Mandrake

Tricky! I have Evohome as well though I am pretty sure they should all live in harmony! If in doubt just order it from Ecowitt, as the US$ prices seem pretty competitive even if you do have to pay for shipping which is not so cheap. My aim is to try and get this stuff imported before the 31/3/19 when goodness knows what will happen to our borders! If all goes well I am reasonably sure I will be adding additional Ecowitt sensors going forward.

I am not sure there are much in the way of any. As far as I can tell with my discussions with Lucy is that the 2550 is using the tri wing all in one sensor (aka like the Ambient version) and the HP2501 is using a bi- arm version. I believe that the sensors within the package are the same just orientated different. I am still awaiting for my HP2550 to be shipped. Don't forget to specify the frequency you want it set to and if you want any additional internal thermos/hygro sensors although in theory you could order those from Froggitt later if you choose 866Mhz. For completeness I have ordered a bunch to be included from Ecowitt/Fine Offset. The major upside of ordering from Ecowitt is that they will configure and test it all before they ship it to you unlike a box shifter like Maplin used to. The downside is that there is a delay from order to shipping. I am hoping my kit will ship next week which is 2 weeks from order point. Just setting expectations!

I concur on the Amazon UK point, and Lucy has said that they are looking into that. I would guess though that they are not going do anything until the Brexit mess is sorted hence the suggestion over Amazon.com!

Hi Trebor, you might want to be careful with your mobile phone around the station then as Vodafone/O2 mobile signal overlaps the 915Mhz band and you could lose data. I have suggested that Ecowitt might want to consider having Euro spec frequency kit available to order via Amazon.com global store. As for Lucy, I would concur. I believe that there is only one very busy Lucy as among the very many e-mails we have shared the writing style is always consistent. BTW. Love your photography. What telescope do you use to capture those images. Just beginning to dabble here but then again I don't have the luxury of the dark skies you have.

That's good. I have to say that Lucy seems to be the main customer service person. She is the contact I have been corresponding with for some time when I started asking Fine Offset about kit availability. I am curious about your acquisition. What frequency did it arrive set to or did they ask before it was sent to you?

Glad to hear that worked out OK. I too have committed though this time direct to Ecowitt/Fine Offset in China. I have ordered the HP2550 and a bunch of additional thermos/hygro sensors The Bird spikes The new Gw-1000 and the soil sensor and PM2.5 sensor as well. All set to UK frequencies. They wont start work again until Monday after the New year celebrations so I don't know how long they will take to ship but it was going to be DHL so hopefully fairly swift. As for Customs/VAT, I guess we will see. Once I have it up and running I will share a review.

Ah to be fair to Ecowitt I am intending to get a boatload of additional sensors and the new weather sensor gateway so it will be quite a big and heavy package and they mentioned DHL so a reputable courier firm. I will wait for the local spring holidays to finish in China and then push the button so will order my kit mid Feb. It will be interesting to see where Ecowitt go, but given they are actually Fine Offset, I am hoping that availability of their kit will improve. They seem to have lots of good ideas and new kit coming.

Yes, it is a shame, though again I believe that Ecowitt are considering selling via Amazon UK as they do in Canada/Australia and US. So you could wait if the import element puts you off. Personally I would not purchase the Ambient version simply because you may run into issues with the 915Mhz freq they use which is allocated to O2 and Vodafone for mobile phones in the UK. You will also be forced to import spares in the future (being realistic!) whereas if you go with European frequencies now you can always get spares when supply does become available. Good luck and I will be interested in how it goes with the Ambient kit.

OK I have confirmed that Ecowitt will supply the HP2550 TFT display console and 3 arm sensor package for $199USD. If you want to add the additional thermo/hydro sensors these are basically $10 each and you can have upto 8. They will ship the units configured to 433 or 800Mhz as you desire. On top of this though there is a $100USD courier cost. That does take the shine off it though if you work out the USD to GBP rate it is still favourable. The biggest risk will be if you get hit with VAT by customs which will add 20%. I am having a deliberation at the moment as I really want this kit just not sure I can afford to pull the trigger so close after Christmas!

