Newbie buying a weather station in Australia

[darryls]

Hi everyone,

I'm wondering what your recommendations are for purchasing a weather station in Australia.

I'm thinking of getting one of the Fine Offset units, and had my eye on purchasing an Ambient Weather system from Amazon as my parents are going to be in the USA in December and could bring it home with them.

However, I was just looking around last night and noticed some good prices on eBay ... but then I'm a little cautious about buying something like this on eBay. What if something doesn't work?

Anyway, any thoughts or recommendations on where I should purchase a weather station in Australia would be greatly appreciated.

Darryl
Brisbane, Australia

[uncle_bob]

I brought my first one of ebay with no problems, it lasted 3 years before the transmitter died.
My current one I got from Bunnings for $300 and paid way too much.

You could try this one at Jaycar, it's only $150, connects to a PC. And if it doesn't work with Cumulus, you can always take it back (I think it should though).
http://jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID ... rm=KEYWORD

[AllyCat]

Hi Darryl,

The USA versions probably use a different radio frequency which may not strictly be "legal" in Australia. But my main reservation about an import is that the Fine Offset Quality Control is not all that it might be, so the possibilty of a warranty return/repair should be considered. It might be different for the case of a Davis.

It depends if you are considering a "private" ebay seller or one of the "business sellers" (shops) which should offer some after-sales support. However, uncle_bob seems to have a found a supplier with a reasonable price (for Australia). It looks like a standard Fine Offset so Cumulus should work well with it. Note that it appears to have "solar charging" (IMHO of dubious merit because it uses rechargeable alkaline batteries) but not the Solar data of some recent FO models.

Cheers, Alan.

[serowe]

Darryl,

Be interesting to hear which one you do buy - still looking to add to an existing 11 yo WM918 and not keen on the complete wireless units (always seem to be hearing about them having problems communicating somehow).

[uncle_bob]

Yeah, the Lacrosse and the Fine Offset stations are pretty cheaply built.I would think that getting 3-4 years out of them would be the going rate.

[vk3awa]

Darryl,

I have a fine offset wireless model that has been running for about 2 years without problem. I haven't even changed the batteries as yet. My environment is quite harsh as I live about three hundred meters from the edge of Bass Strait and the salt air attacks all hardware pretty quickly. They are pretty good value for money and readily available off Ebay.

Cheers

Daryl

www.darylhooke.com

[MickinMoulden]

I got my Wh-1081 from CE-Technologies, NSW (Ebay store http://myworld.ebay.com.au/ce-technologies) for $99 delivered to the NT in 2010. Had my doubts about it being brand new though. It's nearly a year old, apart from the touch pad not working, it's been fun. I barley look at it now, just use Cumulus and my website.

[darryls]

Thank you to all of you for your replies.

The warranty issue is a good one to raise, as I have heard that sometimes the Fine Offset units can be faulty from brand new.

I found this seller that has the WS1081 for $110, and they include a 12 month warranty:
http://www.oo.com.au/Pro_Wireless_Weath ... =982014510

They also have the WS3081 for $150:
http://www.oo.com.au/Pro_Wireless_Weath ... =982014510

Is there any advantage to getting the 3081 over the 1081? The 3081 is solar powered - is that good or something to be avoided?

Thanks again.

Darryl

[MickinMoulden]

Do a search in the forum for the 3081. A lot has been said. I have the cheaper model (found the right link here: http://www.oo.com.au/Wireless_Touch_Scr ... 9C1395.cfm (you doubled up on the same link)).
I get a lot of sun up here in Palmerston, both in hours and in UV. The UV only measures up to 12 on the 3081. Check BOM for your area, but that should suffice for you I think. We get up to 16, which I think would render it pointless. Again, here the amount of Sun we get would be good for a Solar recharging unit like the 3081. Then again, we do get the monsoon which can make it rain for weeks. How do you think you'll fair in rainy Brisbane?
If your area is subject to bushfires, and you want to make a website with a Fire Index on it, you will have to be aware that these units only measure down to 10%. Where I am, we get below that in the Dry season. Again, check BOM what you get down to, then you can decide wether it is important enough to worry about. This will only be a problem if Brisbane get's below 10% humidity and you wand a correct Fire Danger Index, as the FDI uses humidity in it's formula, and the dangers are higher when the humidity is lower.
The 3081 looks pretty cool though, but like I said, I don't look at mine anymore. The kids have decorated it in stickers

[AllyCat]

Hi,

IMHO the 3080/1 base station looks neater and the (non-touchscreen) LCD is much clearer, but if you're using it primarliy as a logger with a Cumulus display then that may not be very relevant.

The light level measurement may be useful for recording (approximate) sunshine hours but, so far, reports of the (poor) accuracy of the IR sensor suggest that it is of little value. Similarly the transmitter should work for several years on a pair of non-rechargeable batteries so solar charging is perhaps of little benefit and arguably an unnecessary complication.

But for me, the real downside of the 3081 is that the solar head is attached directly onto the transmitter module (with a short captive cable). For obvious reasons the head should be in direct sunlight, but for good external temperature accuracy the transmitter unit needs to be in the shade, ideally in a proper Stevenson Screen.

Cheeers, Alan.

[darryls]

Thanks for your reply, Alan. So basically the 3081 doesn't offer anything more than the older unit (the position of the solar charging module on the 3081 seems almost useless), so the 1081 would be fine?

Any other points of view would be greatly appreciated.

[AllyCat]

Hi Darryl,

Well, the touchscreen on the 1081 does give the LCD a very poor contrast, to the extent that I'm considering removing it (as others have done); the backlight (on both units) has an almost "home made" appearance. The 3080 does have a few other "better" features, but mine also has several unresolved "issues" which may be due to poor design (tolerances) or sample faults caused by (inadequate) Quality Control.

Personally, I'm quite interested in logging sunshine hours (for "green energy" purposes) but I find it hard to justify the almost 50% extra cost of the 3080.

Cheers, Alan.

[neil]

Hello Darryl
I cant help with the sourcing of stations but can speak for the reliability of the WH1081
I have had mine running since 1/1/2009 nearly 3 years apart from having to change the battery's annually i have had to strip down the anemometer due to sticking at very low wind speeds and clean out the rain gauge tipping bucket its operated without fault (that statement is probably the kiss of death for the setup)
I live in quite a windy part of Kent, England about a mile from the sea so salt in the air could have been a problem but has not been
my temperature ranges from -7 to +32 quite a range again no real problems
I have found with a little caution you can strip down each sensor to it constituent parts for maintenance.
I am that impressed i have just purchased a complete spare set, as a price comparison this cost £70.00 (half price offer}from maplin electronics.
Neil

[Jchadwick]

The Digitech XC0346 from Jaycar is only $149 and works a treat with Cumulus!

[darryls]

The Digitech XC0346 from Jaycar is only $149 and works a treat with Cumulus!

Thanks for the tip, but I've now purchased a unit from oo.com.au for $110 and it includes a 12 month warranty (I had a hard time finding a good warranty elsewhere). Hopefully I have as much success with this unit as you've had with yours

Cheers.