/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_track_package_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It has a scan function but not picking it up

mayo.mick · 19-04-2020 7:59pm

SouthWesterly wrote: »

This one
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0170A47DI/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_track_package_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It has a scan function but not picking it up

Is there a channel selector on the console, eg 1-4? If there is leave it on channel 1 first for half an hour and see if it connects, if not go to channel 2 and so on.

19-04-2020 8:49pm

SouthWesterly wrote: »

This one
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0170A47DI/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_track_package_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It has a scan function but not picking it up

A quick look at the manual and there is a LED on the remote sensor that flashes once every 12 seconds or so check that it is active, if not there could be an issue with the battery.

SouthWesterly · 21-04-2020 11:26am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

A quick look at the manual and there is a LED on the remote sensor that flashes once every 12 seconds or so check that it is active, if not there could be an issue with the battery.

I'll take another look today. It's new batteries. I literally only set it up this week having had it 5 months

Marlow · 21-04-2020 12:41pm

For those who may be interested, the new generation of the Weatherflow Weatherstation is on Indiegogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tempest-a-revolutionary-personal-weather-system

Looks like their past ones had a good reputation.

/M

Lu Tze · 21-04-2020 12:55pm

Marlow wrote: »

For those who may be interested, the new generation of the Weatherflow Weatherstation is on Indiegogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tempest-a-revolutionary-personal-weather-system

Looks like their past ones had a good reputation.

/M

I'm not too well up on these, but have installed tipping bucket raingauges with data loggers before, and will be doing so again as part of my work. Just wondering if these can operate offline, can you download the data from them? Do they have a built in data logger? Or does it need to be connected to the internet?

Marlow · 21-04-2020 1:12pm

Lu Tze wrote: »

I'm not too well up on these, but have installed tipping bucket raingauges with data loggers before, and will be doing so again as part of my work. Just wondering if these can operate offline, can you download the data from them? Do they have a built in data logger? Or does it need to be connected to the internet?

I looked at that, as my current one operates offline.

These ones are wifi connected and I don't think will work offline out of the box. But they seem to be using a common weather broadcast protocol, so a local logger could maybe be implemented.

I have ordered one and will see, how I get on.

/M

Lu Tze · 21-04-2020 6:24pm

Marlow wrote: »

I looked at that, as my current one operates offline.

These ones are wifi connected and I don't think will work offline out of the box. But they seem to be using a common weather broadcast protocol, so a local logger could maybe be implemented.

I have ordered one and will see, how I get on.

/M

At the price, I would nearly consider one to see how it measures up. I normally recommend industry raingauges, with a separate logger, but a client recently went his own way and got a Davis pro. After initial issues with power supply it seems to be working fine so far althoguht early days yet. We have a manual raingauge on site which they will be able to check against down the line (it's the dry season at the moment)

SouthWesterly · 22-04-2020 6:54pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

A quick look at the manual and there is a LED on the remote sensor that flashes once every 12 seconds or so check that it is active, if not there could be an issue with the battery.

Got it working this evening. Batteries were in the wrong way on the sensor:)

joujoujou · 22-04-2020 9:06pm

Lu Tze wrote: »

At the price, I would nearly consider one to see how it measures up. [...]

I am very tempted myself. Without any moving parts it'll probably be quite reliable. But I'm also interested in fetching data in offline mode, I'd prefer to collect, process and upload it myself. Think I'll ask few questions on their forum.

Marlow · 23-04-2020 1:11am

joujoujou wrote: »

But I'm also interested in fetching data in offline mode, I'd prefer to collect, process and upload it myself. Think I'll ask few questions on their forum.

If you get anything back .. please report. I am very much the same.

/M

joujoujou · 23-04-2020 9:32am

Read some FAQs and other things on their website and decided I will not go for it. Few reasons:

- the only way you can set it up is through a smartphone app - I have no smartphone, I will not have one.

- the only way it connects to a network is through wi-fi. I prefer all non-mobile devices to be wired.

Sorry, not interested anymore.

23-04-2020 2:56pm

joujoujou wrote: »

I am very tempted myself. Without any moving parts it'll probably be quite reliable. But I'm also interested in fetching data in offline mode, I'd prefer to collect, process and upload it myself. Think I'll ask few questions on their forum.

joujoujou wrote: »

Read some FAQs and other things on their website and decided I will not go for it. Few reasons:

- the only way you can set it up is through a smartphone app - I have no smartphone, I will not have one.

