Is my Watson W-8681 dead?

[souwesterly]

After some 3 years, I've recently lost contact with my weather station. Perhaps co-incidentally it was on 8th May - the first day that I'd had any rain of note (8 mm) since March.
In my efforts to get it up and working I deleted everything 'Cumulus' from my computer and reinstalled the latest version, without success. Then I thought to check the weather station unit (duh!) and, fairly obviously I discovered that the batteries were just about dead - so I replaced them....(the right way up/down, in case anyone asks!)
But now, some several hours later, all I get is a repeating error message - "Lost sensor contact!"
Is it just taking some time to re-connect to my PC or has my weather station died?

[steve]

It's not a problem with connecting to the PC, it's the remote sensor connecting to the console. There's a set procedure to follow to get it to connect. Unfortunately I can't remember the exact details, but it's been mentioned in the forum a few times - and might be in the manual also.

[apenwith]

Hi
After three years I would bet that the transmitter battery contacts could do with a clean.
If I remember correctly - TX batteries first wait for 5 flashes of the led - then RX batteries.
Sometimes the lock on does take a while and the DCF may take even longer or not at all.
Regards
Alan

[AllyCat]

Hi,

The receiver has to synchronise itself to the short data pulse from the transmitter which occurs every 48 seconds. To do this, remove one cell from the receiver and unplug the USB cable to remove power. Then reinsert the cell either after or immediately before inserting the transmitter cells (and do not touch the touchscreen). If the transmitter is powered first, you might need to try inserting the receiver cells several times before communication is restored.

If the station has a radio-controlled clock, I believe the procedure is rather more complicated.

Cheers, Alan.

[souwesterly]

Thanks fellas - and especially Steve, inevitably!

Success! It's still alive!!

Your comment Steve, led me to do a Google search and I found a small site where a bloke repairs a W-8681, having found that it's design is somewhat faulty.
On the last page of his discourse, [http://www.timetec.freeserve.co.uk/DCF/dcf.htm] he details the sequence needed to restart the machine.
And so, following your/his advice, I disassembled the unit, cleaned all the cobwebs and dust away and loaded new batteries as instructed....and lo and behold - everything is working again.

So - many thanks and I hope that your comments and my findings will help others to come.

Cheers