My rain guage
Pantech WH2900?
The only way to test is manual calibration. see /thread/2658605?p=38#r58443174
Rainfall is hopelessly variable over any said area unless it is less than say ... 100m.
Comparing 'distant' stations can only be a very rough check and who knows if the other stations are calibrated???
I have a brand new Pantech WH2900 in a box.
In due course I'll check to see if it is any different to my 'no name' WH2900.
Edit: Using text etc from posts in this thread I knocked up a short article on Weather Station rain gauge calibration.
https://app.box.com/s/aqr83nxeg68rpe1fpnqpvs6wch6l10xu (pdf)
Question?
Do you think that a WP WIKI with some of the tips and tricks reported here might be a useful adjunct to this thread?
Is anyone else noticing that these Fine Offset and similar stations are turning up on WU straight out of the box without any thought to calibration?
I read that Netatmo stations were pulled from displaying on WU after a multitude of complaints about poor data from weather geeks. Combination of lack of altitude adjustment and poor siting I suppose. Interestingly, I notice when looking at stations on Wundermap, that they do not claim reported pressures to be sea level or absolute. It is just what the station is reporting.
With regard to the WU Gold Stars I don't think a station needs to do much to get one, apart from being up and reporting for a sufficient period. Mine uses to be Goldstar but currently is not. I put this down to a multitude of recent power outages taking it offline frequently.
I am with WF and don't think they should need much calibration out of the box. The temperture/humidity sensor chip should be pretty accurate. If you don't adjust for altitude, then the pressure will reflect absolute and not sea level. The outliers in the regard should be pretty obvious. Rainfall seems to be the only one that is somewhat dubious and wind will be markedly effected by poor siting.
Read the manual....
Thanks. I missed that hit when I got it. What’s the best way to calibrate? That only tells me how to adjust up or down.
It has been sitting on 9 or 10 µg/m3 which is an AQI of 38 – 42.
The online real time AQI for my area ATM is 42.
Seems to be working well
So far I can not get this Ecowitt air quality meter to read below 3 µg/m3.
I have an Air Purifier coming in about a week and I am going to put it on top of that to see how it goes.
It seems to suffer to a certain extent from what a lot of cheap air quality meters do.
That is inaccuracies at very low readings.
What do you wish to calibrate?
I was thinking of doing the rain sensor. The manual doesn’t say what to do. Just how to adjust.
I was thinking of doing the rain sensor.
https://app.box.com/s/aqr83nxeg68rpe1fpnqpvs6wch6l10xu (pdf)
You need a couple of marbles and an accurate ml measure,
Seems a lot of silliness that one needs to calibrate something that is brand new out of a box, and should work accurately without having to do anything.
Seems a lot of silliness that one needs to calibrate something that is brand new out of a box, and should work accurately without having to do anything.
You actually are not adjusting the sensors themselves just +/- the reading in the console depending if it is reading high or low. If you run out of power in the console it defaults to all zeros and you have to do it again.
Cheap electronic sensors are notorious for being slightly out either way. You cant expect too much from a couple of hundred dollar home weather station compared to several thousand for a good one.
You cant expect too much from a couple of hundred dollar home weather station
Or maybe buy a simple plastic/glass rain gauge if these things can't be trusted?
I wonder how many people actually bother to calibrate them, thinking they are good out of the box?
I wonder how many people actually bother to calibrate them, thinking they are good out of the box?
I'm one of them. I should know better, but for whatever reason, I just never thought of it, and seeing that the rain events here are different from the local BOM station, I can't exactly compare the results.
Seems a lot of silliness that one needs to calibrate something that is brand new out of a box, and should work accurately without having to do anything.
I tend to agree.
But we need to take into account siting issues which can be significant when chasing accuracy. The weather station may be perfectly calibrated, but still be sending unrepresentative information. The user might install it in a back yard shielded by trees and the house itself. So the wind speed is way less than an official station. Or the unit might be sitting 3 feet above a corrugated iron roof radiating heat and overstating the temp.
That said if you look on wundermap, I reckon the temp reports are fairly consistent, suggesting this parameter at least is pretty good.
You actually are not adjusting the sensors themselves just +/- the reading in the console depending if it is reading high or low. If you run out of power in the console it defaults to all zeros and you have to do it again.
That would be model specific. HP2551 does not lose calibration on power loss.
I wonder how many people actually bother to calibrate them, thinking they are good out of the box?
It all depends on what an individual wants and/or expects.
If it's just to gauge when and how often it rains and roughly how much, it's absolutely fine 'outa da box'.
And that will likely be true for 95% of folk installing these gizmos.
But clearly the manufacturer understand that knocking a consumer item together from standard bits and bobs (that may well be intended for a specific gauge size), requires the ability to software adjust ... for us finicky folk ... on WP.
Note: The exact same tipping bucket seems to appear in each and every consumer weather station, no matter the cost. :)
And they all come out of the same Chinese factory in any case.
That would be model specific. HP2551 does not lose calibration on power loss.
The previous version that also has batteries in the console if it runs out of batteries and the power is off it defaults back.
The HP2551 does it have batteries in the console?
That would be model specific.
WH2900 console has batteries.
To reset the console the batteries must be removed.
This manual snip would indicate that settings are not lost unless you hold set key at power on.
https://i.postimg.cc/fRgXscrr/IMG-2944.jpg
Note:
1) When power on, press SET key to reset the weather station and clear all records
memory, and clears all user settings to default.
WH2900 accuracy (per manual)
The HP2551 does it have batteries in the console?
Nope. No batteries in the console. It has 16MB of internal memory. Around 2Mb is taken up by the firmware and a config record no doubt. The remainder is there to record and store the weather records, which you can then export to excel via the SD card.
I have updated the firmware twice on mine already and had numerous power outages. It did not lose any of the records or user configurations tweaks. I expect it has not lost my calibration settings either but am not at the unit just now so cannot check.
This manual snip would indicate that settings are not lost unless you hold set key at power on.
I am only going on what my WH2900 console did when there was a power outage and the batteries carked it.
When the power came back on it was completely reset. When I came home, I had to add all the calibration adjustments, date etc again.
Didnt have to add the wifi though, because you could see on WU where the power went out and then the uncalibrated settings start up after the power came back on.
Does anyone here have the WH2950 and know if the firmware update offered by the iPhone app WSView is safe to install?
Just ordered the GW1000 and the WH32E (outside temp/humidity) prope from Ecowitt direct... Wish I knew about the Lucy Chat disscount... Interesting thing to note, she contacted me to ask if I wanted 433mhz or 915mhz.. so there are options there if thats what you are after...
@Smeegle... Have you considered maybe trying to capture what is tipped after rainfall, weighing it, and then using that to calibrate your rain gauge? After all... 1gr of water is 1ml.
@Smeegle... Have you considered maybe trying to capture what is tipped after rainfall, weighing it, and then using that to calibrate your rain gauge? After all... 1gr of water is 1ml.
A ml is a ml. No need to weigh the bloody stuff. :)
@Smeegle... Have you considered maybe trying to capture what is tipped after rainfall, weighing it, and then using that to calibrate your rain gauge? After all... 1gr of water is 1ml.
No I hadn't thought of that. If you could capture only the tipped water without any of the surrounding rain passing the unit it should work in theory. So if the panel said 10mm of rain fell, one would expect to catpure 100ml of water. If not adjust accordingly. As WF said no need to weigh though. Just measure the quantity. But really seems simpler to measure the input rather than the output.
I believe the simplest way would actually be to place a quality 10cm rain gauge beside the device. Compare the two after rain and adjust the gain so they match.
Today we had the first rain here since I tweaked mine to 0.82 gain a couple of weeks ago. the HP2551 and my gauge are now in agreement. There was only 5mm of rain. Will wait for a couple more rain event before I conclude it is all fixed but it looks promising.
I believe the simplest way would actually be to place a quality 10cm rain gauge beside the device. Compare the two after rain and adjust the gain so they match.
That's the one.
https://i.postimg.cc/9Q0LXCCF/20190113-063436.jpg
Mine is now tracking well, however the marble technique most certainly gets you within a percentage point or two.
We seem to be overthinking this. :) see https://app.box.com/s/aqr83nxeg68rpe1fpnqpvs6wch6l10xu (pdf)
Rain over night.
Gauge 22.25mm (bit hard to read to that resolution :) ), weather station 22.1 mm. Happy with that
Hi Wahroonga Farm, do you find the sensor package is stable enough in high winds mounted on a star dropper or is that a maxi dropper (which certainly would be lol) I see in your photo?
I just purchased an ECOWITT WH2910C from Amazon and was going to concrete a 2" steel tube in the ground, but if a dropper works then that will be the far better/easier option.
I've been reading through this thread for the past couple of weeks and my 2 cents is anyone who is serious about rain records really needs a manual rain gauge, as these electronic ones are more for "heck it's pissing down with rain, I wonder how much rain we've had? "Without having to go outside.
Mind you the accuracy once calibrated you guys are getting is impressive.
do you find the sensor package is stable enough in high winds mounted on a star dropper
Standard dropper. However that mount and location is temporary ie the 'calibration position'.
The star picket has proven totally secure; there's not much windage load. However the problem with a dropper, is that it is not round ie the dropper orientation governs the station direction. I'd stick with the pipe. :)
It will move to the roof ... soon. :)
My annual rain data remains manual via the 10cm gauge, read at 8.00am each day.
Now that it is 'calibrated', the weather station is a fantastic back-up and provides pretty accurate daily apportionment, when away.
How often have I watched a storm on radar from afar wondering if it is actually delivering useful rain ... whilst itching to ring the neighbour. The weather station solves that. :)
My next goal is a remote solar powered weather station (WH2900) in one of the far paddocks, using an M1 IoT LTE data connection via Teltra's M1 network.
The star picket has proven totally secure; there's not much windage load. However the problem with a dropper, is that it is not round ie the dropper orientation governs the station direction. I'd stick with the pipe. :)
It will move to the roof ... soon. :)
Yeah, I didn't think of that. I'd like to mount mine on the roof for more accurate wind readings, but I think the ambient heat in summer would be an issue. I live in the northern part of the Adelaide Hills, so summer gets pretty toasty.
Slydog ¡República! writes...
It has been sitting on 9 or 10 µg/m3 which is an AQI of 38 – 42.
The online real time AQI for my area ATM is 42.
BD4 writes...
Seems to be working well
So far I can not get this Ecowitt air quality meter to read below 3 µg/m3.
I have an Air Purifier coming in about a week and I am going to put it on top of that to see how it goes.
It seems to suffer to a certain extent from what a lot of cheap air quality meters do.
That is inaccuracies at very low readings.
Well so much for the Air purifier. I am none the wiser.
The Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2S is reading between 1-6 (it bounces around a lot) while the Ecowitt has been sat on top of the Xiaomi and is reading 7-8 µg/m3
I decided to pick up another cheap PM2.5 air quality meter and compare the 3 readings.
https://www.ebay.co
Seems like this person is doing the same thing.
https://twitter.com/Ri
The Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2S is reading between 1-6 (it bounces around a lot) while the Ecowitt has been sat on top of the Xiaomi and is reading 7-8 µg/m3
For anyone interested in my little air quality experiment – we had a change in weather overnight I also left some windows open and the AQI for my area by http://aqicn.org is 54 which is higher than normal. It is now raining so that should bring it down.
I shut the windows and both the Ecowitt and the (Mi when I turned it on) were reading 14 µg/m3 which is 54 AQI.
After a several minutes the Ecowitt (sitting on tip of the Mi) has gone to 9 µg/m3 and the Mi is still bouncing around 14 µg/m3
The Mi readings bounce around but the Ecowitt dont.
Maybe the Mi was reading low when I first turned it on out of the box and now it has had time to be sitting in the room the readings are more accurate – who knows.
Just bought a Pantech HP2550 from the bay at $251 so think this was a good price. Item is yet to arrive, can anyone let me know the max size of the tf card it takes (I assume 32 gig) but can't see the max size in any on line manual.
Also has anyone connected this station or its rebadged model/s to WeeWX or is this not possible and the only possibility is transfering back ups into such software to retain history.
I'd like to mount mine on the roof for more accurate wind readings, but I think the ambient heat in summer would be an issue.
Jaycar Modbury... https://www.jaycar.com.au/tel
Mine's been up for nearly a year with no issues. Has a base that can be angled so you could roof-mount it if you wanted.
Mines on a cliff that's already a few metres above the house.
Just bought a Pantech HP2550
has anyone connected this station or its rebadged model/s to WeeWX
I have, by hijacking the DNS for rtupdate.wunderground.com to a local server running this script
Just bought a Pantech HP2550 ..... can anyone let me know the max size of the tf card it takes (I assume 32 gig)
Any FAT32 card should work, But the smaller the better and using a 32GB would be a waste of money. The HP2550 writes to its own meagre 16mb of internal memory and not directly to the SD card. A couple of those MB store the firmware and I imagine the rest is used to store the WX record history. So roughly 13mb is available for wx records. You then export it to the SD card when you want to take it elsewhere. Ambient sell this as the WS-2000 and state "Even the smaller memory sized Micro SD Card will store more data than the life of the weather station.".
I just grabbed a 4GB micro SD card from ebay for $7 and it works fine with my Ecowitt 2551
I would be interested to see if anyone has exported their HP2550 records to SD card yet and tried to open them in Excel. On my Ecowitt 2551, I found a bug where the recorded dates transpose the date and year. So today would be reported as 19 March 2015. I pointed this out to Ecowitt and how to go about fixing it. They sent me a brand new firmware two days later with this fixed which was terrific. I suspect the same but might be present on the the Pantech.
Jaycar Modbury... https://www.jaycar.com.au/tel
Mine's been up for nearly a year with no issues. Has a base that can be angled so you could roof-mount it if you wanted.
Mines on a cliff that's already a few metres above the house.
Cheers for the link.
I've been away for work all week and yesterday afternoon got home and setup my 2910c :) Just mounted it to a dropper for the time being.
Today I got the chance to go to Jaycar and buy that telescopic antenna mast. Now due to buildings and trees and the fact my backyard needs landscaping, I don't have a definite spot I want to have the station located, but I read a post on wxforum.net about filling a large plant pot with concrete and bolting the mast to that.
I thought that was rather clever.
but I read a post on wxforum.net about filling a large plant pot with concrete and bolting the mast to that.
I thought that was rather clever.
You could even do it with a couple of bags quickset cement from Bunnings.
Make sure you put a piece of threaded bar through the pole with a nut on each side just up from the bottom that sticks out a few cm each side into the cement (like an up-side-down T) to stop the pole from turning and coming out of the cement.
Re SD card and using WeeWx with HP2550.
Thanks for the advice guys much appreciated. One last question has anybody grounded their pole that their weather station is mounted on incase of lightening strike or nobody worries about it?
Just ordered the GW1000
These are much smaller than I thought only about 70mm x 30mm.
Sets up pretty much the same as the Weather station. Finds the outdoor PWS, Air monitor and soil monitor straight away.
Updates per minute. You can upload to ecowitt.net and WU etc.
If you have the PM2.5 it does the conversion to AQI for you.
If you don't adjust for altitude, then the pressure will reflect absolute and not sea level. The outliers in the regard should be pretty obvious.
I just wish the 90% of people with Stations that have obviously not even roughly calibrated their barometer would get of their arse and do it. (Mainly look at WU & WCloud). They are all over the shop! What good is a weather station if it reports crap! It ain't hard to do, or is their a valid reason besides being lazy? I'm in S Aus.
(Ready to duck the flames!) (-;
They are all over the shop! What good is a weather station if it reports crap!
Perhaps you could assist the debate by providing a 'How to calibrate a home weather station barometer'.
I'm not sure that the barometer is the most important home weather station output?
I rely on others to analyse surface pressure from official sources.
Perhaps you could assist the debate by providing a 'How to calibrate a home weather station barometer'.
The best way to do this is to calibrate your reading to match the closest BOM site
The best way to do this is to calibrate your reading to match the closest BOM site
How relevant is that ... given 100+ km distance and elevation differences?
I must be missing something? :)
How relevant is that ... given 100+ km distance and elevation differences?
I must be missing something? :)
I suspect you are missing the point that BOM sites are adjusted to report sea level pressure, even though they are at anything but sea level. For example Falls Creek Vic at 5790 feet. If you happen to be fairly close to Falls creek, you can then calibrate your unit to match so that it indicates the same MSL Pressure even if you are 4,000' lower. You do this in the knowledge that regardless of the differing station elevations the hypothetical pressure at sea level beneath both of them, if you could dig a hole down to there would be much the same.
WRT to 100+ km distance, that is atypical. Most of us have official weather stations much closer than this. But even if that was the case you could still use a station a long distance off to calibrate. Just wait for stable weather period when there is a big high pressure, with very little gradient and complete the calibration then.
All this aside, like you mentioned, I also find the other parameters of more use and am not much fussed about the pressure.
I suspect you are missing the point that BOM sites are adjusted to report sea level pressure
Ah.
That's the missing bit of the jigsaw and makes complete sense when plotting ... isobars. :)
Thanks.
My WH2990
Weather stations can display either the absolute or the relative pressure.
Either option can be displayed and is available in settings.
The relative pressure should display the value at height that you have established for your station.
Just checked mine which is set at 150m. Current temperature = 19 degrees.
Absolute = 1015.6 hPa
Relative = 997.1 hPa
Difference = 18.5 hPa
As check see https://www.mide.com/pages/ai
At 19 degrees and 150m, the pressure (default) is 1013.25 hPa – 995.6028 hPa; a 17.6 hPa (difference).
That is within 1 hPa.
Near enough?
Checking the manual regarding WH2990 calibration ...
Absolute pressure offset calibrated (range +/-10hpa)
Not huge range of offset values?
From the manual, the accuracy of the barometric sensor is:
Accuracy : +/-3 hPa under 700-1100hPa
I reckon mine is prolly near enough. :)
Perhaps the bigger problem may be that a number of weather station owners may not know or set their actual height above sea level?
Perhaps the bigger problem may be that a number of weather station owners may not know or set their actual height above sea level?
Or care? Lots of owners probably just want to get fairly accurate temp readings, rain and wind. Pressure? Unless your forecasting, who cares.
I just wish the 90% of people with Stations that have obviously not even roughly calibrated their barometer would get of their arse and do it.
The question is why do you care about others personal weather stations? Does it affect you?
Perhaps you could assist the debate by providing a 'How to calibrate a home weather station barometer'.
1) Read the WX Station Instructions.
2A) If your WX Stat. has altitude adjustment, adjust to Google Maps Altitude at your place. Cross check with B)
2B) If your WX Stat. has Barometer adjustment, adjust using your closest BOM WX Stat. by clicking on your local Station on their Rain Radar Map to display the MSL Pressure that's updated every 30 minutes. You can also cross check using BOM'S Interactive Weather and Wave Forecast Maps by reading the isobar pressure directly.
3) Re check using 2B, especially in fine weather.
For every reduction of 1 Hectopascal = 8.32 Mtrs. Higher in Altitude. You can use simple math to double check both your altitude and pressure.
Sea Level Pressure = 1013.25 Hpa
The question is why do you care about others personal weather stations? Does it affect you?
I was asking a question "is their a valid reason besides being lazy?"
Well I'd like to be able to view the weather on WU, WCloud etc. instead of knowing I have to go to BOM to know I'm not reading garbage. I just don't get why someone that Buys a WX Station, spends the money, does the work to set it up and then put it on the Net wouldn't spend 5 minutes to set it up properly. They obviously have a interest in weather. It's a free world man. I'll stick with BOM.
Just purchased the removable bird spikes for the ecowitt 2551. Spoke to Lucy with delivery 3 to 4 weeks. Will post opinion once received and installed
1) Read the WX Station Instructions.
Thanks :star:
I'm within that 1017 isobar loop on Meteye.
https://i.postimg.cc/vZw0K6q
And this is me
https://i.postimg.cc/dVR5ctg
1017.25
I reckon mine is prolly near enough.
I just don't get why someone that Buys a WX Station, spends the money, does the work to set it up and then put it on the Net
Mainly so they can see the weather at home, while not at home, and keep track of their own data.
Edit: Meteye says i'm between 1007 – 1008.