Well Ambient sell it for $239 USD and given that Ecowitt make it they ought to be able to sell it for less, so I not surprised by the $199 USD price but I will double check with Lucy on Monday

I can only suggest you check with Lucy via the e-mail address I posted. I think she is China based judging by the response times to UK time. I think the $319 you are referring to is Aussie dollars and not US from the website. The price I was quoted ($199) was defo USD and was via Lucy and e-mail and was for the 3 arm variant as I prefer that. I have noticed that the EcoWitt website sometimes chooses US pricing, Canadian or Aussie. I don't know why!

According to Lucy @ Fine Offset (Ecowitt.com) you can definitely get the 3 arm version if you want (HP2550) or the newer single arm (HP2551) I was quoted $199 US for the 3 arm version and the Hi Res TFT display (HP2550). You can order on the ecowitt website directly and the units are shipped directly from China. If what you want is not shown then contact Lucy at (sales3@foshk.com) I understand that there is a risk of duty and VAT but it does depend on luck I suppose. I personally need to wait for March and pay rise time, but if there is no local option at that time I will buy from Ecowitt. I will also probably buy the new Gateway (GW1000) and the soil moisture sensor and Air quality sensor at the same time. I understand there will be some new sensors coming soon such as a lightening detector. One positive for Ecowitt is that they have now setup their own data hosting site to rival ambientweather.net which will be useful if you like to have your data available.

Further clarification. I have been in dialogue with Lucy and it seems that Ecowitt is the public facing arm of Fine Offset. Lucy will happily sell anyone in Europe via Ecowitt a HP2550 with the 3 arm sensor array for $199 US. It will be the 433Mhz model and so Europe legal. All the other bits from Fine Offset are available if you ask including the new air quality sensor This is great news and I plan to take them up on this offer in the coming months and I will post here when I get it.

OK, I have had some response from Fine Offset. It seems that they do offer devices via Ecowitt which seems to aim at the Australian market but operates on 433Mhz which is legal in the UK. This looks like the only option until Froggit starts to ship them or a regenerated Maplin sells them. https://www.amazon.com.au/ECOWITT-Weather-Station-Powered-Forecast/dp/B07FMKKBX5/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me= There does not seem to be a penalty for shipping to the UK.

I have e-mailed both Froggit and Fine Offset but as yet had no replies. I understand that Fine Offset have a European version available so its probably just a case of waiting for a supplier to pick it up as a product. I particularly would like the HP2550 and WS2650 data logger, so we will see.

Have a look at Froggit, they are the closest to Ambient in Europe now that Maplin is no more and sell quite a range. https://www.froggit.de/?cat=c38_WiFi-Weatherstation-wifi-weatherstation.html There website can be selected to English which makes it easier. You can order bits and pieces as spares if you require or as sets.

You are not wrong in your comments and I guess my statements are born from frustration at lack of choice in Europe/UK. Froggit seems to be the closest to Ambient in Europe but they don't sell anything like the range that Ambient do and you cant appear to mix and match components. I am a licenced Radio user so I am aware of the probable clash of frequency use. The US 915Mhz band is part of the UK mobile phone ranges so I think it very likely they would have problems from interference from phones though I would be interested to see if anyone has tried it. Given the very low power of the weather station I would say its very unlikely to interfere with Phone signals just screw up reception from the instruments. I guess I have no options to bide my time though. I or my wife are quite likely to be stateside at some point this year and its awfully tempting to pick up a WS2000 +ObserverIP+full set of sensors for less than $300 and bring it home in luggage!

I too have been trying to locate a European source for this weather station (WS-2000/HP-2550) to no avail. It is a very good home station and I like the option to add extra sensors for out buildings etc I understand that Greenfrog Scientific (Aercus) are looking at adding it at some point after I contacted them, but no timeframe. I am also keeping track of Froggit in Germany who may start to sell this station. I have to say that I am seriously considering using Amazon.com which will ship internationally to get my hands on the Ambient version as I really like the ambientweather.net hosting they provide for their data which you can use in addition to Wunderground. They also can provide just about any spare you want which now Maplin has gone seems to be problematic in the UK. In the US they seem to have a good following and reputation. The downside is that importation taxes make it expensive >£300. The alternative is I might use a relative in the US to purchase it and mail it to me which should cut down the costs considerably. The other angle I am considering is that I currently use Cumulus MX on a Pi talking to my old Maplin weather station which I would like to retain for continuity but I am not sure If that's going to be possible. Interested to see what other folks are considering or just waiting for a European source.