PERSONAL WEATHER STATIONS: Queries and Advice

Red Nissan · 17-12-2013 1:01pm

Lumi wrote: »

If also recommend that you download and use the free Cumulus software rather than the supplied Easyweather software

For station set up and calibration in due course and to erase the memory, Easy Weather may still be required. Cumulus is great day to day monitoring software.

joujoujou · 17-12-2013 3:49pm

Red Nissan wrote: »

For station set up and calibration in due course and to erase the memory, Easy Weather may still be required. Cumulus is great day to day monitoring software.

FYP :pac:

Cumulus can calibrate FineWeather stations no problem.

Memory erasing is actually not really necessary - if memory's full, the newest data will overwrite the oldest. But can be done directly on unit's display - touch, then touch and hold memory icon.

=======================

Solar charger equipped version on ebay:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/330475014848

Competitive price I'd say.

CB19Kevo · 17-12-2013 4:12pm

Want to change my setup from batteries to either solar or direct power, Sick of climbing up to change batteries and it always seems to be just as the weather is getting interesting.
Anyone know where i could find a suitable part.
I have the maplin N96FY.

Red Nissan · 17-12-2013 5:21pm

joujoujou wrote: »

FYP :pac: Cumulus can calibrate FineWeather stations no problem.

Can Culumus set the pressure on the unit so it will display the same [correct] reading if another weather monitoring programme is used?

Any weather software can calibrate the readings, I was unable recently to find where Cumulus would set the actual monitor. I'd be interested to test this, thanks.

If I set the mean and relative pressure with Easy Weather then Culumus and Weather Display will show the same pressure readings.

zagmund · 17-12-2013 8:04pm

Quick question - what's the guidance for the position of the wind thing? I have a flag pole which seems like a good place to mount it (clear of buildings, etc . . .) but would that be overkill or otherwise a bad idea? Assuming I could securely mount it, if I stuck it up there with a solar unit I should never have to touch it hopefully. It might breach protocol (tricolour, etc . . .) but it would be out of the way for sure.

Also, since there's only one solar unit, I take it that all the elements have to be physically close to it so they can be wired - correct?

z

Red Nissan · 18-12-2013 10:32am

zagmund wrote: »

Quick question - what's the guidance for the position of the wind thing? I have a flag pole which seems like a good place to mount it (clear of buildings, etc . . .) but would that be overkill or otherwise a bad idea? Assuming I could securely mount it, if I stuck it up there with a solar unit I should never have to touch it hopefully. It might breach protocol (tricolour, etc . . .) but it would be out of the way for sure.

Also, since there's only one solar unit, I take it that all the elements have to be physically close to it so they can be wired - correct?

z

A flag pole might be OK ~ thoughts; the swaying pole may activate the rocker tipping buckets for rain assessment. The flag might wrap around the instruments and foul on them.

The WS comes with a generous amount of phone line cable, my station has the anemometer and wind vane on a ten foot pole and the sensor unit and rain collector nearer the ground.

The unit requires more maintenance than just batteries, the tipping bucket is an attractive habitat for spiders and I've found a good spray of silicone seems to deter them as well as keeping the tipping bucket and swivel in tip top shape.

Have fun.

[imo the whole caboodle is not accurate enough to warrant precise positioning]

bbam · 18-12-2013 10:46am

zagmund wrote: »

Can anyone advise on the differences between these three models in Maplins -

n96gy - €85 in the shop, £59 online - was €140/£99

n96fy - €130 in the shop, £99 online

n25fr - €60 in the shop but no stock, £39 online - was €132/£59 - looks like the €132 price is a bit makey-uppey when compared to the £59

I've looked at them online and to be honest the details all look pretty similar to me. Having said that, I am new to the area so I may not pick up something the rest of you would see straight away.

I presume the main variables would be -
1) number of instruments - but I assume that temperature, pressure, wind direction & strength, rainfall should cover things
2) quality of the 'back end' - since I plan on hooking this up to weewx I don't think I'm going to be using the display that comes with the stations
3) build quality
4) connection - as far as I can see they are all wireless systems so there's no stringing cable all over the place between the instruments & the console.

I'm not normally a big fan of Maplins, but by all accounts on the forum here these devices are actually pretty good for the price point. I'm not on for spending a couple of hundred € just yet, so I'm happy to go with a trade off between dosh & performance for the moment.

