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bemis
join:2008-07-18
Reading, MA Reviews:
 ·Comcast
 ·Verizon FiOS
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| [Tech] weather station options, need some advice I'm thinking about buying a weather station, I'm leaning toward a Davis Vantage Pro2, probably either the 6152, 6153 or 6152C.
I have a few questions that maybe you folks can help me get a real world set of answers to--
Comparing 6152 and 6152C, the difference is basically wireless vs. wired for the ISS. However, Davis doesn't really give you a very good break down of the pros/cons of wired vs. wireless, so here is a list of the "pros" for each (which assumes a pro for one is a con for the other) that I came up with thinking about it--
- Wired is $100 cheaper
- Wired is immune to radio interference
- Wired does not rely on solar power to operate
- Wireless does not require running a physical cable into the house
- Wireless does not have any lightning concerns due to cable
Are there any other reasons to choose one over the other? For example, Davis claims update times of 2-1/2 seconds for certain sensor measurements (like Wind) with their wireless setup, does the wired version have any advantage there?
On another related topic--
I had been planning to mount the ISS and anemometer to the same pole which would be mounted on a gable end of my "one and half" story Cape style house. This is really the only place I can mount the anemometer and get accurate readings, so it's a must-do.
But then I started thinking that maybe the ISS would give inaccurate temperature readings if it was located in direct sun-light (hence why I am considering the 6153 which is basically a 6152 w/ a fan aspiration feature).
So what would be better? To mount a fan-aspirated ISS on a pole, or mount a standard ISS somewhere out of direct sunlight, like the railing of my back deck?
There are some concerns/issues that pop-up if I were to mount the ISS to my back deck:
- It would require either running a cable between ISS and anemometer (this would be an issue) or buying the $200 wireless kit for the anemometer
- Rain gauge becomes more vulnerable to both human and animal interference
- Rain gauge could be affected by proximity to house (~10')?
- Would never receive direct sun-light onto solar panel requiring either the cable version or more regular replacement of the battery
Then again, when mounted on a pole I'm unlikely to clean or check the rain gauge for debris more then once a year at the very best, so if that's something which is regularly needed it would be a severe disadvantage to put the ISS up on a pole...
In terms of costs I think my range is about $500-$800 depending on what options I decided to go with--
If direct sun on the ISS is an issue:
1) 6152 ($600); ISS mounted on my deck, anemometer mounted on pole which requires wireless anemometer kit ($200), a total of $800
2) 6153 ($800); ISS and anemometer mounted on a pole
If direct sun on the ISS is not an issue:
1) 6152 ($600); ISS and anemometer mounted on a pole
2) 6152C ($500); ISS and anemometer mounted on a pole, requires that I run a 4-conductor cable into the house
Too many questions and choices! ...and that's assuming I don't have a cacophony of responses saying that Davis isn't the best choice out there  | |
 SlyPremium
join:2004-02-20
Johnson City, TN
 ·Callcentric
2 edits | IMO the Davis is the best out there. I have a wireless Vantage Pro2 and have had no problems with it (other than the occasional debris accumulation in the rain collector).
To me, it's more important to mount your weather station away from man made objects than it is to get one with a built in fan. They recommend mounting the weather station at least 6 feet off the ground in a grassy field. If you mount it next to a building then you would be slightly better off with a fan aspirated version. But you would be better off to just mount it in the yard away from everything else. They have pretty good temperature rejection when it comes to direct sunlight. I have mine registered with the NWS and it checked out fine when they did their accuracy calculations. No fan needed if mounted correctly...
I mounted my anemometer on the top of a pole I made from parts I got at Lowes. I attached two galvanized threaded pipes together with a threaded union and then concreted it plumb in the ground in a corner of the back yard. They recommend 33 feet high and I'm only at 18 feet but it still works well because there are no nearby obstructions.
If you can mount your weather station away from trees, buildings and asphalt, then you are doing well. I would first find the best area for mounting your weather station and then decide on what options you need. I personally would get the wireless version as I have had no problems with mine... and I would only get the fan if I had no choice but to mount it near a building or other object.
Once you get the weather station, I would recommend getting a wireless "envoy" PC receiver and downloading "Weather Display". I have been using Weather Display for over a year now and am still finding out cool things it can do. I have it generate custom weather reports and email them to me at work... It also monitors weather events such as high wind gusts, high rain rates, unusually high or low indoor or outdoor temperatures, etc. It's all customizable. It can even interface with a TED5000 home energy monitor to show you how the weather affects your home's heating and cooling.
Here's a link to my weather page: »www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxpage.cgi?call=DW6794
There's some missing data from yesterday and today because we had a bunch of tornadoes pass through... Running on a gas generator right now but got the weather station back up and running.
--
"The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men."
- Plato - | |
bemis
join:2008-07-18
Reading, MA Reviews:
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| Thanks Sly, great info!
I think I like the idea of mounting the anemometer on a ~3' pole above the roof of my house, anywhere else and it would either be horribly conspicuous or inaccurate.
The other sensors I suppose I could mount in the yard somewhere, hopefully off to the side... it's not a very private yard at the moment (only one fence) so I hate the idea of it being too visible.
At the moment I'm in saving mode... we've dropped about a years gross salary on renovating this dump so far, and she's eye balling some new couches, so I'll have to spend some more time researching before pulling the trigger.
Good luck w/ the storms, stay safe! | |
 tschmidtPremium,MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
kudos:5
·Fairpoint Commun..
 ·Hollis Hosting
| reply to bemis
I second separate mounting for the anemometer. That way rain collector is easier to clean and temp sensor is closer to the recommended 6 ft mark.
I have an old Monitor II station. Made the mistake of mounting the temp sensor on the West gable end of the house. Temperature readings were grossly affected by Sun. Purchased a solar shield and mounted temp sensor on a post on the North side of our deck (Deck to South, grass North). Accuracy is vastly improved.
With a single indoor display my preference is wired: simpler, cheaper, and no failure prone battery. On the other hand if you want more then one display it is hard to beat wireless.
/tom | |
 tstolzePremium
join:2003-08-08
O Fallon, MO
kudos:1
·CenturyLink
·Charter
| Sorry for the late reply....
Thought I would post these instructions for those that would like to use a wired solution with more than one display.
To splice one Vantage Pro Cabled Display to 1 or more other displays...
1) On primary display run cable between ISS and display as normal.
2) On all subsequent displays splice the RED, GREEN and YELLOW wires into the RED, GREEN
and YELLOW wires of the original cable. DO NOT connect the BLACK wire to the original
cable.
NOTES:
* The above description assumes you use Davis extension cable.
* The BLACK wire on the original cable supplies power to the ISS. On the
2nd display you don't need this wire connected since the ISS is already powered via
the first cable.
* Because you have to splice the primary cable to the second cable you will probably want
to use some kind of terminal box to accomplish this. We do supply a terminal box that
you can use (part# 7774). All you would need to do is cut the primary cable, then rewire
it to to terminal box. After that it would be a simple matter to cut and connect the
3 wires of the second cable to the terminal box. Of course you could also use other means
of splicing the cables together (such as wire nuts which can be purchased from any
hardware store).
--
Ofallon, Mo Weather
St. Peters, Mo Weather | |
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