WH-1081 transmitter replacement

[echase]

I will use Cumulus when I can get my station working again.

My WH-1081 set bought from Maplin 2 years ago has a transmitter failure. I have found that the UK importer who sells them to Maplin will sell a new Tx for £7.50 but I am not convinced it’s the right model. This Tx is for the current 433Mhz WH-8681 with DCF clock and mine is 433Mhz without clock. Any idea if it will work OK as neither Maplin nor the importer seem to know?

[echase]

q

[mcrossley]

Not sure anyone can answer that one for you, may be a case of try it and see!?

My 868MHz with clock has just failed today (no LED at all on power up) - could you send me details of the importer to see if they have these units too?

Thanks.

[steve]

My guess would be that as long as the frequency is the same, it shouldn't matter whether it's the DCF clock version or not.

[echase]

Mark, ignore some of what I said above which was wrong. The importer is Waters & Stanton PLC Tel: 01702 206835 Fax: 01702 205843. They only sell the 868MHz with clock for set W-8681 but the manufacturer Fine Offset in China tell me it’s identical to WH-1080

Today importer gave me a different price for it from a different person at around £19. Maybe if you ask for James you might get the £7.50 price again.

This does not help me with a 433Mhz Tx but Maplin say they can sell me the right one (I am not convinced) for a steep £30.

Check your battery and for corrosion on contacts before replacing it.

[mcrossley]

I 'think' I may have it working again - I have replaced the diode you can see on the board. Before it would not even boot, now I have it booting, locking on to DCF and reporting the sensors. I just put a plain old common diode in it's place, I just worry that it is supposed to be a Zenner of some sort.

I will give the importers a call though - if I can get one for £7.50 it would be worth having a spare!

[mcrossley]

I spoke too soon, it worked for about 4 hours overnight, then packed in again - though the base station is occasionally picking up DCF!?

[Gina]

Oh dear! An intermittent fault Apart from a replacement, I suggest a very close scrutiny of the board, connections and solder joints - but you've probably done that already.

[mcrossley]

Yes, nothing obvious Gina. Shorting that diode kicked it into life, hence I replaced it, but that obviously isn't the root problem.

Now it will sometimes go through the initial start-up:- Single long blink, short data transmission blink, 5x DCF blinks, then nothing more

I have ordered a replacement transmitter (@£19) but I really think I would be better investing the money in a better quality station. Trouble is the Davis is too expensive and the Oregon WMR100 (or even the 200) which seems to strike a reasonable price/quality balance isn't supported by Cumulus - and I don't fancy the pain for switching to another package and hand crafting all the customisation for the web.