Cumulus Support

I have been thinking of getting a weather station for some time now and once I had seen the Davis Vantage Pro2 I figured that would be the one...but the price...

Where would be the best (cheapest?) place to buy the VP2 from when I am ready?

Is it possible to add the UV & Solar sensors at a leter date to bring it up to Plus spec?

Anyway as I wanted to dip a toe in the water instead of doing my usual (well researched) headlong rush into things I decided for now I was going to use the WH1081 from Maplin for £69.99 - well you can't go wrong. Can you?

So yesterday evening found me Googling around for some weather software when I found Weather Display so I downloaded and installed it.

I have never before in my life seen a program with so many options...absolutely mindblowing!

Impressive range of features but the complexity & interface was far too cluttered for my liking.

I did however manage to set it to read METAR from a couple of local airports so I could see it working with valid data.

Then I found Cumulus...like a breath of fresh air if you excuse the pun.

This was downloaded and installed (no weather station yet so no valid data) but I got the bug and decided to setup a website in readiness for my trip to Maplin today and the arrival of my WH1081.

All I need to do now is assemble the sensor array & climb up the ladder but that will have to wait until tomorrow at least - depending upon the weather of course.

I just wanted to say hello and thank you for your efforts in developing & supporting Cumulus.

By way of return I will definitely be donating to encourage its continued development & ongoing support.

Brace yourself for a flurry of questions & suggestions!

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

Welcome to the forum Glyn, I have the WH1081 and I must say for the price Maplin's are selling it right now, it really can not be beaten. It is a great unit I have not had any problems with mine, and it is quite accurate once set up properly.

Dave

Hi Glyn,

It's hard to buy Davis kit at a discount because Davis only allow authorised retailers to sell their kit, and they come down hard on retailers that try to sell at a discount, like the place I got mine from. Basically, I paid the US price but got it from the EU so didn't have to pay import duty, and didn't have the problem of trying to import a non-UK approved wireless system. Davis had words with the dealer not long after I bought from them.

If you do eventually get one, I can recommend John Dann aka Prodata aka weatherstations.co.uk, who is very knowledgeable about the product and does great after-sales service. If I'd been able to afford the full UK price, I'd have bought mine from him. And yes, you can add the UV and Solar sensors later - the UV sensor is a silly price, though.

Steve

Thanks for the replies guys,

Dave: Well I went with Maplin but it would appear I don't have the version that receives the time signal from the Atomic Clock

As you say though for the price...


Steve: That sounds like Davis are guilty of forcing manufacturers recommended prices on dealers/customers - wasn't that deemed illegal at some point in the past?

I have had a look at John's site as I do always prefer to support those who support others if you get my drift.

However his price of £750 vs. another suppliers price of £540 for the same, UK approved piece of kit (with free mounting kit woo-hoo) does seem outrageous to me...

I have this built-in block when it comes to Rip-Off Britain so don't get me started!

Although if I took the WH1081 back to Maplin and put the £70 towards the Davis that would leave a balance of 'only' £470 on the VP2...

Hmmm...there's never been a better time.

I'm trying hard to convince myself here...I've already been as far as the 'Confirm your purchase' page...

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

I think the station at £540 probably doesn't include the PC connector/logger (Weatherlink) whereas John's (at £699 incl postage?) does.

Steve

steve wrote:I think the station at £540 probably doesn't include the PC connector/logger (Weatherlink) whereas John's (at £699 incl postage?) does.

Steve

I didn't realise that it came with Weatherlink (obviously the other one doesn't) but as my PC is on 24/7 I wouldn't need that anyway...would I? Is there anyway to connect the console to the PC without using the Datalogger?

I never saw anywhere on John's site where it listed the VP2, Datalogger & P&P package for £699?

Aah...there it is...right in front of my eyes on the front page...red text on a blue background..nice & easy to spot for my old eyes

I find John's site difficult to navigate, hard to understand and impossible to purchase from!

For example he lists the following;

6152UK
Wireless VP2 weather station 648.51 745.79

and then a little lower;

6510SER/USB
Weatherlink data logger and Windows software for Original VP and VP2 (v5) - Specify serial or USB interface 188.94 217.28

He also makes mention of the Datalogger being an accessory which would imply the cost all in for both would be £963.07 which is way outside of my budget.

