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Lost Sensor Contact!!! error

Discussion specific to Fine Offset and similar rebadged weather stations
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AllyCat
Posts: 1132
Joined: Sat 26 Feb 2011 1:58 pm
Weather Station: Fine Offset 1080/1 & 3080
Operating System: Windows XP SP3
Location: SE London

Re: Lost Sensor Contact!!! error

Post by AllyCat »

Hi,

At 915MHz, a single wall might be sufficient to halve the range, but anyway many FO users would be happy to get even 100 feet range reliably!
fireman5214 wrote:also has fresh rechargeable energizer batteries, they were charged when installed and then the solar charger is supposed to take over for charging them daily.
Are those NiMH or "Rechargeable Alkalines"? However, both have "issues". NiMH cells only deliver a nominal 1.2 volts each, so the transmitter power may well be reduced from that with fresh 1.5 volt Alkalines. But Rechargeable Alkalines (which the manufacturer "recommends") are basically a "rubbish" technology and may soon fail to charge at all, to a satisfactory voltage.

Probably the best technology to try is NON-rechargeable Lithium AA cells. Expensive, but they deliver about 1.6 volts per cell over most of their (long) life (assuming that there are no other faults with the FO Solar Pod).

Cheers, Alan.
cutter
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun 22 Nov 2009 1:09 pm
Weather Station: WH1080 & La Crosse WS2800
Operating System: Windows 8.1
Location: Bradford West Yorkshire England

Re: Lost Sensor Contact!!! error

Post by cutter »

Do not ask me why but try touching the memory section a couple of times this is strange I know but it cured mine.Alan
Dave Parker
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed 05 Sep 2012 8:46 am
Weather Station: Ambient Weather WS1090
Operating System: Windows 7 SP1
Location: Marmaduke Arkansas

Re: Lost Sensor Contact!!! error

Post by Dave Parker »

As the owner of a Ambient Weather WS1090 I have had most if not all the problems others have reported here in the forum. I have had this station for about 10 months now and have tried several different locations. At present the wireless transmitter is located directly outside a north facing kitchen window and the console is mounted on a wall in the kitchen. Line of sight distance is less than 20 Ft. I still get an occasional lost sensor contact error, maybe 1 or 2 a month, but no major problems. I know the book says 330 ft. but I think that would be under perfect conditions with no outside interference. I have used extension cables to mount the sensors further away from the wireless transmitter. The book says 50 ft. but I suspect you could go 100 ft. with no problems. I use non rechargeable Lithium AA batteries and have had no problems with them. They seem to be the best choice for cold weather.

From Greene county AR.
Dave
fireman5214
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed 09 Jan 2013 3:11 am
Weather Station: WS 1090 Weatherwise Instruments
Operating System: Windows 7 i3Core
Location: Nazareth, PA

Re: Lost Sensor Contact!!! error

Post by fireman5214 »

ok well I will be looking for lithium non rechargeable batteries and give them a try, I mounted the base station up higher on the wall with a 30.00 usb extension cable and it seems to go out more at a higher location then when it was lower. OR is it because of the rainfall currently occuring. Thanks for the information and I just thought the solar charger would charge the batteries longer to keep it full battery life. I dont know if i should lower my base station or not.
WestOz
Posts: 215
Joined: Fri 21 Nov 2008 12:25 am
Weather Station: Oregon Scientific WMR88A
Operating System: Windows 10 (64bit)
Location: College Grove, Western Australia
Contact:

Re: Lost Sensor Contact!!! error

Post by WestOz »

AllyCat wrote:Hi,

At 915MHz, a single wall might be sufficient to halve the range, but anyway many FO users would be happy to get even 100 feet range reliably!
Mine is 433MHz
Website : http://www.collegegrove.info
on the Indian Ocean coast of Western Australia (down the bottom left-hand corner of Oz)
Image
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