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Ambient Weather WS-2000/ fineoffset HP2550


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Hi Mandrake,

Many thanks for your answers. I did look at getting a GW1002 from Amazon in the US as it was $30USD cheaper but then I had reservations about the sensor transmission frequency and then complications at a later date if I wanted to add a console or additional sensors.

Unfortunately I have not recorded any wind measurements for storm Caira or storm Dennis as this is the part that failed on my Maplin weather station. I have had it in bits, freed up the bearings, recrimped all the connections, as I have to add an extension cable, but unfortuanetly despite all my efforts and many hours taking it down and back up again and trying to repair it, its finally died.

I read about the heating plate on the WS80 and if you have a lot of rain / snow and temperatures > -3C that it can adversly affect the readings. Not sure how applicable this would be for us in the UK. Maybe need to try and work something out with a Pi that switches it on automatically if temperature hits -3.C

I will speak with Ecowitt and see what can be done.

Andy

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So I have opted for the GW1003 and have been speaking with Lucy @ Ecowitt who is being extremel helpful. Just waiting for a final price including shipping. Unfortunately due to the Corona Virus delivery will take 4 - 6 weeks but I am happy to wait.

I have also being looking at this little gadget so that I can automatically turn on the heating plate when the temperature drops below 0 degrees C

s-l400.jpg
WWW.EBAY.CO.UK

Long press The UP button the temperature display Flashing, press the UP or DOWN button Set the beginning of the temperature value. Long press the...

Using the 240V version I can just wire the output to a 13 amp socket and plug the required adaptor for the heating plate in to that. Mount the sensor outdoors so when the temperature is between -50C and 0C the heater will come on.......I hope.

Will let you know how it all goes when it arrives.

Andy

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Posted
  • Location: Guildford, Surrey, UK
  • Location: Guildford, Surrey, UK
On 23/02/2020 at 11:39, Andy9164 said:

Hi Mandrake,

Many thanks for your answers. I did look at getting a GW1002 from Amazon in the US as it was $30USD cheaper but then I had reservations about the sensor transmission frequency and then complications at a later date if I wanted to add a console or additional sensors.

Unfortunately I have not recorded any wind measurements for storm Caira or storm Dennis as this is the part that failed on my Maplin weather station. I have had it in bits, freed up the bearings, recrimped all the connections, as I have to add an extension cable, but unfortuanetly despite all my efforts and many hours taking it down and back up again and trying to repair it, its finally died.

I read about the heating plate on the WS80 and if you have a lot of rain / snow and temperatures > -3C that it can adversly affect the readings. Not sure how applicable this would be for us in the UK. Maybe need to try and work something out with a Pi that switches it on automatically if temperature hits -3.C

I will speak with Ecowitt and see what can be done.

Andy

You are correct about the heating plate but I have a pre-production model without a cable connected to the plate so I cannot use that part. I have to say though that I have not seen any issues with wind measurement despite getting some morning sub zero. The key here is that when we get sub zero here in the south of the UK it tends to be dry and so not an issue. I guess if we ever get a cold winter again and snow then that might be a issue. 

For you though with a production model I would probably buy a smart plug which you could programme to come on when needed. You might even be able to use IFTTT to control the plug for when its below 0C and so job done!

I would stay away from US sourced weather stations as they use 915Mhz (same as UK mobile phones) so you could well get interference. That said I know some folks who seem to be OK, but technically it would be illegal!

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Posted
  • Location: Tamworth, Staffordshire
  • Weather Preferences: Thunderstorms and Snow. https://www.tamworthweather.co.uk
  • Location: Tamworth, Staffordshire

I don't know if anyone has seen or mentioned this, but whilst searching online i found a Watson W-8686 on https://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/product/watson-w-8686/ seems like the station thats been mentioned in this thread. Price is £189.95, i downloaded the info sheet and says the outdoor sensor will operate on 433 or 868Mhz depending on location.

Been looking at replacing my ws1001 (maplin clone) so may order this in the next few weeks.

