Ambient Weather WS-2000/ fineoffset HP2550

[Mandrake]

8 hours ago, Mapantz said:

I'm currently testing Cumulus MX with the GW-1000. 

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!

[Mapantz]

1 minute ago, Mandrake said:

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!

I prefer to see my data using the cumulus dashboard, that's for sure! Ecowitt's site has been plagued with problems for me, for some time now. Constantly getting 'network busy' and updates freeze.

I don't understand why there's no API for the PM sensor though?

[Mandrake]

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?

[Mapantz]

2 hours ago, Mandrake said:

The AQM is showing on my Cumulus Alpha version or do you mean something else?

I do now. I didn't update to the latest build until an hour ago.

I've already figured out an easy way to show soil moisture and PM 2.5 on my main site, which was my main goal. When it's out of Alpha I'll run a second instance of cmx on my mini-pc and have the data go to a new SQL database. I'll illustrate the data in graphs to compare with my Davis data.

[Mandrake]

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.

[DavidBH]

Dear all,

Some time ago I had looked to replace my old la crosse station but never got around to it. Really like http://www.foshk.com/Wifi_Weather_Station/HP2550.html but is it the same as 

Ambient Weather WS-2000 Smart Weather Station with WiFi Remote Monitoring and Alerts

WWW.AMBIENTWEATHER.COM

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Ambient Weather WS-2000 Smart Weather Station with WiFi Remote Monitoring and Alerts at AmbientWeather.com. Buy weather stations, wireless weather stations, emergency radios, barometers...

 which gets such a good review. I also noticed this one 

Waldbeck Huygens Professional Weather Station - 6-in-1, 6 Measurements, Colour Display, Weather Warnings, Live Weather Data, Precise Information, LED, WiFi, App-Compatible, Black/White: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

WWW.AMAZON.CO.UK

---

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders. Buy Waldbeck Huygens Professional Weather Station - 6-in-1, 6 Measurements, Colour Display, Weather Warnings, Live Weather Data, Precise...

 which looks like the older WS-2902A version.

 

THose of you in the UK where did you buy your weather stations?

 

Thanks for any help

David 

[Mandrake]

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. 

[Richard Thompson]

Sorry to open up this old thread.  I'm thinking of buying the HP2551 / HP1000SE Pro (which I understand are the same machine). It is to replace my third Maplin Fine Offset which packed in last week.  I have been using Cumulus software and now have eleven years of records, and I'd really like to keep on using it. 

I see from the discussion above that I might be able to use Cumulus MX with my new station.  Has anything come of that, and if not, can anyone recommend a decent USB station which I could still use Cumulus?

[DavidBH]

Hi Mandrake I never said thank you for all the info. I dont seem to be getting notifications for responses.

 

Hi Richard sorry I cannot help you as I still am thinking about buying the HP2551. I tried to get the price down a bit as I can buy a MISOL version for considerable less but without the support etc. Unfortunately there was no moving on price, but I am back again to thinking of getting it from Ecowitt as Lucy was very helpful via email. May well be worth the extra just for the help alone.

[trebor]

40 minutes ago, DavidBH said:

Hi Mandrake I never said thank you for all the info. I dont seem to be getting notifications for responses.

 

Hi Richard sorry I cannot help you as I still am thinking about buying the HP2551. I tried to get the price down a bit as I can buy a MISOL version for considerable less but without the support etc. Unfortunately there was no moving on price, but I am back again to thinking of getting it from Ecowitt as Lucy was very helpful via email. May well be worth the extra just for the help alone.

if you go direct with Lucy don't forget about vat and duty, it can be a big bill

[DavidBH]

Hi Trebor, yep thats true. Its just the price differences that get me for example 

Wireless weather station connect to WiFi, upload data to web (wunderground)-in Temperature Instruments from Tools on AliExpress

WWW.ALIEXPRESS.COM

---

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

 about £150 delivered for the misol labelled one, compared with 

HP2551 TFT Large Screen Wifi Weather Station_ECOWITT

WWW.ECOWITT.COM

around £215 delivered so £65 extra is a lot more!

 

Either of them could end up with duty on them as well.

The ecowitt one does have the updated instrument 2 armed pack but I am not sure if its worth all that extra money.

[trebor]

there is also these two options but both give the same price problems. it is also Chinese new year holidays so you may get a long delay with Lucy. 

MISOL/Wireless weather station connect to WiFi, upload data to web (wunderground) [HP2550-1] - $159.99

WWW.MISOLIE.NET

---

MISOL/Wireless weather station connect to WiFi, upload data to web (wunderground) [HP2550-1] - Description:   Features: 1. Wireless Frequency: 433Mhz 2. Color display receives wind speed...