Accuracy : +/-3 hPa under 700-1100hPa
Home WX says 1005.9
Phone says 1007.3
Mainly so they can see the weather at home, while not at home, and keep track of their own data.
Fair enough, I was thinking most people would put it on the Net for the "Weather Community", especially the locals in their area. I guess a lot either havn't got a console or prefer to view it on line.
At Flagstaff Hill, Adel – 992.1 hPa. ... 8 K away at Parafield Gardens – 1017.0 hPa
Wow, check the Rainfall and Isobaric charts around the cyclones, poor people up north! That will put those WX Station's to the ultimate test!
At Flagstaff Hill, Adel – 992.1 hPa. ... 8 K away at Parafield Gardens – 1017.0 hPa
Wow, check the Rainfall and Isobaric charts around the cyclones, poor people up north! That will put those WX Station's to the ultimate test!
Have a look at Wunderground and you will see that they do not purport to be reporting MSL pressure at all. They are just displaying "Pressure" as reported by each station. That may be actual or relative/MSL depending on how the station has been setup. Wundermap cannot even show a map plotting station pressures. Presumably this is because they know it would be meaningless to do so, given the differing way stations are configured. If I saw 1017 and 992 nearby to each other I would surmise 1017-992= 25 hPa difference. 25 x 30' and there is a fair chance the height of the two stations differ by ~ 750 feet. Google tells me Flagstaff hill is 700' high, so that makes sense.
Have a look at Wunderground and you will see that they do not purport to be reporting MSL pressure at all.
Layers > Model Data > MSL (But who knows where that data comes from?)
That's not my point anyway, it's just unfortunate a huge % of "pressures" are wrong. I'm certainly not going to lose any sleep over it!
Port Hedland Forcast – 100-300mm of rain, Winds Over 170 Km! Hope they get through it OK!
Layers > Model Data > MSL (But who knows where that data comes from?)
Not from the stations. That info is sourced from European (ECMWF) and United States (GFS) Global Weather Models. The top of the same list shows the parameters our WX stations can display on the map and pressure is not one of them. A large % of stations not being corrected to MSL pressure, does not make them wrong. Uncorrected that's all. They should still indicate a perfectly normal pressure trend as compare to a corrected station.
Not from the stations.
Man, your a wealth of information! NO, A large % are WRONG, theirs very few showing absolute pressure ... it appears to me that 99% are intending to show MSL but around 80+ % are more than +/- 2 hPa out. Anyway, apart from my excellent guide for adjusting your station, I think this subject is getting tired so I'll crawl back in my hole! 0》:
Use this guide to calibrate your pressure.
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=35272.0
I used it on my ecowitt 2910c with success.
My weather station is ITRURO15 on weatherunderground.
I used it on my ecowitt 2910c with success.
My weather station is ITRURO15 on weatherunderground
Good job. Your pressure at ITRURO15 is very close to the BOM MSL observations in the ADL area.
I used it on my ecowitt 2910c with success.
Great job! ☆ I'm glad I brought this subject up as it seems some are checking their Barometer Settings. To be fair, I guess I should open up my barometer calibration for scrutiny ... http://007digital.net (Please don't pilfer my template file, it's got some not nice code in it) Apologies for the crude way I worded my original post. ○》:
hese are much smaller than I thought only about 70mm x 30mm.
Sets up pretty much the same as the Weather station. Finds the outdoor PWS, Air monitor and soil monitor straight away.
If it ever arrives I'll be able to set it up lol.
Ahh china post, so slow.
If it ever arrives I'll be able to set it up lol.
Ahh china post, so slow.
Mine went for a holiday to Brisbane with Australia Post before coming back to Wollongong a week later.
I feel I was lucky to see it at all.
When (if) you get it, update the firmware as it fixes a few issues.
I feel I was lucky to see it at all.
At least it looked like your tracking got updated. Mine was last updated on the 15/3... Good old EMS.
Anyone having issues switching to Celsius on WeatherUnderground since they updated their UI? YES!
Weather Underground is BROKEN (How to loose users in one easy lesson, release Update FULL OF BUGS and DELETE Features!)
YES!
Weather Underground is BROKEN (How to loose users in one easy lesson, release Update FULL OF BUGS and DELETE Features!)
Is there anywhere we can complain? Very frustrating when it's the only way you can view your station data remotely.
Yes its partially broken... Cant switch to celsius. I sent them an email but whether they read them or not is another story. Hopefully they fix it. Preferred it the way it was originally.
Is there anywhere we can complain?
Bottom of page > Feedback and Support > Bottom of page > Email Us
(Count yourself lucky if they answer, I've never RX a reply!)
Solar Radiation > (i) Solar proton events .... WOW! Wind doesn't update, Summary is wrong, The Ads are even BIGGER, ect., ect. It's crap!
Switch to weathercloud. Great service. No complaints here.
Agree, WCs only problem is hit and miss uploading, for everyone, it's not just me. (See upload graphs)
Switch to weathercloud. Great service. No complaints here.
Not sure my station would be compatible, but will give it a look. Cheers.
WOW!!! These guys are useless. The API is useless to me. It rounds values to whole numbers, and the website is ugly and broken. I was fine how it was. Geez!!!
I'm guessing they've re-designed the site around imperial measurements and haven't yet got around to metric options for most of the parameters. All the historical data is still being displayed in inches and miles with no option to change that.
It could be worse – just be thankful we don't have to contend with 29 5/16 inches of mercury. Americans love their fractions...
Mine was last updated on the 15/3... Good old EMS.
Well now that WeatherUnderground has gone to the dogs, and when it turns up, you will be able to access all your data live on https://www.ecowitt.net/ which it actually pretty good.
Weather Underground is pretty much working fine for me. The dashboard page opens momentarily in F for a fraction of a second before changing to C. Temps are all in C apart from the mini map although even this correct to C if I go to Wundermap. All my other parameters are in metric as per normal. mm, hPa wind in km/h. I must be lucky.
I looked at ecowitt.net a couple of days ago, but found it too limited in number of stations to be of much interest to me.
I had a look at ecowitt.net i think you need a Ecowitt GW1000 to use it or a compatible weatherstation. I tried putting in my mac address a couple of weeks ago from my HP2551 but keeps showing no data.
Has anyone else tried?
I tried putting in my mac address a couple of weeks ago from my HP2551 but keeps showing no data.
Has anyone else tried?
Same here. Although when I set mine up I was at a different location and on a different Network to my HP2551. I put it down to that and was waiting to return to the location thinking it was probably in need of the IP of the Network to find it. But I am probably wrong here. We need to to ask Ecowiit. Have sent them an email – will report back.
I asked the question re pushing data to ecowitt.net via Facebook Messenger. I received a reply this morning. They are looking at May sometime for the HP2551 to push the data to their site.
Weather Underground is pretty much working fine for me. The dashboard page opens momentarily in F for a fraction of a second before changing to C. Temps are all in C apart from the mini map although even this correct to C if I go to Wundermap.
That seems to be it atm.
But do we really need a screen full of pointless graphic when the old table did the job perfectly well.
https://i.postimg.cc/3ND93SQ
What is it with millennial's. :)
The wind is still in mph on the tile on the PWS dashboard page. Precip total is from yesterday. And the weekly mode graph and table is all screwed up (shows data from the first day of the week and nothing else).
How do they go live with it so horribly buggy?! You're supposed to test all this shit before flicking the switch.
I've also lost my PUSH from wunderground to PVOutput.
Temp and Soar Radiation stopped at 2am 26/3/19
Same hope they fix it. Wish they could roll it back...
They are looking at May sometime for the HP2551 to push the data to their site. Thanks I got a similar email response to a query I sent them. They are putting together a new firmware to add support for ecowitt.net. I am going to give them a hand to test it so will let you know how that goes which should happen a bit sooner.
But do we really need a screen full of pointless graphic when the old table did the job perfectly well.
I totally agree. Seems a pointless change to me. Can only surmise they are trying to make it look visually more like the iPad wunderstation app.
I see 2 issues on my page on mobile.
I'm at 430m which is 1414ft however it's showing at 1414m
Also the barometric pressure text is correct but the actual graphic dial is way below to the point where it's off the chart.
The desktop version on Firefox doesn't have the barmometric pressure dial. It still has the old graphs.
The desktop version on Firefox doesn't have the barmometric pressure dial.
Mine does?
https://i.postimg.cc/c4J50xL
Broken
Seems a pointless change to me
You're right,we should just leave everything as ugly tables. More visually appealing designs that could be used as a weather dashboard are completely inappropriate. #datatablesftw
I set up my ecowitt station a couple of weeks ago and I notice my wind direction moves around alot both in the logs and physically, is that pretty normal?
is that pretty normal?
Yes. I read that Ambient who sell these stations rebranded in the US have done something to dampen the wind vane oscillations.
#datatablesftw
:)
If you are going for visual appeal, at least make it visually appealing and a wee bit useful.
Is anyone having issues with the data on WU?
https://i.imgur.com/3bIw28P.png
The high, low and average temps are all 23c when the graph below shows the normal temp changes. Same with the wind and pressure are both showing wrong where the graphs below are right. This started yesterday.
Bugger, there's been lots of complaints over their termination of the old API on the WU forums over the last few months. Also a lot of concern now it's owned by IBM the service would be run in to the ground. Lets hope not... but might start looking at other services anyway.
Hi, all purchased a Pan Tech 2900 a couple of weeks ago, calibrated the rain gauge thanks to Wahroonga Farms instructions (thanks) and could not be happier with it, a massive step up from sticking my head out the window which was my previous method of determining rainfall. A couple of questions is weatherunderground a train wreck of a site or have I caught them at a bad time, also any other apps or sites that I should know about, thanks.
Yes. I read that Ambient who sell these stations rebranded in the US have done something to dampen the wind vane oscillations.
Good to know that it's not just me then.
or have I caught them at a bad time
I suspect this one; but i have not been around here all that long.
Maybe IBM outsourced a 'visual appeal' code update .. to India ... at a too good to be true price?
A couple of questions is weatherunderground a train wreck of a site or have I caught them at a bad time, also any other apps or sites that I should know about, thanks.
In the WS View app you can sign up to 3 sites.
WU has always had its ups and downs but this latest debarkle with the IBM takeover and the site revamp that has more bugs than a North QLD BBQ has really put the cat amongst the pigeons.
Lots of talk here
https://www.wxforum.net/
H, mmm perhaps I require too much from a free site but:
why is the temp metric but wind speed imperial?
The summary shows no precipitation but the graph does.
It's a massive step up from the old Digitech unit my daughter bought me several years ago, but WU appears to be programmed by a high school science club.
Wahroonga Farm watched an old John Wayne movie last week and he shot a couple of hundred Indians in 90 minutes.
Maybe we need to bring him back to sort this, just a thought.
H, mmm perhaps I require too much from a free site but:
WU just did a massive update – seems they threw the baby out with the bath water. It is currently mostly broken.
It was a completely different looking site a few days ago.
It was a completely different looking site a few days ago.
We've been discussing that for the last two pages. That's exactly where the comment came from.
So my GW1000 arrived on the weekend, had some dramas getting it to setup.
Ive got a pixel 3xl, sorted it out but thought id leave a note for others.
If you see "Connected to device" then followed by "Connected Fail, try again", turn off your mobile data (leave wifi on) and it should go through the setup steps fine.
Well now that WeatherUnderground has gone to the dogs, and when it turns up, you will be able to access all your data live on https://www.ecowitt.net/ which it actually pretty good.
I got it setup on Ecowitt, weather underground, Weather cloud and was setting it up on WOW when the NBN installers came and I forgot to finish it up.
Next step I guess is Hass.io integration.
If you see "Connected to device" then followed by "Connected Fail, try again", turn off your mobile data (leave wifi on) and it should go through the setup steps fine.
Ahhhh, maybe that's the problem I had.
I ended up using an old phone with no Sim in it. Some of us here thought it may have been due to an older version of Android that it worked.
My unit still won't connect to my wifi even after disabling 5g etc.
I disabled 5g on router.
Don't know how to disable 5g on phone but I forced it onto my 2.4g network.
I have yet to try a different device yet
I tried an ancient Alcatel with Android 4 I think and it worked perfectly
So it must have been due to no mobile data, not old Android.
Thanks for that. Hopefully that helps new players here.
I've also lost my PUSH from wunderground to PVOutput.
Temp and Soar Radiation stopped at 2am 26/3/19
I found my API key had been completely wiped, regenerated a new one on WU and all good.
I got it setup on Ecowitt,
So that is you and me on the map.
The only 2 actually broadcasting in Oz... :o)
We've been discussing that for the last two pages.
NSS
Same hope they fix it. Wish they could roll it back...
You can get your old look back if you use this link and add your PWS station name at the end.
Dunno how long it will stay going for.
They have changed the 'ID' to lower case 'id' to still get to the old site.
https://www.wunderground.com
Example station link courtesy of smeegle :o)
whrl.pl/Rfh8mj
https://www
New site
https://www.wunderground
They have changed the 'ID' to lower case 'id' to still get to the old site.
Thankyou thankyou thankyou!!!
You can get your old look back if you use this link and add your PWS station name at the end.
Dunno how long it will stay going for.
Not all heroes wear capes! :)
But since i dont have much faith in anything IBM do, what service do people find is best other than WU for uploading and viewing pws data?
Only new to PWS but Weathercloud appears to be a huge step ahead of WU at the moment, not sure if there is a downside to Weathercloud but for me, it's simple and accurate.
My system has been showing "offline" for some time, today now showing "online".
Some progress I think.
Opps.... Weather Underground
You can get your old look back
Thanks.
Why oh why would you change perfection??
https://i.postimg.cc/RZZTWJG
So that is you and me on the map.
The only 2 actually broadcasting in Oz... :o)
A tad warmer in Sydney at the moment by the looks of it too :D
Just been looking at stations myself and it seems that right now the Ecowitt range seems to be on sale.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JLRQJ12
Pretty decent setup it looks like it can do with individual tools – probably will pick this up and let you guys know how it goes.
You can get your old look back if you use this link and add your PWS station name at the end.
Dunno how long it will stay going for.
I'm guessing this has minutes to live
Looks like they did another update on the wunderground site. Looks much better...
Thanks for the heads up, SI units again so I can now resume what used to be a fun part of my life.
Looks like they did another update on the wunderground site. Looks much better...
Yes, despite the new clunky graphics, on a quick check all is good again.
Pity you can't kill the 100% repetitious additional graphics, as all the relevant data is displayed in the first window?
https://i.postimg.cc/k5sJGVS
https://i.postimg.cc/x80FCCK
The Information button on the additional graphics is ... interesting. :)
Looks like they did another update on the wunderground site. Looks much better...
It's a step in the right direction. Would like to see values to 1 decimal like it use to be. The graphs suck that they are only in rounded degrees.
I agree with all the stupid big boxes. That's useless and repetitive. My pressure box graph is wrong. It's currently 1024.72hPa here at the moment, but the needle is pointing towards 970...
currently 1024.72hPa here at the moment, but the needle is pointing towards 970...
Woops :)
https://i.postimg.cc/PqfczH2
It's a step in the right direction. Would like to see values to 1 decimal like it use to be. The graphs suck that they are only in rounded degrees.
Yeah, it's certainly better, but I need decimals back, too! Part of the fun is watching heat records get broken in summer, even it's only by .1 of a degree.
If they are only going to show 5 minute rounded data then that is all the data I will be sending them. They say they are fixing it but if they don't then I will be throwing together some python to pass the data through to return the favour.
Woops :)
https://i.postimg.cc/PqfczH
Looks like they fixed this. Seems to be ok now i think...
Not for me at this time.
Mine is out by roughly 40 also.
It’s also saying my wind is at 314km/h atm.
Edit: turns out the wind is 3, gust is 4. Surely they can display it better than 3|4
This is how mines been displaying since they "upgraded" it
https://i.imgur.com/fylSbW5.png
It's lucky the old design is still working or it would be pretty much unusable. If they pull the pin on the old design i will be pulling the pin on my PWS unfortunately. IBM are hopeless.
If they pull the pin on the old design i will be pulling the pin on my PWS unfortunately
That's a bit dramatic, especially for a free service you pay nothing for. There are other services around.
That's a bit dramatic, especially for a free service you pay nothing for. There are other services around.
But i do, I've got a paid membership. I also provide them a lot of data, which they make money on by selling to aviation companies and the like. And all the people who view my PWS view ads which also generate them revenue.
I dont understand how is it dramatic by not continuing to use the service and provide them data if it's no longer working as intended?
dramatic by not continuing to use the service
I was more commenting on pulling the pin on your pws just because WU isn't providing what you want any more. That's like cutting off your nose to spite your face...
Is this actually the case?
Yes they sell weather information to the aviation industry, maritime, trucking fleets, for weather reports on some TV/Radio news stations and even to insurance companies.
I was more commenting on pulling the pin on your pws just because WU isn't providing what you want any more. That's like cutting off your nose to spite your face...
No nose cutting where I am. I used to use the data my PWS sent to WU to feed a small machine learning project I am tinkering with. The change that happened has mucked that up so I've been motivated to find an alternative. I have found that a $20 software defined radio dongle connected to a pi (which was remarkably easy to get running) lets me grab the data from the sensor in its raw form which I am now using again for my needs. WU can get the rounded data less frequent I choose to send them now.
Mine is out by roughly 40 also.
According to them, it's 1060 at my house!
And I want my decimals back. Pretty useless without them. :/
I have found that a $20 software defined radio dongle connected to a pi (which was remarkably easy to get running) lets me grab the data from the sensor in its raw form
I'm looking to do this so I can grab the PWS data to a RPi and integrate it with an irrigation controller.
Do you have any tips on the the radio dongle to use? Most references I can find refer to an RFM01 which looks to be obsolete.
My PWS is a Jaycar version of the WH1080 and uses 433.9 MHz.
I'm looking to do this so I can grab the PWS data to a RPi and integrate it with an irrigation controller.
Do you have any tips on the the radio dongle to use? Most references I can find refer to an RFM01 which looks to be obsolete.
My PWS is a Jaycar version of the WH1080 and uses 433.9 MHz.
I've only tried one so far so can share those details. I bought one of these: https://www.littlebird.com.au
Once I got the code to compile, which was pretty easy, the dongle worked out of the box on both a pi and macbook with no mucking around at all. With no parameters the program detected the dongle and started picking up signals from my station. I also intermittently pick up signals from a bunch of others in the area. I am now playing with some Python to filter out the signals I don't want and writing it to a Mariadb on my NAS. The data is raw so I need to write some code to summarise it into something more useful. Rainfall is shown as mm since the unit was turned on for example, so to do daily rain or current rain rate there will need to be some math.
Just pulled the trigger on a Pantech HP2550 with a few of the temp sensors.
Excited to nerd down when it arrives!
Just pulled the trigger on a Pantech HP2550 with a few of the temp sensors.
That looks nice, I would be interested to see what access to the data you can get other than going through a 3rd party site like WU. Local REST API or export to arbirty service?
Im looking for a CO2 meter/temp/whatever meter. Dont want to spend more than $100-$120
Need something that is good on batteries/ac, andvis relatively easy to use. For a school application.
Suggestions?
New version of WS View with new 1.3.2 firmware for WH2900 (and probably others) that supports uploading to ecowitt and to any custom server in wunderground or ecowitt format. Perfect for keeping your own data on your own server.
Perfect for keeping your own data on your own server.
Came here to mention this.
Has anyone set up their own server yet?
Any hints and tips?
Has anyone set up their own server yet?
Any hints and tips?
Trying weewx. I have setup the server on ubuntu need to figure out how to get it to talk to my EcowittHP2551.
If anyone has done it please share some tips.
Running the simulation driver so the server side is ok.
Just need to figure out how to setup the interceptor driver to communicate with the Ecowitt i suspect its not supported.
Trying weewx. I have setup the server on ubuntu need to figure out how to get it to talk to my EcowittHP2551.
If anyone has done it please share some tips.
I'm running a modified version of this script with my HP2551
I've hijacked the DNS so rtupdate.wunderground.com redirects to a Raspberry Pi, which has the above php script running at /weatherstation/updateweatherstation.php which then transmits the data to wunderground and a local weewx server.