Can anyone advise whether any of these are significantly better than the others or whether I should just aim for the lowest price one for the moment.

z

I have either the first or second one, they look the same to me..
Great little station.... we have it running 3 years without a problem bar change of batteries..

joujoujou · 18-12-2013 2:50pm

Red Nissan wrote: »

Can Culumus set the pressure on the unit so it will display the same [correct] reading if another weather monitoring programme is used?

Any weather software can calibrate the readings, I was unable recently to find where Cumulus would set the actual monitor. I'd be interested to test this, thanks.

If I set the mean and relative pressure with Easy Weather then Culumus and Weather Display will show the same pressure readings.

I've set my unit to show absolute pressure (instead of MSLP) and didn't have to correct it ever after. Had to recalibrate what Cumulus recorded once or twice - it's data showed weird figures when Cumulus has been accidentally started twice at the same time.

zagmund wrote: »

Quick question - what's the guidance for the position of the wind thing? I have a flag pole which seems like a good place to mount it (clear of buildings, etc . . .) but would that be overkill or otherwise a bad idea? Assuming I could securely mount it, if I stuck it up there with a solar unit I should never have to touch it hopefully. It might breach protocol (tricolour, etc . . .) but it would be out of the way for sure.

http://wiki.sandaysoft.com/index.php?title=FAQ#Selecting_a_Weather_Station_sensor_site

zagmund wrote: »

Also, since there's only one solar unit, I take it that all the elements have to be physically close to it so they can be wired - correct?

z

Correct, but... you can use ordinary telephone extension cable no problem. My setup is - wind gauges on top of the roof -- 25m phone cable -- rest of sensors ~1.5m above the ground.

irishgeo · 18-12-2013 11:05pm

how big is the basic 96 outdoor unit.

would it be possible to mount it on top of bolier shed?

SpaceTime · 19-12-2013 12:55pm

I am vaguely considering setting up a home weather station.

Any suggestions as to where to start?
Ideally, I'd like something that's not dependent on Windows applications either as we've a Mac household here.

I'd just like to know where to start really.

force eleven · 19-12-2013 1:05pm

What sort of budget do you have - that's the first question really.

SpaceTime · 19-12-2013 1:08pm

Well, I suppose I don't really want to go overboard but I'm not even sure what the ballpark kind of minimum and average budgets are.

Could you suggest a couple of ball park budgets for a very basic setup and then maybe a slightly more expensive one?

force eleven · 19-12-2013 1:19pm

I can only speak from experience of a Davis Vantage Vue - first time station. You're talking several hundred Euro for this, but I am very happy with it and it is simple to set up.

I'm sure there are more basic set ups also, I'll open it up to more seasoned station owners here to advise. Good luck - great hobby.

Irish Steve · 19-12-2013 2:02pm

For a basic station that will connect to a computer so that the data can be logged, Maplin do a couple of stations, and there are special offers on one of them at the moment, so it's less than half price.

The Davis in comparison is very much a top end station, very good, and probably long term more reliable, but the difference in price is orders of magnitude, a Maplin station will be well under €100 on special offer, the Davis can be the wrong side of €400.

A lot depends on where you live, and what other possible sources of interference you may have around you, as the send station uses frequencies that are shared with things like WiFi, and other things, so an urban area may be more complicated in terms of getting a signal through to the base station.

If you can, to save pain, get a station that has a solar recharge facility for the send station, it's a PAIN having to get up a mast to change batteries on a regular basis, or modify a small charger to provide power from the mains with a battery back up to cover power outages.

The Maplin station uses a Win based application however, I'm not sure if there is a Mac based package on the web for it, the Davis is also Win based, so that might be an issue.

a very good source of information will be the Sandaysoft forum, there is a lot of discussion there about the Cumulus package, which can be used with the Maplin stations, among others, including the Davis.

Maplin will almost certainly offer one or other of their stations after the Christmas period, there's a new station for them on offer at the moment

Hope that helps, and No, I don't work for Maplin, or any other weather station supplier, just happen to use some of the products I've mentioned.

gordongekko · 26-12-2013 2:13pm

Any got weather stations in their gardens? Are they any good? And recommendations etc?

CB19Kevo · 26-12-2013 3:11pm

Just went to replace batteries and nothing happening, TRansmitter lights up, wiring looks okay. Receiver okay but getting nothing.

Red Nissan · 26-12-2013 3:12pm

gordongekko wrote: »

Any got weather stations in their gardens? Are they any good? And recommendations etc?

