Which weather station?

[Spud]

Im looking for more a weather recording device than a forecasting tool. (Simons various services are much better than I could achieve)
It needs to measure the usual rainfall, temperature, wind speed and direction, and ideally talk to the pc to produce reports for customers.
Any recommendations/experiences? Thanks.

 

[Paddington]

We have a TechnoLine cheap and cheerful, but prone to lost data and erroneous rain and temperature readings and a much better Davis Vantage Vue which does everything. Simon was going to do a comparison of weather stations last year, I think.

 

[Simon Keeling]

Hi all,

You can really do no better than the Davis Vantage Pro system. This costs a few hundred pounds but for reliability and accuracy it is very hard to beat.

The cheaper station on the market can be much of a muchness, but they are useful for indicating conditions. Don't think I would be trusting them though!

I have a couple of the cheaper stations running here at the moment on test, and as soon as I have some results I will let you know.

Simon

 

[horizontal]

Davis Wireless Vantage Pro 2 with datalogger. Cant fault it. Have run one for 12 years and it hasnt missed a beat. The datalogger is brilliant, allowing archive intervals to be recorded from 1 minute upwards.

Everyone thinks I am a bit anal with my weather records but the archive makes fascinating reading and the datalogger allows you to plot historic charts and all sorts.

Tried others alongside VP2 but nothing compares to this system. Also has add on soil temp,solar radiation,soil moisture and leaf wetness probes. Have added all of them over the years and sometimes they prove invaluable for management decisions.

Highly recommend John Dann at Prodata Associates in Ely - competitive pricing and excellent support.

 

[Steevo]

Maplin version here. Had it a couple of years now and seems to be doing well. Paid about £60 for instruments, digital touchscreen display and it connects to PC for data logging.

 

[Steevo]

Here's the link:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/silver-usb-wireless-touchscreen-weather-forecaster-n96fy

 

[Badshot]

I got a clas ohlsen (maplin clone)for xmas last year, the wind meter failed very quickly due to poor bearings. They did replace it free of charge and I have bought some new bearings for it from the local bearing shop. the rain gauge gives very erroneous readings and often goes into alarm mode saying a few thousand MM has fallen, I think it needs a new sensor.

 

[Steevo]

I got a clas ohlsen (maplin clone)for xmas last year, the wind meter failed very quickly due to poor bearings. They did replace it free of charge and I have bought some new bearings for it from the local bearing shop. the rain gauge gives very erroneous readings and often goes into alarm mode saying a few thousand MM has fallen, I think it needs a new sensor.

You can buy complete new sensors from maplin for £2.50 for wind, and £5.00 for rain! Seems pretty reasonable on parts - can't imagine David Vantage parts would give much change from £100!

 

[Komatsu]

Have the maplin one as well seems there was a bad batch of wind gauges replaced them all foc it has lasted a year now so seems fine just replaced rain gauge as not working but still not working think sender unit is problem!

 

[Downtrodden Dad]

I had the maplin one first one didn't work from the start, the replacement lasted 11 months they wouldn't change it because the date of delivery of the first one was over 12 months.I thought the service and attitude poor but maybe that's just me. Maybe you get what you pay for.

 

[Steevo]

I had the maplin one first one didn't work from the start, the replacement lasted 11 months they wouldn't change it because the date of delivery of the first one was over 12 months.I thought the service and attitude poor but maybe that's just me. Maybe you get what you pay for.

Agreed, not a fan of maplin at all. But, in this instance the item seems to do the job. If it lasts me 3 years I'm happy.....

 

[Landy Nick]

Interesting topic, as I was actually thinking of posting the same before spotting this.
I was looking at getting a weather station to go along side my rain gauge. Also as a comparison, to see if the rainfall differs.
Anyone use the Oregon Scientific weather stations and what do you think of them.

 

[jerseycowsman]

I agree with simon, the davis advantage pro is the one. Bit more expensive, but I have had the cheap ones and they are crap, you get what you pay for, basically

 

[An Gof]

Davis vantage vue with Data Logger here. Has worked faultlessly. Strongly recommended.