 

and

Froggit Wetterstationen Shop - HP1000SE PRO Wi-Fi Internet Funkwetterstation

WWW.FROGGIT.DE

 

[DavidBH]

yes froggit definitely expensive. I found that misolie.net site last night and was very tempted. Anyone bought from misolie.net ?

 

One question to ask is, for all UK owners, do you ever have a problem with the 433mhz frequency? Lucy had recommended 868mhz for the UK.

[Mandrake]

Hi Folks, buying from China always brings some degree of risk.

If you ask them to reduce the amount shown on the customs declaration they usually will and that reduces the Customs duty. In my case I had over $300 of kit in my first order and the customs costs were less than £20 and most of that was the FedEx handling fee of £15

Subsequent orders of $50 or less have all been delivered with no duty costs

In the question of 433Mhz my original Maplin Fine Offset station was that frequency and I did suffer from signal drop out in my location for no apparent reasons that I identified. I specifically decided on 866Mhz for the new kit and have seen no issues whatsoever.

I guess its about cost versus immediacy as well. Froggit costs more but shipping and returns will be good. I don't know of anyone ordering direct from Misol so will be interested to see how that goes if you choose that path.

Edited January 29, 2020 by Mandrake

[DavidBH]

Ah Misolie are $130 for postage ! Slightly on the high side lol. Cost, immediacy and also customer service all very important. Maybe back to ecowitt as I cannot get the extra sensors that i want for my greenhouse.

[Mandrake]

Froggit sell both the WH31 temp/Hygro sensor and the Soil Mositure sensor if that's what you are after for your greenhouse.

No doubt that Ecowitt are the cheapest option and if you specifiy you can have the postal option which is cheap but takes 2-3 weeks or air courier which will probably be upwards of $50 for a complete station but takes 2-3 days.

The other factor that you may need to take into consideration is the ongoing Coronavirus incident and how that's impacting transport and day to day life. Officially the New Year (spring Festival) has been extended. I know the team at Ecowitt are back at work but not sure what it will mean for normal shipping and processes!

[Mandrake]

On 27/01/2020 at 00:06, Richard Thompson said:

Sorry to open up this old thread.  I'm thinking of buying the HP2551 / HP1000SE Pro (which I understand are the same machine). It is to replace my third Maplin Fine Offset which packed in last week.  I have been using Cumulus software and now have eleven years of records, and I'd really like to keep on using it. 

I see from the discussion above that I might be able to use Cumulus MX with my new station.  Has anything come of that, and if not, can anyone recommend a decent USB station which I could still use Cumulus?

Sorry, never answered this post!

So the answer is a sort of yes!

If you buy the HP2551 station on its own then you can upload your data to the cloud services (like Ecowitt.net which is brilliant and other more traditional ones like Weather Underground and the MetOffice WOW site)

You could use the console to send data to WeeWx via its Interceptor driver but if you want to use CumulusMX then you need to buy an additional bit of kit called the GW1000 (which is described in the early posts) This matchbox sized device is a mini weather station on its own as it independently measures the internal temp/Hygro and pressure. It also reads the data from all and every Ecowitt sensor (Fine Offset) that you have in play for your console. CumulusMx now has a setting that allows it to read the data for all the sensors that you want direct from the Gw1000. The GW1000 is less than $50. The GW1000 also can upload data to the usual online sites like the visual console.

In Froggit terms the GW1000 is known as the DP1500

Edited January 30, 2020 by Mandrake

[Rui Silva]

Hi everyone,

just joined the group as i'm also willing to replace my old PCE-FWS 2013 station

 

Some questions came to my mind after reading the full set of posts, comparing specs and experience with the old PCE:

 

1. i've noticed that there's an Amazon Alexa skill for Weather Ambient (not sure if is also Home Assistant compatible though)

However without the proper firmware you cannot make use of it, and use WA firmware in other brands will kill the receiver

Do you now if any of these variants has (i don't trust) or will have (when?) a skill or compatibility for smart home devices?

 

2. What's you experience with outdoor sensors sunburning? The plastic casing has the same quality between Ambient Weather, Newitt, Froggit, MISOL?

Certain day the anemometer of my former PCE broke into pieces.. when i reach the station i noticed that anemometer and windfinder plastic was sunburned and both of them quite weak in a way that they broke easily

is there any way to prevent or extend a bit more the longivity of the plastic casing? Some UV pretective spay?

 

3. finally, do you have any experience with ultrasonic anemometer? Both in terms of reading and maintenance it worths the price difference for a standart anemometer?

