Starter Weather Station

[The Grand Poohbah]

What would you recommend for an enthusiastic hobbyist who'd like to get started with a basic, entry-level home weather station?

the hobbyist is tech-savvy, familiar with Mac computers and iOS devices, and has some knowledge of home control systems.

[Bull Winkus]

I think it depends on how accurate (and reliable) one wants their instrumentation to be. There are a lot of cheap weather stations that can get good data, many for a long time. But, to be accurate enough for me, it has to be able to put the anemometer up high while keeping the temperature & humidity sensors within 6 ft of the ground. That, and wireless vs wired create issues that many of the cheaper alternatives have, that Davis has overcome, albeit at higher cost.

So, if someone else will weigh in on their experiences with non-Davis stations, you may get a better picture. But, I think that if one can get a Vantage Pro 2 for around $450, that's a good start. Here's one dealer. There's another one people have posted about, but I don't have that one.

Note that to connect to a computer the data logger is extra.

 

[Blicj11]

You can buy a weather station for around a $100. A buddy of mine went through two of them, each lasting for a couple of years. He now owns the very unit that Herb linked to.

Here is another dealer selling the same unit ==> http://www.rainmanweather.com/site/products/6152-Wireless-Vantage-Pro2-Standard-Radiation-Shield-0

[elagache]

Dear Grand, Blick, Herb, and WeatherCat station design consultants,

What would you recommend for an enthusiastic hobbyist who'd like to get started with a basic, entry-level home weather station?

I'm a Davis guy too, so I won't disagree with the suggestion of Davis, but it is a lot of money.

If this person really needs a station to see if they like collecting data, there are probably two choices that seem to work reasonably well and are inexpensive (and of course is supported by WeatherCat!  )   Straight from the WeatherCat product description page they are:

Oregon Scientific WMR 200

and

Fine Offset WH1080/1081/1090/2080/2081/3080/3081

Both these stations look fragile and likely to not late very long.  However, we have a number of WeatherCat users who have used these stations for years and there haven't been many complaints reported at least on this forum.  Even if I love my Davis station, I never would have bought if I hadn't started out with an inexpensive Oregon Scientific station.  I think it is certainly fair for someone to start out with something more modest in order to find out how neat it is to collect weather data.  Of course once they get WeatherCat hooked up - they'll be hooked! 

Cheers, Edouard 

[idunn]

Greetings All,

I had trouble paying my taxes with my old OSX and had to update. If I had not gotten my computer updated from 10.6.8 to 10.9.5 then my serial-usb connection would be working and so would my trusty LaCrosse 2317. I am replacing with a WH1080 for about 100. It has the radio transmission.

I recommend getting a usb weather station and start cheaply.
And I would also buy a used Logitech pro 9000 for a webcam.

Have fun, Irving