Replacing that #$%@@#@ Lacrosse

[slavetothelight]

So.  Moved.  Three doors down.  Now room for the baby.

Yay!

Got busy.  Couldn't get the weather station up for a couple months.

Boo!

But got everything talking and happy day before yesterday!  Back up on Wunderground!  Station comms nominal!

Yay!

But wind speed is jaggedy and terrible and it missed a pretty big rainstorm; looks like there's too many walls between between transmitter and receiver!

Boo!

Thankfully there are already holes in the walls to run a CAT3 over to a place with line of sight! 

Yay!

?but 35 feet of CAT3 is enough to make Weathercat stop seeing the Lacrosse!

Boo!

?and now it refuses to see the Lacrosse even when it's plugged directly in.

Boo!

 

So on some level, I'm lucky.  I got like 4 years of run out of a $60 eBay purchase on a $70 computer (with an additional few months out of the anemometer you guys helped me find - thanks a bunch).  That's a win.  I probably shouldn't gripe too loudly.  I also didn't go through the hassle of running the cabling through the walls before everything went pear-shaped. 

And hey - time to shop for toys!

Last time I asked, I was advised that the Vantage Vue was kind of not-so-bueno.  I'm terrible; I read the 1-star reviews first and the 1-stars on Davis are all about "breaks all the time no support whatsoever".

(been there, done that)

But there's no Ambient 2080s until February, or else I'd probably just buy one now.  So, guys, what would you buy?

1) The physical console *is* important.  My wife will read it, in addition to looking at her phone.

2) Bulletproof matters.  Getting on the roof of the condo is a hassle.  I *can* wire physically through the walls, but it's gonna be exciting.  Holes exist but they're 8 feet away on the other side of a railing 3 stories up.

3) I have no patience for data connections that suck.  IP is the simplest thing in the world to get working, except for maybe RS232, which I have actually gotten working on 1000 feet of zip cord.  It gets my hackles up when that stupid little LaCrosse decides it doesn't want to play nice at the end of three feet of twisted pair.

4) Talk me out of buying something off eBay 'cuz it's cheap, considering the general impression on Davis is "you're screwed anyway."

Any and all opinions appreciated.  I'll pay for durable, I'll pay for error-free, and I'll pay for "thing that isn't hideous and conveys useful information to my significant other."  Had pretty much resigned myself to a Pro 2, but am now debating between wired or wireless, wistfully noticing I can save $100 on a vue, and toying with the Oregon Scientific while also thinking just waiting a month to buy the Ambient wouldn't suck *too* hard.

Best,

Seth

[Steve]

Hi Seth, and congrats on the new digs!

I've seen some negative reviews on the Vue, but have read far more success stories. Like a lot of things, people only complain when something doesn't work, so the bad/good review ratio might be skewed by folks not writing reviews on good products. I've had great service in dealing with Davis the two times I've contacted them. A vast majority of the WeatherCat community uses either a Vue or Pro2, if that's any relief.

I don't remember what was recommended before for you. Most of us use the wireless with the WeatherLink USB data logger, with a smattering of WLIP and serial converters thrown in for good measure. Some serial units have had drivers that are not current, so that may be trial and error. The larger weather enthusiast community at www.wxforum.net will have a broader experience with wired units. Take a look in the Davis sub-forum.

I hope that helps a little,
Steve

[Blicj11]

Seth:

I second what Steve said. I've been extremely happy with my Davis Vantage Pro2 and I have been very satisfied every time I have called Davis tech support. The Davis Products cost more and there is a reason for that; they make a better quality personal weather station. I use their wireless station so I don't have to mess with cable. I also use their WeatherLinkIP data logger because I needed the monitor to sit at a different place in my house than where my computer is. If that is not a problem for you, go with the WeatherLink USB data logger, as Steve said. I would also suggest you shop around as not every merchant sells Davis hardware at the same price.

[JosBaz]

Just to echo the positive comments from Steve and Blic.

I had a Wireless Vantage Pro for 9 years. The humidity sensor failed once and had to be replaced, but other than that it worked flawlessly (actually it still does - my brother has it now). 2 ? years ago I installed my current Wireless Vantage Pro2 and have had no issues.
The wireless connection between the ISS and Console has been 100% stable for me, but this is with only 2 walls and 40ft in between. In your case it may be better to go for the wired version if the are more walls and accessing the ISS is difficult.

Good luck.

Jos

[slavetothelight]

All helpful guys, thanks. 

The current setup has the anemometer up on an 8' piece of conduit on top of my 3rd floor deck, the rain gage pretty much on the roof, and the thermo hygro under the roof where it's in the shade (not a lot of heat shielding on the LaCrosse).  Looks to me like I use almost the same setup with a Pro 2, the exception being the ISS would have to go where the rain gage is now.  It'd get direct morning sun, at least.

[Randall75]

Hi Seth
 I ran a LaCrosse for 11 years but now have a VP2
The way the VP is set up you should not get much solar heating with it
 you can always add an a daylight Fars for about a hundred buck USA and you add it on at a later date
if you think you are getting to much solar heating


cost a little more but wireless is the way to go


cheers


 

[slavetothelight]

Okay, having some sticker shock as far as all the farkles necessary to make this work.

So? I buy me a Vantage Pro 2 and it includes an Anemometer, an ISS and a console.  *None* of that talks to a computer.  Because hey - it's barely 2014.  What do you think this is, *THE FUTURE?*

So I buy me Weatherlink.  My choices are USB or IP. 

IF USB: 

• Must plug into the computer running WeatherCat.
• Raises internal temperature of the console, necessitating recalibration.
• Permits RapidFire on Wunderground.