Edit:
In addition to these lines sending the data to wunderground:
$wunderground = file_get_contents("http://rtup
echo $wunderground;
I send the data to my local weewx
$weewx = file_get_contents("http://10.6
echo $weewx;`]
and the weewx config on 10.60.0.11 has:
[Interceptor]
# This section is for the network traffic interceptor driver.
# The driver to use:
driver = user.interceptor
port = 8765
address = 10.60.0.11
device_type = wu-client
Trying weewx
Cheers... Unfortunately I've long since given up running linux.
Raspberry Pi
Except for my Pi... but they're both busy.
Bit annoying really as I have a windows laptop running 24/7 and would love to just stick everything on that, and then fwd all my data to google sheets.
Sadly my recent illness has screwed with my brain and "dumbed" me down for the time being so even command line stuff that used to be second nature is proving to be a nightmare. :(
Hopefully now that the firmware is out there, and there's a lot of users of the wh-2900, someone will come up with something that's almost "plug and play" for me.
Jeez even an Android app could upload the data to google sheets would be awesome. I have an old phone getting my solar data from my inverter via BT and uploading it to PVoutput.org. Something along those lines would be great, but as I said, I'm not functioning 100%, or I'd just code the damn thing myself (sometimes I forget how to tie my shoes).
Just pulled the trigger on a Pantech HP2550
I just got one of these! My accurite outdoor sensor array and my much older fine offset array finally carked it after 3 and 8 years respectively. The sun hear in canberra is too much for the plastics.
Anyway set up the HP2550 – which was a breeze – and its working great. Didn't have to calibrate anything except wind direction. will check the bucket against my rain gauge, when/if it rains here.
I have to say, wunderground is now so crap – the website is just junk on a pc or ipad. The apps are ok, but the website is hopeless. I have a paid membership and haven't had my stations connected for about year, given the decay in quality data they were generating.
So I am now uploading to weathercloud, which doesn't seem all that much better. time will tell once I get used to them I guess.
Are there any other android or ios apps that people use that works with the HP2550? I tried the ambient weather app – it accepted the mac address but data does not get uploaded.
Are you using WS View?
no, have not had to use that as I can set up wifi access and wunderground and weathercloud accounts directly on the console. haven't tried it because I don't want to stuff up the settings I've already input.
haven't tried it because I don't want to stuff up the settings
Shouldn't change any settings, but will detect a system on WiFi. And the latest version you can send data to your own server.
Shouldn't change any settings
ok, might give it a go, though on the ipad, my console display type is not indicated during setup.
my console display type is not indicated during setup.
Hmm... Might not work then. Nothing to lose by trying though.
didn’t work. though I’m finding wunderground and weahercloud website and apps ok. the wunderground app can be a bit hit and miss though and the whole wunderground site needs stability work done to it, its a mess.
wunderground site
Went downhill in a big way about 3 months ago. Doesn't even show exact temp anymore, just rounds off, which is next to bloody useless!
You can get your old look back if you
No longer working for me :(
Error 404: Page Not Found
Either Brutus is in the server room or it might be that:
The page you requested does not exist. Please check the URL or refer to the Site Map for a list of features and products.
Just got the email for ebay, looks like floralivings on 20% off again.
2550 is only $22x, I believe it's an even better deal than before
No longer working for me :(
Yeah, they have completely axed the old site now :o(
It really irks me that they have not put one decimal place on the Celsius temperature readings on the new site.
I use their new site far less than I did the old one. I think I will set up my own WeeWX site and ditch WU altogether.
It really irks me that they have not put one decimal place on the Celsius temperature readings on the new site.
A lot of things irk me about the new site. It's also very slow in the initial display – keeps telling me last updated 49 years ago, and does this with every other station I try and view.
Looks like I'll go back through this thread next week and find an alternative. I'm pretty sure there were at least 2 other mainstream sites that don't need a programming degree to get working.
Has anyone found a free or relatively cheap method of obtaining the current conditions at a particular BoM weather station to import into Node-Red or similar?
I had thought the Dark Sky system might, but it doesn't actually use the BoM data. It just makes a prediction for the location and of course they are different.
Has anyone found a free or relatively cheap method of obtaining the current conditions at a particular BoM weather station to import into Node-Red or similar?
have you looked on: ftp://ftp.bom.gov.au/anon/gen/ ?
Read more at: http://www.bom.gov.au/catalogue/data-feeds.shtml on how to find it.
obtaining the current conditions at a particular BoM weather station
The BOM supply data for the past 48 hours (at 30 minute intervals) for free.
This is Moorabbin Airport
The BOM supply data for the past 48 hours (at 30 minute intervals) for free.
This is Moorabbin Airport
http://www.bom.gov.
Thanks for this.
Probably a Node-Red issue, but the link above works fine in a browser, not in Node-Red using a Get "HTTP Request".
It returns the following:
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Access Denied</TITLE></HEAD><BODY><H1>Access Denied</H1> You don't have permission to access "http://www.bo
Update: I managed to over come this problem, it was a user=agent issue. Once I have more working I will update further.
I also found this thread: /archive/1667441
Slydog ¡República! writes...
You can get your old look back if you
No longer working for me :(
Error 404: Page Not Found
Either Brutus is in the server room or it might be that:
The page you requested does not exist. Please check the URL or refer to the Site Map for a list of features and products.
Mine wasn't working the other day either, but just tried now, and all seems good again (for now).
Mine wasn't working the other day either, but just tried now, and all seems good again (for now).
Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou for letting us know .
I was already getting sick of the gimped version.
PanTech WH2950 / Weather Observations Website
The wind direction published directly via WS View to WOW is 180 degrees out even though I have calibrated weather station and it displays correctly on console.
Any ideas? Thinking I'm going to have to intercept / adjust / publish using weewx.
Took delivery of a Pantech WH2950 today. Cost me AU$151.16 delivered.
Couldn't get it to connect via WiFi. Tried lots of times.
Sent a message to the seller floralivings.
Tried again to see the message to post here, and the bloody thing connected!
Have bunged it on Weather Underground. Waiting for some data to appear.
(The WS instructions aren't very good at explaining the sequence with WU.)
-Replacing my previous WH3081 FineOffset unit because I got sick of maintaining my Ubuntu server which was putting the data on the Net. OK for you guys fiddling with Arduinos and RPi's, but some of us just want to be able to see the weather at our home without it being a full on electronics (or software) project.
But I'll keep it handy in case this WH2950 causes me too much grief. Not impressed with the connectivity effort so far.
But I'll keep it handy in case this WH2950 causes me too much grief. Not impressed with the connectivity effort so far.
It should be showing signal level in the date/time display section.
3 green bars.
I didn't mean the signal strength, I meant that I tried many times to connect to the net, had given up, did one last time to get the exact error message to post here, and it connected. I don't like 'magic' or chance with these things.
I'm not impressed with what Weather Underground gives me. I can't see any internal readings. On the phone app I can't see any history (or internal readings). When I had my WS connected to the computer, I was able to store history for every sensor and show it on a web browser. What am I missing here? WU has been around a long time. Am I the only one who thinks it sucks?
Do I get see more on the app if I pay for it? -I don't mind at all paying for apps, but they have to deserve it.
'm not impressed with what Weather Underground gives me.
Assume you have the WS View app on your phone – have a look at the ecowitt.net settings, grab your mac address, go to ecowitt.net and sign up. Indoor temperature and humidity displayed as well as all outdoor parameters. Only one minute updates, but I find it pretty good.
Thanks, ecowitt looks more usable than WU. Time will tell -when its been up long enough to generate history.
I got a reply from the ebay seller (floralivings) giving a you-tube link.
https://www.youtube.com
And for WU, I recommend registering on a computer, not the phone.
Despite putting in my exact street address (on the WS View app on my Android phone), WU had my WS at a suburb on the opposite side of Adelaide.
It didn't allow me to edit the address, so I had to delete that WS and register a new one.
I gave type as 'other'. they have a narrow range of models to choose from, presumably what they are sold as in the US.
WU is a very US-centric site.
OK, it appears that you have to log in to see a weatherstation on ecowitt.net.
Any way around this? How can I share a view without giving login details?
At least WU allows this.
None of the products do it all, do they. -One advantage of a roll-your-own solution running on a server at home.
(I got sick of Ubuntu updates killing the server, or at least the USB connection to the console.)
One advantage of a roll-your-own solution running on a server at home.
I have my own little weather station running so far.
WeMos D1 mini (ESP8266) based senders, so far the database is on my PC while still developing, I'll transfer it to a Raspberry PI as soon as I'm happy with the software. So far as well as temperatures etc it's keeping an eye on my rainwater tank and reporting it's status in terms of how many days left in the tank based on the last week/month usage.
Hello Brains Trust
I have a Pantech W2950 which has been happily going through its paces for the last year.
Over the last couple of months the NBN has been doing constant upgrades to the network in my area and each time the internet goes down I lose my weather stations internet connection and I struggle to get it back.
On previous occasions I've troubleshooted and it's just connected, with no particular step being the one that did it. Everything I seem to be doing today doesn't work. Any ideas before I just keep it as a non internet connected weather station.
Attempted
- Reconnect via app
- reset wifi network router connected to
- reset gateway router
- reset NBN Fixed WiFi decoder
- Various other resets
Scott
it's keeping an eye on my rainwater tank and reporting it's status in terms of how many days left in the tank based on the last week/month usage.
Is it monitoring tank levels? Sensor?
Scott
It will have trouble connecting if you have both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz enabled on your router / AP. Try disabling 5Ghz temporarily, follow the connection destructions, and then re-enable the 5Ghz.
Any ideas before I just keep it as a non internet connected weather station.
If it continues to play up, you could try one of these as they work with Pantech. You can even add more sensors to it. I have an air quality meter and soil moisture meters added to the one I have as well as a Pantech 2900.
ECOWITT GW1000 USB Wi-Fi Gateway with Indoor Temperature Humidity Pressure 3-in-1 Sensor
https://www.amazon.com
- reset wifi network router connected to
- reset gateway router
- reset NBN Fixed WiF
How many routers are you running? Is there a double-NAT issue happening maybe?
I have NBN Fixed Wireless, and when it goes down my wifi router (that my PWS is connected to) is still on and when the NBN comes back up, the 2950 is still chugging away sending data.
Even after a power cut it comes back with no issues.
I have 2 wifi networks (both are running dual-band), and one is a mesh setup, but that runs as an access point, so no double-NAT.
It's probably the most reliable internet-enabled device in the house!
monitoring tank levels? Sensor?
I'm guessing like this
https://www.instructable
Uploading data so I can download it....
OK folks, someone must have done this.
I chose a WiFi WS so its uploading was independent of my home server.
It is uploading successfully to Weatherunderground, ecowitt.net, and Weathercloud.
I don't particularly like any of their displays. I want a simple web screen showing the data as I'd like to see it.
So how do I download the data to reconstruct a 'nice' web page to display?
Can I download from one of the mentioned sites?
I tried uploading to a custom site, my Internode user space. (I could programmatically download from there.)
Didn't work. So...
1. How does one use the custom upload in WS View?
2. Can I wget my data from one of the weather sites above?
I'm guessing like this
https://www.instructable
I've got a 4-20ma sensor in my water tank to give tank percentage and volume. It's connected to a modbus controller which can be read by node-red or similar software. Aliexpress.
For anyone with an Ecowitt 2551 there is a new firmware out that is worth upgrading to.
It Adds www.ecowitt.net support if Wunderground had been getting you down.
Adds support to upload to user customized website. So you can send your data anywhere.
Adds average wind direction to Weathercloud which means the Wind scatter roses now work. https://i.postimg.cc/vBmWdXQH/windscatter1.jpg
http://www.ecowitt.com/upfile/201906/user_V1.4.6.zip
After installing the firmware you also need to update the Easyweather WiFi software on the WS to v1.4.0 as well using the Easyweather phone app.
Is it monitoring tank levels? Sensor?
I'm actually trying two different methods.
I do have an ultrasonic sensor on one tank. From time to time there are isolated readings that are out of whack, but taking repeated readings and averaging has resulted in useful data. It is accurate enough to show the pattern of water usage through the day, when the shower, washing machine etc was used.
I'm also using a pressure sensor. Keeping it dry by measuring the air pressure in a line to the bottom that's occasionally pumped up by a tiny pump.
["So how do I download the data to reconstruct a 'nice' web page to display?
Have a look at weewx. Also gives you the ability to pump the data to other sites as well.
I chose a WiFi WS so its uploading was independent of my home server.
I'm using a Raspberry Pi as my data server. Maybe one day I'll have to put in a bigger memory card, but not for a while yet. It does nothing other than collate & display the data so I think it's more reliable than a cloud service – it still works when the NBN connection fails.
2. Can I wget my data from one of the weather sites above?
Wunderground has an API you can get your data from in JSON format you could use to make a simple webpage I suppose, or install weewx and capture the data yourself. I'm looking at doing this soon.
I did use weewx on my server. Didn't like its output, and my USB connection kept getting killed by Ubuntu, requiring unpowering the WS console to reconnect. -A pain.
Using it requires a server of some sort, exactly what I was hoping to avoid.
(Yes I play with an Ubuntu server, but I don't want to have to keep it up 100% of the time.)
Not into RPi. Have a bunch of Arduino hardware gathering dust. More into just riding my motorbike these days, or fiddling on a computer.
According to this page: https://www.programmableweb.c
the Weatherunderground API is retired.
Is anyone still using it? I assume IBM have monetised it now, along with slowing down the WU web pages something awful, as their bloated Java software tends to do. (I worked for them for a while.)
Maybe I'll have to resort to screen scraping?
There is a new api, but it’s not as good as the old one. Temps are rounded up/down for example, so next to useless for most people.
(Yes I play with an Ubuntu server, but I don't want to have to keep it up 100% of the time.)
Not into RPi
Rasberry Pi makes a great little Ubuntu server with tiny power consumption, it needn't be any different to running a PC in how you operate it. I'm using the touch screen that's the same size as the main board which makes a very neat little package.
I appreciate that a RPi attached to a WS makes a neat solution. But I am trying to get off the OS-gadget treadmill. I have a number of computers in the house for various purposes (anyone want a working EEE PC loaded with Ubuntu, or some genuine Palm Pilots?). But keeping them updated and operational is a chore I'm getting sick of. I have computers for what they do for me, not just for their own sake. Imagine having to maintain and continually update the ECU in your car, when all you want to do with it is drive places.
Nice to hear WU has a "new API". It would be even better if a link to information about it was provided. -I can't find it.
For what its worth, I notice that WS View on my phone can also get the WS to send to WOW.
I contacted them via their web form (the UK) to ask if they had a URL/API for downloading data.
Here is their response:
"Unfortunately there is no API available to download your data. On the Table page on your dashboard you are able to download up to 30 days of data at a time. Select the appropriate start and end dates and then press Export. This will give you all the data you’ve submitted in WOW CSV format.".
Nice to hear WU has a "new API". It would be even better if a link to information about it was provided. -I can't find it.
Sorry. You can get your API key from your profile settings page on the WU website. It’s has a link to the documentation as well, but here is a link for anyone that is interested.
https://docs.google.com/docu
Is it possible to connect a PanaTech station to ambientweather.net & then one can use Google Home to ask for the readings from the station? The PanaTech's are basically Ambient stations without the separate indoor sensors arent they?
Mine wasn't working the other day either, but just tried now, and all seems good again (for now).
I was already getting sick of the gimped version
It seems the old link could be diverting to the new link.
I'm pretty sure I saved the old link on my new phone and it was working ok until today. I now get the gimped version even on the old site link.
Example station link courtesy of smeegle :o)
whrl.pl/Rfh8mj
https://
New site
https://www.wunderground
This site is now showing as
https://www.wunderground.c
Don't you just love the multiple page loads, and totally superfluous gratuitous graphical elements?
I'm trying to get my WS sending to my own website to save its data, to display it how I want. Haven't yet succeeded in receiving any data from it. If/when I do, I'll post info here.
My WS is at https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/IADELA78
First it displays Imperial units, then metric. About three slow page loads. Awful.
First it displays Imperial units, then metric. About three slow page loads. Awful.
Don't forget the loss in detail in the graphs. Looks like half hour intervals instead of every minute.
I found out how to capture data from the WH2950 here: https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=36932.
I found out how to capture data from the WH2950 here
I have a WH2900 and trying to do this, but I don't understand. They all just talk about it, but not how to actually do it. Do I need to be running something like weewx for this, or can I just point it to my webserver and have it output a file that I can then work with?
Did you read the thread on WXForum.net that I gave? Evidently not!
You point the 'Customized' setting to your webserver, but you need to have a specific directory and file in place to receive the data.
If you have your own server and are comfortable with PHP coding, I can supply a snapshot of my code which works.
It uses a MySQL database to store the readings, but the 'snapshot' view just uses a last-saved data file for its info.
I just had to 'reconnect' my WH2950 by adding it as a new device in the WS View app, and using all the previous connection settings. Not impressed that it went offline for the second time in a few days. That connection can't be restored remotely, so if it happens again and I'm away, my weatherstation becomes a lump of junk.
Maybe a cable-connected weatherstation is more reliable after all. :(
Evidently not!
I did. I just didn’t understand if a certain price of software is needed or just a special file. Either that or I totally can’t see any links to people’s scripts they are using.
The decimal place in the temperature seems to have returned on WU after several months worth of people complaining to IBM about how bodgy their new interface is.
See what you think of the format at https://waggies.net/ws/.
If you could squeeze in a wind direction on the daily that would be slick.
Weekly charts are really good. Especially the mouse over pop up.
Any way to have a link back to daily on the chart page?
OK, I've added wind direction to the snapshot page.
Isn't the browser back button a good enough link back to the snapshot?
But just for you... a (Back) link at the top. (Could make it a flash graphic, but that wouldn't add to functionality.)
But just for you... a (Back)
LOL.
Actually to pedantic you, you might want to consider 'back to home page' or just 'Home' rather than 'back'.
Just a thought.
No bought software is needed if you roll your own.
Ah, ok. Well, I'm not a software developer, so I guess I need to work out weewx, find something else, or pay someone...
See what you think of the format at https://waggies.net/ws/.
Looks good. Nice and simple and clean.
Done.
:o)
Actually to pedantic you,
That must have been a "no coffee" reply....
It should have read.
'Actually to be pedantic,'
Hey All,
I have just taken delivery of a Pantech 2550 and has been running well so far. Does anyone have a good excel spreadsheet they run to analyze daily weather, solar radiation ect? I was wanting to develop a spreadsheet that i can download data from the weather station, energy consumption, and data from my solar panels (yet to be installed) that i can review the performance of the panels as well as including weather data when review my energy usage. I'm not overly handy with excel so to develop my own sheet will take some time.
Thanks
Hi all. I'm thinking about a weather station for a remote property and I'm just wondering how much data these units upload. The property is off grid and only has satellite internet and I don't want the WS using up all the quota so something with local storage and it's own web server might be better. Or is that "grow-your-own" territory?
I run kotaraweather.com not active but will be in the next couple of days. Pretty sleak.
fire any questions :)
Why not just put the weather 34 template instead of using one with ads?
It's the same as https://weather34.com/homewea
I'm just wondering how much data these units upload.
Mine uploads a total of about 10MB a day to two different sites.
I'm just wondering how much data these units upload.
I am also on Sky Muster.
I see around 6.9Mb total per day to Wunderground.
https://i.postimg.cc/R0k3hJC
Edit: My earlier report /thread/360ryqx3?p=29#r569
The property is off grid and only has satellite internet
The biggest problem here is leaving internet on and the fairly hefty 24 hour load of the SM modem + your router etc.
This is probably not that relevant as I run two VoiP service plus my 2-way and wifi to my solar relay from the same power source as the SM internet.
This lot draws 65W or ~1.5kWh per day. It adds up. :)
I unplugged all but the router and SM Modem and it fell to 48.2W or ~ 1.2kWh per day. The SM modem is the power hungry device.
Note: I am using a Medion Smart Plug to measure (Aldi).
https://i.postimg.cc/DzgDyLP
The SM modem is the power hungry device.
Thanks for the tip. I'll keep an eye on it. I've got a decent solar and battery setup and backup generator if I need it.
