Importing a Davis Vantage Pro from America

[Pipine]

I think Pit did...awful I seem to remember.

He's still kind of recommending them in the "Exchange Rates" thread so they can't be that bad

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Ah....I thought he had some problems when something went wrong with it though. Perhaps not.

[The PIT]

Ah....I thought he had some problems when something went wrong with it though. Perhaps not.

I did and you have to persistant as they'll try and fob you off. They did put me onto Davis directly who rang me back and shipped a replacement foc to me directly. I just had to lie about the reason why I bought it since selling it to me they broke the rules slightly.

Exchange rates were very good recently so I'd go for it.

[Pipine]

I did and you have to persistant as they'll try and fob you off. They did put me onto Davis directly who rang me back and shipped a replacement foc to me directly. I just had to lie about the reason why I bought it since selling it to me they broke the rules slightly.

Exchange rates were very good recently so I'd go for it.

I'm waiting for them to get back to me about shipping costs and possible extra discounts. They don't seem very efficient but if it means a near half price Vantage Pro2 I'm willing to give them a go.

[The PIT]

I'm waiting for them to get back to me about shipping costs and possible extra discounts. They don't seem very efficient but if it means a near half price Vantage Pro2 I'm willing to give them a go.

Hows it going???

[Pipine]

Hows it going???

An EU version is in the post

Fingers crossed its in full working order and there are no issues.

I'll be setting up somewhere near you PIT... I'm moving to Norton this autumn, on the hill overlooking woodseats.

[Evening thunder]

mmm.. oh well its too late for me ive already got a uk version from skyview

im not exactly sure why it would be illegal to use a u.s unit in the uk though.

and even then i brought it about 1 day before a special offer came out!

[Dr_G]

Hello again guys,

I never got around to importing a Davis station from the US (the dealer wouldn't send me one), and I got nowhere form the European importers; see topic

"Importing a Davis system from America...anyone done it? Anyone want to try it??"

That was over a year ago, and I now have a young son and therefore even less cash than I had before! I've still got the home weather station itch, and I intend to give it a good scratch before Christmas

The question is...What is the best of the rest system, up to £150?? I simply cannot afford a Davis system - I was having trouble justifying it before, especially having seen how the prices over here in the UK are double, but now with family commitments its out of the question. There seems to be a few new systems out there, how about the Nexus one:

http://www.weather-station-shop.co.uk/?gcl...CFQ4-Zwod5CEwrA

The wind speed sampling seems to be 11 seconds. Any advice or comments greatly appreciated!

Regards,

Garth

Sheffield, England.

[Dentaltourist]

Hello again guys,

I never got around to importing a Davis station from the US (the dealer wouldn't send me one), and I got nowhere form the European importers; see topic

"Importing a Davis system from America...anyone done it? Anyone want to try it??"

That was over a year ago, and I now have a young son and therefore even less cash than I had before! I've still got the home weather station itch, and I intend to give it a good scratch before Christmas

Hi Dr G

Well I bought a US. version of the Davis system from the good ol' USA. I knew that the wireless version had an illegal frquency for the UK and that the only problem with the cabled version was the AC/DC adapter (which I got from Maplins quite easily) so that's what I got.

It arrived a few days later and I set it all up in the kitchen to make sure everything was working OK. I noted that the anemometer wasn't spinning quite as quickly as I would have expected and found that there was a point in the rotation were it was 'stiff' so as per the instructions I took it to bits and put it back together but it was exactly the same. There was obviously a problem with the anemometer and it needs replacing so... The guy I bought it from on Ebay was just a 'seller' and not a weather station expert so I contacted Davis directly asking for help. Their reply is below

I am sorry, but we cannot replace anything over-seas. You will need to go back to place of purchase and have them replace the Anemometer.

Also any USA models purchased for use outside of the USA is illegal.

Contact place of purchase they need to replace the Anemometer.

I contacted them again stating that this was a cabled version and so was not illegal and they replied:

We have dealers for outside of the USA, if you placed an order for a US model and wanted it shipped out of the country we would not ship it.

You need to go to place of purchase for the warranty.

I will attach the dealer in the UK if place of purchase does not exchange it for you, but they need to be contacted first as I stated.

Sorry

Thank you

So basically Davis don't appear to want to know about anybody who buys their products overseas they are only concerned about their USA customers and in the UK, McMurdo who are the sole importers of their product and who sell it on to shops at extortionate prices.

I've since contacted the seller and he is dealing with Davis on my behalf so I will get the anemometer replaced thankfully. I think Davis have an obligation to all their customers unfortunately they don't share that view.

