Questions About Battery Warnings

[jmcdermo]

I've read a few posts in this discussion thread and I'm still confused so I thought I'd ask my specific question to see if I figure this out once and for all.
I have a Davis Vantage Vue weather station with the console powered by the wall wart. This is an older style monochrome console that's been running since December 2011. In addition to the wall wart it has 3 C cell batteries in its base. Obviously I have the weather station on a pole on the roof with its CR123 Lithium battery. I also have the Davis Weather Envoy powered by a wall wart connected to my Mac where I run the WeatherCat software.

I've been getting the following errors emailed to me periodically from the WeatherCat software:

WeatherCat Vantage Driver: ***Station Power Alert*** Console voltage is low - actual value is 2.607 Volts.

WeatherCat TimeStamp: 16:12:08 25-Jan-26

And today I received an additional email:
WeatherCat Vantage Driver: Station Power Alert. Transmitter battery failure.
ISS battery - Good.
Transmitter 2 - Good.
Transmitter 3 - Good.
Transmitter 4 - Good.
Transmitter 5 - Good.
Transmitter 6 - Good.
Transmitter 7 - Fail.
Transmitter 8 - Good.


WeatherCat TimeStamp: 16:12:08 25-Jan-26

I'm assuming the second email I got today with the "Transmitter 7 - Fail." notice is an indication that the CR123 battery needs changing in the weather station on the roof. Is that correct?

If that's correct, then the thing that's confusing to me is the other battery warning email that I've been getting for some time. Is that from the console? If so, how could the console battery power be low when it's plugged in? I changed the C-cell batteries pretty recently, but the messages show up. Could the wall wart be dying? If so, I've never seen a wall wart degrade slowly, they've always just worked or not worked.

Any help explaining this will be greatly appreciated.

[elagache]

Dear jmcdermo and WeatherCat station caregivers,

First, welcome to our restored forum!!

Unfortunately, I've never seen the error messages you are getting.  Can you tell us what you "Station Hardware Options" pane is displaying?  It is near the bottom of the Tools menu just before the first dividing line.  It is described in the current WeatherCat menu about page 70.

Please let us know what you discover.  If possible a screenshot would be ideal.

Edouard

[jmcdermo]

Thank you.
I should probably spend more time here learning about how this all works - after 14 years running my weather station with WeatherCat. you'd think I'd have abetter understanding of things. I guess that's a testament to how solid the system really is - it just works and I hardly touch it.

As to your question about "Station Hardware Options" window shows, it looks like it's saying the same thing the email messages are. I've attached a screenshot.

BTW - I just changed the CR123 battery in the weather station on the roof in the cold twilight, it was a balmy 22 F  with about 3" of snow on the roof. not great, but not as bad as it could have been. So back to my initial question.

Does "Station Power Status" = CR123 battery in the weather station on the roof?
Does "Console Voltage" = the voltage at the console in the house that's plugged into the wall wart?
If a console that's plugged in is showing low voltage, does that mean the wall wart is dying, or do I need to change the C-cell batteries?

Thanks again for the help.

[jmcdermo]

So I couldn't resist and I clicked the "Test Power System" button and the status started to change. Eventually getting to the attached screenshot. But then it reverted to the previous state shown in the screenshot above.

What's up?

[elagache]

Dear jmcdermo and WeatherCat troubleshooters,

Sorry for not catching this detail yesterday.

. . . .
I also have the Davis Weather Envoy powered by a wall wart connected to my Mac where I run the WeatherCat software.

Have you tested and/or replaced the 3 AA batteries in the Weather Envoy.  Those are the batteries that WeatherCat considers to be the "console" since that is where WeatherCat connects to get data.

And today I received an additional email:
WeatherCat Vantage Driver: Station Power Alert. Transmitter battery failure.
ISS battery - Good.
Transmitter 2 - Good.
Transmitter 3 - Good.
Transmitter 4 - Good.
Transmitter 5 - Good.
Transmitter 6 - Good.
Transmitter 7 - Fail.
Transmitter 8 - Good.


WeatherCat TimeStamp: 16:12:08 25-Jan-26

I'm assuming the second email I got today with the "Transmitter 7 - Fail." notice is an indication that the CR123 battery needs changing in the weather station on the roof. Is that correct?

I'm afraid I'm a bit confused as well.  Have you changed the transmitter ID to 7?  Normally a Vantage Vue will transmit on ID #1.  Do you have anything that might be transmitting on ID #7?  Possible candidates are soil or leaf monitors.

Let us know if that helps with the troubleshooting.

Edouad

[jmcdermo]

Thanks so much! That was the problem, new batteries in the right device and all is right with the world. I’d forgotten that the Envoy even had batteries.

As to your question about channel 7, years ago when I was setting this stuff up I was getting a poor connection on the default channel, so after much experimentation, I found Channel 7 worked better in my environment.

Thanks again!

[Blicj11]

I love it when a WeatherCatter finds a solution. Edouard is the best!