It's like this, if you are not in a good weather observing area, then a cheap station will be as valuable as a professional one.

Irish Steve · 26-12-2013 4:48pm

CB19Kevo wrote: »

Just went to replace batteries and nothing happening, TRansmitter lights up, wiring looks okay. Receiver okay but getting nothing.

can almost guarantee that you will have to do a restart on the base station by removing and replacing the batteries on it. well know issue with most of them.

CB19Kevo · 26-12-2013 4:59pm

Irish Steve wrote: »

can almost guarantee that you will have to do a restart on the base station by removing and replacing the batteries on it. well know issue with most of them.

No Joy, Thanks anyway.
Must give it a detailed look later in the week.

Macy0161 · 27-12-2013 12:22pm

N96fy appears to be down to stg£70 now - does that change opinions on which one to get? Temp based alarm (which is one of the differences if I am reading it right) might be handy for the garden if it can be set for frost.

vicwatson · 27-12-2013 6:19pm

Can anyone help me here, got a similar station to this and my anenometer has stopped turning recently. It had stopped, then would work intermittently but now has stopped totally.
No obvious signs of damage, any help to repair it would be appreciated.

http://www.amazon.com/Ambient-Weather-WS-1080-Wireless-Logging/dp/B003E7H5HW/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

eskimocat · 27-12-2013 9:14pm

I had trouble with my wind vane earlier this year and managed to order a replacement part from Maplins website. They are quite reasonably priced too.

Irish Steve · 27-12-2013 9:17pm

Most likely, there's some damp got into the bearing, or it's got wear or sticky, and it doesn't take much to stop it turning.

Spares as mentioned on Maplin's site, and I can't recall the size right now, but it is a standard bearing, so probably available for next to nothing from engineering spares sellers, Dickson bearings in Dublin being one that I've used before.

noah45 · 02-01-2014 8:43pm

I just got the Sempre Digital weather station from aldi. Its seems good, is radio controlled. I put the sensor outside but now what do I do? Just look at it every now and then and read the pressure, temp etc.

Red Nissan · 03-01-2014 10:37am

noah45 wrote: »

I just got the Sempre Digital weather station from aldi. Its seems good, is radio controlled. I put the sensor outside but now what do I do? Just look at it every now and then and read the pressure, temp etc.

And make and Excel spread sheet or three and make log entries.

JJJJNR · 10-01-2014 2:27pm

is there any planning restrictions on mounting a weather station to the side of your house, I've a front facing balcony that would be suitable for one.

Red Nissan · 10-01-2014 4:18pm

JJJJNR wrote: »

is there any planning restrictions on mounting a weather station to the side of your house, I've a front facing balcony that would be suitable for one.

The short answer is no. If one were to build a tower for it then, perhaps yes, if it's in an apartment block balcony then yes, it would be prohibited.

zagmund · 19-01-2014 10:28pm

In the end I got an Oregon Scientific WMR88 for (I think) €109 or thereabout from Maplins. I went for the LW302 first as it seemed cooler, more connected, supported more remote probes & stuff but when I got it home I found it wasn't supported by Weewx so I brought it back. It basically involves uploading your data to an Oregon Scientific server and having it do all the data munging and graph drawing for you. Since it didn't have a USB connection you couldn't get Weewx to talk to it.

I've had it up and running for a while now with just the temperature probe and I'm impressed with the information to date. Next up is to set up the rain gauge & the wind yoke, but that will take a while as I need to work out the most suitable locations.

In the mean time I was thinking of getting further temperature probes like this one - http://eu.oregonscientific.com/cat-Weather-sub-Sensors-prod-Thermometer-and-Humidity-Sensor-with-3-Channels-for-the-WMR80,-WMR200,-WMR100.html. The WMR88 supports 3 in total, so I can get another two. Does anyone know of sites other than Amazon or Oregon Scientific that sell them?

z

fiestaman · 30-01-2014 12:04pm

Hi can anyone recommend a decent home wireless weatherstation, i was thinking of getting one, i seen this on ebay. Is it a decent model, could i get much better for a little extra money? Any info greatly appreicated.
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Nevada-WH3080-SOLAR-new-style-wireless-weather-station-IN-STOCK-NOW-/181302978798?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Weather_Stations&hash=item2a367fe8ee

fiestaman · 30-01-2014 3:04pm

force eleven wrote: »

I can only speak from experience of a Davis Vantage Vue - first time station. You're talking several hundred Euro for this, but I am very happy with it and it is simple to set up.

