Advice Required: Best Value Weather Station

[SussexSnow]

Hello

I've owned a number of weather stations over the years, and the one I currently have, an Acctim WeatherMaster only operates as a temperature sensor now, as all the other kit (anemometer,  hygrometer etc) all packed up.   I can seem to find anywhere that provide replacement parts for that model anymore, so I'm on the marker for a new system.

Looking on-line there is a multitude of options these days, many, I'm sure, will be cheap imitations of the better make's models. 

Which would you recommend for someone who takes a keen interest in weather and likes to know the latest data?

I want a system with at least 2 external wireless sensors.

Thanks,

Sussex Snow

[SussexSnow]

When I created this thread, I hadn't found this sub-forum.  Now it's been moved here, I see there are many threads on specific weather station models.  I'll have a look through the existing threads to see if they help.

 

[SussexSnow]

Having looked here and online,  the 'gold standard' is still the Davis range,  and these go up to £1000s for Pro setups.

However, there are a number of new players at lower prices.  

Youshiko seem to offer a similar 'range' but at much lower prices - are these any good?

Sainlogic and Bresser also have similar offerings...   

Anyone able to share their experiences of these kits?  Are they good value?

Thanks

 

[reef]

As always, it depends on what you want to spend. If you can stretch to a Vantage vue then it's a solid mid-range option.

The lower priced stations all work but as you've found they dont tend to last long and then theres the issue of accuracy. I run a cheap Oregon station alongside my Davis VP2 as a backup and inside a good shelter its relatively accurate for temperature (with an offset) but for everything else it's pretty poor.

[SussexSnow]

22 minutes ago, reef said:

As always, it depends on what you want to spend. If you can stretch to a Vantage vue then it's a solid mid-range option.

The lower priced stations all work but as you've found they dont tend to last long and then theres the issue of accuracy. I run a cheap Oregon station alongside my Davis VP2 as a backup and inside a good shelter its relatively accurate for temperature (with an offset) but for everything else it's pretty poor.

Thanks for the reply.   

Is this the full kit, or is there a more comprehensive version out there?

Davis Vantage Vue Weather Station 6250UK - Free 2 Year Warranty | Weather Shop ® UK

WWW.WEATHERSHOP.CO.UK

---

Genuine UK model. Save with bundle discounts on software/mounting pole options. Free UK delivery. Weather Shop - the UK's largest Davis retailer.

 

[reef]

2 hours ago, SussexSnow said:

Thanks for the reply.   

Is this the full kit, or is there a more comprehensive version out there?

Davis Vantage Vue Weather Station 6250UK - Free 2 Year Warranty | Weather Shop ® UK

WWW.WEATHERSHOP.CO.UK

---

Genuine UK model. Save with bundle discounts on software/mounting pole options. Free UK delivery. Weather Shop - the UK's largest Davis retailer.

 

Yes, but you'll need the weatherlink datalogger with it if you want to access the data on your computer.

[Mapantz]

Or, the Belfryboy USB clone. It'll do the same thing for a fraction of the price.

Attack of the (Weatherlink) Clones: The Belfryboy Clone USB logger

BELFRYBOYWEATHERBITS.BLOGSPOT.COM

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A blog about the belfryboy green dot logger clone for Davis weather sations

I can verify this, too.

[reef]

15 hours ago, Mapantz said:

Or, the Belfryboy USB clone. It'll do the same thing for a fraction of the price.

Attack of the (Weatherlink) Clones: The Belfryboy Clone USB logger

BELFRYBOYWEATHERBITS.BLOGSPOT.COM

---

A blog about the belfryboy green dot logger clone for Davis weather sations

I can verify this, too.