- the only way it connects to a network is through wi-fi. I prefer all non-mobile devices to be wired.

Sorry, not interested anymore.

I suspect that it would use multicasting back to a server somewhere, a bit like the owl energy monitoring system.
With the Owl it was possible to intercept the multicast traffic with a raspberrypi and then chart it. At least that way you are free from the subscription that Owl wanted from you to view the data (from your own system).

Marlow · 24-04-2020 2:14am

Deleted User wrote: »

I suspect that it would use multicasting back to a server somewhere, a bit like the owl energy monitoring system.
With the Owl it was possible to intercept the multicast traffic with a raspberrypi and then chart it. At least that way you are free from the subscription that Owl wanted from you to view the data (from your own system).

Yes .. it looks very similar .. apart that no subscription is needed. But there's those of us, who really like it old school: keep it local with the "option" of sharing. So that if ****e breaks.... things keep working.

Modern cloud approaches are not sufficient for this.

/M

Chris_5339762 · 01-05-2020 10:38pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I did a bit of digging and found this site,
https://the-gadgeteer.com/2018/11/04/acurite-atlas-weather-station-review/
it appears that it uses the 433 MHz band, this is the 70cm amateur radio band that is also used by low powered devices such as remote door openers.
So I don't see the frequency being an issue, maybe it fails on harmonics or something.

This is a bit of necromancy, but did anyone ever buy one of these? I still want one, its by far the best weather station out there overall (Davis's are better but the display and connectivity is appalling). The frequency issue still bugs me, I just wonder if my gate will try to open whenever it transmits.

jod1983 · 09-05-2020 7:39pm

Hi all,
Going to invest in a station soon, anyone know whats the difference between the WH4000SE and the WH3000SE?

nachos · 16-05-2020 9:10pm

Installed my first weather station today, a Froggit WH3000SE. Everything going ok far but don't have the right converter for the euro plug. What are other people using? Thanks

joujoujou · 16-05-2020 9:20pm

Shaver adaptor, or just nothing - EU plug will eventually fit, with a bit of effort.

16-05-2020 11:00pm

My dad would have just cut the cord from a defunkt electrical gadget, stripped and taped the wires to the pins and powered that way.

Not that I would recommend this of course.

Marlow · 17-05-2020 1:26am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

My dad would have just cut the cord from a defunkt electrical gadget, stripped and taped the wires to the pins and powered that way.

Not that I would recommend this of course.

Crude.

Any odd key ... car keys are best ... in the earth lock, will let you force a continental connector into a UK plug.

/M

17-05-2020 2:45am

Marlow wrote: »

Crude.

Any odd key ... car keys are best ... in the earth lock, will let you force a continental connector into a UK plug.

/M

I used a screwdriver once to open the socket to connect wires to power a train set once (back in the 1960s), some smoke and a zing from the rails later I decided it wasn't a good idea!

nachos · 17-05-2020 3:28pm

Thanks folks, managed to find a converter in one of the drawers by chance and that did the job. I had bought a converter like this one (https://www.satellitetv.ie/fiver-friday-%E2%82%AC5/eu-uk-plug-adaptor) but the supplied euro plug wouldn't fit into it, too big.

Have it transmitting to Wunderground now which I'm delighted withL https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/ISKERR1/

The installation site isn't ideal but had to make do with what I have in my small garden. Installed a bracket on the side of the shed so it's about 45cm away from shed and about 2m away from a tall wall behind it. May have to adjust the measurements to account for that but seems reasonably accurate so far

garroff · 27-05-2020 7:57am

Fahrenheit!!!

27-05-2020 9:59am

garroff wrote: »

Fahrenheit!!!

I assume you're referring to wunderground, US site defaults to "old money" units, there is an option to switch to metric, but annoyingly the pressure gauge image cannot be changed to a metric only one.

afatbollix · 30-05-2020 5:45pm

Does anyone have a Netatmo? I tried searching but it seems broken.

It's gone down to £90 for an outdoor and indoor sensor.

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01084QX9Y/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_1285150262?_encoding=UTF8&ie=UTF8&language=en_GB&linkCode=ogi&tag=camelalertsizer-21&th=1

Reading the reviews there does seem there is an issue once you change the batteries on the outdoor unit, Any advice or another smart weather station?

RobertKK · 30-06-2020 11:40am

I need help.

My weather station console is not working properly.
It is a Davis Vantage pro 2 about 9 years old.