Ordered the Ecowitt HP2551 which has just arrived on my desk. Looking forward to setting it up.
My Ecowitt HP2551 has developed shimmy in the anemometer after 7 months of use. Anyone else had this with a Fine Offset anemometer and know if it is repairable? Bearing perhaps?
The vibration seems to prevent the anemometer getting up to correct speed and as result wind strength under-read. I can hear it vibrating in the wind from inside my house.
Hi,
Can anyone point me in the direction of instructions on how to update the Easyweather WiFi version?
I have a HP2551 running v1.4.6 firmware with v1.2.2 of the Easyweather app, I would like to update that to the latest.
Thanks
You need to to use the WS View app on your phone to update the HP2551 consoles WiFi firmaware. Unlike the OS firmware which you can update via SD. Counter intuitive I know, but this is how you do it..
...."Update the wifi firmware by using the WS View app (on the Device List page, click your device and follow the instructions; ensure your phone and the console are on the same network). "
Once updated to Easyweather Wifi 1.4 you will be able to set up and see your station on Ecowitt net.
By the way I fixed the shimmy in the anemometer with a liberal dose of silicon spray into the shaft.
By the way I fixed the shimmy in the anemometer with a liberal dose of silicon spray into the shaft.
Woo Hoo. One for the memory banks. :)
I bought my home weather station from here:
https://shop.lacrossetechnology.com.au/
I have my station connected to a second computer so I can provide weather obs for my part of rural Victoria.
I bought my home weather station from here:
https://shop.lacrossetechnology.com.au/
You don't appear to have posted in this section before.
What did you get and how do you find it?
I just had my WH2950 temperature drop from about 6c to -40.0c in a few seconds at about 2am this morning. Ditto humidity from 82% to 10%. My other Oregon sensors say 6c and 85%.
See https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/IDODGESF5. I tried recalibration but only managed to get to -35.0c
I have tried finding any similar issue online but can't see anything. Has anyone experienced or know of this issue? My WH2950 was bought in February and I had sealed all the screw holes etc, but I guess water may have got in somewhere.
Has anyone had experience with these?
https://www.holmanindustries
I see buntings are selling them now. My old station has packed up, so need to get another.
I see buntings are selling them now.
https://www.bunnings.com.au/
Our Aercus WeatherSleuth has been playing up for months, reading the outdoor temperature as 60c. Changing the batteries and resetting it did no good and when I walked outside last weekend, the sensor housing at the base of the unit (white corrugated bit) had shattered.
Is this normal for a home weather station about 4 years old?
We are now looking for a replacement. Any recommendations around $400? Also looking for an alternative to Wunderground. We absolutely hate the changes.
Edit: I also just found there are replacement outdoor sensor modules available for our weather station for $170.
https://www.bunnings.com.au
We were at Bunnings Northpoint this morning and these were incorrectly ticketed for $89.
Are they any good at $250? Or are there better for the money?
There is better for the money. Having a quick read of the manual it is pretty basic. For example there is no means to adjust or calibrate the sensors.
Couple of weather stations often discussed here:
Note: no association with Flora Living
Couple of weather stations often discussed here:
Have used this for about 4 years now, doesn't miss a beat and the 2 apps – WS View & WS Tool – work good to check on weather whilst away from home.
I've had the indoor part of a Digitech XC-0400 die on me. When the batteries are inserted, all segments on the screen light up as per test mode, then it goes blank – sometimes random segments light up in a rapid sequence, while the back light comes on and stays on and it rapidly flattens the batteries. Same thing happens using external plug pack (except it never stops!) I'm almost certain the external sensor array is still fine. I got a new Holman one for Father's Day, so wondering if there is any use I can put the old external one to? Is there any external software etc that can receive the sensor data? Seems a shame to throw it away.
Couple of weather stations often discussed here:
Pantech is the unit that just died on me. Was a great unit though. Ran flawlessly for about 2 years. Ended up grabbing one of the buntings units today. Will report back.
Is there any external software etc that can receive the sensor data?
There are some Raspberry Pi options and probably Arduino or even esp8266.
My outdoor unit for the pantech 2900 has died after 3 years. Is the 2550 a worthy upgrade or is there a way to just buy the outdoor unit?
Cheers
Just a quick query. How long does it generally take for a registered weather station to show up in wunderground?
Just a quick query. How long does it generally take for a registered weather station to show up in wunderground?
Got it going.
Early days, but this Holman device seems pretty good. Setup was pretty straight forward. Time will tell if the quality is there.
Still happy with my Netatmo, and now I have managed to get it talking to Wunderground, I must acquire wind and rain gauges.
Is this a WU rendering issue, or is it supposed to indicate a recent average of wind direction?
I miss the old WU look.
Looking for some pointers.
Background
I have a Digitech weather station , fine offset WH1081. The indoor unit is connected via USB to a raspberry pi running weewx. Weewx posts the data to an FTP every half an hour. All easy and working.
What isn't great if the rain gauge, it is terribly inaccurate. I have a normal, so manual rain gauge mounted near the weather station. I've been recording the data into Google forms but would like to display the data alongside my weewx output.
Problem
What would I need to do to get off Google forms, possibly enter the data direct into website. And then display the data back as a table or graph?
- I assume I need a form page for the data entry, this is easy enough.
- Then a database to store the values; date, time, mm. That's a bit harder.
- How will it cope with days with no value due to no rain?
- I'd prefer to keep it running off the pi.
Anyone got some tips?
ECOWITT GW1000 USB Wi-Fi Gateway with Indoor Temperature Humidity Pressure 3-in-1 Sensor
https://www.amazon.com
Hi Slydog, a couple of questions if you don't mind as you seem to be the de facto site guru currently on the Ecowitt GW1000 module.
I have a Pantech WH2900 that was supposed to replace my WH2080 as a feed of current local weather data direct into Home Assistant (via 433Mhz radio RX), but that's been more pain than I could take as the WH2900 uses a different protocol so I shelved that plan for a while.
Do you know if the GW1000 can upload each station reading to a local db server or HA without going up to the cloud or to a vendors server, if so then this is a decent solution ?
I want my home automation setup not to reply on an external site to forward or host my own data...
Thanks, Martin
People, I have not caught up on the last six months of forum posts yet but I did notice discussions on calibration of the Pantech WH2900 rain gauge sensor (bucket).
Regarding that I thought I might mention that I eventually got my WH2900 station to match my trusted 5" diameter rural rain gauge that is located only 4 meters from it quite repeatably and within a couple of % either way.
The rain calibration multiplier number I arrived at via trial and error over the last 9 months is, '85'.
What did other users work out ?
Pantech WH2900
The rain calibration multiplier number I arrived at via trial and error over the last 9 months is, '85'.
I was happy with 80 for mine.
The bucket accuracy varies between light dizzle and heavy rain, so it can never be perfect.
We tend more to 'heavy rain' for the bulk of our overhead precipitation, hence my setting.
I compiled this summary based on the flurry of rain gauge calibration activity some time back.
https://app.box.com/s/aqr83nxeg68rpe1fpnqpvs6wch6l10xu (pdf)
I compiled this summary based on the flurry of rain gauge calibration activity some time back.
Nice.
Good that mine is also in the 80's, does give some confidence if others want to try around that mark first go.
We had a rain event over last 3 days.
The manual gauge saw 20.5mm whilst the Pantech WH2900 recorded 21.08mm.
https://i.postimg.cc/GtyjpqN
Mix of heavy and light rain.
That's a 6% error (the Pantech is still high), so it could come down from 80, but it is near enough. :)
Yes 6% from an automatic type gauge is good enough IMHO too.
In a past job I installed some very expensive Vaisala weather stations for a local power company. The rain sensor on it was piezoelectric, and I recall it being rather inaccurate depending on the rain intensity. So we're doing OK...
Does anyone else on the forum have experience with the Ecowitt GW1000 receivers ?
I read the user manual online but did not see any mentions of ways to serve data direct to a database at home. Hoping somebody knows more about that possibility.
So it looks like I should have checked this forum when choosing a weather station, as you all seem to use one or two different types, and maybe there’s a reason for that!
Be that as it may, I have received a DigiTech XC-0370. Only trouble is, it looks to have come with the screen unit from a XC-0422 but everything else from a 370. It doesn’t all look to work – the screen unit won’t even get to a settings screen. I gather it doesn’t have the indoor sensor unit onboard, it is probably looking for a separate one, which isn’t part of the 370. It doesn’t seem to see the outdoor sensor unit.
I’ve tried getting in touch with the company (local) I bought it from, I’m sure it will all be sorted out, but out of interest does anyone know if these units should all be able to work together?
Maybe when you get sick of those flaky Fine Offset, toss the transmitters and receivers in the bin and upgrade to the DIY WeatherDunino Pro. See here for details https://wiki.weatherduino.com and here for the forum https://www.meteocercal.info/
when you get sick of those flaky Fine Offset, toss the transmitters and receivers in the bin and upgrade to the DIY WeatherDunino Pro
Funny that, my flaky fine offset has been rock solid since I installed it 1 year ago. Not a single issue, no home brew needed.
Looks like an interesting project for those inclined though.
Do you know if the GW1000 can upload each station reading to a local db server or HA without going up to the cloud or to a vendors server, if so then this is a decent solution ?
I would be inclined to ask in this thread here.
http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=36047.0
But there is a page in the app where you can add a custom server, data path, port and upload interval. But you need to use a certain protocol for it to work.
I have not tried this yet.
There is also now a Mk2 version of the GW1000 but dunno what the difference to the Mk1 version is.
Maybe when you get sick of those flaky Fine Offset, toss the transmitters and receivers in the bin and upgrade to the DIY WeatherDunino Pro.
My original Fine Offset is also still going well, after about 8 years....
Any issues I had seemed to be just dicky batteries. The new Fine Offset is also going well which is supposed to replace it (adding light and UV sensors, and solar).
My original Fine Offset is also still going well, after about 8 years....
That surprises me. I've had three of them over the years and all of them had issues with data connections between themselves, and to the computer. I suppose if you're not uploading the data to website you probably wouldn't notice.
That surprises me. I've had three of them over the years and all of them had issues with data connections between themselves, and to the computer. I suppose if you're not uploading the data to website you probably wouldn't notice.
I only ever connected to my FO console USB to dump yearly stats, and now days I don't even do that. So yes your right I'd not notice any console issues on the old model. What I do have is a radio receiver that takes the ODU data directly and sticks it into Home Assistant on a RPi3 that monitors everything in my house (including other independant weather sensors). I have missed the odd sample but not enough to care really.
My back burner quest now is do same with the WH2900 (without going to the cloud and back).
(Oh, and the other way back burner project would be to get lightning strike data locally too.
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15057 )
Got it going.
Early days, but this Holman device seems pretty good. Setup was pretty straight forward. Time will tell if the quality is there.
Hi. Just in the market for a weather station for the house an wondered how the Bunnings (Holman) one is doing. I know its only been a few weeks.
2 days ago, flora living(ebay) sent me an email regarding the upgrade kit link for their HP2550.
The new bird spikes are very interesting
https://www.ebay.
The new bird spikes are very interesting
https://i.postimg.cc/y62MDwK
And IMHO essential; depending on your local bird population.
I have retrofitted both my manual rain gauge and my Pantech 2950, with stainless wire bird spikes and a zip tie. Prolly should add a bit of silicon to ensure long term security,
https://i.postimg.cc/3wj6VR0X/20190928-073746-Large.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/C1m2MQNd/20190928-073730-Large.jpg
Bit crude ... but entirely effective. The proximity of spikes will depend on the size of the offending flying critters.
Without 'protection' ... 3mm rain and 2mm ... bird poops. :)
I hate to admit, but before we went cat free, it was not a problem.
Encouraging a healthy bird population is very satisfying; although we do miss puss.
wondered how the Bunnings (Holman) one is doing
I found that Holman's after sales service was top notch. If you ever need spares they've got you covered and at reasonable prices.
Found some interesting info for those of us with Ecowitt/Fine Offset/Pantech WH2900 or WH2950's and a desire to capture your own data to your own local database.
Info below on WXforum.net, it's about utilizing the new WS View customized data upload on the new WH firmware, to send data directly to your own web hosting or to a home database server without WU, WOW, WC etc, or without hacks to sniff Wifi packets and redirect and without a GW1000.
https://www.wxforum.n
One of the main contributors is an Adelaide guy, who has created his own web page.
https://waggies.net/weather/
If this custom upload can send to a database server on my home automation box (Home Assistant) then I have no need to create an RF receiver for the WH2900 or buy a GW1000 either...
Research continues...
I have had a licence for Weather Display since 2006 when I had a serial connected weather station (an old Oregon Scientific WMR-918), so I was missing using it for these direct to wunderground stations (especially when IBM took over).
Scrounged around and various Italian threads, and the above listed ones, I've implemented this:
Main screen on my PC: http://www.dob80z.com/Dob80z.gif
And the abomination full web page: http://www.dob80z.com/Dob80z.htm
One day I'll sort out better page layouts (as if – I haven't yet in over 10 years !!), and also implement https...
The issue I have is that I need to upload weather to https://www.pwsweather.com
Did you ever sort this out?
The Fine Offset PWS now have a custom page in WS View that lets you post to www.pwsweather.com.
Hi All – Hoping for some help with my WH2950 and wifi issues – unit is aprox 12 months old and had been working perfectly until a couple of weeks ago when it was left unplugged for a few hours. Plugged it back in and no wifi connection to network. Comms with outdoor unit still working fine.
Have tried every button combo/reset process I could find online and can’t get it into wifi config mode essentially – Deleted all records in WS apps, changed home network to 2.4 only, tried different physical
AP’s, left everything off for a few days to reset etc. I can hold the two button Wind/Pressure & or Rain/Alarm for minutes and zero response yet buttons all work individually.
Could it simply be coincidence wifi circuits are cooked?
Appreciate anyone’s input! Was this very thread that swung me toward the 2950.
Cheers.
Hi Folks,
Long time reader but haven't posted very often. After almost 8 years of service my Fine Offset weather station appears to be on it's last legs. The outdoor unit appears to be dying. The folks at Fine Offset have been awesome providing spare parts for free, but alas I beleive the old girl needs to retire.
I am in the market for a temperature ONLY unit (yes really) that can provide temperature readings from several indoor locations (seperate buildings) and of course the outdoor temperature. The reason for the change, I've had more hassle with the rain and wind sensors than I'd care to remember and I don't really need the data.
I considered doing an ESP8266 gadget (I have several doing home automation) but I am time poor at present, and my wife just wants a screen she can look at for temps like the old foshk unit. Of course it would be appreciated if whatever I buy can intergrate with my home automation.
Any suggestions of units to buy greatly appreciated. Also open to being told I am crazy looking at temperature only.
I am in the market for a temperature ONLY unit (yes really) that can provide temperature readings from several indoor locations (seperate buildings) and of course the outdoor temperature.
I use these sensors. I have one inside and 2 outside – one under back patio awning and one under front porch.
I can either use the app or see them via Home Assistant. Shows more than just temp – lux, uv and humidity as well as motion etc.
I considered doing an ESP8266 gadget (I have several doing home automation) but I am time poor at present, and my wife just wants a screen she can look at for temps like the old foshk unit.
There are some nifty versions that come with battery & OLED screen ready to go.
https://www.banggood.com/
Or just stack an OLED sheild on top of Wemos D1Mini if you have power available (ie basic phone charger)
Using the DS1820 temperature sensor it's a very simple bit of programming.
I have a bunch of these feeding to a base unit which is a RaspberryPi with screen on top that's the same size for a neat package. The indoor ones have the local temperature on the small screen. The base is logging temperatures & showing a plot for a day/week/month/year.
Any suggestions of units to buy greatly appreciated. Also open to being told I am crazy looking at temperature only.
Probably hard to do but this is kinda similar – up to 8 temperature and humidity sensors.
http://www.foshk.com/weather_station/HP3000.html
I'm a bit late to the conversation, but my use case is below:
-Family farm, spread over 3 properties, 1 house on each property (all properties within 10 mins drive of each other)
-Want to have 1 affordable wifi weather station on top of each one, with the data available for all 2 or 3 weather stations available via mobile app for about 4 separate users
-The climate varies dramatically between the 2 furtherest properties, hence disparate system is needed
I was originally looking at 'Devanti Wireless WiFi Professional Weather Station' as it seemed a pretty cheap place to start and ran on solar power, however I'm not getting the clearest answer on whether the mobile app can work without needing to be in range of each individual weather station, so I'd be pretty happy for some advice in this area
Want to have 1 affordable wifi weather station on top of each one, with the data available for all 2 or 3 weather stations available via mobile app for about 4 separate users
If the Devanti is similar to the Pantech WH2950 – https://www.floralivings.com.au/products/wh2950
you can use the WS Iview app, Apple or Android, on your mobile to view each station.
The weather station can be set up in Weather Underground with an ID for each station. In the WS Iview app just enter each station ID and view individual info.
Family farm, spread over 3 properties, 1 house on each property (all properties within 10 mins drive of each other)
-Want to have 1 affordable wifi weather station on top of each one, with the data available for all 2 or 3 weather stations available via mobile app for about 4 separate users
If each farm house has reliable internet access then any of the wifi weather stations will do the job perfectly.
Once established on weather underground (or similar), the station data is viewable on computers and smart phones with internet access.
Typical smart phone scrolling view.
Hi Folks,
I'm in the market for a Weather Station and was thinking of the PanTech Wifi Weather Station TFT LCD Wireless Professional PT-HP2550
My question relates to the mounting and post / ubolt details for this weather station.
I am thinking about getting a flag pole that comes in a kit of 6.20m aluminum pole (4 sections) x Ø 51mm. I will be mounting at 4.5m (only 3 sections). Due to the joining I anticipate the diameter when I attached the weather will be about, or a fraction under, 50mm in diameter.
Therefore my question is....What is the maximum pole size that can fit in the ubolt for the HP2550?
Happy to take any comments on installing these things on Flag Poles also. I will be mounting is at approximately 4.5m high with the first 1.8m braced against a timber fence (3 brackets, one at each rail).
Thanks
Thanks for the responses guys – I'll have a look into those apps. I originally got a bit disheartened as when I asked one of the online vendors I got this response:
"You can only access up to 100m transmission range or transmission distance in open field: 330 feet"
Still waiting for feedback from the vendor themselves, but looks like there's some great options out there! We also suffer slightly incompatible weather reports from the BOM due to weather stations being a little too far away
"You can only access up to 100m transmission range or transmission distance in open field: 330 feet"
That is the absolute LoS range of the wireless link between the outdoor unit and the indoor display. This wireless link is 433Mhz or so from memory?
The indoor display in turn communicates with your router via Wifi (2400Mhz) and then it's ... off to the 'cloud', once you set that bit up with a provider (free).
For my money, the only sensors that may require some calibration are:
pressure ie localise for height etc. But how much concern is this?
rain gauge. Given the experience here, the rain gauge may over record by 20% or more.
My WH2900 finally got a calibration today – my standard metal gauge measured 18.4mm and my WS measured 27.07.
Closest BOM measured 20mm
I adjusted negative 70 and we'll see how the next rain event goes.
You may be right there – I just got the same (poor english) response from the seller stating it can't be done, so it may be a case where they still think I was referring to the display unit – which tbh probably won't get used by us once we have everything setup with a great mobile app
Either way I'll just have to scour forums to ensure others were able to configure the setup with the Devanti Wireless WiFi Professional Weather Station (and research apps as well) before I make the financial leap
will be mounting at 4.5m (only 3 sections)
Mine is on one of these.... https://www.jaycar.com.au/tel
Possibly cheaper than your flag pole and has been up for 18+ months with no issues.
Mine is on one of these.... https://www.jaycar.com.au/tel
Possibly cheaper than your flag pole and has been up for 18+ months with no issues.
Thanks blakemin.
I have also found a manual for the Ambient Weather WS 2902a which I think is the same as the Pantech HP2550 PLS, it states that the ubolts can receive poles between 1inch and 2 inches, so 50mm should just just fine.
Cheers
Devanti Wireless WiFi Professional Weather Station
Not sure why you are fixed on this one? But it will work. Be careful that it is not northern hemisphere only.
