Maplins weather station, help!

mountainy man · 04-12-2013 5:37pm #1

I have had this weather station since april/may and last night the signal to the base station was intermittent when temps went down to 1C so guessed that the batteries were going flat. I have replaced the batteries and it is not communicating with the base station at all now and am at a loss as to what is wrong, am I missing something? the transmitter's led flashed but not for 4 seconds as the instruction booklet says, the booklet is a bit rubbish to be honest, can anyone help me please? Thanks in advance MM.

Lumi · 04-12-2013 5:51pm

mountainy man wrote: »

I have had this weather station since april/may and last night the signal to the base station was intermittent when temps went down to 1C so guessed that the batteries were going flat. I have replaced the batteries and it is not communicating with the base station at all now and am at a loss as to what is wrong, am I missing something? the transmitter's led flashed but not for 4 seconds as the instruction booklet says, the booklet is a bit rubbish to be honest, can anyone help me please? Thanks in advance MM.

Hi Mountainyman, can you tell me what model number the station is and if it has a USB/ wireless connection etc and I might be able to help get it sorted
I also suggest that you post your problem here and have a read through the thread. They have a lot of expertise with Maplin/FineOffset weather stations and very helpful.

Edit:

Resetting the console might work

Take the batteries out of the station then unplug/remove batteries from the base station. Replace the batteries in the station then switch the base station back on. Try that in that exact order

mountainy man · 04-12-2013 6:14pm

Thanks Lumi, had a poke about on that forum and seems I needed to reset the base station so removed batteries and left it for a few mins and replaced and is all good now. its a N96FY by the way. Thanks for taking the time to help, was panicing as it would happen just as the weather is going to do something interesting.

Thanks again
MM

riffmongous · 05-12-2013 4:36pm

First step in all technological problem solving is always 'turn it off and turn it back on again'

While it might just be a joke from the IT Crowd, it will usually work

eskimocat · 05-12-2013 11:33pm

I always seem to run out of juice right before the weather does something interesting!! then I constantly forget to get the batteries when I am near a shop!! Of course the wind was battering the house this morning.

Dear Santa
I have been a good girl all year... mostly... and for Christmas I would like replacement batteries for my weather station... and replacement batteries for my brain, which also seems to have run empty!!

Eskimocat

riffmongous · 06-12-2013 12:18am

eskimocat wrote: »

I always seem to run out of juice right before the weather does something interesting!! then I constantly forget to get the batteries when I am near a shop!! Of course the wind was battering the house this morning.

Dear Santa
I have been a good girl all year... mostly... and for Christmas I would like replacement batteries for my weather station... and replacement batteries for my brain, which also seems to have run empty!!

Eskimocat

Small wind turbine/solar panel of some use maybe?

NinjaN · 06-12-2013 10:04am

I have one of these too, similar issue, no readings and the temp stuck at 7.5 degrees. Resetting worked for a few days and then it went again.

Brought it back to Maplins and no problem changing it, new one works fine

kenmc · 06-12-2013 11:10am

I've given up on mine, was sucking the life out of batteries in no time, so am developing a home-grown solution using the sensors, Arduinos and Raspberry Pi.
Needless to say it's taking plenty of time, but hey it's cold and dark - well dark out in the evenings and sure why not.

eskimocat · 06-12-2013 1:58pm

The litumim batteries last significantly longer than the regular ones. Definitely worth the additional expense over all. Mine need replacing once a year roughly.
It all depends on the distance you have the station from the console and whether it has to send the signal through thick walls, or so I was informed.

Like the idea of a little solar panel as a back up... for the brain if not the weather station!

V1 · 06-12-2013 2:20pm

While the might not be the most reliable yokes you certainly cant beat them for the price...
And on that note I have just spotted that they are on special again 1/2 price and looks like for today only in Maplin so if anyone is interested in a cheap and slightly flakey weather station have a look at them here
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/silver-usb-wireless-touchscreen-weather-forecaster-n96fy?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=13P12-39

Mine is hooked up to a raspberry pi running weewx - pretty nifty and up and running in under an hour

Still need to reset the base by removing the batteries every so often and typically when there is something interesting going on wind or otherwise I find the thing has hung and needs to be reset :mad:

joujoujou · 14-12-2013 11:07am

Buy this, put a set of Eneloops into it and forget about batteries.

Red Nissan · 14-12-2013 11:55am

joujoujou wrote: »

Buy this, put a set of Eneloops into it and forget about batteries.

Have you done so?

My own WH1081 does not like rechargeable batteries at all.

joujoujou · 14-12-2013 2:42pm

Yup, that's exactly what I've done. 2 eneloops inside, solar panel outside, now some 18 months without looking into a battery compartment.

Maplins weather station, help!

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