Opinions based on my Davis VP2 and Tempest, installed in Alaska. :-) The Tempest measurements are very close to the VP2 ones. Yes, they do weather prediction and can do some corrections, but my weewx instance isn't reading those - it's reading the raw observations over the LAN. I *believe* I disabled the cloud-based guesstimates in my account, but I could be wrong. Has everything except an indoor console for indoor readings, and my setup (Tempest and external power option) was under $400. Like all "sniff the LAN for data" setups, there's no local backfill for missed data.
You're kind of closer to describing a Vantage Pro 2 Plus and the solar anemometer transmitter. The VP2 has consolidated outdoor sensors for temp/humidity/rain/UV/solar/pressure and a cabled anemometer, plus a console with indoor temp/humidity. (The rain gauge is NOT removable.) I also use a Wireless Envoy and Weatherlink to directly read data, rather than the newer Weatherlink Live. For me, the $1400-ish price for those parts doesn't fit into "affordable", but mine has been online continuously since 2007. The Envoy/Weatherlink combination can store quite a bit of data - several days worth I believe - so if your weewx is offline it will read and backfill when it restarts. Davis also offers extra sensors, including a separate rain gauge I believe - that's more cost, but you *could* ignore the attached rain gauge and connect a separate one. The VP2/Envoy depends on weewx for data uploads elsewhere, so as long as it's on it works. The Tempest uploads to it's own gateway device, and I sniff the traffic and update a second weewx instance. Not *quite* as robust but so far no lost data. Both offer options for external power connections on the sensors. Davis uses a CR-123 battery and solar - without AC I get one solid year between battery changes, and the battery is in the main sensor unit so easily accessible. (Anemometer is powered from the main unit.) Tempest uses solar and a built-in battery - I get to about mid-January and the solar panels can't keep the unit charged enough to run more than a couple hours per day. The add-on external power option (essentially adds PoE) works great and will power the sensor for multiple days on 8 AA batteries if needed, and with AC power indefinitely of course. On Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 10:30:09 AM UTC-9 vince wrote: > There is a very long 'what station should I buy' forum on wxforum.net if > you want to poke around there. > > But to answer, perhaps start with a few easy questions in order of > importance. > > Budget: > > - what is your max budget ? > > Site considerations: > > - is a one-device setup (ex: Vantage Vue) ok with you ? > - or do you want an anemometer at 10m and T+H sensors at 2m for > optimum readings (ex: VP2) > > Display: > > - do you need an integrated console ? Color/modern layout ? > - or are you willing to do it yourself (ex: display to a Kindle Fire > etc.) > > Ability to run standalone: > > - is it ok if the gateway requires Internet connectivity (ex: Ecowitt > gateway's watchdog timers) ? > > UV/Solar/Radiation/AQI sensors > > - how important is it ? Those can get pretty pricey > > Inside T+H > > - again - nice to have, or need to have ? > > If you can live with the gateway needing Internet connectivity, you can > get a pretty nice Ecowitt setup with color console for under $350 or so. > Less if you build your own dashboard setup and display to a Kindle or iPad > if you have those around. > > If you need true LAN-only, I'd go Vantage Vue and live with the cost for > the logger and the Vue not being expandable. > > > -- 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/fa48b482-4b30-4839-bf91-861ed870fd3bn%40googlegroups.com.
