Weather Stations

[Smilingreen]

Weather Stations. If you have a camera outside, good chance you have a weather station outside, too. What does everyone have, what kind of software are you using and what type of sensors are you reporting? Oh....and Pictures! What sites are you uploading data to?

I have a 7 year old Davis Vantage Pro II. I use CumulusMX software, though I am not running a web page with it right now. I have the normal sensors, Rain, wind, inside and outside temp, inside and outside humidity, barometric pressure and a indoor console for it.

 

[saltwater]

This is what I want to get into. We built our house, been here 12 months now, have all my CCTV set up, and I have one spot earmarked purely for a scenic view or weather view of Melbourne CBD across the wetlands. It's a double-storey house, so the camera will be under the eaves at the front. On top of that I'd like to run some sort of weather station. I've got spare ethernet cables running into the roof, so was thinking at least I should be able to hard-wire in various guages. Before I start this though I've got a letterbox project to finish.

 

[Smilingreen]

This is what I want to get into. We built our house, been here 12 months now, have all my CCTV set up, and I have one spot earmarked purely for a scenic view or weather view of Melbourne CBD across the wetlands. It's a double-storey house, so the camera will be under the eaves at the front. On top of that I'd like to run some sort of weather station. I've got spare ethernet cables running into the roof, so was thinking at least I should be able to hard-wire in various guages. Before I start this though I've got a letterbox project to finish.

Weather station are just like cameras. You get what you pay for. Weather station get subjected to 24/7 unprotected brutal exposure. Wind, UV rays, rain, snow, ice, hail, high winds and scorching heat. In 7 years, I had to replace the bearings in my anemometer once and I changed out the rechargeable batteries for the transmitter once. Mine is solar powered. I would stay away from the big box stores and Amazon for a Weather Station. Find a reputable dealer that not only sells the stations, they have all of the documentation and an inventory of spare parts, too. Weather Stations, parts and service are their bread and butter. They want you back as a repeat customer in 10 or 15 years, but not as a disgruntled customer every 2 years.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Whatever you buy, don't buy an AcuRite!

 

[Smilingreen]

Current sites I push my weather data to is:

Windy
APRS
NOAA
Meso West
WeatherCloud
PWSweather

Most internet weather sites don't care about the quality of the data you are feeding them. They just want lots of personal weather stations linked to them. There are some though, who do check your data and will red flag it if they see a small percentage of erroneous data coming from your station. That is helpful to let you know if you have a sensor that is acting up or getting ready to go out. I can personally recommend the first 4 in my list. They have standards that you must maintain to be allowed to post your data. The last 2, not so much, but I have been pushing data to them for so long, it's kind of fun to look at stations near you to see just how out of calibration they are.

 

[fergenheimer]

I've got an acurite atlas and would second @sebastiantombs. It is a cute little device and occasionally works. There is a juice glass sized web access device that looks like it is talking to the weather station 100ft away based on the LEDs. After reboot it stays online for about a day. Even though it is hard wired to my router, it appears to be dropping the IP address and needs a reboot to renew the lease. It is remote so troubleshooting is low priority. It does have a display that is mostly reliable so I point an older amcrest camera at it to get station output. For the most part, nothing is configurable. The display could have been based on android and would have been immeasurably better with little r&d from acurite. The lightning detector is an addon that seldom works. One would think that lightning is as important on a weather station as wind direction or rain forecast. I keep getting email from acurite trying to sell me another weather station that doesn't work.

 

[fergenheimer]

Mine occasionally goes to wunderground. I thought about Davis but there lineup looks like it hasn't changed in years. Also about double what paid for the acurite. @Smilingreen , your screens look great with all the data in them. I don't even know if I can pull raw data out of the acurite.

 

[Holbs]

I use the Ambient WS2000. I initially bought it to help me determine wind speed & direction for drone usage. It has evolved to help me automate outdoor lights on/off based on the UV LUX sensor. It will also help me automate some ceiling fans when it gets too cold or hot out based on outdoor or indoor temp. Even possibly raising/lowering shades based on the same UV LUX or open/close drapes. Added to all that, my Dahua cameras day/night and also some Blue Iris profiles will be based off the same UV LUX sensor. I'm sure other neat things will pop up because Blue Iris + Home Assistant + all types of sensors = really cool man toys

 

[mcapeed]

I use a Netatmo weather station. Not as expensive as Davis and not as cheap as accurite.

I ran across them when involved with a smart sprinkler controller manufacturer who was dependent on weather data for for water conservation.

The indoor unit measures co2 and may have saved my dogs lives as it was installed in the room they reside. The app showed high levels ……would not have known without it. Had to add ventilation to bring in fresh air.

It sends push notifications with rain fall. Is nice to have a handle on weather when I’m away even if for a day.


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[Smilingreen]

Mine occasionally goes to wunderground. I thought about Davis but there lineup looks like it hasn't changed in years. Also about double what paid for the acurite. @Smilingreen , your screens look great with all the data in them. I don't even know if I can pull raw data out of the acurite.