They seem to all come out of the same chinese factory.
One many use here that works.
Weatherflow Tempest Kickstarter has just gone live.
I've been wanting the original for a while now, $352usd delivered. The new one on kickstarter is 269usd (limited, Delivered Aus), and will become 299usd delivered when that runs out.
I believe there were a few weatherflow owners on here.
Did it actuaaly precipitate? :)
:P
I adjusted negative 70 and we'll see how the next rain event goes.
I could be waiting a while for the next one though.
Thanks for the response, I might keep my eye out for it :)
Honestly – I was just being a cheapskate, as the Devanti were down to around $110, and although I don't own the farm I'm usually the one left buying the tech for it (I work in IT, partner is a farmer)
At this stage it might probably be worthwhile assembling a compelling case for a more expensive system (ie based on warranty/lifespan/functionality) and having the farmers pay for it themselves and claiming them back on farm/tax costs maybe...
"You can only access up to 100m transmission range or transmission distance in open field: 330 feet"
The WeatherDuino Pro can run Lora modules and can give ranges in the 10s of kms. You can have multiple transmitters sending to one or more receivers. It could be just what your after, except you need to build it yourself. https://wiki.weatherduino.com/
Hi, anyone who has a Pantech , how has it gone since it’s been a while. How long do the batteries last? Thinking about buying one.
Cheers
How long do the batteries last?
Mine's been up a pole 18+ months now and I've never changed a battery.
My Pantech WH2900 has been running since May 2017, have not replaced any batteries since installing.
Station has not missed a beat.
temperature ONLY unit (yes really) that can provide temperature readings from several indoor locations (seperate buildings)
Probably the most economical are also Fine Offset & with the USB wifi adapter. It's easier to see the sensor options on ecowitt.com than foshk.com. I ended up buying the Ecowitt version the GW1001 (weather station $150 on amazon AU) plus a couple of the temp sensors. The included USB GW1000 wifi adapter (separately $45) itself has temp/humidity/pressure, + 8 x t/h sensors ($17each). All can be viewed locally via the WS View app.
Since you've been talking to FineOffset, they may deal – just ask for the right set & frequencies.
Jason, are you still happy with the HP2551
I'm not Jason, but i have an HP2551 and it's been awesome. I installed it in my backyard in January 2019 and it's not missed a beat.
Cheers, just noticed the PanTech 2900 can be had for around $130.
Ebay is doing 20% off, Cashrewards 12% (desktop transaction only).
The Ecowitt is $279 on Amazon.
Is it worth it??
Anyone know the difference between the Ecowitt HP2551 & PanTech HP2550.
The Ecowitt is $279 on Amazon, the PanTech is $223 on ebay (20% off)
https://www.ebay.com.au/
Cheers, just noticed the PanTech 2900 can be had for around $130.
Ebay is doing 20% off, Cashrewards 12% (desktop transaction only).
Correction: can't combine ebay/cashrewards so makes it $151.18 with ebay's PITCH20.
Any thoughts on this Kickstarter? Tempest Weather Station:
https://www.kickstarter.com/
Looks pretty interesting, the rain sensor particularly. Does this have a hope of being accurate?
Theres really no way to know as there simply isnt enuf information provided, but depending on the price Id be inclined to buy something thats been around for a long time , uses tried and true technology like the BOM does, like a Davis.
Any thoughts on this Kickstarter?
Have you seen how many weather stations there have been on kickstarter?
I wouldn't do it.
This is version 2 which is a minor upgrade to version 1 that was floated on Kickstarter several years ago.
Version 1 is still been sold so the company does have some background.
I have backed this product, and one other recently for the first time in several years, but I won't back anything from initial startups after being burnt several times.
Hi All,
Looking at comparing the ECOWITT WH2910C & HP2551, do anyone have either and is the latter worth the extra $$
Thanks
ECOWITT WH2910C & HP2551, do anyone have either and is the latter worth the extra $$
Just bought the 2551 on Amazon with free shipping for Black Friday (not a Prime user). From my reading the 2551 comes with a stand alone for indoor temperature, humidity and pressure sensor and can, as an option, also have up to 8 extra temperature and humidity sensors added to the unit as well as a single soil moisture and a single air quality sensor. The extra temperature sensors are $16.99 each. The 2910 does not have this functionality hence the reason I went with the 2551.
I'm thinking of getting the Pantech UV WH2900 from ebay which with 20% off is about $150. Is that the same model as the ECOWITT HP2551? I like the idea of being able to add extra sensors!
The Ecowitt HP2551 is currently unavailable on Amazon.com.au
Thanks
The Pantech HP2550 PLS ($224 after 20% off) looks the closer equivalent to the Ecowitt HP2551.
The Pantech units are 3 armed vs the 2 armed ones from Ecowitt. I bought the Ecowitt GW1001 (no display, $149 – also out of stock) & just ordered a couple more sensors. As you, I like that ability. So far going good.
My HP2551 is experiencing comms problems between the console and the station on the roof. The internal sensor is still working fine. The station will drop off the system for 10 to 12 hours and then just reappear.
Bought it in September and has been going strong. I've changed batteries, done multiple resets (console and station), powered down and up, updated firmware.... can't think of anything else.
Any suggestions??
Looks pretty interesting, the rain sensor particularly. Does this have a hope of being accurate?
I've got the original weather flow and I will upgrade to the Tempest as they are going to do am upgrade offer for existing customers.
I've been burned in the past on Indigogo, so I'm always wary with anything from crowd funding sites, but these guys are legit, very good with their communication and they have delivered in the past.
The Ecowitt HP2551 is currently unavailable on Amazon.com.au
I purchased the 2551 on Amazon AU just in the last week or so. Shipped quickly and arrived last Monday. Installed on a 1 metre mast at the end of the house and it is working flawlessly. With the WS View app I can now get relevant weather data for our area whilst away with the Weather Underground site I registered.
Bought the Air Quality sensor on Friday and it showed the 2551 was unavailable to ship from Amazon AU. I must have got one of the last units...
I assume Holman are rebadging units?
https://www.holmanindustries.com.au/weather
**edit... Yes they are
https://www.amazon.com/dp
I got an email from Ambient Weather saying they now have public stats for example https://dashboard.ambientweat
Has anyone managed to get their Pantech 2900 station reporting to Ambient Weather? I keep trying every 4-5 months, fail and repeat. If so what's the trick? In the WS View there's only weather underground, and in the awnet app https://play.google.com/store
Has anyone managed to get their Pantech 2900 station reporting to Ambient Weather?
No luck here, tried it last night after reading your post. Setup seemed to go alright but station says 'not reporting ' on the website. Same thing this morning
No luck here, tried it last night after reading your post. Setup seemed to go alright but station says 'not reporting ' on the website. Same thing this morning
Yes exactly the issue i'm having, setup goes fine with no errors but always "Not reporting". I've made my dashboard public and it only has the sunrise/sunset data and nothing from the station.
On the dashboard part it says "There's no real-time data yet. Give us a sec..." and a search of that string in Google leads to http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=37842.0
This explains about the different versions of WS View, awnet, Ambient Osprey Tool and after installing all of those none give the setup for Ambient Weather. Even awnet doesnt when it's their own app downloaded from their own site https://ambientweather.net/he
Edit: I've emailed AmbientWeather hoping they can shed some like, i'll update here when i get a reply.
They were fast to reply, shame though....
Hello,
AmbientWeather.net only works with Ambient Weather devices.
Thank you,
Anthony
I saw a Lacrosse weather station at Costco. I didn't think to get the model number, but this is an image from the catalog. Does anyone know if these are any good?
Anyone using the bird spikes on the Pantech 2900. Did you silicone the ring on to keep it in place. Have the station setup temporarily on the fence to test and have noticed the ring keeps dislodging and dropping down, suspect birds may be attempting to land and knock it out of place. It's on as tight as I can get it but it stills moves.
AmbientWeather.net only works with Ambient Weather devices.
I thought the Pantech WS2900 and the Ambient 2902 are the same hardware (Fine Offset). Clearly different firmware with different protocols.
On a side note, what's the use of a public WS site if it only supports one brand of hardware?
I thought the Pantech WS2900 and the Ambient 2902 are the same hardware (Fine Offset).
Yes so did i, somehow i don't think his answer is completely right when the devices are the same there must be some way to do it. Though i can understand them trying to sell more Ambient branded stations.
I emailed them back, and also asked about their Alexa skill because it's not on the Amazon.com.au skill store. Being able to get your indoor and outdoor PWS data by voice is something i'm keep on.
Yes so did i, somehow i don't think his answer is completely right when the devices are the same there must be some way to do it.
I would hazard a guess and say it's because Ambient paid to put their name on it, and lock down their firmware.
For all anyone knows, it might be linked to Ambient by MAC address.
Why would Ambient want to supply a web service, for free, to people that didn't buy the device from them?
I know I wouldn't.
Like Wyze cams and Xiaomi (or whoever actually makes the hardware). You can't use the unbranded cameras on the branded service.
I thought the Pantech WS2900 and the Ambient 2902 are the same hardware (Fine Offset). Clearly different firmware with different protocols.
Also Pantech run at 433MHz and Ambient run at 915MHz RF.
I would hazard a guess and say it's because Ambient paid to put their name on it, and lock down their firmware.
For all anyone knows, it might be linked to Ambient by MAC address.
Why would Ambient want to supply a web service, for free, to people that didn't buy the device from them?
I know I wouldn't.
Yes they have likely just done a deal to have the units branded with their name, and possibly a custom firmware with some minor differences.
Why would they want to supply a web service? Depends on their business model, if they use the data to generate revenue you would want as much data as possible. Plus the more users they get on their platform. the bigger audience they have to sell products to, they sell everything from weather stations to tide clocks and lightening detectors.
Also Pantech run at 433MHz and Ambient run at 915MHz RF.
Yes different countries have different frequencies for these types of low power, low interference devices. The data and protocol should be the same, just what frequency it's sent on is different.
At least i know AmbientWeather isn't going to work, and i can delete my account there and stop trying now. :)
Slydog ¡Kamerian! writes...
Also Pantech run at 433MHz and Ambient run at 915MHz RF.
Yes different countries have different frequencies for these types of low power, low interference devices. The data and protocol should be the same, just what frequency it's sent on is different.
The RF crystal is cheap and not adjustable ie. It is preset before it is soldered on the PCB. You can flash different Ambient firmware but the RF settings will be out. You would need to be to modify the firmware first to RF 433MHz for it to work.
Why would they want to supply a web service? Depends on their business model, if they use the data to generate revenue you would want as much data as possible.
Because their model is "buy Ambient, get a place for your data to be safe", as opposed to WU that decided to drop decimal points for awhile. And can do whatever they like, whenever.
Hosting/processing data costs money.
"Why pay a premium for Ambient? Because we go that extra mile to keep your data."
"Nothing to do with having ALL the data, just yours, because you're part of the Ambient family"
How many slogans you want? (not actual slogans) But that's how they do it... Make it exclusive!
I never look at other peoples WU, Weathercloud, the BoM one, Eccowit, etc, just my own.
I couldn't give a toss what the weather at their house is like, I can get official BoM data close enough for that.
I want to know MY weather. At MY house.
And a lot of people think the same.
Why would Ambient want to supply a web service, for free, to people that didn't buy the device from them?
Well I can upload my data to the Ecowitt.net web service with my NON Ecowitt branded Pantech. Last time I checked this is a FREE service
Well I can upload my data
So can I, but that's not Ambient....
Nor is weatherbug, weather underground, weathercloud, WOW, or someones "roll-your-own" server (all of which ARE available, free, through your app with a pantech 2900).
All of those are free, but Ambient isn't. That's Ambients choice.
Simple.
If Ambient want to keep their service available strictly to people that buy their hardware, that's entirely up to them.
If Ecowitt want to open theirs up to other people, that's up to them too!
Why is this so difficult to comprehend?
I don't understand why people think they should have access to Ambient just because they have access to other sites.
It's like, "I have a phone, I should be able to have apple music for free because I subscribe to google music, because it works on both!" or vice versa.
The age of entitlement....
I don't understand why people think they should have access to Ambient just because they have access to other sites.
It's like, "I have a phone, I should be able to have apple music for free because I subscribe to google music, because it works on both!" or vice versa.
The age of entitlement....
Nonsense i dont expect anything for free and it has nothing to do with the age of entitlement what so ever. I found Ambient and they have a nice weather service i was interested in using, i signed up completely unaware you couldn't use the Pantech station that's identical to the ones you can sign up with. Then spent time on a few occasions trying to make it work.
I'd be keen to pay a monthly subscription, upload my station data which they have access to monetize to pay for the service. Then they have me as a user/customer on file, and when i get cool gadgets in their marketing emails sent to me and their other customers i'll be on board to buy more sensors, tide clocks from the huge variety of products they sell etc. So it's a mutually beneficial arrangement that helps both parties.
Not accepting data from Pantech branded stations means myself and many others wont rebuy the exact same PWS with the Ambient logo. Means they get no data to monetize, i wont pay the subscription fee i was happy to, less users on their platform to sell things from their store too, and people discrediting the service and saying dont bother it's a waste of time.
But you are absolutely right though, it's completely their call how they want to try and run it.
Reminds me, still trying to get my account there terminated and all personal and station info deleted from their servers.
Reminds me, still trying to get my account there terminated and all personal and station info deleted from their servers.
I emailed them to terminate mine, can't seem to do it on their website
I am thinking of getting a personal weather station but first want to upgrade my retic controller to a wifi enabled version and one with access to weather data most likely wunderground.
My question is has anyone got a retic controller they use to retrieve weather data to determine how much watering? If so is there any extra costs like monthly fees for APIs etc associated with this? I was thinking once I get the new retic controller running with access to a nearby wundergound, I could then get a PWS myself and use that data instead. Just want to make sure there's no extra cost I need to be aware of other than just the cost of the controller and PWS. Thanks.
My question is has anyone got a retic controller they use to retrieve weather data to determine how much watering? If so is there any extra costs like monthly fees for APIs etc associated with this?
No extra costs with this method other than initial purchase.
I use this an Orbit B-hyve with the Pantech 2900 (To meet NSW Level 2 water restrictions)
https://www.orb
You can get them at Bunnings the 6 station ones are on the Bunnings shelf you have to order in the 12.
https://www.bunnings.com.
This also works great with the Orbit single tap version (with the wifi hub) as well.
You can add multiple tap timers to the hub.
https://www.bunnings.com
The B-hyve works with PWS Weather and if you have a Pantech 2900, 2550, GW1000 etc with the latest firmware you have the option of a customised station in the WS View app and in that setting you can register your Panteck/Ecowitt weather station at https://www.pwsweather.com
You can also add an actual rain sensor if you want (only the 6 and 12 station models)
https://youtu.be/sUDT74qfuHM
You add your PWS weather station in the B-hyve app under, Settings, Device Detail, Weather Adjustments.
See on this vid.
https://youtu.be/AY7bEJY2xB4
This video is pretty good for the smart tap timer wifi hub (setup is basically the same for all devices though)
https://youtu.be/15G5YSltZA4
It all works quite nicely. In fact you can use any PWS station in your area it does not have to be you own one. You run the risk of it going off line if you use someone elses station though.
I saw a Lacrosse weather station at Costco. I didn't think to get the model number, but this is an image from the catalog. Does anyone know if these are any good?
Anyone?
We had a cheapie indoor / outdoor thermometer that died a while back (outdoor sensor fell in the mud!), so been thinking about replacing it.
Don't really need a full-on weather station for wind speed etc, but would be nice to have rain figures.
Was looking at this one from Jaycar https://www.jaycar.com.au/dig
Anybody know anything about either of them?
Been searching but can't find any reviews at all, which could be either good or bad! :-)
Fizzie, I'm in the same position as you. I want internal & external temperature, and rain with seven day and YTD figures. Wind speed and humidity would be nice. Anything else is really unnecessary. Connections to internet sites and so on don't interest me
Folks – two questions:
1) what is your recommendation for a simple reliable system?
2) am I right in thinking that these weather stations with all the external sensors on one pole are flawed because the temperature sensor is going to be in full sun or the rain gauge is going to be in the shade and will read low?
Keep the answers simple please. I'm an old man – I don't want to buy something comparable to the bureau of meteorology
I have a Pantech WH2900 that I've had up and running exactly 2 weeks today ($151.08 delivered from Flora Livings with ebay 20% off).
I live in the Encounter Lakes area of Victor Harbor, SA which for all intent and purposes is at sea level (or 2 metre altitude according to Google) so I set the Relative Pressure on my device accordingly using the data from an official BOM Station at Mundoo Channel on Hindmarsh Island which is also at sea level and about 25 Km away as the crow flies.
In the 2 weeks my unit has been running it always tracks within Half a Hpa of the official BOM site which is close enough for me.
My question: The absolute pressure on my unit is always about 2 Hpa higher than the relative, correct me if I'm wrong but to to my understanding, at sea level, relative and absolute should read the same?
I read somewhere that Absolute Pressure on the units is set at manufacturing time using precise instruments and shouldn't be meddled with, so in my case who's right and who's wrong?
Can someone shed some light on this or am I completely misunderstanding the way the 2 pressures interact with each other?
I have Aercus Weather Ranger works with Weather Underground currently 46.2 in my backyard in Torrensville South Australia.
I can watch the temperature in real time I have mine set to update every 15 seconds I have unlimited broadband :)
Sometimes it is fun to watch as it rockets up then stalls then goes back down then a few minutes later i can see it increase again .
If you don't want to purchase a weather station you can utilise Weatherunderground for free it has all the data like a mate of mine is doing with hundreds of stations around.
Unlike Bom which most people go by the weather on the news that is reported as being from the head office and they think that applies to where they actually live when they can be 50 kms from there having access to your own station is more accurate for your area.
saw a Lacrosse weather station at Costco. I didn't think to get the model number, but this is an image from the catalog. Does anyone know if these are any good?
I sent mine back as it didn't connect to the internet :( Clarification i couldn't connect to Acuweather to share my station the info came to my tablet .
The first one I got had to be sent back as one sensor didn't work and when I found out that it didn't connect to internet as it was supposed to and I returned it I found out if you return to Lacrosse even when it doesn't work properly part of their terms is you have to pay for return freight.
Be careful when buying other brands on eBay etc that they can be old stock that no longer connect to weatherground etc even though it says connects to internet in description.
If you can afford it buy an Aercus Weather Ranger the only thing is the tablet for inside isn't in full colour like some others have.
Thanks. Are they any good though?
I was given one.
As a basic unit they seem oK (so far)
I haven't really attempted to calibrate anything to local weather station at this stage
Wind direction is back to front as far as I am concerned, ie it tells you where the wind is going to rather than where it is coming from. If the wind is blowing from the east the monitor shows wind direction was west, to my way of thinking this wind from the east is an easterly.
I have asked if it can be changed. Pointing the station south gives correct wind direction, doesn't do much for the solar charging though. They are setup for northern hemisphere I think as the guide even says to point it to the south.
I sent mine back as it didn't connect to the internet :(
Mine connected fine and everything worked.
I returned it I found out if you return to Lacrosse even when it doesn't work properly part of their terms is you have to pay for return freight.
If it didn't work as described I would have advised them, and told them to arrange for a return satchel (or however they wanted), as soon as they told me I was responsible for return postage would have done a credit card reversal – it is their responsibility, not yours. (Of course this assumes you bought direct from La Crosse)
They are setup for northern hemisphere I think as the guide even says to point it to the south.
Yes you need to set it up to southern hemisphere
Of course this assumes you bought direct from La Crosse)
Yep direct from them I think there was a 30 day return window I didn't think of cc reverse as they sent me email with their returns policy which I thought was strange as normally if isn't customers fault companies pay return freight :(
I think that they wanted me to use a cheaper courier when I had sent it by pack n send that was $67
Yes you need to set it up to southern hemisphere
don't suppose you remember where this info is? I didn't see this in the setup, admittedly I thought that being AU model this would already be done.
The solar panel needs to point north and La Crosse are a bit slow in replying (or I am impatient – probably)
don't suppose you remember where this info is? I didn't see this in the setup, admittedly I thought that being AU model this would already be done.