Edited January 13, 2008 by Dentaltourist

[Dr_G]

Dentaltourist,

In the end I was lucky enough to buy a used, cabled VP2 from this forum. I was about to order another make, but there you go. Even now I have a system, Davis and their representitives seem just as unhelpful as ever. Davis USA never replied to my email questions regarding temperature sensors. My attempts to BUY a replacement reed switch from the UK importers was met with a list of UK suppliers, all of whom would not sell me a replacement switch, many of whom wanted to 'repair' the entire ISS at God only knows how much cost (see my other thread on this forum). The reed switch was obtained locally for just 20p, and fitted in under 5 minutes by the way. In future if I need any repairs I will just dive in and start doing stuff myself without bothering with Davis. It would be great if we could start a 'Davis DIY' section where we could pool some knowledge of how best to maintain/repair these things. Especially useful would be some drawings of how the wind sensors are put together, some electronic schematics and component specs., just in case. I'm thinking temp/humididy sensors, reed switches for anemometer and rain gauge, whatever it is inside the weather vane, and some bearing specs. for the anemometer and wind vane. If I ever need to do anything major to mine I will post whatever I find.

I can't quite remember *exactly* what happened when I tried to get a cheap new UK system, but I think it was an IM-OG scenario (Inverse Monkey - Organ Grinder) :

I seem to remember contacting a UK representitive who unbeknown to me at the time worked for the "Big Boss" of the European importer, located for some unfathomable reason on the tax haven of Guernsey. I think I'd already spoken to the "Big Boss" without realising it when pursueing another line of enquiry. If memory serves me I think I was nicely moistening the UK rep to get me a cheap one somehow (can't remember how he was going to do it now). I was about to move in for the money shot as it were, but then the "Big Boss" had a little chat with my rep, who very quickly went all cold and dry on me. Might not have happened exactly like that, but along those lines.

Anyway bol****s to them - between them they managed to do themselves out of another customer.

Cheers,

Garth.

ps, I live just down the motorway from you, so if you like we could take your anemometer apart and try to fix it. Its probably a misaligned bearing or something daft. It can't be that difficult to strip down, they are mass produced in the US after all.

Edited January 13, 2008 by Dr_G

[Dentaltourist]

Dentaltourist,

ps, I live just down the motorway from you, so if you like we could take your anemometer apart and try to fix it. Its probably a misaligned bearing or something daft. It can't be that difficult to strip down, they are mass produced in the US after all.

Indeed you do. Alas the anemometer went back to the USA last week as the seller agreed to sort it. I'm more used to breaking things rather than mending them, I was a fireman for 30 years so I've had a lot of training. If you need to do some dental implant surgery though I have a nice video :huh:

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Sorry to hear you've had reed switch problems Dr-G...I checked it before it left too as I know they can cause problems (I could hear it clicking).

Anyway, I've always found Davis very helpful, but that's perhaps because I've phoned them direct whenever I've needed help. There is a good forum for independent help and everyone seems very knowledgeable - http://forums.accuweather.com/index.php?showforum=4

I'm currently having issues with Celestron; a US manufacturer of telescopes. They seem to have fixed prices in the UK and add an enormous mark-up on anything the export into the UK...well above the import duty and VAT. I think American firms take us for a ride.

[Dr_G]

Indeed you do. Alas the anemometer went back to the USA last week as the seller agreed to sort it. I'm more used to breaking things rather than mending them, I was a fireman for 30 years so I've had a lot of training. If you need to do some dental implant surgery though I have a nice video

Don't start me on my dental problems...

Sorry to hear you've had reed switch problems Dr-G...I checked it before it left too as I know they can cause problems (I could hear it clicking).

Anyway, I've always found Davis very helpful, but that's perhaps because I've phoned them direct whenever I've needed help. There is a good forum for independent help and everyone seems very knowledgeable - http://forums.accuweather.com/index.php?showforum=4

I'm currently having issues with Celestron; a US manufacturer of telescopes. They seem to have fixed prices in the UK and add an enormous mark-up on anything the export into the UK...well above the import duty and VAT. I think American firms take us for a ride.

No worries, it was working absolutely fine when I got it too, it was registering on the dispalay when I moved the buckets...I must have damaged it while messing around with it or when fitting it. It's fine again now though. By the way I found that just because the switch is clicking does not mean it is actually switching!

I bought a Meade 10" Starfinder about 10 years ago, again I bought it used because of the price issue. Unfortunately everything I want seems to be very expensive and I am not in a position to by new stuff all the time. I've found that good used stuff is o.k. for my purposes most of the time.

Cheers,

Garth.

[Osbourne One-Nil]

You mean like a 12" f5.3 1/8wave mirror Newtonian telescope that I might be selling?

Cheque payable to Osbourne One-Nil please.

[Dr_G]

You mean like a 12" f5.3 1/8wave mirror Newtonian telescope that I might be selling?

Cheque payable to Osbourne One-Nil please.

Interesting, but I can't justify spending any more cash for a 2" diameter increase (despite what I keep getting told in various unsolicited emails).

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Luckily for me there's a man (another doctor) in St Andrews who can justify it, but I have to deliver.

Just as well he doesn't live in Birmingham otherwise he'd have to come and get it.