IF IP: 

• Can plug into the network, necessitating the console be near the router.
• Raises internal temperature of the console, necessitating recalibration.
• Pretty well eliminates the possibility of Rapidfire.

Alternatively, I can buy the Weather Envoy.  Which does LITERALLY NOTHING without the Weatherlink data logger.  However, it would allow me to site the console wherever I wanted.  Considering what an attractive device the console *isn't* I could site it in a drawer somewhere.  'cuz let's be honest.  Weathercat running on an old iPhone plugged into the wall is a vastly more attractive package than the console and potentially more functional.

?but you can't buy the Vantage without the console.

So in order to:

• Put the console in the living room
• and Weathercat on the satellite display in the back bedroom where it is right now
• and get Rapidfire

I need: 

• Vantage Pro 2 Wireless (MSRP $595.00)
• Weatherlink USB (MSRP $165.00)
• Wireless Weather Envoy (MSRP $195.00)

?and I'm pretty sure I don't get internal temperature measurements with that, right?  Obviously on the console, but if the wife whips out her phone to see how cold it is inside the house, she's going to get nothing, correct?  And I'm at $955.00.

But in order to:

• Put the console in the living room
• and Weathercat on the satellite display in the back bedroom where it is right now
• and ignore Rapidfire

I need: 

• Vantage Pro 2 Wireless (MSRP $595.00)
• Weatherlink IP (MSRP $295.00)

Which would give me internal temp across the network, would require the console be near the router (not a deal breaker), but would prohibit rapidfire.  And I'm at $890.

?or I buy an Oregon Scientific WMR200A for MSRP $255, buy another one as a spare, buy a third spare in case Oregon Scientific explodes in a ball of flame and then buy my wife a $100 pair of earrings to make her ignore the fact that I own three weather stations and have enough left over for a pitcher of beer and a pizza.

?or I wait until February when the Fine Offsets are once again available in the US, buy eight of them for $110 each and still come out ahead.

So?

• Is the VP2 three times as good as the Oregon Scientific?  Will it last three times as long?
• Is the VP2 eight times as good as the Fine Offset?  Will it last eight times as long?

If they're that awesome, I'll spend the money.  My wife will gripe.  I will feel silly.  LA Beaches and Harbors have two of them on my walk and looking at their data, it looks a lot like what I had with my LaCrosse.  I also pass a Vantage Vue (looks a lot like what Mork would use to talk to Ork) but his data isn't online.  I suspect it's that nasty $300 bill to get the thing connected to the Internet.

Is that about the size of it?  Or did I miss some pretty radical advantages offered by Vantage, above and beyond being Made in the USA?

Sorry if this sounds snarky? I think it was the "yeah, you can buy a Weather Envoy but it's useless without the data logger" angle that put me on the defensive.

[Steve]

I'm getting ready to run out the door, put I'll post a couple of quick points.

1) Adding a Vue Console is about the same price as a Weather Envoy. (I started with the Envoy and then changed to a second VP console. I thought I remember that the Envoy had internal temp/hum, but might be mistaken.)

2) Go to archertradingpost.com or rainmanweather.com and click on the emailed price list. Davis prohibits vendors from advertising lowest prices. You can save several hundred on the packages you are looking at.

Gotta run,
Steve

[Randall75]

Ok Seth
 as Steve said about pricing also check out scientificsales.com they will email you a great price also this where I bought mine and saved hundreds dollars


hope this helps


cheers


 
ps it only raises my internal temperature reading by .2 degrees

[slavetothelight]

Hmmmm.  Thanks, guys.  Yeah, it looks like the prices are substantially better when they aren't advertised.  Appreciate the tip. 

So really, a Vue and the data logger come in not far off the Oregon Scientific.  Also appreciate the "extra console" vs. "Envoy" trick.  Yeah, $10 more for a display and buttons.  Kind of a no-brainer.

[WCDev]

Hello chaps,
Hope I haven't missed too much - been heads down coding for the last two and half days solid - just realised it's nearly Happy New Year time, so knocking it on the head for today.

Seth,
I run all the hardware we support here 24x7x365 and don't normally make recommendations as I don't want to come across biased - but I wouldn't argue with the way this thread is going.

Personally, we get all our Davis kit from ArcherTrading (no affiliation) and have always had a really good price (much better than we can get in the UK even with import duty and VAT) and superb service.

Anyway,  I'm off for a Guinness or two now.

Happy New Year everyone! 

[Edit: Apologies to anyone waiting for their forum registration to go through - we're getting about 100 spam registrations a day at the moment so have moved to Admin authorisation - if you have registered in the last day or two and still haven't been registered, I will go through all of them tomorrow]

[Blicj11]

Seth:

One more point about the IP data logger. If your place is wired with ethernet, you don't need to have the console near the router. My console is nowhere near the router but is plugged into one of my ethernet jacks. Of course, this is moot if your entire home network is wireless; just thought I'd toss it in in case...

[slavetothelight]

Thanks, Blick.  I was contemplating that.  It also occurred to me that "rapidfire" might not be all it's cracked up to be, considering my Wunderground page has gotten like 55 visitors in the two years it's been running.

Am about to do a costs/benefits analysis.  Appreciate everyone's help.

[Blicj11]

For what its worth, I ran RapidFire for a while and then decided every 10 minutes was good enough. The Mac you run WeatherCat on has to run 24/7 as it is, and updating weather stats 6 times an hour seems plenty accurate to me.

[slavetothelight]

So if I go with the Weatherlink IP, do I need the Weatherlink subscription?  Or will Weathercat just find the station?