The console has the X showing it is receiving from the weather station but it is displaying no data just blank.
Does anyone know what is wrong and how it can be fixed, please.

Any help in fixing it would be greatly appreciated.

garroff · 30-06-2020 3:53pm

Have you tried removing batteries and A/C supply and reconnecting?

RobertKK · 30-06-2020 6:53pm

Yeah I tried that and nothing seems to work. I don't know ow to fix this, it would be easier if just a sensor was broken, but I don't know what is going on here.

Mortelaro · 30-06-2020 9:15pm

It happened to me
I had to replace the console unfortunately

RobertKK · 01-07-2020 12:01am

Mortelaro wrote: »

It happened to me
I had to replace the console unfortunately

damn and they are costly

Danno · 01-07-2020 1:18am

Hold down the Done button for a few moments

RobertKK · 01-07-2020 8:07am

Danno wrote: »

Hold down the Done button for a few moments

I did that but it doesn’t solve it.

01-07-2020 9:46am

RobertKK wrote: »

I did that but it doesn’t solve it.

Do you know anyone local that is handy with electronics, could be a simple fix.

Loose wire, dry joint etc

If not, there may be a website dedicated to repairing these consoles as they are expensive enough to make simple repairs worthwhile.
EDIT: or try Davis themselves http://www.davis.com/Repairs

The_Outsider · 26-08-2020 3:51pm

Hi all, some advice needed please.
So I've had a Vantage Vue for the last 3 years and while it's been fairly reliable its slowly but surely failing. First to go was the humidity sensor, then the bearing in the anemometer (which I replaced), it constantly complains about low battery despite changing multiple times and now the external temperature sensor has gone.

A replacement senor suite for this model is £240. I'm feeling like I'm throwing money at this thing constantly so while browsing for spares I came across the Ventus W830 which looks lovely, and retails for £169.

Have I a lemon of a Vantage Vue or is this the typical life expectancy with the Vue ?
Has anyone any experience with the Ventus? Worth a shot?

Thx.

Comhrá · 26-08-2020 7:19pm

The_Outsider wrote: »

Have I a lemon of a Vantage Vue or is this the typical life expectancy with the Vue ?
Has anyone any experience with the Ventus? Worth a shot?

Thx.

I have a Vantage Vue for over ten years now and the only major issue I had was having to replace the humidity sensor about three years ago. Occasionally I get the low battery message but it goes away about two days after I replace the batteries - either the external one or the console ones, whichever are exhausted.

Otherwise it has been faultless.

The_Outsider · 27-08-2020 10:31am

Thanks Comhra,
Sounds like you are getting decent mileage out of your Vue. It is probably my site that is slowly killing mine - very exposed on a pole on top of a hill so it takes quite the beating.

mickger844posts · 27-08-2020 12:36pm

The_Outsider wrote: »

Have I a lemon of a Vantage Vue or is this the typical life expectancy with the Vue ?
Has anyone any experience with the Ventus? Worth a shot?

Thx.

I also have my Vue nearly 10 years and overall it has served me well. I had the issue with Low Battery Warnings from the ISS but fixed this by applying Dielectric Grease to a set of contacts in the battery compartment. Note not the actual Battery Contacts.
Also my Humidity sensor won’t read above 90% but I use a different sensor for my station so not reflecting on my websites readings.
Obviously the Vue has its limitations as it’s an all in one solution but i don’t regret buying it nearly a decade ago.

Chris_5339762 · 30-08-2020 3:38pm

Ok so I'm in a bit of a quandry weather station wise, want to see what others think. Its time for me to get a new weather station as my one is very broken now. It was an old Maplin model.

But the problem is which to get. The EU models seem vastly inferior to the US models and importing them is tricky because of the frequency issues. The two US ones and the Davis are as follows -

1) Davis Vantage Vue or Pro 2. (Both extremely expensive, are very good, but the console is wildly outdated and connection to the internet is atrocious).

2) Ambient Weather WS 2902A. (Absolutely lovely weather station but not an EU frequency, website is not available in EU at all, hard to get here)

3) Weatherflow Tempest. (Not available in EU, unknown frequency issues for EU market too).

So all three that I want are just out of reach at the moment. So I was looking on Amazon for a cheapy one to tide me over until one of the above three either get updated, or have EU availability.

Does anyone have any recommendations on any weather stations on Amazon at the moment? A few hundred euros really but all I'm seeing on there is cheap relabeled/crappy Chinese knockoffs, and nothing in anyway decent or anyway close to any of the three above.