You will find manuals via google as i don't know what model you have la crosse weather station manual pdf
In reference to the wind direction question, I’ve just setup a pantech hp2550 and pointed the arrow on the unit north. Should I have reversed this ?
Unlike Bom which most people go by the weather on the news that is reported as being from the head office and they think that applies to where they actually live when they can be 50 kms from there having access to your own station is more accurate for your area.
Hereyago.
http://www.bom.gov.au/sa/observations/saall.shtml
Pick a station that's close to you for the most accurate weather in your area. Weighup whatever WU station you are looking at in relation to the BOM site for accuracy.
You will find manuals via google as i don't know what model you have la crosse weather station manual pdf
No problems, it is not in the manual.
The only model that provides advice on a fix is not this one and the 2 are different in their construction so the fix is not applicable.
The model number is C80758-AU
In reference to the wind direction question, I’ve just setup a pantech hp2550 and pointed the arrow on the unit north. Should I have reversed this ?
If it has a solar panel, the panel needs to be faced north to charge the battery (in the southern hemisphere). Units built for the northern hemisphere need to point south. The La Crosse unit I have even has a "S" printed on the panel even though it is supposed to be an AU model (La Crosse C80758-AU)
Pick a station that's close to you for the most accurate weather in your area. Weighup whatever WU station you are looking at in relation to the BOM site for accuracy
Thank$ for your advice.
There are 38 weather stations near me :) https://www.wunderground.com/
On that list there are only 3 and they don't have similar readings to mine or those nearby me as there is many differences to take into account Adelaide Airport has lower temperatures because it is an open area with a sea breeze .
West Terrace is Bom's new headquarters on the edge of CBD & temperatures there are lower than their previous HQ Kent Town which is a more built-up area earlier this year Bom gave out a new record for Adelaide which was a couple of degrees lower than records for Kent Town .
There is a 4C difference between West Terrace & Kent Town 4.5km between them now & 7C between Kent Town & Adelaide airport
Weather is very different suburb to suburb unfortunately when Bom forecasts are on the news the forecast is actually for West Terrace not all the suburbs . People take Adelaide forecast as being the whole city & metro Adelaide . In winter people that live 60kms away will change their plans if it is forecast to rain & they were going to be involved in outdoor activities . I used to have people that wanted to go back home when they got to my place if it was raining & we were going to Mallala Motorsports Park the crazy thing is being 60kms away it is rarely raining there when pouring in my suburb.
Weather is very different suburb to suburb unfortunately
Even within the same suburb. On WU, there are another 5 stations within 1.5kms of mine. The readings can vary a bit here. Temps can be 1-2 degrees different, but it's also handy, as you can see rainfall and wind differences. There is an official BOM station about 1.8kms in a straight line from my house. It's handy, but its readings can be very different due to it being in the middle of an airport, so temps, wind, etc can vary. It's good to use as a guide.
I have a WH2900 from FloraLivings, and it's been rock solid for a year and a half.
I have a WH2900 from FloraLivings, and it's been rock solid for a year and a half.
KISS
Can't go wrong with the WH2900 IMHO.
Reliable, accurate (do calibrate the rain gauge) and clear indoor display.
I upload to WU.
2900 users, are the bird spikes really needed?
It probably depends on your locale and deployment
I found that birds loved crapping in mine, so diy'd with stainless wire, cable tie and dabs of silicon.
Bird poo really gums up the bucket guage.
So in a nutshell, I reckon spikes are a sound investment. :)
for 2900 users, are the bird spikes really needed?
I haven't bothered with them but as Wahroonga Farm says probably depends on locale.
I've only had mine up for a fortnight so I might change my mind later on although an old Holman that this one replaced was up for about 11 months with no bird issues.
for 2900 users, are the bird spikes really needed?
I haven't bothered with mine. I've never seen a bird near it.
One issue I did have was that the funnel for the rain gauge would blow off in the wind. Fixed that in the first few days with some gaffa tape and hasn't moved since.
I've never seen a bird near it.
Prolly has a fair bit to do with ... pussy cats?
Whilst I've always apreciated the company of puss, they are just sooo deadly on birdlife.
After the last puss went to God, we decided no more.
Now a plethora of small birds and the absolute necessity of bird spikes. We are rural.
"If you can afford it buy an Aercus Weather Ranger the only thing is the tablet for inside isn't in full colour like some others have."
Rotten Ronnie – I've been looking at that. Have you any experience of it yourself, or are going on what pals have said/written?
I'm setting up my new Ecowitt station and have noticed that the Barometer reading seems lower than it should be. It is currently reading as 993.1, however when I look at Weatherzone the reading on there is 1018.1 for my closest town that Weatherzone gets its data form, albeit a different topography (hilly and a valley). We are located just over a peak of the hill we are on on the south eastern side.
Our elevation is 241m.
Is the Ecowitt Barmometer really that far out? Or is my station faulty? Or does it need a set time to adjust itself?
How do I check it while not having another barometer?
Is it better to use ABS or REL?
Are phone barometers any good to use as a comparison?
EDIT: My internal sensor in another room is reading the lower 993 also, which has been on for 24 hours
I wouldn't trust weatherzone as far as I could bowl them (better than most, but I prefer my data straight from the horses mouth, with no "interpretation") . Find a near actual BoM site.
Phones aren't too bad. My pantech is reading 1015.0, BoM say 1015.3, and my phone is 1014.4
If your phone is anywhere near your weather station, I'd trust it more than weatherzone.
Phones aren't too bad. My pantech is reading 1015.0, BoM say 1015.3, and my phone is 1014.4
If your phone is anywhere near your weather station, I'd trust it more than weatherzone.
What app do you use for this?
What app do you use for this
To see my phone sensor? Unfortunately, I use pocket weather (until midnight tonight when it gets shut down).
There's plenty of barometer apps out there.
btw, sometimes my pantech and my phone are close, and BoM is quite a bit different. Totally down to weather patterns and the nearest BoM site being at an airport.
Find a near actual BoM site.
Ok so that ios the same as what Weatherzone is saying, so my station is either not working properly or I just need to adjust it via calibration from 993 to 1017, which I have now done.
If your phone is anywhere near your weather station, I'd trust it more than weatherzone
I've tested 4 apps, two report higher than the 1017, whilst two report the same 993 values
Plus as I said before my internal sensor is also reading 993
pocket weather
Just tried that and it is 1016
While there I note it says cloudless, my station however shows the sun behind a cloud, out the window it is cloudless :).
Two weathercloud registered stations 30 t0 40 kms away (west and south east of us) report 1008 to 1012.6. So what is right?
I'm going to go with the closest to the Bom site which is now 1015.9
I've tested 4 apps, two report higher than the 1017, whilst two report the same 993 values
Plus as I said before my internal sensor is also reading 993
I suspect that you are getting tangled up in the difference between MSLP and absolute pressure.
Your phone will generally read absolute, unless an altitude offset is provided.
BOM and most other sites correct the stations altitude and record MSLP.
I am at 230m. My nearest station is at Taree, which is some distance.
My phones absolute pressue is 980mBar
My phones MSLP is 1006mBar (230m offset) ... using Android App Barometer Reborn.
https://i.imgur.com/j18hU7d.jpg
My Weather station (adjusted for MSLP by elevation input) is 1005.6mBar.
Taree shows 1006.5mBar.
IMO weather station pressure guages are pretty reliable. :)
I suspect that you are getting tangled up in the difference between MSLP and absolute pressure.
Maybe I am ... how do I check? In my stations settings the barometer settings are set to hpa.
If I do not calibrate the station is reporting in the 990's (hpa), on two phone apps it says the same 990s, on my internal sensor in another room it has the 990s number as well.
However if I look at the Bom site, two other phone apps plus other stations closest to me on weathercloud the hpa is around the 1015 (as of now).
What am I misreading?
My station is this one http://www.ecowitt.com/weather_station/70.html
Out of box, installed 24 hours now, I have only adjusted the date/time, latitude/longitude and the barometer
Out of box, installed 24 hours now, I have only adjusted the date/time, latitude/longitude and the barometer
There should be a setting for your locations altitude? But no ... you need to calibrate both ABS and REL.
You can change the view of Absolute or Relative (MSLP)
https://i.postimg.cc/k5wjJv1
You can calibrate both ABS and REL individually.
https://i.postimg.cc/zfMxHGN
How to
https://i.postimg.cc/vTmDRb1
About ABS and REL
https://i.postimg.cc/HnPndR5
How to
My local airport is 130kms away, do I use that for my REL
How do I reset my stations ABS not calibrated. I can't reset to 00000, so how can I get it to set its own uncalibrated value, which was in the 990s yesterday until I set what I though was the correct pressure.
My local airport is 130kms away, do I use that for my REL
You don't have to use an airport, just use an official BoM site that's closer. I use Hindmarsh Island for mine at Victor Harbor which is nowhere near an airport
My local airport is 130kms away, do I use that for my REL
Depending on the weather at he time of observation, it can be close ... or not so
However if I look at the Bom site, two other phone apps plus other stations closest to me on weathercloud the hpa is around the 1015 (as of now).
As long as you are more or less on or around the same isobar, it should be good.
Your phone apps that provide MSLP indicate this.
How do I reset my stations ABS
It would have arrived factory calibrated.
You will now have to set it to the ABS of your location. In the abscence of a laboratory barometer ...
... use your phone (reading ABS) or other household barometer.
Rotten Ronnie – I've been looking at that. Have you any experience of it yourself, or are going on what pals have said/written?
I have my own & i love it.
Find a near actual BoM site
Beware of their so called personal /local zones as when you type in your suburb it can be over 4kms from your place .
For example type in Glenelg Adelaide it will say Glenelg but the site it is linked to is Adelaide Airport .
I recently saw about these on a fb page & thought great i bought my own weather station & BOM has individual stations for suburbs but it was misleading though most people probably wouldn't notice .
Just a heads up for WH2900 users.
Went to calibrate the rain gauge on a new PanTech WH2900 as per the WF's pdf in this thread. https://app.box.com/s/aqr83nxeg68rpe1fpnqpvs6wch6l10xu
I measure the ID of the WH2900 bucket as 112.77mm not 110mm. https://photos.app.goo.gl/BBNcDNXqwqRbfVdy8
Seems they're using a different bucket on the WH2900 now so I'm using 100ml instead of 95ml to simulate 10mm of rain – as per Smeegle's HP2551 in the pdf.
WH2900 Y-shape unit on ebay: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/P
I measure the ID of the WH2900 bucket as 112.77mm not 110mm
I must admit I did not mic it. I'll check.
And whoops. :)
112.55mm according to my mic rather than a quick tape job.
So my guaging was a bit out ... but at least the product is consistent.
The story is the WS all come out of the same factory, and if not that ... the same mould. :)
And whoops. :)
I've corrected the how to calibrate the rain gauge on WH2990/ HP2551 weather stations
https://app.box.com/s/aqr83nxeg68rpe1fpnqpvs6wch6l10xu (pdf)
Awesome. Thank you.
How do you do the calibration without it mucking up your stats, particularly now WU doesn’t have editing at the moment?
How do you do the calibration without it mucking up your stats
Calibration is done on the physical unit via it's display.
Oh I get that. I just meant won’t your 10mm of rain be uploaded to WU (and the like) and throw your real world figures out?
Oh I get that. I just meant won’t your 10mm of rain be uploaded to WU (and the like) and throw your real world figures out?
Oh. :)
You can cancel a rain event via the display and this reset the daily total in the WU view.
But on reconsidering this it prolly doesn't alter WU totals??
That's my recollection. :)
I use the manual gauge as the long term farm record.
Hi all!
Looking at a Pantech and was hoping for some advice as to where i should install it? Does it go in full sun?
I can mount it on the side of an existing tv antenna pole but it will be in close proximity to the metal roof...
Alternatively i could install a new pole off the brickwork off the side of the house. How much height would i need from the metal roof?
Also what's the difference between the Pantech WH-2950 and the HP 2550? Any opinions would be great for a weather newbie
Does it go in full sun?
That is the objective. They seem to handle it OK.
- Clear solar radiation measurements ie full sun
- Clear wind measurements ie no obstructions
- Clear full sun temperature measurement . The temp gauge is suitably 'bee box' housed to measure ambient air temp.
From the manual ...
4.2 Site Survey – Perform a site survey before installing the weather station. Consider the following:
1. You must clean the rain gauge every few months and change the rechargeable batteries every 2-3 years. Provide easy access to the weather station.
Good tip as the bucket assembly fill with dust and mud which may seize it entirely. Hold the bucket steady and flush with clean water hose etc
2. Avoid radiant heat transfer from buildings and structures. In general, install the sensor array at least 5’ from any building, structure, ground, or roof top.
3. Avoid wind and rain obstructions. The rule of thumb is to install the sensor array at least four times the distance of the height of the tallest obstruction. For example, if the building is 20’ tall, and the mounting pole is 6’ tall, install 4 x (20 – 6)’ = 56’ away.
4. Wireless Range. The radio communication between receiver and transmitter in an open field can reach a distance of up to 330 feet, providing there are no interfering obstacles such as buildings, trees, vehicles, high voltage lines. Wireless signals will not penetrate metal buildings. Under most conditions, the maximum wireless range is 100’.
5. Radio interference such as PCs, radios or TV sets can, in the worst case, entirely cut off radio communication. Please take this into consideration when choosing console or mounting locations. Make sure your display console is at least five feet away from any electronic device to avoid interference.
I have mine mounted on one of these:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/
The multi section is handy for cleaning as you can just side the top 2 thirds off the bottom section to clean the unit and put it back up in the exact same location.
I’ve also got my Hunter Solar Sync mounted to it lower down.
All works brilliantly.
I have mine mounted on one of these:
https://www.bunnings.com.au
Have you noticed an vibration or is it pretty solid in the wind. added stays to those previously with a TV antenna.
I mounted my EcoWitt on one of these from ebay. Has stays at the bottom to help with vibration/swaying. Plus it is designed to simply attach to the current roofing Tek screws so you don't need to install new ones. Just a bit of silicone over the top for extra waterproofing. We get quite high winds in our valley in Waukivory and it doesn't flap around at all. It's also available for tile roofs. I've mounted it on the row of screws just below the peak of the roof for maximum height. Our roof line is clear of trees or ground formations that would cause turbulence. About 6m off the ground...
I have mine mounted on one of these:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/
I used a mast extension and put it on the back of a Foxtel dish mount.
Looking at a Pantech and was hoping for some advice as to where i should install it? Does it go in full sun?
My Pantech is mounted on my tin roof with this – https://www.bunnings.com.au/a
I have mine mounted on one of these:
https://www.bunnings.com.au
The multi section is handy for cleaning as you can just side the top 2 thirds off the bottom section to clean the unit and put it back up in the exact same location.
I have the same one. It's great being able to climb up a ladder and take the top 2/3rds off for maintenance.
Have you noticed an vibration or is it pretty solid in the wind. added stays to those previously with a TV antenna.
I haven't noticed any.
I've mentioned mine before... 4.5m guyed mast.
Still haven't had to clean it. Our birds live in the trees. :D
Still gets dust and dirt build up inside.
Mine is solid. The station is pretty streamlined so is doesn’t get a lot of wind loading.
I have mine mounted on one of these:
https://www.bunnings.com.au
Cheers for the info. Does this provide enough clearance from the actual roof surface to minimise any heat reflections? I have a metal roof and it sure does get hot
I have a metal roof and it sure does get hot
Mine is mounted on a light coloured colorbond roof. I checked it against another thermometer when I first installed it and there was a little variation but nothing to bother me.
Mine is mounted on a the corner of a virtually flat pergola roof so I pretty much have the full 140cm of clearance above and whatever the sideways clearance is too.
I just bought the HP2550 and all good so far....but.. I am trying to back-up to a card and it just hangs at "Backup in progress". I have tried 2 different micro SD cards, formatted both to exFAT and NTFS but no cigar. Any ideas?
Also what's the difference between the Pantech WH-2950 and the HP 2550?
I had the HP2950 'I' type layout previously, wasn't as robust/well built as the 'Y' layout on my WH2900, which seems to be the value choice in this thread. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/P
The HP2550 is similar to the WH2900 but with an extra temp sensor, bigger/higher resolution TFT screen etc. An extra $130-140 though over the WH2900 which is $151 in the Floral Livings regular 20% off deals. I figured at $151 I'm more likely to replace it with same if it dies down the track, they might be UV treated but Qld summers laugh at that. ;)
HP2551 on Amazon. $280 https://www.amazon.com.au/ECO
HP2550 with bird spikes. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/P
Hey all,
I'm currently in the market for a weather station. This is all a bit new to me and I'm honestly not sure where to start in terms of brands, feature-sets etc. – so I'm hoping for some advice!
I'm intending on a budget of approx $250-$300.
The intention is the device will be mounted at my volunteer fire station in Tasmania, with a display somewhere inside the building which we can monitor on hot/total fire ban days, and preferably the ability for any of our members to remotely view the weather conditions via either an app or website.
In doing some Googling I initially came across the Ambient WS-2902, but I understand that's not tailored to/supported in the Australian market?
Any advice gratefully received.
Cheers!
I'm currently in the market for a weather station.
Consistent winners here are the Pantech WH2990 and HP2550
https://www.floralivings.com
Same outdoor unit but the HP2550 has a TFT display and a few more indoor display features.
I don't believe that cloud reporting e.g to Weather Underground is any different?
IMO the bird spike ring is a valuable addition.
https://i.postimg.cc/d1TxhKT
Flora Living also sells on eBay and has specials from time to time.
Consistent winners here are the Pantech WH2990 and HP2550
Or the Ecowitt HP2551 which is very similar to the Pantech HP2550
https://www.amazon.com.au/EC
I have a Digitech IC0370 weather station. Basically the Pantech WS2900 I think.
What device hardware do you set on WU?
Cheers
Ben
What device hardware do you set on WU?
My WH2900 is set to Other. They do have the Ambient Range, but I don't know if there is a difference from the WH2902 to my WH2900 from WU point of view, so I just set it to Other. No issues so far.
What device hardware do you set on WU?
I set my Pantech WS2900 as if it was an ambient weather 2902, but it doesn't appear to really matter.
Had a wh2900 setup for about two weeks now, when I first put it up i dripped some water into the rain gauge just to make sure it was working and it registered.
Now we've had our first rain since setting it up, the first time it only registered a single 1.8mm event which came out to 0.3mm daily. Other stations nearby showed 5mm for the day which seems right, next day i checked on it and manually dripped some water in it and it seemed to register fine and empty. Now we're in the middle of some more rain and it's registered a single 1.8mm event recently and nothing else since, exactly like the first time.
Any idea on how to troubleshoot ?
One bucket tip registers approximately 0.3mm.
It seems your weather station is operating normally?
The WH2900 can be readily tested.
10ml of water will guage 1mm.
100ml of water will guage 10mm.
To test.
Place a glass marble in the base of the funnel to restrict flow. The flow rate depends on the spherical accuracy.
Slowly introduce 100ml of water to the funnel. A large syringe will provide an accurate water measure.
Calibrate accordingly.
An 80% or 0.8 offset (or thereabouts may be required.
One bucket tip registers approximately 0.3mm.
It seems your weather station is operating normally?
Yeah except in both those situations we're receiving much more than that.
Anyway as soon as I posted that it sat at 0mm for around for 30 minutes while it was still raining at around 10mm/hr according to other nearby stations, then all of a sudden it started reporting properly in relation to other nearby stations except it's about 8mm short due to the period where it wasn't reporting.
except it's about 8mm short due to the period where it wasn't reporting.
Seems 'sticky'.
Make sure there is no swarf in the bucket mechanism
Perhaps try a wee bit of silicon spray on the tipping mechanism?
In country VIC here and the temp dropped 15° within and hour and I’ve had 9mm of rain since 5:30pm and it’s still falling.
I hope this continues and makes it to the fires.
Consistent winners here are the Pantech WH2990 and HP2550
Any sales on the stations at the moments, I noticed someone mentioned the cheaper one can be had for around 150?
Also, if anyone has experience on how long does it take for the product to arrive from floral to Sydney Metro?