 

Thanks

Rui

 

[Mandrake]

3 hours ago, Rui Silva said:

Hi everyone,

just joined the group as i'm also willing to replace my old PCE-FWS 2013 station

 

Some questions came to my mind after reading the full set of posts, comparing specs and experience with the old PCE:

 

1. i've noticed that there's an Amazon Alexa skill for Weather Ambient (not sure if is also Home Assistant compatible though)

However without the proper firmware you cannot make use of it, and use WA firmware in other brands will kill the receiver

Do you now if any of these variants has (i don't trust) or will have (when?) a skill or compatibility for smart home devices?

 

2. What's you experience with outdoor sensors sunburning? The plastic casing has the same quality between Ambient Weather, Newitt, Froggit, MISOL?

Certain day the anemometer of my former PCE broke into pieces.. when i reach the station i noticed that anemometer and windfinder plastic was sunburned and both of them quite weak in a way that they broke easily

is there any way to prevent or extend a bit more the longivity of the plastic casing? Some UV pretective spay?

 

3. finally, do you have any experience with ultrasonic anemometer? Both in terms of reading and maintenance it worths the price difference for a standart anemometer?

 

Thanks

Rui

 

1. As of this moment the generic Fine Offset/Ecowitt weather stations do not have a Alexa/Google skill available. Ecowitt are working on one and do plan to release it but there is no time line available. You are correct that only those devices running AW firmware can make use of this skill since it ties into AmbientWeather.net. I am aware of someone who has flashed AW firmware onto a generic brand and it did not kill the weather station. However as you are aware this is a risk and it could give problems.

When you say that you don't trust the variants, Ecowitt is the master brand that works directly with Fine Offset who mass manufacture the stations. Everyone else including AW are resellers. AW is unique in that they use a custom firmware that locks their stations to their branded sensors (even though they are all made by FineOffset).

2. It is a problem for all stations exposed to high UV environments where the plastic degrades. The newer sensors have not been around long to indicate if this will be a problem. However it is possible to simply spray sun lotion factor 50 and this will protect the plastic to some degree if repeated regularly every few months in a high UV location.

[Rui Silva]

1 hour ago, Mandrake said:

1. As of this moment the generic Fine Offset/Ecowitt weather stations do not have a Alexa/Google skill available. Ecowitt are working on one and do plan to release it but there is no time line available. You are correct that only those devices running AW firmware can make use of this skill since it ties into AmbientWeather.net. I am aware of someone who has flashed AW firmware onto a generic brand and it did not kill the weather station. However as you are aware this is a risk and it could give problems.

When you say that you don't trust the variants, Ecowitt is the master brand that works directly with Fine Offset who mass manufacture the stations. Everyone else including AW are resellers. AW is unique in that they use a custom firmware that locks their stations to their branded sensors (even though they are all made by FineOffset).

2. It is a problem for all stations exposed to high UV environments where the plastic degrades. The newer sensors have not been around long to indicate if this will be a problem. However it is possible to simply spray sun lotion factor 50 and this will protect the plastic to some degree if repeated regularly every few months in a high UV location.

 

Thanks Mandrake for your clear feedback

(I'm not a native speaker though . I meant to say that at this stage I dont' trust variations offer Alexa/Google skils - not that I don't trust variations )

 

Being aware that uploading one brand FW into a different brand might bring problems, are each resseler company working their own FW? Or it's just a matter of techincal specs (for instace the RF communication frequency)?

I'm asking this because might be risky going for a brand other the the main ones (ECOWITT / FO):

- If MISOL is not updating FW as frequently as ECOWITT, the unit might get depreciated in terms of bugs correction or software updates.

- in additon it seems that only ECOWITT / FO stations are able to upload to Ecowitt.net.

 

MISOL can also upload to Ecowitt.net?

 

ECOWITT team shold have the answeres but I don't want to contact them directly at this stage 

 

Rui

[Mandrake]

1 hour ago, Rui Silva said:

 

Thanks Mandrake for your clear feedback

(I'm not a native speaker though . I meant to say that at this stage I dont' trust variations offer Alexa/Google skils - not that I don't trust variations )

 

Being aware that uploading one brand FW into a different brand might bring problems, are each resseler company working their own FW? Or it's just a matter of techincal specs (for instace the RF communication frequency)?

I'm asking this because might be risky going for a brand other the the main ones (ECOWITT / FO):

- If MISOL is not updating FW as frequently as ECOWITT, the unit might get depreciated in terms of bugs correction or software updates.

- in additon it seems that only ECOWITT / FO stations are able to upload to Ecowitt.net.

 

MISOL can also upload to Ecowitt.net?

 

ECOWITT team shold have the answeres but I don't want to contact them directly at this stage 

 

Rui

OK, to the best of my understanding all the other variants excepting AmbientWeather use the standard FineOffset/Ecowitt firmware. So you should have no issue updating any of these to the latest firmware offered on the Ecowitt site for whatever model you purchase. 

