Trixology
Weather => Weather Hardware/Measurement => Topic started by: cabut on September 03, 2018, 07:07:36 PM
-
Hi,
New VP2 worked for a few hours then stopped transmitting. Checked the 3 volt battery- it is good.
Checked wiring to solar panel- it looks good.
Inspected capacitor- no sign of leakage.
All dip switches in the down position.
Console message-?low battery? even though the battery tested good.
Any ideas on this situation?
Thanks ,
Cabut
-
This is my best guess, but my best is often not very good at all. If you replaced an older Davis unit, and left the ID number the same, it is possible that it transmitted until the capacitor in the old unit used up all of its juice, then stopped. Even though the Davis manual says you shouldn't need to change the ID, if you ask a Davis Tech agent they will tell the opposite. So I think you should try changing the ID # on both the ISS and your console. All DIP switches down is ID#1 and it might be possible that someone around you could be using #1 and interfering with your signal. Change the ID with the DIPs to one of the other 7 options and then go into your console setup and change your receiving station ID to be the same number as you have set the DIPs to. The console should then start receiving with a few minutes.
Give this a try and let us know.
-
Dear Cabut, Blick, and WeatherCat troubleshooters,
New VP2 worked for a few hours then stopped transmitting.
This is my best guess, but my best is often not very good at all. If you replaced an older Davis unit, and left the ID number the same, it is possible that it transmitted until the capacitor in the old unit used up all of its juice, then stopped.
This might be a problem but since your previous station was a Davis Monitor, it might not use the same radio setup at the Vantage Pro-2. It is a good idea to change the station ID anyway if you are in an area where anyone else might have a Davis station. Most people won't bother to change it, so choosing any other ID means that your station will never be interfered with by neighboring stations. This hobby is becoming more popular, so it is an easy precaution.
Checked the 3 volt battery- it is good.
Checked wiring to solar panel- it looks good.
Inspected capacitor- no sign of leakage.
All dip switches in the down position.
Console message-?low battery? even though the battery tested good.
This is a brand new station so nothing should go wrong. You can check the voltage of the solar panel, but really if the Lithium battery is fine then there is a problem with the station itself. You could give Davis technical support a call and see if they have some other things to try, but probably it is time to try to collect the packaging and return it for another unit.
Sorry to hear that. It is the first Davis station I'm aware of that didn't work out of the box.
Let us know how this matter unfolds.
Cheers, Edouard
-
Hi Blic and Edouard,
Thanks for the suggestions, however no joy...
The small transmit light does not blink at all on the inside of the ISS.
I am thinking there must be a hardware fault.
I have contacted RainmanWeather.com who will hopefully switch out this unit for a new one.
Let you know how that goes...
Cabut
-
I assume you have tried tried switching DIP #4 to On? That is the test to see if the board is transmitting. If the LED does not flash when #4 is on, the board is not working.
-
Blic and Edouard,
Thank you!
Now I think I realized what happened. I left #4 on in test mode, probably from the first set up over a week ago.
It must have drained the power from the capacitor. To complicate matters, I installed an anemometer transmitter and set the wrong ID . So both the iss and the anemometer were on the same channel.
Blic, if it were not for your post I would be sending the iss back. This morning when I checked test mode I did not see the test light blinking because the Az. sun here is so bright my old eyes could not see it, I guess . After Blic?s post I checked the iss in test mode and it was blinking! So I went over everything again I noticed the dip switch problem, and corrected it. Everything appears to be working!
Thank you both again [rockon]
Cabut
-
Man, I love it when someone figures out how to solve one of these weather hardware issues. Good for you for keeping after it until you found the solution. Glad to hear you are back in the backyard weather business.
-
Dear Cabut, Blick, and WeatherCat troubleshooters,
Now I think I realized what happened. I left #4 on in test mode, probably from the first set up over a week ago.
It must have drained the power from the capacitor. To complicate matters, I installed an anemometer transmitter and set the wrong ID . So both the iss and the anemometer were on the same channel.
Ah ha! Yes that is exactly the sort of thing that could cause your station to stop transmitting. Glad to hear it was just a "user error" and that Davis still has a flawless record of working out of the box.
Thank you both again [rockon]
Glad to help! [tup] That's why we come to this forum!
Cheers, Edouard [cheers1]
-
As per my experience when the cell gets down to 3.0V the draw could be as high as 4A. Not all cells can do that safely. As much as I hate to have two devices instead of one, if 2A is your goal, you would be better off either buying a power bank that lets you insert the cells, or purchasing a control circuit and making your own power bank.
percentage calculator (https://percentagescalculator.com/)