I ended up picking up a bunch of Netatmo stuff from Curious Planet (Formerly Australian Geographic) for 60% off today. I ended up getting the Starter Kit for $120, and an additional indoor module for $60. I then got JBHiFi to price match a further two indoor modules, for $60 each (JB sell them for $144 each).
I was pretty happy with that deal personally.
Has anyone got the Explore Scientific 5-in-1 Professional Weather Station (WSX1001) from Curious Planet (used to be Australian geographic)? Currently 60% off from $450 down to $180. But them being under volunteer administration means no refunds.
Is this a decent product?
Explore Scientific 5-in-1 Professional Weather Station (WSX1001)
But them being under volunteer administration means no refunds.
I think you can do better IMO.
I think you can do better IMO.
What makes you say i can do better? What would you recommend?
The other option i came up with was DIY Raspberry pi weather station loosely based on https://projects.raspberrypi.
What makes you say i can do better?
Probably the post at the top of this very page.
Or the other 7 times on this page alone that one of those is mentioned.
And you could then search this whole thread and see how many times it gets mentioned so far. 214 times
:D
edit: I took way too long to type that and count mentions. lol
Thank you. I did search for the one I linked as thats the one that is available in store hence I was asking for reviews on that one.
I will look into the ones at the top. Cheers
Wowsers
On holiday... Was waiting for the kids to get up :)
I will look into the ones at the top
The WH2900 is probably THE most value for money weather station available in Oz. :)
The WH2900 is probably THE most value for money weather station available in Oz. :)
And it works. :)
Be careful with going only temp. Once you get hooked on the stats you’ll want more.
They’re relatively cheap, so just get the whole hog and be done with it IMO.
Looking to get some form of backup power supply for my Ecowitt HP2551 for when the power goes out.
Anyone have any suggestions? How long will it power the device before the power comes back on?
FIXED: see edit below
--
Ok guys, I am sure others have had this problem. I'm not sure what else to try.
I have the PT-WH2950 Pantech, and using the WS View app on my Android Phone and I cannot connect to wifi.
I have followed the instructions, and the SSID I am connecting to only has 2.4GHZ enabled.
EasyWeather-WIFIC993 is listed as wifi device.
---- output is as follows---
Find Device EasyWeather-WIFIC993
Ready to connect to device
Connected to device
Connected Fail, try again
Connected Fail, try again
Timeout
EDIT: FIXED, solution:
I used Ambient Weather Osprey App instead, and the instructions advise press RAIN + ALARM (instead of WIND+PRESSURE as per the manual and WS View App).
Thanks all for the suggestions, I'm moreso leaning towards the PT-HP2550 for the benefits of the display as it has a constant display of dewpoint.
Does anyone have any real world experience, feedback or thoughts on the add-ons such as the soil moisture sensor and the air quality sensor?
Particularly with the soil moisture sensor, I can't find much on it but I'm wondering if it'll show along the lines of a Soil Dryness Index?
PT-WH2950 – is there a trick with the time displayed on the unit?
Every time I set it, it keeps going back 8 hrs
Every time I set it, it keeps going back 8 hrs
That means the time is set automatically and you just need to configure the right timezone ie (UTC+08:00) Perth
I don't have that weather station but a quick google found instructions for that:
https://www.manualslib.com/m
So, I need to get a new weather station after my WeatherSleuth rolled over and died.
What's the best bang for buck under $500? Would like some sort of internet/app link (probably not Wunderground due to their lack of Android support) and the ability to store historical data.
Does anyone have any real world experience, feedback or thoughts on the add-ons such as the soil moisture sensor and the air quality sensor?
Particularly with the soil moisture sensor, I can't find much on it but I'm wondering if it'll show along the lines of a Soil Dryness Index?
I have this unit but from EcoWitt and its a model HP2551. They are the same except one has a Y config of the outside unit and the other is straight line with wind sensors under and over. I have the soil moisture and air quality sensors installed also. The air quality is a set and forget and with the current fires it is a good pointer to the poor air quality here at the moment.
The soil moisture sensor show a percentage of moisture in the soil. In a glass of water to test I got a 98% reading and in the soil it shows 3% with this drought but I am using it to tell me when the garden dries out enough to need a water so I am not wasting water. We live on rainwater tanks so it assists greatly. I also have two extra temp/humidity sensors as well as the indoor sensor and the roof. Allows me to know the temp/humidity on the front covered deck and the back of the house. All are wireless connections and work well around my home which is colorbond steel walls and roofing.
Interestingly, as noted in this thread they all come from the same factory in China and go by varying names. If you want it cheap and can wait for shipping from China you can get the same thing on AliExpress. One of these is called Mi-Sol and you can find all models there. Be wary though as some are over priced but they are there. They list the features like uploading to Weather Undergound etc.
probably not Wunderground due to their lack of Android support
What lack of android support is that?
Most of the Fine Offset/Pantech models upload to about 4-5 sites including WU, or even your own.
I have the WU app on my nexus 7.
I don't use it often as I prefer other sites, and just have a chrome link on my phone for them.
But it's there for the persistent notification.
I ended up picking up a bunch of Netatmo stuff from Curious Planet (Formerly Australian Geographic) for 60% off today.
Thanks for the heads-up on the sale. I have a Netatmo system and e was looking for a mount for my rain gauge (to replace the gaffer tape hack I have used or the last couple of years). Had no luck at the two stores I drove to, despite their website saying both had the item in stock – I had tried to click-and-collect but it looks like they have turned off the credit card gateway (because the store inventory is nothing like what the website thinks the stores still have, and I guess they don’t want to take orders for items they can’t fulfil).
From what I saw at the two locations I went to, the shelves are largely cleaned out on their sale already, and definitely don’t pay any attention to what the website says is in stock anywhere, but you might still be able to get some Netatmo or Oregon Scientific (or whatever other brand) weather station stuff you are after at really cheap prices if you are quick.
Wunderground has a specific Apple App.
What does that do that the android app doesn't?
https://play.google.com/stor
Mind you, IBM broke it compared to the way it used to be.
What does that do that the android app doesn't?
Woops behind the times.
I think the Apple App is betterer though?
Can I get extra displays for the HP2550? My searches didnt turn up anything.
I take it you mean the extra temperature/humidity sensors. The Floral Living site lists them as an option when buying the HP2550 from them. About $21 each. They are the same for all models like this and my EcoWitt 2551 has them. They are available on Amazon for $16.99 each. Process for the Pantech setup is the same as the EcoWitt for these extras so I would surmise they are exactly the same and compatible. Here's the link:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp
Hi, no I meant the main screen, one in my office and one in living area would be great. Seems the signal wouldnt have a problem feeding 2 readouts, but Im not sure if they are sold as an accessory?
I think not. The console display has all the smarts for storage, calculation and transmission to the Internet. Plus it's a singular connection to the outside collection unit and any accessories like air quality and soil moisture sensors.
Thanks, I thought the base would be just a receiver only, I dont think they transmit anything to the sensors do they? Ive just ordered one, now I know I cant get a screen, shame but still looks good.
Perhaps they have a frequency/channel setting so your neighbor doesnt get your signal reception if he owns one too etc?
That means the time is set automatically and you just need to configure the right timezone ie (UTC+08:00) Perth
I don't have that weather station but a quick google found instructions for that:
Yeah. I don't appear to have that option following those instructions. I cannot find a timezone setting anywhere.
Apparently because I am uploading to ecowitt, it is synchronizing my time with that, even though I choose Perth timezone on there, it is not updating correctly... annoying!
Yeah. I don't appear to have that option following those instructions. I cannot find a timezone setting anywhere.
On my WH2900 once I connected it to Ecowitt.net and input my location it set the time and timezone on the unit correctly including daylight saving (DST displayed on the unit).
And I'm in SA which is a half hour timezone.
Not sure, but I think you have to have firmware version 1.4.4 or later for this to work
What to buy?
Hi – I’m a newbie with no experience. I currently have a simple device that just shows temp/humidity indoors with an outdoor sensor for temp.
I am keen to buy a really good quality weather station that will provide (at a minimum) temp, humidity, rainfall, wind speed and direction. I want it to be really accurate and reliable. Must be able to display info on iPad. I will mount it on a pole on the roof, but my house is already a long way off the ground so I do not want to have to be going up there to clean it or replace batteries too often! Preferably never.....
I have looked at various websites and am simply overwhelmed by the choice available. Can anyone help me please? My budget is approx $400-$900. Davis seems to be high end but I would prefer a colour display (it is 2020 after all). Ambient has also attracted my attention (e.g. WS-2000) but Ambient seems to be a generic brand with others offering the same hardware with slightly different firmware.
Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
Paul
Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated.
Have a look from here down for a few posts.
In terms of reporting to the cloud they all do a pretty much the same job.
The sensors can be calibrated. The rainfall rain gauge appears to be the one that may need most attention. Everything else seems to come factory calibrated and pretty much on the money.
A TFT display over an LCD is nice and it offers a few more display options.
In any case ... the best value models appear to come out of the same Chinese factory – http://www.foshk.com/Wifi_Weather_Station/ – so shop for value for money. ;)
Reliability? Seem pretty damn good for the money.
The outdoor unit has solar assist and the replaceable batteries seem to last for a long time. That's a long time. :)
It is more likely that you will need to clean the rain bucket after an extended dry period or clean out bird droppings and other detritus. A bird guard consisting of stainless spikes around the rain gauge is an excellent addition.
how do I check the accuracy of this rain gauge I have so I can compare it against the Pantech WH2900.
The opening is 60mm2 (ID).
https://www.ebay.com.au
The model number is C80758-AU
Not really an AU version. In an attempt to get the wind right as it was reading wind direction in reverse, I contacted LaCrosse and here is their response
"Please make sure the solar panel of the wind sensor is facing south. The wind direction on the indoor display is the direction that the wind is coming from.
We apologize for the confusion surrounding the placement of the wind sensor in relation to the sun. The sensor was originally designed for use in the Northern Hemisphere. For optimal use in the southern hemisphere we do recommend initially charging the sensor in the off position before mounting. After it has been fully charged, the sensor should maintain an adequate charge even while facing south. Please let us know if you do not see that being the case. "
So the conversion for Australia appears to be stick AU on the model number. It may or may not be adequate to charge battery but description was misleading and if I had known I would not have purchased. On some other models you can reverse the sensor however not on this one.
how do I check the accuracy of this rain gauge
A circle example:
Area = π(D)2
2
A 112.8 diameter circle has an area of 10,000mm2.
Note: 1mL = 1,000 cubic mm.
Thus 10mL in the funnel will gauge 1mm of rain.
Calculate the area of the gauge opening in mm2
So if the ID is square, 60mm x 60mm = 3,600mm2
Therefore, 3.6mL will gauge 1mm of rain.
36mL will gauge 10mm of rain.
Hope that assists.
Thanks for your helpful response.
I am still intrigued by the Davis option(s). The reviews all seem very positive. Are they worth the extra cost in terms of accuracy and perhaps build quality and potential longevity?
Hope that assists.
Much appreciated WF, worked a treat. Gauge reads 10mm with 36ml.
Will need to adjust the WH2900 again, still over-reading by about 10%. That'll put it close to -20%. Varies a bit in heavy/light rain. At least I now have a true-ish base.
That'll put it close to -20%. Varies a bit in heavy/light rain. At least I now have a true-ish base.
That's the general findings for the foshk gauges.
Yes, heavy and light rain creates a bit of variability but a setting of ~80% (or 0.8) seems to do a pretty fair job of rain calibration.
The rain in China must be ... different? :)
I've created a 'How to calibrate your rain Gauge WIKI.'
/wiki/how_to_calibrate_a_weatherstation_rainfall_gauge
Thanks to Smeegle and Mr Sneezy for their valuable input on the topic.
I'll tag this and hopefully a kind mod will add this to the thread header.
Be careful with going only temp. Once you get hooked on the stats you’ll want more.
They’re relatively cheap, so just get the whole hog and be done with it IMO.
I live in an apartment, so I can't mount stuff outside that would accurately measure rainfall/wind speed. I'm happy enough having just temperature/humidity data.
The rain in China must be ... different
It weighs more because of the smog it's falling through? :-)
It weighs more because of the smog it's falling through? :-)
There you go.
An explanation for everything. :)
Not really an AU version
Yes, I returned mine to Costco, the Wifi would drop off and not reconnect, the rain guage total would not reset daily on the display and it had to face the solar panel south. Will look at one of the ones recommended on this forum instead
Anyone know where I can download the latest firmware for the Pantech HP2550? Thanks.
I use the WS View app on my iPhone for my Pantech 2900
IBM broke it compared to the way it used to be.
Sadly.
Another thing I noticed with WU site is when the page loads up initially in Farenheit it actually shows the apparent temp but when it switches to Celcius and fully loads the apparent temp is always identical to the actual temp.
Does anyone else notice this?
I have a PanTech HP2550, can anyone tell me what the icon that looks like a bolt of lightning above the humidity reading indicates ?
Another thing I noticed with WU site is when the page loads up initially in Farenheit it actually shows the apparent temp but when it switches to Celcius and fully loads the apparent temp is always identical to the actual temp.
Does anyone else notice this?
Yes the other thing i noticed when the page loads for example right now it says Temp 77.0 Feels Like 78.4 and when it flicks to Celsius it says Temp 25.0c and Feels Like 25.0c
How can the temp and feels like be identical in Celsius but different in Fahrenheit. 78.4f is 25.7c and not 25.0c
How can the temp and feels like be identical in Celsius but different in Fahrenheit. 78.4f is 25.7c and not 25.0c
At a guess, it is related to the fact that when they cut over to a new platform, the API stopped providing temperature in Celsius to one decimal place, and is instead rounded down to the nearest degree.
It wouldn't surprise me if the same clumsy code is manifesting itself here.
I have a PanTech HP2550, can anyone tell me what the icon that looks like a bolt of lightning above the humidity reading indicates ?
This is the lightning alert. It will illuminate when the dew point reaches a set figure (70 deg F in my manual). Usually will coincide with the display of the rain or storms icon in the lower right corner.
Thoughts on the Tempest? https://www.indiegogo.com/pro
Im looking to set up a station as our nearest BOM stations are quite far away. Main interest is in rain amounts.
Maybe a bit to like about it? But mostly ... not.
No in home static display. Does it provide indoor readings?? I reckon that's a major fail.
No way I'd be spending $365. :)
The haptic rain sensor is not very accurate ... +/- 10%, but a bit better than the current models +/- 20%
https://i.postimg.cc/T3ppCqBC/Haptic-rain-sensor.jpg
... but it should be self cleaning
Solar panel is a bit weird.
The current version pretty poor and the seperate temp sensor must be shade mounted!!! https://weatherflow.com/smart-home-weather-stations/
Stick with the old faithfuls most used here.
Thanks for that. Been doing some reading. Main two contenders seem to be the Pantech HP2550 or Ecowitt HP2551 which to my untrained eye, are essentially the same thing but just slightly different design?
The main features I am after are:
- Rain amount that can automatically reset at 9am each day.
- Ability to view the data from far away. Will be within range of my router, but I would like to keep on eye on the weather while I am away.
- If I can put the data onto a live website (self hosted) that would be an added bonus.
Anything I should know before purchasing one of these units?
The main features I am after are:
Rain amount that can automatically reset at 9am each day
As a weather station newby I asked a sorta similar question a year ago /thread/360ryqx3?p=24#r58133708 read down for a few posts.
The BOM records the 24hour rain accumulation at 9.00a ie 9.00am to 9.00am and records the total against the day of the total measurement.
Dumb in my view. I record a manual gauge at 8.00am and record against the previous day, much to my purist neighbours annoyance. :)
Personal automatic weather stations (AWS) record a 24 hour rain accumulation at midnight ie midnight to midnight and records the day of measurement as the actual day of measurement. The only way I can think of matching the 'wacky' BOM records would be to offset your time zone by nine hours?
Ability to view the data from far away. Will be within range of my router, but I would like to keep on eye on the weather while I am away
Almost all personal weather stations and in particular those that you have in mind, can join a free weather station site (weatherunderground etc) and your data is retrievable anywhere .. as long as you have internet access.
put the data onto a live website (self hosted) that would be an added bonus
You'll need an APi and that is well above my pay scale. :)
Anything I should know before purchasing one of these units?
Not really. They are inexpensive but appear pretty reliable. Well ... mine's run for 12 months trouble free. :)
The indoor display is a huge bonus IMO.
I have the cheaper PantechWH2990, but the outdoor unit is identical.
↓ ↓ ↓ Do calibrate the rain gauge. ↓ ↓ ↓
Thanks for that. I am a bit of purist too. Sorry. 9am for me. haha. I can adjust to to midnight to midnight.
Thanks for your help.
To get a 9am reset (Qld) I set the WH2900 time zone to Bangui Africa (+1). I ignore the clock on the display, never really used it. Habit is emptying the manual gauge at 9am and like to compare.
https://www.timeanddate.com/time/map/
The multiple panels in each direction on the Tempest must make up for the vertical mounting, they'd harvest more then a flat mounted panel early morning / late afternoon when the sun is low. But yeah, not at that price. May not like our UV.
Wait for a Floral Livings 20-25% off, pretty regular. You can be sure they'll offer it the next day if you buy now using the current eBay 15% code. ;-)
To get a 9am reset (Qld) I set the WH2900 time zone to Bangui Africa (+1).
How do you do that?
My WH2900 hasn't got an option for time zone. It automatically syncs the clock for my location (SA in my case).
The only way I'd be able to change the time is to change the clock manually and then I would have to disconnect it from the internet otherwise it would just re-sync to Adelaide time including DST.
My WH2900 hasn't got an option for time zone.
Are you sure?
You can set the clock and date.
I'm sure I had mine set for the wrong time and date ... no auto sync to router time.
Are you sure?
Positive, just checked again – No option for timezone, no option to not sync time with the router and no option for daylight saving.
Checked my book and it dosn't mention those options either.
The downloaded manual from the Fine Offset website does mention these options but they are definitly not in my manual or in the settings on my unit
No option for timezone, no option to not sync time with the router and no option for daylight saving.
Yes; but can't you set it to any old time you like?
Yes; but can't you set it to any old time you like?
Not sure I understand why you'd want to obfuscate your time to satisfy an antiquated BOM rainfall convention.
The actual rainfall events in the charts would all be out of whack with the actual time the rainfall event happened. Ditto for wind and everything else.
I'd think this would be a greater loss of functionality and usefulness of data than the ability to match up with BOMs "daily" rainfall figures. Rainfall can be so localised anyway, it rarely marries up with wherever you closest BOM weather station is anyway.
Yes; but can't you set it to any old time you like?
Yes I can set the time manually but I would have to disconnect from the Internet because at midnight it would re-sync the time to my local timezone (Adelaide time in my case). There is no setting in the firmware to turn off this option.
When I first set up my unit last November I set the time roughly and date manually but when I connected to Ecowitt.net and entered my location, DST appeared above the time display on the unit which wasn't there prior so Ecowitt is syncing the time on my unit to my local time and also adjusts for daylight saving. I checked the time on the unit against a time server using my phone and it was dead accurate therefore proving that it was syncing with an internet time server.
I don't want to disconnect from the internet because I like to see my readings remotely. I upload to Ecowitt, Wunderground and Weathercloud and besides, I haven't got a problem with the rainfall resetting at midnight instead of 9am, it makes more sense to my way of thinking.
Not sure I understand why you'd want to obfuscate your time to satisfy an antiquated BOM rainfall convention.
Nor do I, but everyone has a different perspective on things.
I agree that the BOM is plainly wrong. :)
I haven't got a problem with the rainfall resetting at midnight instead of 9am, it makes more sense to my way of thinking.
Yup.
How do you do that?
On ecowitt.net in Menu under Devices. Select Edit over on the right, then Time Zone. This changes the time on the display, no need to disconnect from wifi.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ntFQEWa9hWSg8wXm9
My priority is comparing what the manual rain gauge is against the WH2900, habit is emptying the gauge at 9am so works for me. It'll still tell me monthly/yearly totals, I don't monitor the charts daily, export data or look to see when the rain started or finished, hell sometimes I even walk outside to see what the weather might do, yes it's silly I know. ;-)
Doesn't affect Weather Underground so can see correct timed data there.