I'm sure there are more basic set ups also, I'll open it up to more seasoned station owners here to advise. Good luck - great hobby.

Hi, where did you get yours and how much. Can you view the data on a laptop running windows 7?

force eleven · 30-01-2014 3:11pm

fiestaman wrote: »

Hi, where did you get yours and how much. Can you view the data on a laptop running windows 7?

http://www.pjboner.com/products-page/weather-stations-categories/

Ring these people, very helpful. Approx 450 euro inc. delivery, but you might haggle with them and get a few euro off. Shop around, do your research before investing. You can purchase software that will download your station data onto a laptop daily if you want. I think the station stores data up to six months with the plug in key.

eskimocat · 01-02-2014 6:51pm

Any tips on how to turn off the daily alarm on the Maplins silver weather station?

fiestaman · 02-02-2014 12:21am

Does anyone know if the cheaper models like this give moon phases and when there is a new moon coming?
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/black-usb-wireless-touchscreen-weather-forecaster-n96gy

Macy0161 · 02-02-2014 12:53am

fiestaman wrote: »

Does anyone know if the cheaper models like this give moon phases and when there is a new moon coming?
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/black-usb-wireless-touchscreen-weather-forecaster-n96gy

I doesn't (or maybe I haven't found it!), but if you're hooking it up to a PC, the cumulus software that you can use with it does give the moon phase.

fiestaman · 02-02-2014 1:56am

Ok so thinking of getting this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nevada-WH3080-Wireless-Weather-Station/dp/B00CMP5PDS/ref=pd_sim_sbs_lp_2 I'm starting out so don't want to spend big. Does this seem decent?

Red Nissan · 02-02-2014 11:12am

fiestaman wrote: »

Ok so thinking of getting this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nevada-WH3080-Wireless-Weather-Station/dp/B00CMP5PDS/ref=pd_sim_sbs_lp_2 I'm starting out so don't want to spend big. Does this seem decent?

On one hand this is fine, go for it. Be advised that they are troublesome gits of things but they also allow the most flexibility these are not setup and forget unit, but will be serviceable enough and are well worth the price for educational purposes.

Lumi · 02-02-2014 12:28pm

eskimocat wrote: »

Any tips on how to turn off the daily alarm on the Maplins silver weather station?

Here's a link to the manual for your station Cat: have a look at pages 22 & 26

fiestaman · 02-02-2014 1:28pm

Ok thanks. I am very perticular when it comes to buying & doing things. I like to research and buy the best i can within reason, the same way doing things, do it right once and you wont need to do it again. So i would be hung up on accuracy and figures, i dont want to buy a unit and its just ok, kind of accurate. Would i be aswell to buy the Davis vue. Is this worth the money is it accurate. I see you need to buy a datalogger so you can view on a laptop or pc.Can it work with culumus? Im not going to be predicting weather but id like a reliable accurate station.

Irish Steve · 02-02-2014 3:37pm

The station you've mentioned is made by Fine Offset, and they can be a pain at times with things like bearings getting sticky, spiders building webs in the rain gauge, wind speed not accurately balanced, so if it's not perfectly level, it won't correctly record low wind speeds, the wind direction sensor can be a problem in some places, stuff like that, I have a much modified Maplin station here, so some experience of the things that can and do go wrong with the Fine Offset sensors.

It's the same manufacturer as most of the Maplin stations, and the one good thing is that it's pretty easy now to get spare parts for the outdoor side, and there is a lot of help available on the web on one of the dedicated weather sites

This station comes with a software package to enable PC connect, there's another package available that I think is better, cumulus, do a search for sandaysoft, there's a mountain of very helpful information about Fine Offset and Davis on that site, as the software works with both stations, if you have the right interface device for the Davis, it's not built in as such, the Fine Offset has a USB port on most of their range.

