Weather Stations

[Andy H]

i am trying to get a weather station and need some advice

i have been looking at the davis Weather Wizard :: 7425

advice much appreciated

[Cloudburst]

i am trying to get a weather station and need some advice

i have been looking at the davis Weather Wizard :: 7425

advice much appreciated

Hi, i have also just purchased a weather station from La Crosse, being a newbie topwards weather stations i first looked for a product that did exactly what i wanted and compared with price. First off all think about what readings you want to et from it, i.e Rainfall, Wind etc. I have just looked at the W/S you have thought about and have found it to only give you windspeed and temperature readings, but if you want a basic option to see wind and temperature it looks O.K. But if you want to be able to monitor your local weather by taking readings of all the elements then you will have to go with a more 'upmarket' weather station. Also note if you can connect it to a computer, as this can be very useful esp. when you want to display your weather on the internet.

Hope that helps

[Andy H]

Hi, i have also just purchased a weather station from La Crosse, being a newbie topwards weather stations i first looked for a product that did exactly what i wanted and compared with price. First off all think about what readings you want to et from it, i.e Rainfall, Wind etc. I have just looked at the W/S you have thought about and have found it to only give you windspeed and temperature readings, but if you want a basic option to see wind and temperature it looks O.K. But if you want to be able to monitor your local weather by taking readings of all the elements then you will have to go with a more 'upmarket' weather station. Also note if you can connect it to a computer, as this can be very useful esp. when you want to display your weather on the internet.

Hope that helps

thank you andy as helpfull as always. i have only been seriusley looking this week there just seems so many out there and i do not want to purchase something that does not do all i want it to as you have mentioned i want it to do everything and connect to my pc

so any links would be gratefull

[Dazza]

Andy.

Going on the info from CloudBurst I have also been looking for a Professional Weather Station and I found the following on Ebay Pro Weather Station. Maybe if someone on the forums knows a bit more about them they may be able to take a look at the above and let us know what they think.

FYI the one above will also connect to your PC to download data and has just about everything with it to make a start and the price aint bad either.

Help please all you Pro's.

Good luck.

[Andy H]

thanks dazza did not cross my mind to look on ebay that looks to do a lot more than the other ones i have been looking at and better priced

[Cloudburst]

thanks dazza did not cross my mind to look on ebay that looks to do a lot more than the other ones i have been looking at and better priced

Try this website : UK WEATHER SHOP

This is where iam getting my La Crosse from, if you want good value for money and features i strongly suggest la crosse over Davis.

Heres the one i am getting: Here (Bottom one)

Edited December 2, 2005 by ¤CloudBurst¤

[Andy H]

thats the website i was looking at but so much choice

[Button Up]

thats the website i was looking at but so much choice

Hi Andy

I have a link to a good web site for weather stations for you

http://www.skyview.co.uk/

I bought a La Crosse WS2300 from them and i find it does everything i require for the price, depending how much you want to spend you should try to get one that covers all the main data areas, if you don't you will only wish you had later like i did but i will say i am happy at my second attempt with this one, especially now i have it on OON's map

Hope that helps

Button Up

[Thundery]

I finished installing my second weather station today. Its a OS WMR968 that I bought of ebay from America. Cost £150. Its exactly the same as the WMR928NX that is available over here but obviously you don't get the support if you buy from America. The WMR928 costs over £300 here. I previously had a La Crosse WS3600 and had many problems with it so I wouldn't recommend that. I don't know what the WS2500 is like so can't comment on it. The Matrix II that dazza provided a link to is a rebadged La Crosse model. What you've got to ask yourself, is what readings you wish to measure and then find a station that gives you the most for the cost. Generally the order for quality of the weather station goes Davis, Oregon Scientific, La Crosse. Although that isn't true for every model. A La Crosse will give you the most bang for your money and are great for beginners in weather stations.

I hope that helps.

Edited December 2, 2005 by Thundery

[LeeKay]

I'm having a WMR968 for christmas! with internet software etc. Thundery - i brought mine from the States too, much cheaper!!

But i cant have it till christmas day!

[Andy H]

now i am getting confused i am a complete amatuer and am very interested so i can start taking readings myself i dont need some high tech thing that makes me a cup off tea in the morning just something i can record data on me pc that measures rain fall pressure wind and temps

[tugmistress]

personally speaking i have a la crosse ws2300 and the only thing i would say is as long as you regularly clean moving parts then it has been trouble free for me (except the rain gauge which the weather shop replaced including postage costs)

i went with the upgraded software to upload to the net. i can't see me wanting to change weather station.

Edited December 2, 2005 by tugmistress

[reef]

I also have the LaCrosse WS2300 and it is a fine station for the price but it does have its fair share of limitations and bugs.

The major bug on this station is the 57mph windspeed bug, due to the poor quality cabling the Anemometer picks up interference and says "WNW 57mph" for the wind speed and direction. Theres also the annoying limitation that it cannot record humidity of more than 95%, I tried it in the steamed up bathroom before I fitted it and it still said 94%! Another limitation is the time between data sent, when running wirelessly it is 32 seconds and when cabled it is 8 seconds. I have mine cabled but the time between data is still too long to record wind gusts meaning the wind speed always under-reads.

Its a good station for a beginner and does almost everything you'd want in a weather station at a good price, but if I was to buy again I would spend a little more next time.

[tugmistress]

I also have the LaCrosse WS2300 and it is a fine station for the price but it does have its fair share of limitations and bugs.

