Mandrake

Oh wow, I hope you did not pay much for it. Used to retail for about £40-50 when it was current. This is a really old weather station. I am not aware of anyway to update the firmware and frankly the sensors were a bit crap as they were essentially first generation. You could hook up a PC via the USB port and see if its receiving data via the console from the array but really unless you are super keen....I would not put too much effort into this! The software to configure and measure via the PC is called Easyweather. and you might find a copy here: http://www.foshk.com/

Hello, the HP2551 is the evolution of the HP1000 as you have probably guessed. Its currently the best console from Fine Offset available. As you say it can support multiple additional sensors should you add them such as Air Quality, soil moisture and more. Shortly it will support the new lightning sensor as well. One of the advantages of the HP2551 is that you can choose the sensor package. An all in one if you wish (HP2551), or distributed sensors (HP2552)or even ultrasonic anemometer package (Hp2553) I would argue that the HP2551 and current Fine Offset sensors are ahead and aimed at enthusiasts while the Bresser unit which is aimed more at consumers. This will probably start an argument! For instance if you go with Fine Offset (Ecowitt/Froggit etc) you can add a GW1000 and then invest in weather analysis software and all sorts of fun can be had. In reality the actual sensors inside the device is likely to be the same to meet the pricepoint so really it will be down to what you like and want to do with your weather station.

Welcome David. So, yes the WS2000 by Ambient is the same as the HP2550/1, however its specific to the USA market and is fixed on a US frequency at 915Mhz. Whilst it may work OK in the UK, you would technically be illegally broadcasting on that frequency since its is the same as the 2G cell phone service in Europe! The Walbeck Weather station you posted is not the same as the HP2551. It is in fact a WH2900 in Ecowitt/Fine Offset language or a WS2902 in Ambient language. Just to clarify, all these weather stations are manufactured by Fine Offset for mass market resellers like Ambient/Froggit/Aercus/Misol/Walbeck etc There is one exception to the list which is Ecowitt. This is a company associated with Fine Offset who do the direct to marketing of the Fine offset stations and undertake development and firmware etc. I purchased my HP2551 from Ecowitt.com (You send Lucy at Support@ecowitt.com an e-mail and she will give you a quote in USD which you pay via Paypal) I went this route as at the time there were no options for a HP2551 in the UK unless you shipped a Ambient in from the USA or went to Ecowitt/Fine Offset in China. There are however now options. If you goto www.froggit.com you will find that they now carry the full range at European frequencies (868Mhz) and with quick shipping. They call the HP2551 a HP1000 SE Pro. This is the easy route or you could via Ecowitt like I did but this will take longer and you may incur Custom charges. As for which station to choose, the HP2551 or WS2900, I would go the HP2551 every time. The display is excellent and is constantly being fine tuned by Ecowitt in terms of Firmware and the extra sensors that it can support.

Nice idea. I am without my soil moisture sensor at the moment as I sent it back to Hong Kong and waiting for some new ones to arrive.

Agree, been waiting a long time to get MX working with my station so I am pleased as punch and it makes me feel happier that I have a local copy of all my data and reliant on on-line services. I know we have a backup on SD card in the console but its just a confidence thing for me! The AQM is showing on my Cumulus Alpha version or do you mean something else?

Good news isn't it! I managed to get Lucy to send Mark a GW-1000 to act as the catalyst for the coding. I am pleased to say that it should not be too long I hope before the code is available for the public. The Alpha version of MX I have installed has a few bugs though to iron out!

Welcome Krojan to the Netweather forum! We will watch with interest what rebadged ecowitt/Fine Offset products that froggit choose to sell from the latest ranges. Certainly a useful alternative source for 868Mhz kit and spares!

That's not unusual to have a low item value. I really think someone has made a mistake on the Fedex side of things. If the item is a replacement/non chargeable item the its value would be genuinely low since its at cost value and not retail. This would be the same for test samples which I have been party to. In my case item values of 19.95 attracted zero customs. You need to appeal!

I would say that actually this kind of delay is fairly normal. You are in effect buying direct from the factory and they don't have a fast turn around of shipping that we kind of expect with Amazon etc. As I have mentioned before I also believe that they don't hold big stocks of 868Mhz kit and this means sometimes manufacturing it first before shipping. The big markets for Ecowitt are the USA/Canada and Auz. However that said. The HP2551 is the best out there at the moment at a sensible price and the options in terms of extra sensors is great. If you were USA based you could go via Amazon or Ambient, however if you are UK based then the only option currently is via Ecowitt direct and waiting a bit for delivery. I should also note that they are just going off for 2 weeks holidays in the region which probably accounts for much of the suggested delay from Lucy.

I would tend to agree, something sounds very wrong. Do you have the original shipping note which should state the value against which the customs/handling fee is due? I am thinking perhaps that they have misread the value of the items. The last bit of kit I had (Ws-80 and the new improved GW-1000) did not attract any customs duty at all. I would ask to challenge this bill....