Yep, had a few things from him in the past and they're top notch.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I had an Oregon Scientific WMR928NX weather station with a SkyView data logger from 2005 to 2016.  Back in 2005, Davis Instruments were only selling the somewhat more expensive Vantage Pro, but by 2016 they were selling the comparably priced Davis Vantage Vue plus Weatherlink, so when my WMR928NX packed in I went for that.  So far I have found the Davis station to be superior in many areas, especially the rain gauge (which measures to the nearest 0.2mm rather than 1mm, and is far less prone to undercatching), the relative humidity sensor (it's known to slightly overdo the relative humidity, but the WMR928NX vastly under-read) and the relatively few and far between outages.  A fairly recent paper in Weather also suggested that its temperature readings are generally accurate to within a couple of tenths of a degree.

So I can definitely recommend the Davis Vantage Vue if you can spare something in the area of £400-450 (I think I found mine slightly reduced at £419.99 back in 2016, which was £300 for the weather station and £120 for the WeatherLink).

Edited May 22, 2020 by Thundery wintry showers

[SussexSnow]

29 minutes ago, Thundery wintry showers said:

I had an Oregon Scientific WMR928NX weather station with a SkyView data logger from 2005 to 2016.  Back in 2005, Davis Instruments were only selling the somewhat more expensive Vantage Pro, but by 2016 they were selling the comparably priced Davis Vantage Vue plus Weatherlink, so when my WMR928NX packed in I went for that.  So far I have found the Davis station to be superior in many areas, especially the rain gauge (which measures to the nearest 0.2mm rather than 1mm, and is far less prone to undercatching), the relative humidity sensor (it's known to slightly overdo the relative humidity, but the WMR928NX vastly under-read) and the relatively few and far between outages.  A fairly recent paper in Weather also suggested that its temperature readings are generally accurate to within a couple of tenths of a degree.

So I can definitely recommend the Davis Vantage Vue if you can spare something in the area of £400-450 (I think I found mine slightly reduced at £419.99 back in 2016, which was £300 for the weather station and £120 for the WeatherLink).

Thanks,  good advice.  Looks like I'll be saving up for one of these then

Edited May 22, 2020 by SussexSnow

[Mandrake]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the Fine Offset stations here.

They used to be fairly low end Maplin type kit, but have been steadily working there way up stream towards Davis these last few years.
Have a look at Ecowitt (Fine Offset commercial arm)

If you take a look at WXForum you will see its a very busy forum now with increasing numbers of good sensors available. They even have a SHT35 type temperature sensor available for their stations which Davis do not yet do.

About a year ago I posted a series of pictures and reviews on this forum around the HP2550. I would highly recommend that route and it will allow you to start cheap and build/add sensors as you want or can afford.

[kUrGaN]

I'm no expert / pro but very happy with my Youshiko YC9385, bought 18 months ago. Have it on my garden fence and gives me some great information. It's probably a bit on the cheap side for the real pro's.

Edited July 5, 2020 by kUrGaN

[denodan]

I used to have a Davis Vue, and Davis, while many say are good standard are stuck in the past, displays like they are from the 80's still expensive data loggers and link, while many have gone wifi so no data links, etc like Davis and coloyr displays, etc.

 

I find my Tempest better than my Davis ever was, apart from poor rain totals, everything is far better, no moving parts, no rain bucket to clean out or wind bearings to replace, etc.

As for the best Value, all over the internet, they are claiming the Ambient WS2000 is pretty much one of the best value for money stations.

 

Sorry not a fan of Davis, not progressed in their techology, and charging a fortune for old techology and yes they do break down also.

 

I have my Tempest and it's great, also have a cheaper ecowatt clone and as its not an ambient cannot get parts, and would assume frequency difference  could cause problems as its not registering outside temps, yet strong full signal Bara for station and find and rain working as well as indoor temps, so ordered a WS 2000 to replace it from the USA and I know I can get parts and frequency would not be an issue.

 

Sorry love those colour displays, unlike the old 80 style of the Davis.

I hear lots saying a console does not matter, but those systems without one all want one or wished they did. And many Tempest owners are making displays for their Tempest, however I just use my iPad mini for the task, so easier to just get a cheap tablet than having to buy a console display.