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Posted
  • Location: Guildford, Surrey, UK
  • Location: Guildford, Surrey, UK

Good find.

This Watson product is effectively the HP2550 as made by FineOffset 

You will be able to use the extra sensors as sold by Ecowitt with this (since its the same model)

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Just on the temperature control gadget I mentioned above.

This arrived today and I have been doing some very technical experimentation with a bag of frozen peas.

By setting the "On" to -1C and the "Off" to 0C at room temperature unit does not supply power to the output. Wrap in the bag of frozen peas, watch temperature drop and as soon as temperature hits -1C unit switches on providing output power. Unwrap from peas and when temperature exceeds 0C the unit turns off. Just what is needed.

I dont know if our weather in the UK is severe enough to warrant the use of the heating plate on the WS80 but who knows we may get another "Beast from the East" where the lowest temperature here was -7C and with the windchill the apparent temperature dropped to -16C . It will save me having to run out to the shed to switch it on.

Andy

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Posted
  • Location: Dorset
  • Weather Preferences: warehamwx.co.uk
  • Location: Dorset
8 minutes ago, Andy9164 said:

Just on the temperature control gadget I mentioned above.

This arrived today and I have been doing some very technical experimentation with a bag of frozen peas.

By setting the "On" to -1C and the "Off" to 0C at room temperature unit does not supply power to the output. Wrap in the bag of frozen peas, watch temperature drop and as soon as temperature hits -1C unit switches on providing output power. Unwrap from peas and when temperature exceeds 0C the unit turns off. Just what is needed.

I dont know if our weather in the UK is severe enough to warrant the use of the heating plate on the WS80 but who knows we may get another "Beast from the East" where the lowest temperature here was -7C and with the windchill the apparent temperature dropped to -16C . It will save me having to run out to the shed to switch it on.

Andy

You'll have to hope it never fails, otherwise your WS80 will burn out. This is the main reason I won't purchase one. They should've had some kind of feature built in to avoid this situation. I don't understand why they couldn't of added a thermostat considering the WS80 has a built in temp gauge. 

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Thats a good point and also I agree, if you are going to add this sort of hardware to keep the sensor running in cold weather and stop it freezing up then there should be a built in mechanism for it to happen automatically and be controlled internally. I dont know how warm the heating plate gets, hopefully its just a gentle warming but next project then would be to work out some kind of alarm system that triggers when the plate is on and the temperature is above 0C.

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Posted
  • Location: Orkney
  • Weather Preferences: clear sky or snow
  • Location: Orkney
On 06/03/2020 at 08:49, Andy9164 said:

Thats a good point and also I agree, if you are going to add this sort of hardware to keep the sensor running in cold weather and stop it freezing up then there should be a built in mechanism for it to happen automatically and be controlled internally. I dont know how warm the heating plate gets, hopefully its just a gentle warming but next project then would be to work out some kind of alarm system that triggers when the plate is on and the temperature is above 0C.

you could just add an led or a small buzzer to the output wire so it's easy to tell when it's on or even off when it should be on.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Posted
  • Location: Immingham, NE Lincolnshire pretty much sea level
  • Location: Immingham, NE Lincolnshire pretty much sea level
On 27/02/2020 at 09:58, Morning Rain said:

I don't know if anyone has seen or mentioned this, but whilst searching online i found a Watson W-8686 on https://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/product/watson-w-8686/ seems like the station thats been mentioned in this thread. Price is £189.95, i downloaded the info sheet and says the outdoor sensor will operate on 433 or 868Mhz depending on location.

Been looking at replacing my ws1001 (maplin clone) so may order this in the next few weeks.

Is the idea here to buy this for the control unit and buy the Ecowitt sensors to go with it? Are the sensors with this not as good? Thanks

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Posted
  • Location: Tamworth, Staffordshire
  • Weather Preferences: Thunderstorms and Snow. https://www.tamworthweather.co.uk
  • Location: Tamworth, Staffordshire
12 hours ago, Matt Jones said:

Is the idea here to buy this for the control unit and buy the Ecowitt sensors to go with it? Are the sensors with this not as good? Thanks

I think the outdoor array sensors on the watson are the same as the Ecowitt version. Only difference is the shape of the outdoor unit. You will be able to use Ecowitt sensors with the console of the watson if you wish to.

