A Question for you 'Techies'!

[geoffw]

Having followed the reponses to the Maplin offer of a Fine Offset for less £70.00 with Gina, and perhaps others, getting one to use the console as a second reciever, and keeping the other bits as spares, it has set me thinking.

I never consult my Watson WH1081 console. I just sits on the shelf feeding data to Cumulus through the USB connection. Just occasionally it will get a dusting but that's all.

Now here's my question, to all you 'Techies', who know your capacitors from your diodes ......... How difficult would it to build a simple receiver with a USB connection to feed the data directly to Cumulus - and do a way with the console? Then those who want to run C1 on one machine and C2 on another (as Gina is planning to do) can do so with the minimum of expense.

Anyone tried this?

[Gina]

A very big job I've no doubt. You would have to know the exact data format of the transmitted signal and then decode it. It would certainly be beyond me - though I might have had a bash at it if I were 30 years younger Even assuming you had all the sophisticated equipment to discover the data format, you would need to buy all the components to build a 433Mhz receiver and decoder. Then you need to get the data into the computer. That would probably entail a microprocessor programmed to respond in the same way as the FO station. I would say you'd probably spend more on the components etc. to build a receiver/decoder/USB-interface than the seventy quid you'd pay Maplins for the complete station. And you still wouldn't have the atmospheric pressure unless you get a pressure sensor.

I have built equipment from scratch for a few projects in recent times and you'd be surprised how all the bits add up in cost. Sorry to disappoint you, Geoff, but the Maplin deal is a good one.

[nking]

I have built equipment from scratch for a few projects in recent times and you'd be surprised how all the bits add up in cost. Sorry to disappoint you, Geoff, but the Maplin deal is a good one.

I think that's why you can longer get replacement elements for your toaster or kettle.... I remember those good old days (well they weren't that good come to think of it ). I've ordered mine from Maplin and with the discount £64.99!

[Gina]

That's two quid less than I paid!

[steve]

That's two quid less than I paid!

Neil must have found an extra-special deal . I make it £69.99 less the £3 discount = £66.99.

Geoff, while I agree with the others that your idea probably doesn't work financially for the Fine Offset (although it would be an interesting exercise) in general it's quite a reasonable suggestion, and Davis offer something called an Envoy, which is basically a console without a display, which retails for about 2/3rds the price of a full console (in the UK, anyway).

[gemini06720]

Indeed, Davis Instruments offers the Vantage Pro 2 Weather Envoy (model #6316 ) (at $175 CA) which is very similar in it functions to the Vantage Pro 2 Console/Receiver (model # 6312) (at $249 CA) except it has no display nor any button. The Weather Envoy had been designed primarily to be installed and used in unmanned areas such as in many of the californian vineyards where the units are installed in weatherproof enclosures.

Both units receive their weather data from the ISS (integrated sensor suite) either through wires or wirelessly. And both units require a WeatherLink data logger (interface) to communicate their data to a computer or the Internet.

I have been using a Vantage Pro 2 Weather Envoy (serially connected to my weather computer) with my main (non-Cumulus) weather software for the past 5 years without any problem whatsoever. I have also been using (alternatively) both the Vantage Pro 2 (5 years) and the Vantage Vue (1 year) consoles with my main development computer where both Cumulus1 and Cumulus2 are running as well as Weather Display, WeatherLink and Virtual Weather Station (thanks to the Virtual VP interface).

[nking]

That's two quid less than I paid!

Neil must have found an extra-special deal . I make it £69.99 less the £3 discount = £66.99.

Well I did buy a few other items which gave a total of £100.96 and therefore got £7 discount so this would make the unit cost approx. £65.09, my guesstimate was out by 10p - still a very good deal.

[Gina]

I thought that might have been it