 

Trouble is hooking up to pc needs to be on 24/7 and the console on Davis are poor. 

 

The WS2000 has a great colour display, easy to read data and graphs, no pc needed to keep track of your weather and saves to underground weather, etc so don't need your pc on 24/7 which will cause extra wear and tear and shorten its life, and fans.

 

Having pc on 24/7 think of all the dust the fans are sucking in.

[Mapantz]

WeatherFlow stations.. heh  Been there, done that, discarded them. Rain readings were always wrong. The ultrasonic anemometer is plagued with issues, as are all ultrasonic anemometers. I had 3 from WeatherFlow, rain + wind screwed up wind readings every single time.

The same thing is happening with Ecowitt's ultrasonic anemometer.

I have an Ecowitt console with various modules, which I use alongside my Davis VP2. It's good for the money, but doesn't compare to the Davis when it comes to accuracy or speed of data updates.

As for the console, it may look dated, but it still shows/holds far more information than any other console on the market, by a long way. In any case, you don't need to have a console if you get a weatherlink live.

Regarding PC's being on 24/7, that's not an issue at all. There are loads of option to workaround that. My Davis is hooked up to a mini-PC and it only consumes 15 watts of power. No fans, has an SSD, so no moving parts. It hasn't missed a beat!

The other option is an rPi. You can run Cumulus MX on that 24/7, and I think it consumes maybe 6 or 7 watts?

You can also get datalogger clones for cheap, or even a meteobridge nano / pro red. There's dozens of new ways to capture Davis data and send it to every weather network available, or your own website.

I've had Cumulus MX on my mini-pc since 2016. All data get's uploaded and stored to MySQL automatically and I have designed my website to showcase all of that data, to quite an advanced level. Most of which is updated every 5 seconds, giving an almost live view of what is going on outside.

You won't get that with the majority of other stations.

Uploading data to 3rd party websites is fraught with danger, as it can, and will go missing. Weather Underground is a prime example! I have full control over my data, both on my mini-pc, and in my SQL databases.

Whilst you do have a few valid points, my Davis set up trumps everything else.

Edited June 29, 2021 by Mapantz

[denodan]

Never an issue with my Tempest wind sensing at all. Only weak part is poor rain recording, but evrn then a bucket can be wrong also, especially if it's extreme rain or very heavy. How long ago did you have your Tempest? Or was it the older qeather flow?

 

Have seen reports that they are every bit as good a any Davis, bar rain, if not more accurate when it comes to wind, due to no cup resistance, so more sensitive to wind movement and think it can record. 2mph, and wind cups take much more.

 

Yeah seen a report on Wxforum were one guy has both and in depth analysis, etc the Tempist was every bit as good a Davis.

 

[pad199207]

I fully agree with Mapantz. For accuracy and durability Davis is your only man. 
 

Yes the console isn’t as sleek and colourful and snazzy as more newer options, but most of the times features like that are all gimmicks

[Mapantz]

9 minutes ago, denodan said:

Have seen reports that they are every bit as good a any Davis, bar rain, if not more accurate when it comes to wind, due to no cup resistance, so more sensitive to wind movement and think it can record. 2mph, and wind cups take much more.

Wind resistance isn't a problem in my book. 

Cups will always trump ultrasonic anemometers, despite having moving parts. Ultrasonic sensors go pear shaped if water builds up on the underside, same with ice. That issue plagues every single ultrasonic anemometer out there, including Davis' rebranded versions.

I have never had an issue with torrential rainfall using both the see-saw tipper and the new spoon tipper. I recorded a rainfall rate of over 400mm/hr last year, it was the heaviest rainfall I have ever seen! Being that the aerocone covers the tipper, wind doesn't affect readings. 

