New Davis Vantage View OR Weather Eye Professional

[Weather Boy]

I wonder if anyone can help me.

Since my birthday in July (yes I've not rushed) I've been contemplating upgrading my weather station mostly with some money from my lovely Mum.

After reading some of the threads below, I was contemplating a new Davis Vantage View which is £399 if you include the software, which I think you'd definitely want.

However, I suppose I baulked at the price tag slightly and since then in a garden centre (not locally) I saw a Weathereye weather station which I've found on-line here: http://www.weather-eye.co.uk/details_weather03.asp. It's £155 but it seems that the same model can be obtained from Amazon for just under £100. I'd like to avoid the tax dodgers, but a saving of over £50 is going to turn my head, clearly.

Anyway, the retailer is not the issue. The point is, the weathereye seems to do the same things as the Davis, but is less than half the price - so is there a catch? Reviews on-line for the Weathereye seem positive; just the odd gripe about the software and the instruction manual - nothing serious in my view.

Can anyone lend a hand to my decision making and in particular, does anyone have any experience of the Weather Eye? Any help would be really appreciated...Thanks.

[Dorsetbred]

^{Having had a "quick" spin read of the manual, one concern I would have over long term use would be that the cable from the anemometer to the sender unit plugs in at BOTH ends. Reason for concern long term corrosion in the plug at the anemometer end as it's exposed to the elements, would then mean that wind speed and direction would be lost.}

[StormyLincs]

My dad bought the Davis vantage vue over a year ago. He had many other weather stations before which always failed in the end. The davis has been faultless, accurate and ruggedly built. Everytime I see it I look with envious eyes. There is no doubt in my mind which one I would go for. Also many of the parts can be replaced should they fail. This is a fantastic all in one unit with more weather data than you can shake a stick at....and I want one!!....you won,t be disappointed!

[Weather Boy]

Thanks to both for your comments. I think the obvious point is that it's not realistic to expect a £100 unit to be the same standard as a £400 one. Taking this and both of Your comments into account I think that I shall indeed go for the Davis.

Thanks again.

[Stuart]

I got my Davis Vantage here

http://www.weatherstations.co.uk/

[Weather Boy]

Cheers. And you'd recommend it? I have yet to hear a bad word said about this station and Davis generally.

[chionomaniac]

I got my Davis Vantage here

http://www.weatherstations.co.uk/

Bundle cheaper here:

http://www.weathershop.co.uk/shop/brands/davis-instruments/vantage-vue/davis-vantage-vue-weather-station

You will need the datalogger to transfer the info onto a computer no matter what software package you buy.

[StormyLincs]

I eventually bought my own Davis Vantage Vue from this place http://www.weatherstations.co.uk/ I e-mailed them before with a few questions and they replied with very comprehensive answers.(very professional and slightly cheaper too for the bundle)

Having owned a number of other weather stations before I can honestly say that this one is worth the money. It has a rugged, profesional build that fills you with confidence that it won't let you down. You do need the datalogger to take advantage of all the information available but after the initial shock of paying that extra amount for what looks like a plug!, it is worth it in the long run.

The Davis software that comes with the datalogger would seem to look like something from the 1980,s , so I quickly ditched this in favour of the cumulus software which is free or by a donation if you wish. This has enabled me to set up my own basic website http://www.louthweather.co.uk/ and cumulus software also allows you to upload to other websites such as met offices WOW, Weatherunderground, PWS and my favourite Twitter https://twitter.com/louthweather . I've owned the Davis for nearly 6 months now and it hasn't missed a beat yet. Teamed up with Cumulus software makes a great little set up. I hope this may help some people who might be thinking about buying a Weather station in the near future.

Cheers guys and keep up all the good informative work you do on here.

[Mapantz]

I own a Vue myself, while it is a superb station, it does have draw backs. The main draw back is that you will sacrifice either wind recordings or rain recordings depending on where you situate the station. If you want decent wind recordings, it will have to be put up high but by doing that, your rain gauge readings will get extremely skewed. On a blustery night last year, my manual rain gauge (I use it for calibration  or to compare results) recorded around 20mm of rain, it is sitauted just above ground level, well away from anything that might add to the total, my Vue on the other hand, recorded only 6mm, because the wind at 4m high just blew it well away from gauge, it happens a lot on very wet & windy nights, hence why i use a manual one to compare against.  

You can obviously have the Vue lower down but then you won't get true wind readings. In an ideal world, you'd have the whole thing about a metre from the ground with no obstuctions in a clear mile of it but obviously that's not feasible for most people.

I have also noticed temperature discrepancies having the station higher, although, when i have checked them against local observations, amateur and professional, it has been pretty close.

 

I would recommend separate components (if you could afford it) - I still love my Vue though, there's so much info on the receiver inside, there's some cute easter eggs to look out for as well, and a 'pong' game. ;-)

 

One other thing, i cut a load of cable ties in to half inch points and then stuck them around the rain gauge because i had a problem with pidgeons and doves crapping in it, it was full to the brim on some occasions, they stay well clear now. 

Edited September 29, 2013 by Mapantz

[TonyH]

Another option with the Vue is to have a separate wireless anemometer (the same anemometer as for the Pro) and connect it using the solar transmitter. This is what I have done so as to get the anemometer on the roof and maintain integrity of temperature and rainfall figures.