Davis VP2 - add ons

[Paul C]

Hoping to find a slot to discuss actual Weather Station and Davis VP2 equipment, hope you dont mind.

I have had my Wireless VP2 now for very nearly 2 years with Christmas coming and my birthday in January I am looking forward to a little cash and the possibility of some extra weather equipment.

I am torn between either a solar sensor or some additional temperature probes to measure Grass Min, Soil depth temps etc. It will have to be one or the other and not both !

http://www.weatherstations.co.uk/vp_accessories.htm

I wondered if anyone else has bought additional kit, any problems regards fitting, adding it to the console etc. I am also interested in how accurate the solar sensor is. Ideally I will want it to give me a daily sunshine total but I am not sure if this is what it actually does. I currently have an old Cambell Stokes Sunshine recorder but have to change the card each day and my contact only has a limited supply of card before it runs out.

So any help, greatfully received

[broadstairs]

Paul I have a Davis solar sensor and find it pretty good. However at present Cumulus does not do sunshine hours, this needs to be a somewhat complex calculation which first gets the expected max value for time/location and compares it with the actual reading from the sensor. I think Steve may think about adding this in V2. My website does show sunshine hours, but it's not using Cumulus for the live data at present.

I cant speak for the usefulness or accuracy of the other sensors as I dont have them

Stuart

[Paul C]

Paul I have a Davis solar sensor and find it pretty good. However at present Cumulus does not do sunshine hours, this needs to be a somewhat complex calculation which first gets the expected max value for time/location and compares it with the actual reading from the sensor. I think Steve may think about adding this in V2. My website does show sunshine hours, but it's not using Cumulus for the live data at present.

I cant speak for the usefulness or accuracy of the other sensors as I dont have them

Stuart

I,m sure Steve would come up with something !!! !!!

As for prices I'm looking at
VP2 6450 Global - £211.40 for 6450 and £32.89 for 6673 (mounting bracket)
6345 Leaf Wetness & Soil Moisture/Temperature Station - 6345 transmitter now lists at £258.38 and the 6470 temperature probes are £52.85 each.

Its not cheap !! - I thought I could have some additional temp probes for alot less, but thats what I have been quoted at.
at www.weatherstations.co.uk

Anybody else got the additional equipment or knows a good source (excluding Steve as his contact last time was a man living in Jersey and his kit arrived from Sweden )

[steve]

I,m sure Steve would come up with something !!! !!!

Stuart's going to help me

Anybody else got the additional equipment or knows a good source (excluding Steve as his contact last time was a man living in Jersey and his kit arrived from Sweden )

I think Finland was involved somewhere. It was a cracking deal, anyway, I wouldn't have been able to afford a VP2 otherwise. It's a shame Davis put a stop to it.

Steve

[Paul C]

I,m sure Steve would come up with something !!! !!!

Stuart's going to help me

Anybody else got the additional equipment or knows a good source (excluding Steve as his contact last time was a man living in Jersey and his kit arrived from Sweden )

I think Finland was involved somewhere. It was a cracking deal, anyway, I wouldn't have been able to afford a VP2 otherwise. It's a shame Davis put a stop to it.

Steve

I knew there was a Scandanavian link somewhere.

And YES it was a good deal. this extra bit of kit may workout more expensive than the VP did to start with.

I,m leaning towards the solar add on at the moment, as the leaf wetness kit doesnt really do want I want it to do and will work out more expensive, £25 for each probe thats £100 before I start

If anyone else has bought the solar kit, would be keen to hear how they got on with it etc - any good links to a good price aswell
tks

[broadstairs]

Re a solar sensor, since they are universal you can buy from anywhere. I cheated and got a friend in the USA to send me one and I sent him the money, worked out at something like 60% of UK price

Stuart

[Paul C]

Re a solar sensor, since they are universal you can buy from anywhere. I cheated and got a friend in the USA to send me one and I sent him the money, worked out at something like 60% of UK price

Stuart

That sounds a good idea - I have a cousin in Canada !

So just to confirm they ARE universal, doesnt have to be UK spec ?

tks

[TgT]

What about transmitting frequency? It`s not the same.

[steve]

The ISS does the transmitting, the solar sensor just plugs into it, so the frequency isn't an issue.

Steve

[Paul C]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... uageToggle

£97 from the USA - now thats more like it

[pinto]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... uageToggle

£97 from the USA - now thats more like it

+ import taxes and som other stuf you have to pay for

at least, so it does work in Belgium

My UV-sensor comes from the USA, turned out I would have it cheaper from the local store

[steve]

+ import taxes and som other stuf you have to pay for

Indeed. It's £114 including delivery. I can't remember what import duty is on meteorological equipment, but let's say it's 10%. Then 15% VAT, and the £8 (at least) rip-off that you will be charged by the post office or courier for collecting the duty. I reckon that comes to around £153 altogether. You can buy one in the UK for £171 including delivery, so is it worth going the import route? Maybe if the the exchange rate gets back to where it was, but now?

Steve

[TNETWeather]

Plus if it breaks or arrives broken, you should have service locally as well.

[Budgie]

Skyview are a bit cheaper than what you've been quoted and still in the UK.
They have the solar sensor & mounting for £201 + delivery.

[steve]

Skyview are a bit cheaper than what you've been quoted and still in the UK.
They have the solar sensor & mounting for £201 + delivery.

How is that cheaper than £171 including delivery - plus £28 for the mounting = £199 total? (Meteorologica)

Steve