Excellent work. I would surmise that given the size of the moisture sensor and the fact that it is powered by a single AA cell that it 'must' be lower power in terms of TX strength. Also given that they tend to be in the ground at lower level is also likely to further reduce the efficiency of transmission. However given your research it shows that these sensors in particular seem to be problematic if used in proximity of a Davis station.

It is all very odd. I have wondered for a while if the signal is polarised in some way which might explain some of the effects you are seeing but not all. Have you tried a different battery in the soil sensor as 1.5V is not much oomph. One thing that has puzzled me is that there does not appear to be a way to set channels on the WH0291 soil moisture sensor yet it is geared to support upto 8 via the GW-1000. I wonder how that's set? Only suggestion I have is to open the spare console you have and makes a small hole as has been described on the WXForum and poke the receiver wire through that in a straight position. It might be that you can orientate the wire to a position that works while having the console in the location that you want. Might just work if its a polarization issue.

I have been pondering your problem. I replied on the WXForum. If its not interference by a DECT phone system or a BT device do you have any smart systems installed in your house. I have Honeywell Evohome smart thermostats all over and I was worried those might interfere but so far so good. The other possibility is that I note you have Davis as well. Davis used spread spectrum frequency hopping rather a fixed frequency to transmit and receive so its possible that this might explain why the reception comes and go on your console. All that said I suspect you might need to buy a SDR dongle and plug it into a laptop with some software and use that to try and see what's causing the variable interreference.

Damn, you seem to be unlucky! Last package I had was shipped by Lucy on Tuesday and I had it in my hand Friday morning!

That's good news Mapantz. Experience suggests that you should get it earlier than Wednesday. I would reckon it will be in the UK by Tomorrow and probably with you by Monday.

Its not wise to say any solution is wonderful as every location has its own factors that impact reception for weather stations (or for that matter any radio based sensor technology) Personally I have had mostly faultless problems with my Fine offset kit including one that's 10 years old this November and is still 100metres away down the garden. I did have a period in January and February where I kept losing signal and assumed the system was finally dying which led me to the latest generation of kit and Ecowitt as the distributor for Fine Offset. Now I am a qualified Radio Amateur and know my radio. Could I find the cause of the interference....nope. Anyhow since then its been rock solid again with no loss of signal. My new Fine Offset/Ecowitt kit has also been rock solid, so who knows what was causing the interference. I guess the point I am trying to make is that you cannot be certain anywhere that you will have great coverage, you just have to try. Fine Offset/Ecowitt are certainly aware of this area though and are actively looking at boosting range and the latest kit I have in the form of the GW-1000 and WS-80 sensor suite will support up to 200 Meters of range which is the best yet.

To keep. I just agree to test and review my findings with Ecowitt and the community. What's not to like! I have to say so far I have been mightily impressed with what Ecowitt and fine offset are doing. They really seem to be stepping up in the weather station world. My first reviews are over at the WXForum pages http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=37700.new#new

I don't think so as Ecowitt shipped the WS-80 and GW-1000 on Tuesday and I had it in my hands on Friday (today) so I would not say the HK problems are having any impact on transport.

Have you sent an e-mail? Does seem odd and out of kilter. I am expecting the new W-80 to test and mk2 Gw-1000 and that was all organised without me asking or pushing so I think there must be some mess-up at their end that is preventing the shipping. I have to say I have always found Lucy incredibly responsive and customer friendly.

Normally she does give an idea on when dispatch is likely. Perhaps they don't have any kit in stock and are awaiting manufacturing.

probably dew formation at that time. You will notice it happen from time to time. Also when foggy/misty and when its raining very hard. The sensor picks up the fine water droplets as PM. Very expensive commercial sensors heat the air intake to avoid this but at our price point that's not going to happen.

OK, not having had any experienc Actually no I don't think it is......just reviewed my original product review from page 3 on this thread and my picture looks the same or similar. Its an optical illusion that makes the bezel look tiny as only the internal chamfer shows up and the rest becomes invisible. No worries!

OK, not having had any experience with ultrasonic anemometers so I shall certainly not replace my existing kit but run it along side following your comments!

Ah yes, I think you correct...I wonder what console that is then! Hopefully Mapantz will resolve his issue with a new console. Might be a tiny issue such as the receiver wire being a slightly out of tolerance length wise which is enough to reduce effectiveness. Fingers crossed. As for the WS-80 I am looking forward to getting my hands on that!

So just looking at Mapantz's exploded console the immediate question that leaps out is... Are the buttons at the bottom of the screen physical (hidden on the bottom or back of the unit that we cannot see) or is your console a touch screen. The rest of us have physical buttons to push on the bezel at the bottom of the unit. Just beginning to suspect that yours maybe touch screen which is radically different? However the rear view suggests that the console is normal with buttons like the rest,,,,confused!