The tempest sensors miss so much rainfall in windy conditions, and also report rain when none is falling. Let's face it, rainfall is an integral part of recording weather data. If a weather station has a way of measuring rainfall, but does it inaccurately, and consistently, then it's a bit of a failure.

Edited June 29, 2021 by Mapantz

[denodan]

Sorry Davis is ro stuck in the 1990's for me, no innovation. It's maybe the gold standard, but boy is it last techology. Things move on, and your paying for the Davis name. 

 

You could say the old fashion cars in the 50's and beyond are the gold standard, built stronger, etc, but everyone but the real apart from the enthusiastic people with own them. I think Davis is the same, only real fanboys of weather want them, everyone else goes with something much more modern. Much the same way most would go with a modern car rather than 70 year old tech.

[denodan]

Still for the average person who is  not a real weather geek, The WS 2000 is great for the average person who just want to know the weather, all these weather stations are pretty much on par these days.

 

Sure Davis updates faster, so has this advantage, but for the average person why pay big bucks for Davis?

 

For value for money and for your money the WS2000 is great value and is one of the few to allow addons, even a lighting detector and soil sensor or extra temp sensors to get temps in different areas, and the ws2000 like Davis is one of the few allowing addons

[denodan]

I have hadca Davis vue and my Tempest side by side fir awhile and stood equally as well as the Vue, bar rain. I decided to ditch the Vue, just to old tech for my liking in the 21st century.

[Penrith Snow]

On 29/06/2021 at 23:11, denodan said:

I used to have a Davis Vue, and Davis, while many say are good standard are stuck in the past, displays like they are from the 80's still expensive data loggers and link, while many have gone wifi so no data links, etc like Davis and coloyr displays, etc.

 

I find my Tempest better than my Davis ever was, apart from poor rain totals, everything is far better, no moving parts, no rain bucket to clean out or wind bearings to replace, etc.

As for the best Value, all over the internet, they are claiming the Ambient WS2000 is pretty much one of the best value for money stations.

 

Sorry not a fan of Davis, not progressed in their techology, and charging a fortune for old techology and yes they do break down also.

 

I have my Tempest and it's great, also have a cheaper ecowatt clone and as its not an ambient cannot get parts, and would assume frequency difference  could cause problems as its not registering outside temps, yet strong full signal Bara for station and find and rain working as well as indoor temps, so ordered a WS 2000 to replace it from the USA and I know I can get parts and frequency would not be an issue.

 

Sorry love those colour displays, unlike the old 80 style of the Davis.

I hear lots saying a console does not matter, but those systems without one all want one or wished they did. And many Tempest owners are making displays for their Tempest, however I just use my iPad mini for the task, so easier to just get a cheap tablet than having to buy a console display.

 

Trouble is hooking up to pc needs to be on 24/7 and the console on Davis are poor. 

 

The WS2000 has a great colour display, easy to read data and graphs, no pc needed to keep track of your weather and saves to underground weather, etc so don't need your pc on 24/7 which will cause extra wear and tear and shorten its life, and fans.

 

Having pc on 24/7 think of all the dust the fans are sucking in.

I agree with this no way would I pay over £1000 for a Davis 'Duran Duran' era weather station, the displays are awful and when these expensive weather stations go wrong which they do then its another fortune to fix it.

Yes Davis are accurate but really unless you have a large field to place it in such accuracy is lost in a typical suburban garden anyway, exposure is just as important as instrument accuracy so a mid range £200 weather station will do fine.

Andy

[Tim]

I'll just add Aliexpress do a WS2000 clone at a significantly cheaper price (this price also inculdes the VAT), you can also buy the extra sensors. Wireless weather station connect to WiFi, upload data to web (wunderground)|Temperature Instruments| - AliExpress

I've just bought one of those, the seller also sold me an extra display unit for £85. 

I believe the WS2000 isn't actually legal to operate in the UK at 915 MHz whilst the AliExpress version is 433 MHz which is legal here.

Tim

Edited November 12, 2021 by Tim