Advice for weather station hardware

[knuttucks]

Hi, I hope I am posting in the correct forum.

I've been looking at weather stations for a while but am on a limited budget so Davis hardware is unfortunately out of the question. I would appreciate some advice before taking the plunge.

I would like to be able to measure UV/Lux if possible and believe eithr the WH3080 or W8681 would fit the bill but I am unsure of which one to go for as they appear very similar apart from the base station design. Working on a budget of £100 which of these two would be more reliable/accurate or is there an alternative I havent found. Wireless would also be an attractive element due to locating the station where I live.

Thanks

[steve]

Those are both basically the same station, both being manufactured by Fine Offset. The only difference might be if they operate on different frequencies, and this might affect the reliability of the connection between the transmitter and receiver (I'm speculating, I'm not a hardware expert).

[AllyCat]

Hi,

IMHO the important consideration when/if buying either of these (very similar) stations is to purchase it from a reputable supplier with good after-sales service, because you may well need it! But some of these suppliers do actually sell (optionally) via ebay.

Search the forum for the many posts on "3080" (mainly UK) and "3081" (mainly Australia). You will find that I have been highly critical of the Solar "enhancements" on these models (you will have to judge if my comments are reasonable), but I do admit that certain other factors (e.g. the Console LCD) are significantly better than the 1080/1 family. However, the 1080/1 can be bought for not much over half the price of the 3080/1 from, for example, Maplin (1081, probably 434MHz, without RCC) or Clas Ohlson (1080, 868MHz, with RCC).

Cheers, Alan.

[knuttucks]

Thanks for your replies, I was looking to purchase from Signatrol.com who I believe are reputable and helpful, their website is advertising the 3080 with a Mk 2 Solar Panel.

The solar measurement is possibly a bit of an indulgence but we had a PV solar system fitted 12 months ago and i would like to measure the light levels against generated power as an added interest.

[AllyCat]

Hi,

Yes, it was Signatrol who supplied my 3080 (and the necessary replacement Solar Pod without any hassle).

Certainly some of us here on the forum will be interested to hear of your experiences with the Mk2 Pod. Also whether the solar readings do correlate with the Solar Panels' output. But don't necessarily expect the data to correlate particularly well: Firstly the Pod has a "diffuser" over the light sensor (so it should "see" horizon to horizon) whilst PV panels are "flat plate collectors" typically pointing towards the south. Secondly, I believe that PV panels are sensitive also to Infra Red light (about half the sun's received energy is IR) whilst the FO "Lux" measurement "should" record only visible light.

Cheers, Alan.

[knuttucks]

It should be an interesting experiment, Thanks for your help.
Martyn

[jandrew]

Thanks for your replies, I was looking to purchase from Signatrol.com who I believe are reputable and helpful

I agree that they are reputable and helpful.

I bought my WH1090 from Signatrol and was very pleased with the quick delivery.

There was an intermittant fault on the transmitter, and I received a replacement from Signatrol within 24 hours of my email to them - excellent service.

jandrew