That's my understanding anyhow, perhaps Mandrake can confim.

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Posted
  • Location: Immingham, NE Lincolnshire pretty much sea level
  • Location: Immingham, NE Lincolnshire pretty much sea level
2 hours ago, Morning Rain said:

I think the outdoor array sensors on the watson are the same as the Ecowitt version. Only difference is the shape of the outdoor unit. You will be able to use Ecowitt sensors with the console of the watson if you wish to.

That's my understanding anyhow, perhaps Mandrake can confim.

Thanks, so this is looking like a pretty good option without having to buy from Australia, have been looking for a station since my WMR200 has all but broken a year or so ago. Thanks for highlighting.

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Posted
  • Location: Guildford, Surrey, UK
  • Location: Guildford, Surrey, UK

Hi Folks, yes the Watson station is a normal HP2550 (just like I have from Ecowitt)

The other more local option for UK folks is to buy from Froggit in Germany. Their equivalent of the HP2550/1 is the HP1000SE.

Froggit defaults their weather station kit to 866Mhz and they are offering most of the Ecowitt/Fine Offset sensors branded as their own.

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Posted
  • Location: Immingham, NE Lincolnshire pretty much sea level
  • Location: Immingham, NE Lincolnshire pretty much sea level
On 31/03/2020 at 11:29, Mandrake said:

Hi Folks, yes the Watson station is a normal HP2550 (just like I have from Ecowitt)

The other more local option for UK folks is to buy from Froggit in Germany. Their equivalent of the HP2550/1 is the HP1000SE.

Froggit defaults their weather station kit to 866Mhz and they are offering most of the Ecowitt/Fine Offset sensors branded as their own.

Thanks for the information, can I just ask what the difference is between HP2550, HP2550/1 & HP1000SE or are they all broadly the same.

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Posted
  • Location: Guildford, Surrey, UK
  • Location: Guildford, Surrey, UK

OK, so just to clarify and mop up any confusion.....

The HP2550 is the same console as the HP2551 etc the difference is simply as follows:
HP2550  = TriWing sensor array
HP2551 = Biwing sensor array
HP2552 = Separate anemometer and rain gauge sensor
HP2553 = Separate Ultrasonic anemometer and rain gauge sensor

The A at the end of mine simply denotes its a 866Mhz system

So the consoles are all the same the difference is only the external sensor arrays.

The Froggit HP1000SE Pro is effectively a HP2550 going by the fact that it ships with the Tri-Wing sensor array.

In case you wondered there is no difference technically between the Tri-Wing and the Bi-Wing as its just a packaging option.

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Posted
  • Location: Immingham, NE Lincolnshire pretty much sea level
  • Location: Immingham, NE Lincolnshire pretty much sea level

Thanks for all the information, have gone for it and ordered the Watson 8686 from Nevada Radio.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Posted
  • Location: Immingham, NE Lincolnshire pretty much sea level
  • Location: Immingham, NE Lincolnshire pretty much sea level

Received my weather station, set up and has been working fine until this morning it randomly recorded a temp of -0.6c for an hour the actual temp was around 7c. Does anybody know if you can edit data to correct?

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Posted
  • Location: Lavant, Chichester, W. Sussex
  • Location: Lavant, Chichester, W. Sussex

I've just set up a Watson W-8686 (HP2550?) a few days ago and have been trying to locate suitable firmware to update it to no avail; but see that the Ecowitt version HP2551 has a later version available - 1.60 v 1.57.

I believe reading here that they are basically just different styles of the same unit; but has anyone tried the Ecowitt firmware on the Watson or will it just work with no problems???

VMT for any assistance.