Thanks. That is the admin page of CumulusMX.. I have been using their software (free, too) for the better part of 7 years. I started with version1 , then 2 and then3, which morphed into MX. Being it is opensource, the crew that develops and maintains it works hard and has developed a unique product that is fairly user friendly and is functional. Here is a link that shows what stations work with CumulusMX and what stations will not work with it. Supported Devices - Cumulus Wiki

As far as Davis, you are correct, their Vantage Pro series hasn't changed in years, but why change something that is as robust as it is and has a marvelous track record of working in any type of weather with minimal maintenance? It is on the expensive side, but, as I said before, you get what you pay for. Over the years, I have seen so many cheaper weather stations come and go. They were consumer grade at best and just couldn't hold up to the severe beating a weather station takes year after year. Most of them also had proprietary communications software and the company would charge you a fee to be able to use their software and then another fee (monthly or yearly) to push the data to their own site, but no one else's.

 

[TVille]

I have Ecowitt, which is the same OEM as many Ambient stations. Right now it is pushing to WU, and a couple of others. I'll try to push it to Windy and drop WU. I tried to register at Windy and got just completely lost.

 

[sebastiantombs]

@TVille How do you like the Ecowitt? Seem accurate and how is durability?

 

[TVille]

@TVille How do you like the Ecowitt? Seem accurate and how is durability?

I got it in July last year after we moved to Virginia. Yeah, we moved during this fiasco. No problems at all! Back to the station, It seems to work fine. The anemometer is only 15 feet off the ground, way too low, so it is not accurate. I would not call it user friendly to setup, it is all done with a phone app. I prefer to setup things in a browser interface than apps - has something to do with my old eyesight. But, it works well, they have a lot of options, and I would get another if I needed one.

I have:

1. GW 1002 (tiny radio base station - Gateway in Ecowitt speak, and inside temp)
2. WS 68 anemometer
3. WH40, rain gauge
4. WH32 outdoor temp sensor
5. WH57 lightning sensor
6. WH51 soil mosture sensor

I did not get a display unit - I get it on my phone and browser, and the displays are over priced.

 

[sone]

Cool topic. Lot's a great systems up and running. I’ve been using Ambient Weather Ambient Weather WS-1001 since 2016 with great success. A year ago I decided to purchase the Ambient Weather WS-5000 station and it too has been great. It’s currently connected to Ambient Weather’s Interface, Weather Underground and PWS. I’ve also have integrated with IFTTT to alert me via text messages for certain conditions. I wear a Garmin health watch that has a third party plug-in that lets me connect to my weather station via Weather Underground. The first AWS I mounted it on one those satellite dish arms which mounts to a 4x4 up several feet from the ground. (pictured below) The second AWS I mounted using the same dish arm but off a balcony. Placement of these things are very important as you don’t want radiant heat bouncing off the ground exaggerating your temp results and away from trees that might skew wind speed/directions. In any case, as long as my internet is up, the weather station is up.

 

[sebastiantombs]

@TVille Thanks. I like the Ecowitt because of the split wind and other sensors. You want the wind sensor out in the open and as high as possible while the rest can be lower down and little more sheltered.

 

[TVille]

@TVille Thanks. I like the Ecowitt because of the split wind and other sensors. You want the wind sensor out in the open and as high as possible while the rest can be lower down and little more sheltered.

Yes, that is one reason I got it. But, I haven't got the wind sensor up on top of the main house, about 35', yet. It is on top of the shop at 15', with the rain gauge.

 

[weigle2]

Just my 2 cents, but I would go with Davis. Either the Vantage Pro line or Vantage Vue. Yes, they are not cheap but the reliability and data capture year over year are exceptional. Only maintenance I have ever done to the main unit (ISS) is a replacement fan and the (2) NiCad batteries. At $40, it adds another 10 years to the life of the station.

 

[mcapeed]

Just my 2 cents, but I would go with Davis. Either the Vantage Pro line or Vantage Vue. Yes, they are not cheap but the reliability and data capture year over year are exceptional. Only maintenance I have ever done to the main unit (ISS) is a replacement fan and the (2) NiCad batteries. At $40, it adds another 10 years to the life of the station.

I agree.

Hind sight being 20 20, I wish I bought a Davis. I’ve been thru two Netatmo’s and an Accurite in 6 hrs.

Accurite didn’t even last a year.


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[JeffCharger]

if you want the lowdown on weather systems and reporting, check out “Weather Display” software. Expert advice can be found there at Weather-Watch.com - Index

 

[TVille]

Just my 2 cents, but I would go with Davis. Either the Vantage Pro line or Vantage Vue. Yes, they are not cheap but the reliability and data capture year over year are exceptional. Only maintenance I have ever done to the main unit (ISS) is a replacement fan and the (2) NiCad batteries. At $40, it adds another 10 years to the life of the station.

Davis has been the long time leader in this field. But, they have zero innovation in the past decade. They will be passed. There is no doubt that the stations are robust, but the price is very high, the flexibility limited.