Weather Stations

[Eildon Hill]

 

[Simon Keeling]

Yeah, real time stats would be great from you guys...would really help.

 

[Downtrodden Dad]

Don't want to spoil your fun but i've had two of the Maplin ones first one didnt work at the start and the second packed in about a week after twelve months, and they didn't wont to know. looked a bargain at first.

 

[wobs]

by packed in,what do you mean?

 

[FarmerJoe]

The Maplin one is very good if you knew their weakness. The wind speed cups and direction indicator are mounted on ball bearings. These are not lubricated from new and can soon seize up.
Carefully pull the cups and pointer of the bearings, you may need a broad screwdriver to lever them gently. Apply a small amount of thin oil, sewing machine/Three in One is ideal, spin the bearing to make sure the oil gets in then replace the cups/pointer. I do this when new. Do it every 1-2 years then they will last forever.
Agree the software is not very good, use the Cumulus software, they will also do one for your Smartphone. Free but as it’s so good do give a donation.

 

[Downtrodden Dad]

By packed in I mean it wouln't send or receive info

 

[wobs]

iv'e had no trouble bar the rain guage.strong gusts can trigger it and it's a haven for all things organic.transmitter still has the same Duracell battery from Sept 2010.

 

[Steevo]

Mine measures indoor humidity and temp
Outdoor temp, humidity, pressure, rain, wind direction and speed.
The software tells you trends up or down of everything, ie temp falling x degrees per hour etc.
Rain rate/hour, peaks, totals, daily, monthly yearly totals, graphs for everything you can think of, dewpoints, windruns, etc etc.
I can't think what else you might want a weather station to tell you.

I dare say the £500 versions are super accurate but when does 0.1 degrees C actually matter?
I have mine permanently connected to an old notebook, set to reset itself in the event of a power failure. It is permanently updated to the internet.
Even have an app on my phone that tells me what it is doing, or go on any pc in the world and look it up.
You don't have to do that, you can plug it in once a week and download the data if you want.
It is a good start and after 3 years I don't feel I need one that costs 10 times as much.

Each to their own

Another maplin one here.

How do you publish your data online Dave? Very interested in the app you mention too!

 

[jdc]

I think to a certain extent you do get what you pay for. Perhaps not so much in accuracy but longevity. I have an Instromet station which is 18 years old and still checks out against calibration. It was expensive at the time but I've hardly had to touch it during it's life. The Maplins/Fine Offset type stations do seem to give some problems especially when connected to a PC running Cumulus or similar with lockups etc.

 

[wobs]

The world of Meteorology loves to over complicate itself.
stay cheap and simple,then upgrade as the time nears.

 

[Brisel]

Yeah, real time stats would be great from you guys...would really help.

Wunderground?

 

[Dave Applesquasher]

Another maplin one here.

How do you publish your data online Dave? Very interested in the app you mention too!

Sorry for the delay in answering,
Very easy to publish, I use Cumulus software and Wunderground links to it just by clicking a button in the software.
Then put the Wunderground app on your phone to find your own station

 

[wobs]

just got a new phone that does all them things,cheers dave just added my station to it.

 

[wobs]

Sorry for the delay in answering,
Very easy to publish, I use Cumulus software and Wunderground links to it just by clicking a button in the software.
Then put the Wunderground app on your phone to find your own station

up and running on the pc now Dave,all seems to be reporting correctly.just got to work out how this bloody phone operates now.
cracking bit of techo stuff and an asset to anyone who needs to know what the weather is going to do.
the netweather v6 radar is superb on mobile.

 

[Clive]

regards the rain guages,your better off with the old fashioned meto type that you manually empty by hand.electronic ones are prone to erratic recordings due to insect (earwig,spider) invasion.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ETI-808-145...VAD6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1362354468&sr=8-2

http://www.maplin.co.uk/usb-wireless-weather-forecaster-223254


great cheap way to start regards all things weather.

Just bought one of these from Maplin - on offer right now for £59.99. But went into store and they had one with damaged package on clearance offer for £24.99

Just set it up today, should I use the supplied software or the other software mentioned in this thread ? Would like to upload data to web and wonderland app

 

[B&B Pig Man]

Just bought one of these from Maplin - on offer right now for £59.99. But went into store and they had one with damaged package on clearance offer for £24.99

Just set it up today, should I use the supplied software or the other software mentioned in this thread ? Would like to upload data to web and wonderland app

I've got one of those.
Keep meaning to ask the same question about software.

Isn't Columbus ( or something like that?? ) supposed to be the best software to use?

 

[jdc]

Cumulus is an excellent piece of software. It will upload info easily to Wunderground (and others) and comes complete with a basic html website which will run 'out of the box'. It will create the files required for Mobile apps, too.

 

[JD6920s]

I once started to search weather stations on the net with a view to buying one, and came across this, http://www.hosiene.co.uk/weather/index.htm which someone who is only about 2 miles away as the crow flies, puts all the data I need on the web for me to look at anytime! Very kind of them!!

May be worth you searching for someone close to you with the same.

 

[wobs]

Yip my station is on WUNDERGROUND and free to all.
Find your nearest and bookmark the page.
http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/