 

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Posted
  • Location: Orkney
  • Weather Preferences: clear sky or snow
  • Location: Orkney
22 hours ago, Matt Jones said:

Received my weather station, set up and has been working fine until this morning it randomly recorded a temp of -0.6c for an hour the actual temp was around 7c. Does anybody know if you can edit data to correct?

if you download the manual from ecowitts website that suggests it can be done, but maybe not individual records, but i've never tried it.

"While in History Record Mode, press key to popup the Message Box: “Clear the history record?” Press “Yes” to clear all history records saved on"

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Finally bought the HP3500 what a great piece of kit and thank you to Ecowitt. Only drawback as it went via Fedex I got hit with the inport Duty of £53.

Anyway there does not appear to be a for sale section on this forum but if you know anyone who wants a La Crosse WS2355 with cables and the WS 2300-25 temperature/ hygrometer unit for the price of postage of around £5 they can have it. The rain guage is dead and the anemometer came to a nasty end after falling 2 stories from the aerial after I dropped it off a scaffolding.

Does anyone know if the WH57 lightning detector can attach to the HP3500?

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Posted
  • Location: Orkney
  • Weather Preferences: clear sky or snow
  • Location: Orkney
12 hours ago, DavidBH said:

Finally bought the HP3500 what a great piece of kit and thank you to Ecowitt. Only drawback as it went via Fedex I got hit with the inport Duty of £53.

Anyway there does not appear to be a for sale section on this forum but if you know anyone who wants a La Crosse WS2355 with cables and the WS 2300-25 temperature/ hygrometer unit for the price of postage of around £5 they can have it. The rain guage is dead and the anemometer came to a nasty end after falling 2 stories from the aerial after I dropped it off a scaffolding.

Does anyone know if the WH57 lightning detector can attach to the HP3500?

Ecowitts website says it can

"When paired with a WeatherStation Console (HP2551/HP3500/HP3501):

·View lightning data in real-time on the Display

·Get alerted to lightning strikes with the flashing lightning icon"

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  • 2 months later...
Posted
  • Location: Guildford, Surrey, UK
  • Location: Guildford, Surrey, UK
On 29/04/2020 at 11:38, navzptc said:

I've just set up a Watson W-8686 (HP2550?) a few days ago and have been trying to locate suitable firmware to update it to no avail; but see that the Ecowitt version HP2551 has a later version available - 1.60 v 1.57.

I believe reading here that they are basically just different styles of the same unit; but has anyone tried the Ecowitt firmware on the Watson or will it just work with no problems???

VMT for any assistance.

 

Apologies, not been keeping an eye on this forum for a while

Firmware for the HP2550/1 can be found here and yes this will work for other clones (though Ambient stations might be problematic)

http://www.ecowitt.com/upfile/202003/user.bin

Thats V1.60

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Posted
  • Location: Guildford, Surrey, UK
  • Location: Guildford, Surrey, UK
On 01/05/2020 at 09:21, trebor said:

Ecowitts website says it can

"When paired with a WeatherStation Console (HP2551/HP3500/HP3501):

·View lightning data in real-time on the Display

·Get alerted to lightning strikes with the flashing lightning icon"

The manual does suggest that as long as you have the latest firmware it will support the Lightning sensor

http://www.ecowitt.com/upfile/202005/HP3500 Manual.pdf

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  • 1 year later...
Posted
  • Location: Fleet, Hampshire
  • Location: Fleet, Hampshire

Just looking at purchasing one of these (HP2552) and have a few questions if anyone knows the answer:

 

1. Do any of these record sunshine hours? 

2. With the WH57 lightning detector - is it the case that it only alarms at a DP of 70 +. If so, does that happen very often here in the uk? Is it worth getting one?

3. I see that you can upload data to WU, WOW etc. Does this cost and does it keep historic or is something else reqd?

4. If I were to get an additional Temp sensor could that be sited in a Stephenson screen and still read from the console and if so can that be reported to above websites? The reason I ask is that I always seem to notice the temp react to the sun even with the shields. Is this a noticeable issue with these models?

 

Thanks for any help, very much appreciated

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