Author Topic: POLL: What Station Are You Using  (Read 42888 times)

SeaflyP

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Re: POLL: What Station Are You Using
« Reply #15 on: March 14, 2013, 07:00:30 PM »
Probably the best way is to think of a Davis Station as a Cadillac

Edouard, That's a good analogy!

I've been looking at other options... there are some bad reviews around with regard to the Oregon Scientific WMR200 which have put me off that. The Maplin equivalent of the WH3080 is on sale at ?60 at the moment!!! ...but it won't do what I want! Maybe I'm stuck with Davis after all.
Peter

elagache

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Perhaps market is still too small (Re: Station Are You Using)
« Reply #16 on: March 14, 2013, 10:01:08 PM »
Hi Peter and WeatherCat fans,

I've been looking at other options... there are some bad reviews around with regard to the Oregon Scientific WMR200 which have put me off that. The Maplin equivalent of the WH3080 is on sale at ?60 at the moment!!! ...but it won't do what I want! Maybe I'm stuck with Davis after all.

It could be that the weather station market is really too small for anyone to easily take on Davis for the research/industrial market.  Clearly the "toy" station market is large enough for many player to be going after those customers.  However, monitoring the weather must be like so many hobbies - lots of people drifting in and then out.  Perhaps the number of hard core weather watchers is so small that we are only a modest addition to the research/industrial market.  So Davis gladly accepts our business and nobody else sees enough customers to try to challenge them.

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

embayweather

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Re: POLL: What Station Are You Using
« Reply #17 on: March 14, 2013, 11:40:21 PM »
I wonder if the market for weather stations is too small, as there are tens of thousands of stations in the US alone. However, another question that might be asked as a supplementary poll is what do you use the weather station/data for, that may then give some indication of what sort of investment folk are likely to make. Looking at other weather websites (without naming names) it appears that many are just using the data for interest. Many spend much of their time making better websites to display their data, others upload to CWOP , Wunderground or the like, and very few take the data to the next level and become almost semi professional. That is at a level which, I believe, exceeds the standards set by Davis. Excellent kit as it is, professional kit is clearly better. For those of us on this side of the pond, spending upwards of $3000 dollars on a weather station would take an awful lot of grovelling to respective partners to persuade them it is a good idea. Considering also that may roughly equate to a dollar a day running costs for replacements. not a lot I know, but in one big lump??
There was a recent survey in Weather magazine, the journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, about the use that amateurs put their stations to, and what stations are used etc. I don't think it is available on the web yet but if interested parties want to contact me I will see if I can scan it and send it. Before I did though it would be nice to get an unbiased poll here of what we use our stations for. Any interest?

Best wishes


Mike

Steve

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Re: POLL: What Station Are You Using
« Reply #18 on: March 15, 2013, 02:47:01 AM »
There is another player in the high-end consumer market. Rainwise makes a range of weather stations that are about the same price as the Davis VP2+ w/24 hr FARS station, and reportedly designed for more extreme conditions. For instance the VP2 is only accurate to -40˚, whereas the Rainwise Mk-III goes down to -66˚F. The long range models also have more powerful radios for extreme ranges. Rainwise doesn't appear to have as many options as the Davis stations.

Rainwise stations are not supported by WeatherCat, so wouldn't show up on our radar here in this forum. WeatherSnoop and Weather Display (the other two Mac weather stations software packages) both support Rainwise stations.


Steve - Avon, Ohio, USA


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elagache

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Thanks Steve for the info on Rainwise (Re: Station Are You Using)
« Reply #19 on: March 15, 2013, 08:11:40 PM »
Hi Steve and WeatherCat fans,

There is another player in the high-end consumer market. Rainwise makes a range of weather stations that are about the same price as the Davis VP2+ w/24 hr FARS station

Actually, I think I've run across Rainwise once or twice and forgotten.  Thanks Steve for the reminder.  So I was incorrect about assuming Davis had this market all to itself.  I wonder how the competition between these two companies has influenced their products?


Rainwise stations are not supported by WeatherCat, so wouldn't show up on our radar here in this forum.

 ;) Hmm, I wonder how long it will take for this to change?  Right now Stu seems to be busy beefing up support for the low-end stations, but  . . . . .  this is a "toy" that Stu has got to want!!   [biggrin]

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

Nick

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Re: POLL: What Station Are You Using
« Reply #20 on: June 30, 2013, 04:57:35 PM »
The VantageVue is a great machine IMHO.

With WC is a totally awesome machine!

cheers to Trixology for a great product (and Davis Instruments of course),

Nick
UK
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Tailspin45

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Re: POLL: What Station Are You Using
« Reply #21 on: July 03, 2013, 01:51:17 PM »
Recently replaced Ambient Weather WS-2080 after a year with Davis Vue.

WS-2080 was inexpensive but a constant source of headaches: two console failures, two temp failures, constant false alarms.

False alarms may have been caused by WeatherSnoop, which I've also abandoned in favor of the far superior WeatherCat.
Tailspin Tommy
http://carlsbadwx.com


retired

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Re: POLL: What Station Are You Using
« Reply #22 on: November 09, 2013, 05:12:35 PM »
I have a La Crosse 2316 from Costco. Had it for about 6+ years. Wind speed(lightning) and the rain gauge have gone bad and have been replaced. Within a couple of miles are 2 people running Davis weather stations, and are readings are very close to each other.

