Weather station suggestions

Cameraguy

Known around here
Joined
Feb 15, 2017
Messages
1,486
Reaction score
1,132
My one boy is really into weather and I was looking to get him a weather station. Anyone have any recommendations?
I saw this one on Amazon.

It would be cool if it could connect to blue iris tools.

Anyone have any experience playing with these?
Thanks
 
As an Amazon Associate IPCamTalk earns from qualifying purchases.

TVille

Getting comfortable
Joined
Apr 26, 2014
Messages
672
Reaction score
1,639
Location
Virginia
I have the Ecowitt station Ecowitt Weather Station on Amazon which works very well. It has a small (1"x3") receiver that connects to the other components and connects to the internet via wifi. Ecowitt has their own, free, data storage, as well as the ability to push it to WeatherUnderground, Weather Cloud and a bunch of other places. The small receiver works very well, going through several walls to get to my anemometer and rain gauge, which are mounted on a roof of a nearby garage.

You can see the results on either a dedicated, specialized tablet, or just use any tablet or computer. I have an old Android tablet in the kitchen showing ours. You can buy separately outdoor temperature sensors, moisture meters for soil moisture, lightening detectors, water leak detector, and a bunch of other stuff. Works fine with BI Tools through WU, I think.

You can see their website: ECOWITT Welcome to Ecowitt!
 

sebastiantombs

Known around here
Joined
Dec 28, 2019
Messages
11,511
Reaction score
27,696
Location
New Jersey
I have an AcuRite (AcuWrong) and will replace it, eventually with the Ecowitt. The reason I like the Ecowitt is that the wind/solar sensor can be mounted separately from the temperature/humidity sensor. The all-in-one style force the temp/humidity sensors to be co-located in bright sunlight, unobstructed location for wind, which effects their accuracy and requires a solar powered fan to try to alleviate that problem. I've replaced that stupid, junky, fan assembly three times already and it's getting to be a yearly occurrence as the quality of AcuRite continues to go downhill. To top it all off the fan has an output equal to or lesser than a gnat with flatulence. At $40 a pop, for something worth at best $10, I can replace the whole thing and be done with the all-in-one and AcuRite at the same time.
 

sebastiantombs

Known around here
Joined
Dec 28, 2019
Messages
11,511
Reaction score
27,696
Location
New Jersey
Correct. Batteries for the sensor and either a wall wart or USB power for the indoor equipment (displays and network interface).
 

sebastiantombs

Known around here
Joined
Dec 28, 2019
Messages
11,511
Reaction score
27,696
Location
New Jersey
Right. The outdoor sensors are WiFi and some will handle indoor WiFi sensors as well if you want to monitor a freezer in the basement kind of thing.
 

TVille

Getting comfortable
Joined
Apr 26, 2014
Messages
672
Reaction score
1,639
Location
Virginia
Right. The outdoor sensors are WiFi and some will handle indoor WiFi sensors as well if you want to monitor a freezer in the basement kind of thing.
Actually, the outside (sensors) are 915 MHz on the Ecowitt, in the US. The gateway is wifi.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk
 

sebastiantombs

Known around here
Joined
Dec 28, 2019
Messages
11,511
Reaction score
27,696
Location
New Jersey
I should have been more specific with the radio frequencies used for the outdoor sensors. I did say WiFi as a general term for wireless, but they can be anywhere in the available UHF bands/channels.
 

TonyR

IPCT Contributor
Joined
Jul 15, 2014
Messages
16,784
Reaction score
39,059
Location
Alabama
Gave the wife this on this past Christmas (she LOVES following the weather), as in late fall the 8 year old Davis Instruments VantageVue gave up the ghost, likely to lightning:

Ambient Weather WS-2902C WiFi Smart Weather Station

Uploads every 2 minutes to AmbientWeather here and to Weather Underground (wunderground) here.

We are very happy with it. It was easy to set up and has been very dependable and accurate; upload hiccups to WU are NOT BI Tool's fault....WU is about as dependable as my bladder! :highfive:
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate IPCamTalk earns from qualifying purchases.
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
808
Reaction score
622
Location
Somewhere in the space/time continuum
Depending on budget, the Davis vantage pro is commonly used in research, academia, and agg industries Vantage Pro2 | Davis Instruments do not pay the list price, there are several resellers that offer it at a discount.
My Davis Vantage Pro2 has been running for almost 14 years now, with no issues. Davis is top shelf when it comes to accuracy and reliability. You get what you pay for.
 

TonyR

IPCT Contributor
Joined
Jul 15, 2014
Messages
16,784
Reaction score
39,059
Location
Alabama
My Davis Vantage Pro2 has been running for almost 14 years now, with no issues. Davis is top shelf when it comes to accuracy and reliability. You get what you pay for.
Yeah, my Davis VantageVue would likely still be going....but based on my past experiences with the extreme ESD during severe lightning storms here in the South, even the best can be damaged. :confused:
 
Top