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Has anyone tried?

Discussion specific to Fine Offset and similar rebadged weather stations
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SergiosK
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon 15 Apr 2013 2:17 pm
Weather Station: WH8681-Solar
Operating System: Windows XP SP2
Location: Greece

Has anyone tried?

Post by SergiosK »

Hello, i have a watson WH 8681-solar and i want to ask if it can or someone have tried to connect two receivers to one transmiter (sorry for the bad english).I mean if it can work with two consoles. I want to have a second console to my next floor. :D
hvalentim
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue 26 Mar 2013 11:26 am
Weather Station: W-8681-Solar
Operating System: Windows
Location: Portugal
Contact:

Re: Has anyone tried?

Post by hvalentim »

Should work. It is a one way communication. From transmitter to no matter how many devices within range who can decode it.
AllyCat
Posts: 1124
Joined: Sat 26 Feb 2011 1:58 pm
Weather Station: Fine Offset 1080/1 & 3080
Operating System: Windows XP SP3
Location: SE London

Re: Has anyone tried?

Post by AllyCat »

Hi,

Yes it's certainly possible, but you must ensure that the Consoles use the same radio frequency and protocol (different models are made for different Countries/markets).

When you insert the batteries into the Console, it should "lock" onto the first transmissions that it finds.

Cheers, Alan.
SergiosK
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon 15 Apr 2013 2:17 pm
Weather Station: WH8681-Solar
Operating System: Windows XP SP2
Location: Greece

Re: Has anyone tried?

Post by SergiosK »

Yes, i see. I have and another weather station(national geographic 265ne) offline.I saw that it have the same frequency at 868Mhz as the watson W8681-solar. I insert the batteries to national geographic and when i insert batteries it writes for a few seconds a code as 3434 or 3437 or 3463 etc. That codes are the protocol?I try in and out the batteries to catch the signal from the watson transmitter but all was dash ----. It have the same frequency but other protocol?Thats what was never connect?If i buy the same console watson w8681-solar with the same freq i will be okay?(if there are the same i think that they have the same protocol,right?)
hvalentim
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue 26 Mar 2013 11:26 am
Weather Station: W-8681-Solar
Operating System: Windows
Location: Portugal
Contact:

Re: Has anyone tried?

Post by hvalentim »

SergiosK wrote:Yes, i see. I have and another weather station(national geographic 265ne)
That one seems to be a clone of WH1080, which has no solar sensors like the W-8681-Solar (which is a clone of WH3081). Hence there should be some differences in the data sent.

BTW, here is some interesting info on how to receive data from a 433MHz WH1080 and the protocol used.
AllyCat
Posts: 1124
Joined: Sat 26 Feb 2011 1:58 pm
Weather Station: Fine Offset 1080/1 & 3080
Operating System: Windows XP SP3
Location: SE London

Re: Has anyone tried?

Post by AllyCat »

SergiosK wrote:If i buy the same console watson w8681-solar with the same freq i will be okay?(if there are the same i think that they have the same protocol,right?)
Hi,

Unfortunately no, there is no guarantee of that. Not only are the same FO models sold with different model numbers (and Brand names) but the same model number may use two different protocols and/or a different radio frequency! Search this forum with keywords such as "Maplin new / old protocol". AFAIK Fine Offset have never published any technical details and the majority of stations on this forum appear to use 434MHz (UK and Australia). 868MHz is more a "European" frequency.

Another issue is that there are two basic types of "Solar" station: Solar Charging (only) and Solar Data (+ charging); which do you have? Solar data certainly cannot be received by a non-solar Console but I'm not sure if a solar Console can receive a non-solar protocol (even though the "external" data is the same, with the solar data transmitted as a separate "packet").

If you buy two stations with the same model number, from the same supplier at the same time, then there is a very good chance that the two Consoles can be setup to receive data from one transmitter (keeping the other as a spare). However, the further that your "method of acquisition" differs from that ideal scenario, then higher the risk becomes that they will not be "compatible".

Cheers, Alan.
SergiosK
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon 15 Apr 2013 2:17 pm
Weather Station: WH8681-Solar
Operating System: Windows XP SP2
Location: Greece

Re: Has anyone tried?

Post by SergiosK »

Watson w8681 is a solar data and charge. i have sent a message to wsplc site for the 8681-LCD-S Spare screen LCD display for W-8681-SOLAR and tells me that uk uses 868Mhz as mine (here in Greece 868Mhz). I think national geographic doesnt connect cause they dont have the option for solar data (lux,w/m^2) and uv. I'm gonna risk it. So, to be more 100% for working i will sent him the frequency and the model number?
Thank you.
User avatar
robynfali
Posts: 1076
Joined: Sat 31 Jul 2010 10:34 pm
Weather Station: Vantage Vue
Operating System: Windows XP
Location: Anglesey, North Wales, UK
Contact:

Re: Has anyone tried?