I strongly suspect that AmbientWeather consoles almost certainly could be flashed to the stock firmware but I have not heard of anyone trying yet. As for uploading to ecowitt.net any variant except AmbientWeather  can as long as you are running the latest firmware that supports it. Ecowitt.net does not have any restrictions on the weather stations that can upload to the site and I know there are Misol stations using it

You do need to be careful of frequency and make sure that they match if you are buying bits of kit from one company and another, other than AmbientWeather they should all work together nicely.

Edited January 31, 2020 by Mandrake

[Rui Silva]

Thanks Mandrake for your tips.

For the time being I'll order a GW1000 gateway for checking if/which existing sensor are still operative. 

In terms of operating frequency, 868MHz should more immune to interferenceses (from handheld phones, alarms, smart home devices), but 433MHz is better for beating distance/penetration effect.

Am I correct? I ask because my sensors are on the roof (equivalent to a 2nd/3rd floor), and need to communicate with the console which is/will be mounted in the ground floor.

Are all Ecowitt sensors available in 433 and 868, or in other terms: which frequency is more common and safe to be adopted for comming sensor/console releases?

Thanks

Rui

[Mandrake]

You are quite correct about 466Mhz vs 868Mhz

In theory, 433Mhz has the best range, though I don't know anyone who has tested that theory with these sensors. So in your case probably choosing 433Mhz might be best.

If you buy just the GW1000 you will need to make sure its the same frequency as the existing outdoor sensor or it simply wont see the sensor array.

Ecowitt sells the sensors and consoles in all frequencies, so 433, 868 or 915mhz if that's what you need

[Andy9164]

Hi all,

I too am looking at Ecowitt as a replacement, but they do seem to be lacking in sellers in the UK, so like others will need to get this shipped.

Intially looking at either the GW1002 or GW1003 (like the ideal of the ultrasonic wind sensor as my old Maplin station has had several wind / direction replacements). Not too bothered about a display as I use CumulusMX to upload to my website.

A couple of questions:

1) with the GW1003 the outdoor temperature / humidty sensor is on the same pole as the wind instruments. I was always lead to believe that temperature sensors should be in a shady spot where they are not in direct sunlight. Does the screen around the sensor offer enough protetction as obviously the anemometer needs to be in as much open space as possible.

2) As shipping in to the UK, what rates of import duty / VAT did the shipment attract. Did customs slap 20% on.

Thanks

Andy

[Mandrake]

21 hours ago, Andy9164 said:

Hi all,

I too am looking at Ecowitt as a replacement, but they do seem to be lacking in sellers in the UK, so like others will need to get this shipped.

Intially looking at either the GW1002 or GW1003 (like the ideal of the ultrasonic wind sensor as my old Maplin station has had several wind / direction replacements). Not too bothered about a display as I use CumulusMX to upload to my website.

A couple of questions:

1) with the GW1003 the outdoor temperature / humidty sensor is on the same pole as the wind instruments. I was always lead to believe that temperature sensors should be in a shady spot where they are not in direct sunlight. Does the screen around the sensor offer enough protetction as obviously the anemometer needs to be in as much open space as possible.

2) As shipping in to the UK, what rates of import duty / VAT did the shipment attract. Did customs slap 20% on.

Thanks

Andy

Hi Andy, the radiation screen on the ultrasonic WS80 anemometer is pretty good. There are always compromises with all in one setups but at least the rain sensor would be separate and so easier to clean. To be fair I have not found any issues at all with the built in temp/hygro sensor. There is always an option of purchasing an additional separate external temp/hygro sensor and radiation screen (RS-0001) or making a aspirated radiation screen of your own as some have done. If you do that then the GW1000 and/or any console you might purchase ignores the one built into the Anemometer.

If you ask them to mark the package costs down then the customs duty is reduced. As mentioned in this thread my £300 approx. job lot was marked down and the VAT/Customs came to approx. £15 which was mostly Fed-Ex charges and not duty. You may find that because the GW1000 package is much smaller without a display console you get away with no charges. There is a degree of luck I think!

Unfortunately you cannot get the ultrasonic anemometer from Froggit yet so only option is Ecowitt. BTW I very much like the WS80 and it is so much more accurate than the normal wind cup sensor which I also have and has the additional benefit of reading a value every 16 seconds which is fun watching on windy stormy days which the UK has experienced so much of this winter!

Ecowitt say they are considering selling via Amazon UK but no timescales revealed. Perhaps they are waiting for Brexit to stabilise as that must have a factor.

Hope this helps