The major bug on this station is the 57mph windspeed bug, due to the poor quality cabling the Anemometer picks up interference and says "WNW 57mph" for the wind speed and direction. Theres also the annoying limitation that it cannot record humidity of more than 95%, I tried it in the steamed up bathroom before I fitted it and it still said 94%! Another limitation is the time between data sent, when running wirelessly it is 32 seconds and when cabled it is 8 seconds. I have mine cabled but the time between data is still too long to record wind gusts meaning the wind speed always under-reads.

Its a good station for a beginner and does almost everything you'd want in a weather station at a good price, but if I was to buy again I would spend a little more next time.

Well i must admit i haven't a clue about the humiduty bit i have never seen mine go over 92% though.

I don't have the windspeed bug though thankfully, but if i run it wireless i do get temp bugs, like the other day when the wind blew a piece of wood through the cabling and i had to run wireless for 24 hours i got a temp peak of 30+c about every hour lol

i don't think i record under speed gusts, but having said that it is probably a bit windier here than where you are reef

[Cloudburst]

im getting the WS 2500 (wireless 433mhz), one of my mates has it also, and he has had no problems whats so ever, no bugs. So i am looking forward to predicting my own weather soon.

[Button Up]

I also have the LaCrosse WS2300 and it is a fine station for the price but it does have its fair share of limitations and bugs.

The major bug on this station is the 57mph windspeed bug, due to the poor quality cabling the Anemometer picks up interference and says "WNW 57mph" for the wind speed and direction. Theres also the annoying limitation that it cannot record humidity of more than 95%, I tried it in the steamed up bathroom before I fitted it and it still said 94%! Another limitation is the time between data sent, when running wirelessly it is 32 seconds and when cabled it is 8 seconds. I have mine cabled but the time between data is still too long to record wind gusts meaning the wind speed always under-reads.

Its a good station for a beginner and does almost everything you'd want in a weather station at a good price, but if I was to buy again I would spend a little more next time.

Hello Reef

I also have the same problem as you with the "WNW 57mph" for the wind speed and direction and when i complained to the company i bought it from they sent me a new anenometer but problem was the same and then i found that it had only started happening when i hard wired it to my PC so that i could download the data without having to take it up stairs to do so.

I also have it hard wired to the sender unit in the garden so that i get a reading every 8sec's so i was wondering if you have yours wired the same because i'm not sure that it is interference causing the problem, as i said if i disconnect the wire to the PC the problem doesn't occur

I hope that all makes sense

Button Up

[Meteorologica]

I also have the same problem as you with the "WNW 57mph" for the wind speed and direction and when i complained to the company i bought it from they sent me a new anenometer but problem was the same and then i found that it had only started happening when i hard wired it to my PC so that i could download the data without having to take it up stairs to do so.

This is a common problem with the LaCrosse units. Basically the wire between all the sensors can act as an aerial and introduce noise into the system. The only way to fix it is to either replace the cable with screened or add some small capacitors onto the circuit boards.

The wind speed underreads gusts because of the sampling rate. All electronic anemometers count the number of revolutions of the anemometer in the sampling period and then calculate the speed from that. So, if during the sample period a sudden gust blows the anemometer simply sees it as a small increase in the average speed over the sample period. THis is why the LaCrosse units in wireless mode always underead. We run a Davis (2.5 second sample) alongside an Oregon (14 second sample) and the Oregon always undereads gusts by 25% compared to the Davis.

[Andy H]

ok all this said what the hell do i go for???????

only looking at spending £150 but want to record my readings

wife thinks just a fad i am going through and will not let me spend anymore

she says get a hobby and when i do she says its a fad cannot win

[Meteorologica]

For £150 you are limited in your choice if it has to connect to a PC and the LaCrosse models are probably the only ones available to you. The WS2300 with its potential problems is still not a bad buy for the money especially if you run it in wired mode rather than wireless as this changes the sample rate to 8 seconds from the 32 or 128 second sample on wireless (depends on wind speed)

[Andy H]

thank you i will add it to my xmas list and let her search for one for me will print this thread out to give her an idea what to look for or not to look for

[Dazza]

ok all this said what the hell do i go for???????

only looking at spending £150 but want to record my readings

wife thinks just a fad i am going through and will not let me spend anymore

she says get a hobby and when i do she says its a fad cannot win

Andy, fads and wifes I know what you mean.

I got the same stick when I was looking at Golf Clubs, now I have to gently persuade my wife that I want my own weather station i'm in for a stormy ride!! .

[Andy H]

Andy, fads and wifes I know what you mean.

I got the same stick when I was looking at Golf Clubs, now I have to gently persuade my wife that I want my own weather station i'm in for a stormy ride!! .

dazza that is my next problem i have just started playing golf again after a long lay off am now starting to play every sunday again and just need to update my clubs

[Dazza]

dazza that is my next problem i have just started playing golf again after a long lay off am now starting to play every sunday again and just need to update my clubs

Oh dear Andy, I can hear a nice meal coming on, a few bottles of wine, a sensual massage and ....... drop it in there somewhere .

Good luck .

[Andy H]

thanks

thing is the clubs i want are about 500 pounds and a weather station 150 pounds do you think i am asking to much

but saying that guess where she is know PARIS with my credit card and her mum

Edited December 3, 2005 by andy2726

[roberthines]

I have a weather station witch i won here on net weather.My make is a oregon scientific baa938hg.Im having probs with getting right temp. I really wont to update my weather station eg were i can send live data via internet.My budget is £200 pls help.

Edited December 8, 2005 by roberthines