The Davis is undoubtedly higher quality, but depending on where it's set up, it may still not be fit and forget, some maintenance may be needed.

fiestaman · 02-02-2014 11:05pm

Ive done some more looking today and im now thinking of this http://www.skyview.co.uk/acatalog/WS2350.html?gclid=COrL3eC4rrwCFaSy2wodVBIA8g Im not sure if its worth spending €500ish on a Davis for what il be doing, i wont be forcasting on a website just using it for my own use.

daelight · 03-02-2014 12:48am

A bit expensive but wireless and hip with smartphones the world over. More of an environment monitoring station but future model will sport rain gauge..

http://www.netatmo.com

http://www.netatmo.com/weathermap

Macy0161 · 07-02-2014 10:38am

I have the maplin/ fine offset station N96FY, and I am running it with Cumulus software. So far I've left my PC running, but it does seem a bit of a waste. Any reason I should keep it on, rather than turn it off and then let it catch up when I start up again? Am I losing data by doing that? For the moment at least, I'm not using it to up date a website or send tweets or anything.

talkabout · 07-02-2014 1:50pm

Macy0161 wrote: »

I have the maplin/ fine offset station N96FY, and I am running it with Cumulus software. So far I've left my PC running, but it does seem a bit of a waste. Any reason I should keep it on, rather than turn it off and then let it catch up when I start up again? Am I losing data by doing that? For the moment at least, I'm not using it to up date a website or send tweets or anything.

No need to leave computer running, i might only update once a week. You won't lose any data.

mickmackey1 · 28-02-2014 12:30am

Anyone got problems with the touchscreen on the n96fy? Does it take time to recognise your fingers or what

haminka · 18-03-2014 10:10am

Hi,

I am looking for a good quality weather station which would give a history of barometric pressure over a period of time, plus the obvious, temperature, air humidity etc.
I have to admit, I'm not a weather enthusiast, but I suffer from migraines and one of the triggers definitely seems to be changes in barometric pressure, especially when it's going down.
Price up to 100 euro is enough but I don't want to go for the cheapest low quality stuff - we had a few and the last one ended up breaking, emitting a nerve-wrecking high pitch sound till I literally smashed it to pieces as the battery was impossible to remove.

jspuds · 24-03-2014 1:52pm

Spotted this on a Amazon lightning deal for £45 any good?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000SDFZ36/ref=gb1h_tit_c-2_9787_2f8422e8?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1CEZV3PXK4M83V8F1N9D&pf_rd_i=350613011&pf_rd_p=477989787

haminka · 24-03-2014 1:56pm

jspuds wrote: »

Saw this on special on Amazon for £45 any good?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000SDFZ36/ref=gb1h_tit_c-2_9787_2f8422e8?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1CEZV3PXK4M83V8F1N9D&pf_rd_i=350613011&pf_rd_p=477989787

Hi, thank you, actually just bought this one last week and it seems to work fine, does the job for barometric pressure which is what I was looking for:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ClimeMET-Digital-Wireless-Weather-Station/dp/B00D1WUKOK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395665740&sr=8-1&keywords=climemet+cm9088

riffmongous · 25-03-2014 2:20am

Has anyone running their own weather station for over a year now got any of their instruments recalibrated? Is that even possible with personal weather stations?

Red Nissan · 25-03-2014 9:43am

riffmongous wrote: »

Has anyone running their own weather station for over a year now got any of their instruments recalibrated? Is that even possible with personal weather stations?

It is possible in the software.

I use rain gauges as well for reference, along with the official Met Eireann past weather report I monitor my guages and adjust them if I think they are over or under recording.

I've recent deliberately misalignment my own station as it was consistency recording the wrong wind direction on average.

I also added in the highest pressure as the absolute pressure and my pressure reading now match my local airport.

OT [Davis Stations, especially the pro variety can be sent away for calibration, indeed they need a yearly calibration certificate to contribute to some weather services, this is about a three week turnaround and approx €200 plus shipping.]

riffmongous · 25-03-2014 3:53pm

Red Nissan wrote: »

It is possible in the software.

I use rain gauges as well for reference, along with the official Met Eireann past weather report I monitor my guages and adjust them if I think they are over or under recording.

I've recent deliberately misalignment my own station as it was consistency recording the wrong wind direction on average.

I also added in the highest pressure as the absolute pressure and my pressure reading now match my local airport.

OT [Davis Stations, especially the pro variety can be sent away for calibration, indeed they need a yearly calibration certificate to contribute to some weather services, this is about a three week turnaround and approx €200 plus shipping.]

Calibration is an expensive and time consuming business indeed.

Do you use the converted sea level pressure to compare to the airport values, just out of interest?

Have you tried doing anything with your temp and humidity sensors? Not so easy at all for them

PERSONAL WEATHER STATIONS: Queries and Advice

Comments