HantaYo

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Re: POLL: What Station Are You Using
« Reply #23 on: November 11, 2013, 12:26:14 AM »
My Vantage Pro bought in 2004 is still ticking and well worth the money.  Only issue was loosing the UV sensor but decided not to replace it has I did not really use it.   When my Vantage Pro finally dies, if Davis does not update their hardware line, I likely will look else where and see if anything comes close to the Davis quality.

Randall75

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Re: POLL: What Station Are You Using
« Reply #24 on: November 11, 2013, 01:41:52 AM »
Hi Cat family


Well I'm now running Davis Vantage Pro Plus


cheers [cheers1]


But still have my LC2315 running also just not with WC any more

Charlie Schorner

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Re: POLL: What Station Are You Using
« Reply #25 on: November 29, 2013, 12:26:42 AM »
I've had a Davis Vantage Pro2 wireless setup with no extras for a couple of years now and don't plan to change. I don't have any extras, but was thinking about a rain gauge heater. It shouldn't be too hard to run a hundred yards of wire out to the sensor to power it up...

Bull Winkus

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Re: POLL: What Station Are You Using
« Reply #26 on: February 05, 2014, 04:54:01 PM »
Just found the poll and voted. Thanks for your interest, Stu. I know it must be important, business wise, to know your customers. But, I appreciate it anyway, 'cause I like what you're doing.  [cheer]

Now that you're all buttered up, I run the Davis VantagePro2 with a solar radiation sensor and two remote wireless temperature sensors. It'd be nice if you would incorporate the extra channels into your software a little more.  [lol]

Best,
Herb
Herb

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Re: POLL: What Station Are You Using
« Reply #27 on: February 05, 2014, 05:53:04 PM »
Davis - VP2plus I have added a 2nd sensor.

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Re: POLL: What Station Are You Using
« Reply #28 on: February 06, 2014, 02:25:20 AM »
So Davis Vantage is most popular but do they deserve it?  I got one at the end of 2007. About 19 months later the wind speed started getting an intermittent fault which sometimes was associated with loss of outside temperature and/or humidity signals.  To be fair, despite it being more than 12 months old, the UK agents agreed to repair the system without charge. However since then I have had to replace the anemometer/vane sensor (wind direction failed) and the temperature/humidity sensor (no signal).  Recently I've had problems with the temperature/humidity connector in the ISS (despite use of contact cleaner, tlc,  etc.) and problems with the barometer in the weather envoy (reported elsewhere). As a retired observational climate scientist I'm used to maintaining met instruments in the field and I know that they have a harsh life. However for home use the Davis instruments are not cheap to buy and replacement parts are expensive compared to other manufacturers. I'm wondering about switching to an Oregon WMR200 which would allow me to buy extra sensors, and to replace them as they failed, at less cost than keeping the basic Davis system operating....

Looking at the poll results, I'll probably get shot for this suggestion!
Peter

I'd have to agree in principal, but say that when it comes to reliability, the optimal solution is seldom more and cheaper parts. I'd prefer to go with better and more reliable parts, if I can find them.

I'm a bit disappointed with the reliability of the Davis sensors as well. And, I've only been at this for 2 years. I too had trouble with the anemometer. Turned out to be the wire connection at the source instruments. Replaced for free, but what a great big hassle. My anemometer is on my roof, so troubleshooting it involves precarious trips up and down an extension ladder. But, surrounded by forest trees, it's my best location to get wind data.

I also had the barometric pressure sensor drift on me. Over a 9 month period, it gradually introduced a negative error of ~1 inch of mercury. My offsets lead to more frustration after it suddenly corrected itself in one day.

My solution may not be appropriate for everyone, but I decided to get another VantagePro ($418 @ Ambient Weather) and just swap out the whole thing, send the original one back to be refurbished, and establish a routine of recertification with Davis every two years, and thereby always having a spare on hand except when the spare was out to be refurbished. I'm hoping that will eliminate down time or at least reduce it to hours instead of weeks, when something goes wrong.

Davis' charge for full refurbishing is around $100 to $120 for the ISS and console receiver, if I recall that conversation correctly. Sounds like a reasonable enough price. I'll see how it goes.

Best,
Herb
Herb

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Interesting idea (Re: What Station Are You Using)
« Reply #29 on: February 06, 2014, 08:29:34 PM »
Dear Herb, Peter, and WeatherCat "love'em and hate'em" Davis types,

I too have had mixed feelings about Davis for about as long as I've owned mine.  However, (knock wood) at least my station has been reliable.

So Davis Vantage is most popular but do they deserve it?

Unfortunately, I'm afraid this is a case there the old story about the two guys being chased by the bear comes into play.

One fellow says to the other: "I don't have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun - you!!"

Given the mediocre quality of most of Davis's competition, we really don't have much of a choice do we?

My solution may not be appropriate for everyone, but I decided to get another VantagePro ($418 @ Ambient Weather) and just swap out the whole thing, send the original one back to be refurbished, and establish a routine of recertification with Davis every two years, and thereby always having a spare on hand except when the spare was out to be refurbished. I'm hoping that will eliminate down time or at least reduce it to hours instead of weeks, when something goes wrong.

That does sound a bit extreme at first.  However, it might be worth it particular for somebody who has decided to become an important reporting station for something like the CWOP program.   I'm not sure I'm ready for extra hassle just yet, but it is an interesting idea.

I suppose another way to think about it is to buy a new station if you have a problem with your present station and then send the old components to Davis for refurbishing.  Certainly, you can have new station at most places in as little as 1-day.  That way don't have to make that investment until trouble hits.

Thanks for the suggestion Herb!

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]