Are we really that screwed in the EU market versus the US?

joujoujou · 30-08-2020 6:09pm

Yes, we're really screwed in the EU.

They also have Acurite Atlas, decent one IMO:

https://the-gadgeteer.com/2018/11/04/acurite-atlas-weather-station-review/

Their home page won't even open for EU viewers, unless you use VPN to deceive them.

mayo.mick · 30-08-2020 10:21pm

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Ok so I'm in a bit of a quandry weather station wise, want to see what others think. Its time for me to get a new weather station as my one is very broken now. It was an old Maplin model.

But the problem is which to get. The EU models seem vastly inferior to the US models and importing them is tricky because of the frequency issues. The two US ones and the Davis are as follows -

1) Davis Vantage Vue or Pro 2. (Both extremely expensive, are very good, but the console is wildly outdated and connection to the internet is atrocious).

2) Ambient Weather WS 2902A. (Absolutely lovely weather station but not an EU frequency, website is not available in EU at all, hard to get here)

3) Weatherflow Tempest. (Not available in EU, unknown frequency issues for EU market too).

So all three that I want are just out of reach at the moment. So I was looking on Amazon for a cheapy one to tide me over until one of the above three either get updated, or have EU availability.

Does anyone have any recommendations on any weather stations on Amazon at the moment? A few hundred euros really but all I'm seeing on there is cheap relabeled/crappy Chinese knockoffs, and nothing in anyway decent or anyway close to any of the three above.

Are we really that screwed in the EU market versus the US?

Do they have those on gearbest?

ZeRoY · 30-08-2020 10:25pm

mayo.mick wrote: »

Do they have those on gearbest?

Dont think Gearbest has any weather stations besides the < $50 desktop stuff. Personally got a Bresser 5in1 Wireless few weeks back, its very good other than the fact it doesnt let you access the data - you must go via Weather Underground or/and WeatherCloud which is a bit of a letdown considering there is a webserver running on the unit :mad:

The exact model I got is the 7002580, bought from the WeatherShop UK

The_Outsider · 31-08-2020 10:44am

Chris_5339762 I watched a review of the Ambient Weather one you mentioned about and from what I can see, other that the multicoloured text on the console display, it's pretty identical to the Ventus W830 I'm looking at on weatherspares.co.uk

In the description it says " Weather Underground, Weather Cloud and also the UK MetOffice WoW service. In Summer 2019 Ventus has also added the ability to upload data to the Ecowitt network and your own web server using custom settings."

That should be available in Ireland right?

I'm pretty sold on this device and just want to do a bit more digging on it. Plus it's out of stock at minute.

thecivvie · 02-12-2020 6:53pm

I have an Ecowitt Dp1500. Just wondering if anyone else has one with the Lightning detector? Just wondering how they work

Nqp15hhu · 03-01-2021 9:31pm

How can I confirm my weather station is not over reading?

It does well in sunshine but I am wondering if it is slightly over reading due to an effect from my house. Sometimes at night when I arrive home, my car will be 2c lower than the reading on my Base station.

For ex, today the high was 5.9c which seems slightly too high.

Local stations near me had highs of:
4.8c
4.3c
3.4c

Nqp15hhu · 03-01-2021 9:39pm

This is the graph of the temperature throughout the day, so not sure if that looks abnormal.

thecivvie · 03-01-2021 10:11pm

I would say you are about right. Currently I am the lowest of all the local ones on Wunderground. You maybe affected by local conditions that others don't have.

03-01-2021 11:41pm

Local microclimates can have quite a significant affect on readings, even the presence of a river can reduce the variations between highs & lows if close enough.

superdog · 04-01-2021 12:32am

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

How can I confirm my weather station is not over reading?

It does well in sunshine but I am wondering if it is slightly over reading due to an effect from my house. Sometimes at night when I arrive home, my car will be 2c lower than the reading on my Base station.

For ex, today the high was 5.9c which seems slightly too high.

Local stations near me had highs of:
4.8c
4.3c
3.4c

I would be interested in knowing that too.
I think where it is mounted or located will result in a fair variance

Nqp15hhu · 04-01-2021 12:42am

superdog wrote: »

I would be interested in knowing that too.
I think where it is mounted or located will result in a fair variance

I’m just not sure where it put it. The back of the garden is on to a field, however, there are trees there... elsewhere there are houses on either side.

PERSONAL WEATHER STATIONS: Queries and Advice

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