I have bought two Davis VP2 units on Craigslist, sight unseen, and both are still running after 5 and 8 years, with the odd replacement of solar ISS panels and regular battery changes. Both run in humid, windy, coastal salt water environments. Davis service is impeccable, and they have a setup where they will send you a re-habbed unit to help get you back up and then you return your unit needing repair.
Davis console: I use Meteobridge NANO SD cards in both (which are indeed pricey) but they have many advantages: no need to have the console near your computer as they operate on wi-fi; a very versatile built-in system of generating charts and reports; built-in support for nearly any weather network you can imagine. Downsides: Cost. If there are power flutters they can lose the internet/wi-fi connection. This latter has two solutions, both are needed: a DHCP address reservation for the MAC address of the MB, AND, set your wi-fi to use a fixed channel; the wi-fi implementation is known to be slightly less stable otherwise. Disclaimer: If you are not absent from your station location as I am, much of the rest won’t apply. Both units operate alone six months of the year in. Maine and Florida. The MB NANO can be reached remotely via the internet, as can your router and local weewx computer if you’re OK with implementing that. Because mine operate remotely, the most solid setup I have is VP2—>NANO SD—>Saratoga Templates on the server. Adding WeeWx on a server in the VP2 locations is great as it gets you such good skins and features of which I am very fond. But I have had to settle on simple versions of NUC for stability, rather than RPi. Needless to say, UPS on the cable modem and router, any network switches, and the Davis Console (and fresh batteries in the latter). > On 27 Nov, 2020, at 09:41, Greg Troxel <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Roger Lewis <[email protected]> writes: > >> I'm a very new user. So new, I haven't even downloaded WeeWx yet (planning >> to though, and use the simulator at first). However, my son and I are >> trying to put together a personal weather station, with the intent of >> eventually creating an amateur radio Automatic Packet Reporting System >> (APRS) that broadcasts our weather data. Both my son and I are licensed >> amateurs, my son is interested in meteorology, and he has already been >> through some SkyWarn training. I'm pretty comfortable in Linux, and done >> embedded and desktop programming in the past. But first, we need to specify >> the hardware. >> >> We are looking at a Davis Vantage Vue 6110, which is only the Vantage Vue >> integrated sensor suite (ISS), and no wireless console. Along with the >> 6110, we are looking at the WeatherLink Live 6100. > > As Vince alluded to, there are several big issues you should consider: > > From a privacy point of view, are you ok with a setup that requires > your devices to talk to the cloud? (Even if you choose to publish > some data.) > > From a functionality point of view, are you ok with a setup that will > not work without the cloud? Some devices (not necessarily weather) > have stopped working when the manufacturer shuts down their cloud. > > You will at times lose utility power or Internet, and you will almost > certainly have trouble that takes more than 5 minutes to fix with your > weewx computer. Many people want their equipment to continue > recording data to have later, even if it can't be reported in real > time. The Davis Serial and USB loggers do this; I have experienced > several power outages with no loss of historical data*. And a > several-day weewx computer outage due to memory card issues, also with > no loss of data. With Weatherlink Live, my impresssion is there is no > data logger and no backfill of the database when the weewx host comes > up. > > * But make sure your computer has a battery-backed TOD clock; I did > have trouble with that once. > > Being a ham, I'd expect that you want to be able to continue > functioning during Internet certainly and also power outages, perhaps > via UPS/batteries and generator, solar, etc. With the USB logger, you > can do this. With Weatherlink Live, I'm not so sure. Beware that > many people don't care about this and the "no internet, no > functionality" defect of much equipment is not disclosed like it > should be. > >> The other alternative would be to get the Vantage Vue 6250 (ISS and >> console), then add a WeatherLink 6510 USB. This seems to be a more stable >> config, but $80 more than the 6110 and 6510 USB. And we really don't need >> the console. > > In my view the ability to operate without the cloud, have stored data > during outages, and enable you to have a "if I supply power to weewx > computer, TNX and 2m transmitter my data will still be sent over APRS" > is worth the $80. > >> Any thoughts? Any suggestions? Are we on the right track? > > You are on the right track. Also consider the Vantage Pro 2 instead of > the Vue. $200 more, but it seems from anecdotes to be more reliable. I > got a Vantage Pro around 2000, had to replace the rain tipping bucket > sensor at some point, and later after the ISS stopped working, I got a > Vantage Pro2 in perhaps 2012. The Pro2 has had no issues since then - > just had to replace the ISS battery once, maybe twice. So I am getting > 10 years out of them, at least (Massachusetts), and I think my > experience is typical. There are a lot of cheap stations that fail far > faster; some have a reputation for lasting about a year. So when you > consider price, read about typical reliablity and convert prices into > $/year. > > (You can also get the 2+ with UV and Solar Radiation, or an > fan-aspirated temp sensor, and a heated rain gauge, even more > expensive.) > > You said you don't need the console. But with 3 D cells, it will keep > working and tell you the outside temp/dewpoint etc. while there is no > power. And it's easy to look at - but keep in mind that you need to put > it close to the weewx computer, and you'll want backup power for the > computer/TNC/radio. > > Greg > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "weewx-user" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/weewx-user/rmiim9qeuan.fsf%40s1.lexort.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "weewx-user" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/weewx-user/E1E56023-505B-4522-AB45-5CB21263F9CB%40gmail.com.
