Cumulus Support

I have had 3 years of use from my Watson (F.O.) 8681 and while it has been a lot better than some Fine Offset users have reported, I'm thinking of investing in something better. I'm about to set up a Raspberry Pi to run Steve's new Cumulus 3 and while the old unit is working, I'm thinking of using that with the Pi and migrate my windows box to another station, until the new system goes into full service using just the Pi.

The Davis Vantage Vue seems to be just about affordable and has lots of users on here. Yes there are a few threads about problems, but I'm aware no-one posts threads that start "my weather station is working fine"!

Just a couple of questions you may be able to answer:
1: Does the anemometer and 'compass' give believable readings?
My FO is not really high enough and I'm not going to get 'her' permission to put up a 30' pole, but it would be nice if the wind speed was more credible.
2: How good is the temperature shield?
MY FO was badly affected by direct sunlight, but I was able to move the temperature sensor below the wind gauges and into the shade on the north side of a fence, so now it's readings are not affected by direct sunlight except at the very end of the longest days. I won't be able to do that with the 'all in one' form of the Davis Vue sensor arrangement.

Thanks,

malkie wrote:The Davis Vantage Vue seems to be just about affordable

You probably already know this, but just in case - note that Davis stations as standard do not come with PC connectivity built in; you will need a Weatherlink logger which typically adds over £100 to the price (i.e. the package is usually about £390 including the logger). Third party loggers are available for less if you are happy fitting an unofficial device to your weather station.

malkie wrote:Just a couple of questions you may be able to answer:
1: Does the anemometer and 'compass' give believable readings?
My FO is not really high enough and I'm not going to get 'her' permission to put up a 30' pole, but it would be nice if the wind speed was more credible.

You get much better direction resolution (almost 1 degree), and it doesn't 'wag around' as much as teh FO. That said, you really need to get above your roofline for reliable results - that applies to any station.

malkie wrote:2: How good is the temperature shield?
MY FO was badly affected by direct sunlight, but I was able to move the temperature sensor below the wind gauges and into the shade on the north side of a fence, so now it's readings are not affected by direct sunlight except at the very end of the longest days. I won't be able to do that with the 'all in one' form of the Davis Vue sensor arrangement.

The VP2 shield does not compare with the FO - much better, though not perfect. I am happy with mine which is in direct sun, but the next step up would be to add a daytime FARS (solar panel powered fan). I cannot comment on the Vue.

Thanks both.

Steve:
I was aware of the extra cost of the data-logger, do you know where I can find one of the third party alternatives? A Google search and eBay have drawn blanks.

Mark:
That's good news about the temperature shield, and the reduction in weather-vane wagging!

Malcolm

malkie wrote:I was aware of the extra cost of the data-logger, do you know where I can find one of the third party alternatives? A Google search and eBay have drawn blanks.

Send belfryboy a private message on this forum.

steve wrote:

malkie wrote:Send belfryboy a private message on this forum.

Thanks Steve, PM sent.

Im no pro at this, but Ive had my station up for 2yrs 5mos. and Ive had absolutely no problems (unsolvable) with my Vue. Once or twice Ive had a battery issue, but it fixed itself. As far as the temperature shield goes, Im confident it works. The one thing Im most anal about is the temperature and Ive verified my Vue's temperature gauge with several other thermometers to ensure its accuracy. My station is mounted in an open field atop an 8' pole with constant exposure to the sun and Ive never had any spikes or anomalous readings in temperature. As far as the anemometer goes, I know it really needs to be at 30' I believe for the "standard" in the industry, but then that nullifies the temperature "standard". I tend to go with temperature over wind. With that said, I cant vouch for the anemometer's accuracy other than, I feel its accurate within reason since the station is encompassed all in one unit and I cant mount the anemometer above the thermometer. Also, I believe certain loggers aren't compatible with certain Vue model numbers. Make sure the station model number you get is compatible with the logger you get.

I just bought the vue and built a datalogger, the nen vue however wont work with third party loggers anymore, you have to buy the weatherlink at a cost of £140. no way around it

stevie1961 wrote:I just bought the vue and built a datalogger, the nen vue however wont work with third party loggers anymore, you have to buy the weatherlink at a cost of £140. no way around it

I don't think that is correct, most of the third party loggers are now green dot compatible and work with the stupid Davis security scheme. You can still build your own too, but you will have to program the security register on the memory chip.

stevie1961 wrote:I just bought the vue and built a datalogger, the nen vue however wont work with third party loggers anymore, you have to buy the weatherlink at a cost of £140. no way around it

The great majority of customers buy the Weatherlink logger as part of a station+logger bundle, where the cost of the logger is typically about £110. (Remember also that it is a true data logger, storing data when a PC is not connected or may be temporarily offline.)

I'm sure I've posted this link before (as, doubtless, others have too) but Stephen Burt has a good PDF summary of a presentation he gave summarising a rigorous year-long assessment of the accuracy of the Vue station at:

http://goo.gl/brQjBp

Hi Malcolm,

I have had a Davis Vantage Vue now since may last year and have had no problems with it. It is located on a fence about six foot high in a relatively open area, however, I do have trees on the south and west elevations (outside my property) so wind speed is affected.

I have compared the readings with an older TFA weather station and other stations round and about and the readings are very good compared to others equipment in the area and the met office sites.

I have had no problems with the temperature shield and have checked it out with the older station, mercury thermometer and other local stations and it has always given good results. I always maintain that the readings are for my garden due to the trees on the south and west elevations restricting wind speed however, rain and temperature have always been good.

I also use a weatherlink data logger, connected to a Windows 7 PC. I set this up to record info every 5 minutes and then transfer the daily and monthly information from two text files into an Excel Spreadsheet to compare with data for about the last five years from two different weather stations that both ended up in the bin.

All in all I have been very pleased with the davis Vantage Vue only thing I have had to do is clear out some leaves from the rain collector, but this was easily done. Well worth the money.

Cheers

I have had a Vantage Vue for about two and a half years now, and my only problem has been with the rainfall recorder element. This has failed now on three occasions, each necessitating a dismantling and the insertion of a fresh transmitter kit. In fairness, the two replacements have been regarded as under warranty so no complaints there. However as the third unit has now failed, I am without a means of recording rainfall. I am in the UK and close to the S Wales coast.

There may have been a bad batch of units, but apart from the rainfall, I am happy that the temperatures shown are much nearer correct air temperatures than when I had the Fine Offset model.

Cheers

Thanks for all the replies.

I now have a Vantage Vue (UK) that is going up this weekend, so here goes. I have bought a 'third party' logger from http://belfryboyweatherbits.blogspot.co ... ogger.html and once that arrives the Vue will be going on line.

I've read lots about all the features and I'm looking forward to some interesting times ahead!j

I have just been playing with a Meteobridge and using the new firmware I have made the logger, over my wi-fi, connect to Cumulus as if it were a Weatherlink IP! So now with a lot of help from other sources the Belfryboy logger is truly wireless. Many thanks to everyone's continued support of this fun little project.