There also seems to be a special offer on the Datalogger;

6510USB VP1/VP2 logger with USB Interface - Two only - Brand New - Surplus Stock 217.28 99.00

And after all that I see;

Wireless VP2 Station plus USB Weatherlink data logger and software pack: Please enquire

Phew...enough to put me off before I even get started...

Far easier to stick with the WH1081 methinks!

Thanks & regards,
-=Glyn=-

*Update*
Just spoken to John - he comes across as very knowledgable & helpful.
And I do need the Datalogger for PC connection of course.
I also mentioned that it was you recommended him to me...but where I probably would have pulled the trigger for £540 I am going have to wait for a little while before I spend £700...

You have to have weatherlink to be able to connect to the PC. The logger hardware has the PC interface as part of it, I don't know why they did it that way. The £699 deal is mentioned on the front page, right hand side. But as you say, you'll be fine with the WH1081 for now

Steve

steve wrote:You have to have weatherlink to be able to connect to the PC. The logger hardware has the PC interface as part of it, I don't know why they did it that way. The £699 deal is mentioned on the front page, right hand side. But as you say, you'll be fine with the WH1081 for now

Steve

I just updated my post above to reflect my conversation with John...

I had started to pack my WH1081 back in its box for a return visit to Maplin but as you say I should be fine with it for the time being so hopefully get it setup today.

Thanks for the info Steve...I will definitely buy from John when I stop playing weather stations and go earn some money!

Kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

Hello glynH..


first off I wanted to mention this..If you Buy a Davis VP2, and plan to connect it to your computer and use with software..you will need a Datalogger. The Datalogger does come with Weatherlink Software to get you started, but I never installed mine and instead installed Weather display software.You could just use Cumulus if your feel Weather Display is too complicatted for you.

A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: ..DO NOT BUY THE USB DATALOGGER...Get the Serial Version Datalogger Instead.It connect's via Serial port on back of your computer.If your computer Doesnt have a serial port connector on it at the present time, you can always install a serial port PCI Card adapter.

I mention this because a lot of people that have used the USB DataLogger had nothing but headaches with it, and ended up buying the Serial Version afterwards.


I have owned my Davis VP2 for almost 2 years now and Love it. It is a litle bit more money than some other home weather units out there, but as the saying goes.."you get what you pay for".

..chris

We must stop meeting like this Chris...people will start to talk!

After my converstaion with John I realised I would need the datalogger but would have bought the USB version in favour of the serial one as most of my PC's now do not have serial ports and I find the USB->Serial adaptors unreliable & unwieldly.

I was thinking of looking at the TCP/IP verison as everything here is connected to my network including printers, telephones, fax machine, 3 x UPS, IP CCTV Cameras, A/V Amp, Nevo remote control...you name it...I have it!

I even have an APC Netbotz & Masterwsitch in my equipment rack...total overkill for home of course...

Not sure how the IP version compares with the USB/Serial versions interms of features, usability etc. or how it would interact with Cumulus or other software but it would be my interface of choice.

I would have purchased the Davis wireless VP2 if I had the money right now - I usually buy the best first but very often lose interest and it goes to waste so I thought I'd dip a toe in the water and try the cheap & easy way in for a change!

Thanks & regards,
-=Glyn=-

Having set up my new WH-1080 from Maplin last night, I was delighted to find Cumulus today and astonished at how well documented this slick software is! Being a complete newbie I really appreciate the clear help files as much as the great displays.

Everything worked first time and a provisional test website was up and running in just a few minutes. The whole experience makes me realise just how rare is this positive outcome!

Thank you Steve.

Hi Chris & welcome to the forum.

Yeah it's great isn't it?

I have the same setup as you and a friend of mine in London has also due in no small way to the price of the weather station.

Brace yourself for an influx of Maplin WH-1081 users Steve!

Before I purchased mine I was looking for software and found Weather Display at first.

Downloaded and installed but the sheer amount of options was mindblowing and the interface for me was very 'untidy' and cluttered....it did allow me access to METAR data to try it out before I bought my weather station which was a nice feature.

That's not taking anything away from WD as it is obviously very powerful & configurable but I was drawn to Cumulus because of its simplistic use combined with a professional, clean look & feel.

Setting up your own website is a straightforward 'out-of-the-box' experience and as such appealed to me with my limited html skillset.

Enjoy!

Kind regards,
-=Glyn=-