Post by robynfali »

I have had my transmitter working with two consoles for quite a few months now, and they seem quite happy, both were gained at the same time, and when installing batteries, i think its important to make sure that both consoles are enabled inside the 30second window
SergiosK
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon 15 Apr 2013 2:17 pm
Weather Station: WH8681-Solar
Operating System: Windows XP SP2
Location: Greece

Re: Has anyone tried?

Post by SergiosK »

Well it seems good.Do you mean that i must inserted at the same time the batteries on both two consoles?And the number that displayed for a few seconds (3-5seconds) must be the same on both consoles?
Thank you.
ramrod
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri 14 Dec 2012 5:41 pm
Weather Station: WH1080
Operating System: xp
Location: Batley UK

Re: Has anyone tried?

Post by ramrod »

robynfali wrote:I have had my transmitter working with two consoles for quite a few months now, and they seem quite happy, both were gained at the same time, and when installing batteries, i think its important to make sure that both consoles are enabled inside the 30second window
Me too, both work fine.
s3nsit
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon 24 Jan 2011 1:42 pm
Weather Station: 265ne national
Operating System: win xp sp2
Location: greece

Re: Has anyone tried?

Post by s3nsit »

hi to all. im replying here because i dont want to open a new thread for my issue...since it is related with 265ne sensors
Anyway.
i own o national 265ne since february 2010 and was installed on july 2010 so it is ''on air'' for more than 3 yrs.
I want to find a replacement for main wind speed sensor. Since the one i have is almost crippled...The screws are broken after opening the sensor several times (in crete african dust storms occur once or twice a year so the wind speed sensor stops working and needs to be cleaned of dust). The sensor is still alive but is kept together with duck tape. fortunately it can still rotate and give correct readings.

i have found these two ebay links from england with cheap replacements for another fine offset station the n96fy sold by maplin.uk
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Replacement-W ... 2c73645dc5
the problem is that the station this sensor is made for operates on uk established frequency 434mhz while national on 868mhz (as i read above in this thread). The sensor looks the same though as the on i already own.
i want to ask if the sensor will operate with my station. Or if you have experience about this issue. Because the wind sensor i think is the most fragile sensor of my weather stations (and i think this applies to all fine offset stations), and replacement sensor are extremely difficult to find. The strange thing is that if you search alibaba chinese wholesale site you will find out that there thousands of thousands of similar stations that you can order...You can order 1000 or 2000 or 5000 pieces from certain sellers...but no one is offering sensor replacements
AllyCat
Posts: 1124
Joined: Sat 26 Feb 2011 1:58 pm
Weather Station: Fine Offset 1080/1 & 3080
Operating System: Windows XP SP3
Location: SE London

Re: Has anyone tried?

Post by AllyCat »

Hi,

Welcome to the forum. The Fine Offset windspeed sensor contains only a magnetic reed switch so it can be used with any of the FO weather stations. Therefore the replacement should work fine with your station.

However, FO have recently changed the design a little (see here), so that the rotor cap is larger with a much wider gap between the rotor and the body (but electrically it is completely compatible). The wider gap may not be good news for you, I think the idea is to prevent water freezing to ice (in cold climates) and temporarily locking the rotor.

Cheers, Alan.
s3nsit
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon 24 Jan 2011 1:42 pm
Weather Station: 265ne national
Operating System: win xp sp2
Location: greece

Re: Has anyone tried?

Post by s3nsit »

AllyCat wrote:Hi,

Welcome to the forum. The Fine Offset windspeed sensor contains only a magnetic reed switch so it can be used with any of the FO weather stations. Therefore the replacement should work fine with your station.

However, FO have recently changed the design a little (see here), so that the rotor cap is larger with a much wider gap between the rotor and the body (but electrically it is completely compatible). The wider gap may not be good news for you, I think the idea is to prevent water freezing to ice (in cold climates) and temporarily locking the rotor.

Cheers, Alan.
thank you for replying alan. happy to post my firsts replies in forum. i was registered long time ago but till now i found the answers i needed by search.
thank you for mentioning the wider gap of the rotor. this would give as i can understand false readings (higher or lower than ''actual'' wind speeds...by ''actual'' i mean the current readings from my current sensor) i think but anyway i could test it and try to apply some correction in cumulus calibration feature (wind speed multiplier). im almost sure that with a multiplier (above or below 1.000) i could compensate the error of the wider rotor. fortunately in my town i can compare wind speeds from various ''davis'' and FO stations. Anyway i think that is still better than not having wind speed readings at all...
i think i will order the sensor spare...unfortunately they dont post to greece (i knew this before) but many of my friends live in uk and would be happy to receive it for me...

p.s the ''breaking bad style'' cumulus banner.... :clap: :clap:
+1000
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