On ecowitt.net in Menu under Devices. Select Edit over on the right, then Time Zone. This changes the time on the display, no need to disconnect from wifi.
OK, never thought you could do it this way, thanks for the info
I don't have a manual rain gauge anymore, the ultra-violet got to the last Chinese made one and it fell to bits so I'll stick with my Pantech (also Chinese made) but hopefully will last longer
Always used these Rainmaxx, polycarbonate so don't yellow or go brittle, Aussie made, accurate too.
https://rover.ebay.com/r
My WH2900 has arrived and quite excited setting it up. Does the indoor temperature & humidity from the console go anywhere, ie I'd like to read it from either my HomeAssistant screen or Wunderground page?
On ecowitt.net in Menu under Devices. Select Edit over on the right, then Time Zone. This changes the time on the display, no need to disconnect from wifi.
Wish it worked for me. I can't get my time to show anything other than GMT time, despite ecowitt and wunderground both being set to Perth Australia timezones.
Pantech wh2950
GMT time, despite ecowitt and wunderground both being set to Perth Australia
Sounds like it's getting confused with Perth in Scotland. They'd be on GMT
Weird eh.
Certainly is.
Is it possible to do a factory re-set on these devices? I've only had mine for 2 months so I don't Know, but if you can I would try this then set it up again but I suppose you've already been down that road.
Mine syncs perfectly with Adelaide time and now we're on Summer time and it even caters for that (DST above clock on display) and in a half-hour timezone which a lot don't recognise
Mine is a WH2900 though but as far as i'm aware the only difference is the outside unit
item from the BGS https://www.bunnings.com.au/n
So, we got one of these last week, & got it set up over the weekend.
So far it seems OK.
We had showers overnight which are showing as 3.0mm, which matches our old manual gauge, & also the BoM site ~500m's away.
It is programmed to reset at midnight, so that the day is 12-12, but as other's have mentioned, I reset the clock so that midnight is 9am (or 9am is midnight?) so it now matches BoM's 9-9 rainfall day.
We're supposed to have pretty heavy rain for the rest of this week, so we'll see how it goes then?
Couple of other things to mention ...
Blurb says it's already been calibrated at the factory, so you don't have to do anything, which is good as I can't see any way of re-programming it. So far at least, it appears OK, so we'll check it with heavier rain.
The photo's on the site & box, gave me at least, the impression that the outside unit is only fairly small – it's not!
So, we got one of these last week
For rain and temp (plus indoor temp and humidity) it looks pretty handy and as you indicate ... it's a decent size, which is important, as it improves rainfall accuracy. :)
https://i.ibb.co/QDw6Wx6/Rain-gauge.jpg
It seems to be missing the all important outdoor humidity?
https://media.bunnings.com.a
What is the rain funnel diameter?
Easy enough to do some basic calibration checks.
It seems to be missing the all important outdoor humidity?
Yes, we didn't realise that till after we got it :-(
What is the rain funnel diameter?
Top lip is 105mm ID, which should work out to 86.6ml = 10mm? Didn't have a chance to check the calibration prior to mounting it as didn't have any way of measuring 86ml, so will just have to try it for real :-)
so will just have to try it for real :-)
That's the acid test.
Bucket gauges cannot be 100% accurate.
It's an approximation between soft rain and heavy rain.
Top lip is 105mm ID, which should work out to 86.6ml = 10mm?
Sounds about right. :)
hope they didn't calibrate it using this mounting. ;-)
https://media.bunnings.co
hope they didn't calibrate it using this mounting
Yep, that would be a bit of an issue :-)
Curious about the way it reads?
We only had very light, misty, drizzle yesterday, rather than the 10 – 30mm that was foreguessed. Yesterday arvo, the gauge was showing 0.2mm, this morning it's at 0.5mm. I would have thought that it would always read by the same amount, not either .2 or .3 which it obviously has? (Unless the two buckets are marginally different sizes, so that it reads in .5 increments?)
Incidentally, I would have read our manual gauge at ~0.8, but when I look inside the electric, there is water sitting in the bucket that hasn't yet tipped.
The official figure is 0.0!
My Pantech WH2990 reads either 0.3 or 0.2 per tip.
Why and how ... no idea. :)
The joy of bucket gauges.
so will just have to try it for real
So, new gauge read 16mm for "yesterday" (this mornings 9am reading) which agreed with the manual gauge.
Just checked the manual & it's at 72mm since 9am (yes, it's been a wet day!) while Nylex is at 69mm, so about 4% difference? :-( Mind you, there have been a few bursts of very heavy rain over that time, so that may explain it?
72mm since 9am (yes, it's been a wet day!)
147mm since 9am (yes, it's even wetter!) Bonville,(Mid North Coast), NSW
Can we assume that all the fires around you are now safely out?
Let's hope so.
Forecasting same for tomorrow and moving south.
Yes, I returned mine to Costco, the Wifi would drop off and not reconnect, the rain guage total would not reset daily on the display and it had to face the solar panel south. Will look at one of the ones recommended on this forum instead
I persevered with La Crosse support when the rain gauge would not reset and the need to point solar panel to the sout
They suggested a fix of a hard reset which I had already done and advised there was an issue with the software.
They have acknowledged that there are issues with this model and have offered to provide a free replacement in "Later this year, our second version of this item will be set for distribution in Australia, with this rain counting issue corrected as well as other enhancements for use in the southern hemisphere"
I have accepted this offer, will see what happens?
so about 4% difference?
Prolly about as close as you'll get.
I'd call it a sucess. :)
No way you can calibrate for drizel vs a gully raker.
Prolly about as close as you'll get.
So, just checked the figures for the 24 hours
Time Man Nylex
3pm 72 69
6pm 87.5 83.7
9am 119 115.5
So finished up at ~3% discrepancy for the day, which I reckon is perfectly acceptable :-)
No way you can calibrate for drizel vs a gully raker.
Just checked back through the history, & at one stage yesterday, the Nylex showed 28.5mm / hour!, which I reckon caused the "error", because after that initial 3mm, for the rest of the day it's 3.8 & then 3.5 overall, so for "normal" rain, I'd call that <1mm / 1% discrepancy.
Still supposed to keep raining for the next week, so we'll see what it does over that time?
Happy! :-)
With the heavy cloud cover my WH2900 looks to have been relying on the AAs & need to replace. Had Ikea rechargeables in it so will replace with straight alkaline. Any procedure to follow here or just swap them out, the manual isn't real clear.
Anyone tried the Digitech weather stations? Debating whether to pickup the following, for my apartment.
Any other users of the WH2900C know how long it actually takes the weather forecast icon to change after initial set up?
I know it says in the manual that it takes a month to gather pressure data but does this mean I have to wait a month before this picture changes?
I set mine up on Monday this week and the picture has shown rain since then. I wish it was right; I'm in Perth and we sure could use some! :)
Fizzie writes...
so about 4% difference?
Prolly about as close as you'll get.
I'd call it a sucess. :)
No way you can calibrate for drizel vs a gully raker.
Yeah, that is pretty good.
I went yesterday to Bunnings and bought a Holman manual cylinder rain gauge and put it up at midnight to see what it read this morning.
Holman reading 20mm and the Pantech is reading 25mm. But the the local BoM (about 5km as the crow flies) is reading 24.6mm so that screwed me. Weather stations around me are reading anything from 11mm to 45mm!!!
Will have to do some more readings....
ignore other station readings, I can get 15ml & the farmer 3k to the north gets 50ml. just calibrate to the Holman.
Holman reading 20mm and the Pantech is reading 25mm.
So if you adjust about .8 that would be consistent with a lot of Pantech owners here.
I adjusted to .85 from memory to read identical to my free standing old school metal gauge.
Edit: similar to this http://www.bom.gov.au/climate
So if you adjust about .8 that would be consistent with a lot of Pantech owners here.
I adjusted to .85 from memory to read identical to my free standing old school metal gauge.
Yeah, thanks and that seems about right as it is now reading 30.5 (5.5 mmm since last reading) and the Holman is about 4.5.
So I will set it at 0.8 and see how it goes.
I figured with all this rain – it was a good time to calibrate the rain gauge. Too lazy pull down the PWS and do the pour water method.
How do you calibrate the Pantech incidentally?
See the WIKI linked top and bottom of this thread.
/wiki/how_to_calibrate_a_weatherstation_rainfall_gauge
'Tis better than the pdf. :)
Frøg writes...
So if you adjust about .8 that would be consistent with a lot of Pantech owners here.
I adjusted to .85 from memory to read identical to my free standing old school metal gauge.
So I will set it at 0.8 and see how it goes.
So this morning the Holman reading was 44mm and the Pantech was 45mm so that is now not far off. Given the Pantech is above the roof and the Holman is in the garden below.
Well seems the Pantech didn't like me calibrating the rain gauge.
Last night the outdoor array stopped transmitting.
I checked it this morning and seems the transmit LED was not flashing.
Tried the reset button and changing the batteries but to no avail.
When you put the batteries in now the LED comes on for a few seconds then goes out.
Anyone experience this?
Anything I can do or is the unit kaput?
Edit: Well after a period of time I put the batteries back in and it is transmitting but has the outdoor temp at -39.5deg and humidity at 10%.
So something is a miss.
Re-synchronising can be a bit slow and messy.
Always best to bring it close to the indoor unit and router for this procedure.
Changing the calibration should have no impact wotsoever on the connection and reliability?
Odd?
Odd?
Yeah. I think it must have got just a bit too much rain....
I left it inside with no batteries for a while then replaced them and I seem to have it going again in a fashion.
All seems to be transmitting now UV, light, wind, direction etc, but outdoor humidity does not seem to be working as now sitting on 99% although it is transmitting.
Temperature seems to be working again but not at the old calibration amounts? But working none the less. Slowly crept up from -39.5 to 24 deg.
Will let it dry out a bit more and see how it goes. Might have to pull it apart and have a look inside.
Edit: I took to it with the hair dryer and that seemed to liven up the humidity sensor.
So will see how it goes now....
Hi all,
After reading this thread for a long while, I am still a bit confused. I am looking at buying a weather station, leaning towards a Pantech WH2900, WH2950 or a clone.
From experience, which is the best clone, or can I buy direct from Fostech? Budget is $200-$250, and surprisingly, I have my wife interested in observations as well. (She needs a technical hobby!)
I would like wireless connectivity to the sensor and remote monitoring, not necessarily via WU or similar, although that seems to be the best and easiest option.
What else is out there?
Regards,
Steve
Pantech WH2900, WH2950 or a clone.
The Pantech is a clone, technically. They all effectively come out of the same factory with different badging and minor changes to firmware.
What else is out there?
I've had my Pantech 2900 up on a pole on the roof for 18 months now, not a single glitch. It's a pain to pair with the base station, but that only has to be done once. I can't recommend the Pantech's more highly based on reliability alone.
Also have a 2950 nearing 24mths of service without issue, baking in Brisbane sun, that's impressive in itself I think
They are amazing value. In all honesty if I had to replace it at 2-3 years, I would not feel dudded.
But I reckon they'll sail on for a good few years.
Also have a 2950 nearing 24mths of service without issue, baking in Brisbane sun, that's impressive in itself I think
From what I read, the 2950 has a unique mounting system, where the 2900 uses standard ubolts. How does the 2950 mounting system work?
Also, what was required to set the 2950 up for the southern hemisphere?
Regards,
Steve
If anyone has a weather station mounted on a TV style mast, have you grounded the mast for lightning protection?
Regards,
Steve
Would it make any difference if the TV aerial is higher and fairly close to the weather station? (which is obviously grounded)
Jungle Jim,
From memory my 2950 came with a short metal pole with notches in it. I went to Bunnings and bought a longer galv pole of the same diameter and grinded notches in it, inserted the pole and secure it with metal saddles.
During setup you also need to reconfigure it 180deg to allow for it's Nth Hemisphere intended application.
During setup you also need to reconfigure it 180deg to allow for it's Nth Hemisphere intended application.
The ones sold here, like the Pantech from Floralivings on ebay are already configured for Sth Hemisphere.
For those with the 2900, does the external power cord sit flush on the rear of the indoor unit so if wall mounted it will sit flush?
Regards,
Steve
For those with the 2900, does the external power cord sit flush on the rear of the indoor unit so if wall mounted it will sit flush?
From memory it sticks out. I'll check when I get home.
2900, does the external power cord sit flush on the rear of the indoor unit
Here you go.
https://i.postimg.cc/vZr8DQ9p/WH-2900-power.jpg
Apologies its a bit fuzzy but the short answer; good to go. :)
but the short answer; good to go. :)
Thanks mate. Seems my memory is hazy haha. Looks like it's even got mounting points ready to go too which is pretty cool.
Yes it's well done.
What I didn't realise (until I took the snapshot) was all the handy basic info on the rear of the unit including QR codes. :)
What I didn't realise (until I took the snapshot) was all the handy basic info on the rear of the unit including QR codes. :)
All obviously vital to set-up & programming then ‽ :-)
Another question, has anyone here mounted a 2900 on a TV mast J pole (also known as a barge board or fascia mount)? If so, how is the accuracy?
Regards,
Steve
Another question, has anyone here mounted a 2900 on a TV mast J pole (also known as a barge board or fascia mount)?
It should be ok provided you can fix to a rafter.
However for optimum performance the outdoor station should be higher than the roof apex so rain doesn't bounce of the roof into the gauge and wind might not record correctly.
I have my 2900 on a TV mast about 3m above ground level. No issues so far but winter storms may twang it around a bit.
Another question, has anyone here mounted a 2900 on a TV mast J pole
I have mine about 3m up on the roof, guy roped down for stability. No issues so far. I had to tape the plastic rain tub down so the birds/wind didn't blow it off.
Another question, has anyone here mounted a 2900 on a TV mast J pole (also known as a barge board or fascia mount)? If so, how is the accuracy?
I haven't had an issue. I got the J pole from bunnings. It's been pretty spot on with other weather stations around here.
Just where to mount your AWS is a bit of a conundrum.
BOM sites record temp at around 1m above ground level, anemometer/ direction often on a mast and rainfall almost at ground level.
So ... roof mounting your weather station is likely to skew temperature, but wind strength and direction will be more accurate.
It likely skews rainfall due to wind velocity at height and ultimately we are measuring 'what falls on the ground'.
https://i.postimg.cc/qBzQHQxg/perth-mt-lawley-9225.jpg
Mt Lawley, Perth
I always intended to move mine to a roof mount mount, but I've since decided to maintain it in its original position about 1 m from the ground. As I'm rural, I have plenty of unobstructed space.
A guide to weather station rankings here https://bom-wow.metoffice.gov.uk/support/siteratings
Exposure ratings relate to the site of the temperature and rainfall instruments only, which should ideally be at ground level. Sensors for sunshine, wind speed etc are best exposed as freely as possible, and rooftop or mast mountings are usually preferable.
Exposure guidelines are based on a multiple of the height h of the obstruction above the sensor height; the standard is a minimum distance of twice the height (2h). Thus for a raingauge at 30 cm above ground, a building 5 m high should be at least 9.4 m distant (5 m less 0.3 m, x 2), and a 10 m building should be at least 17 m from a thermometer screen (10 m less 1.5 m, x2)
An AWS with a separate anemometer/ direction would be handy. :)
I haven't had an issue. I got the J pole from bunnings. It's been pretty spot on with other weather stations around here.
Is that the one in sections? I would have thought at 1.4mtrs and telescoping it would not be that stable.
I'm thinking of the Jaycar one at 1.8mtrs
Regards,
Steve
An AWS with a separate anemometer/ direction would be handy. :)
They do make them, but cost a bit more.
Regards,
Steve
So ... roof mounting your weather station is likely to skew temperature, but wind strength and direction will be more accurate.
From what I've read, 1.5mtrs above a roof is OK. I can't roof mount as I am 70, and not real steady on my feet. Even if I was, it is not recommended in medical circles for people over the age of 50 to be climbing ladders. Iknow most of us do, but look what happened to Molly Meldrum
The AWS also needs to be accessible for maintenance.
I am on a small suburban block (345 sq mtrs), so not much space.
Regards,
Steve
I have downloaded a few WH2900 manuals from different sources and there are minor variations.
Does anyone have a Pantech (gen 2) user manual they can give me?
Regards,
Steve
Is that the one in sections?
Yes. It's actually rather handy, as I can't get high enough to reach the top of the mast, so I take the sections off at the bottom joint and can take the whole thing down. There are slots at each joint, so I know that I'm putting it back up at correct angles as well.
This is mine. It's been there since August 2017. The mast I got back in about July 2015. The rust marks are from my old WH3081 where it mounted. The only time I've taken it down since I installed the 2900 is a few days after install when a gust of wind blew the rain collector funnel off. It's now held in place with 2 strips of black gaffa tape. I haven't touched it since.
The only time I've taken it down since I installed the 2900 is a few days after install when a gust of wind blew the rain collector funnel off. It's now held in place with 2 strips of black gaffa tape. I haven't touched it since.
Two questions, does the rain funnel just sit there or does it lock in? I would think it would lock in.
good point re access, how high does the Bunnings one go? Their website says 140cm extendable.
Did you mean to post an image?
Regards,
Steve
does the rain funnel just sit there or does it lock in? I would think it would lock in
Yes, it locks in, at least mine does
Yes, it locks in, at least mine does
The WH2900 rain funnel securely locks in place (twist), with a three tab retaining system.
The WH2900 rain funnel securely locks in place (twist), with a three tab retaining system.
Mine has endured 123km/hr winds and not blown away yet.
Two questions, does the rain funnel just sit there or does it lock in? I would think it would lock in.
good point re access, how high does the Bunnings one go? Their website says 140cm extendable.
1. Yes, it should lock-in. For some reason mine blew out in the wind. No idea, maybe I didn't lock it in correctly. I just remembered that it fell out again that same day, hence the tape holding it there.
2. I haven't actually measured it, but it's in 3 sections.
Did you mean to post an image?
AHAHAHA!!!! I forgot the link....
https://imgur.com/a/qaYDLpn
(Yes I need a new roof for my outdoor area)
Yes, it should lock-in. For some reason mine blew out in the wind. No idea, maybe I didn't lock it in correctly. I just remembered that it fell out again that same day, hence the tape holding it there.
Same. Must be a very secure locking system or user error
Are these what you use?
https://www.ebay.com.au/
For $150 they look pretty neat.
Yes, it should lock-in.
It's a pretty firm rotation to lock and unlock. Check the tabs to determine the locking direction.
AHAHAHA!!!! I forgot the link....
That looks ideal. I have a peak style tiled roof, so I may have to add an extension as it will be mounted on the fascia, but the idea of removable sections for maintenance is good. Looks like the top section will take another section, standard gal pipe might fit or maybe another section can be purchased.
Off to the big green shop today.
Regards,
Steve
Are these what you use?
Bought a WH2900 yesterday, waiting now on delivery. Currently $160 on special. Not sure where you got the $150 from.
The 2950 is an older model, main diff is solar panel is on the side, not on top. AFAIK, and according to the supplier, this means you have to reverse N/S direction on the outdoor unit and offset the wind calibration by 180 deg. The 2900 from that supplier is already set up for the southern hemisphere.
Regards,
Steve
Yes. It's actually rather handy, as I can't get high enough to reach the top of the mast, so I take the sections off at the bottom joint and can take the whole thing down.
Hi,
How stiff is your j pole? The one I got from Bunnings is quite stiff and I imagine it would be hard to remove a section when mounted. A spray of WD40 fixed that, but that would be a short term solution. Perhaps some axle grease?
Regards,
Steve
My WH2900 is attached to a one piece J-Pole ( Pictures here – https://imgur.com/a/SJDYfQV ) which seems to be working really well despite sharing space with a TV antenna.
I was lucky in that the eaves on this part of the house are quite narrow so was able to secure the base to the brickwork.
It will mean a climb on the roof to service the rain gauge but at my age the exercise is good for me. :)
How stiff is your j pole?
It's pretty solid. I have no problem removing the mid section from the base section, although I haven't had to remove it in about a year and a half...
Hi all,
I'm after a bit more advice. Attached is a link to a satellite shot of my house. I am thinking of mounting in one of two locations. Mine is the house on the left.
Location 1 would be on a fascia mount, appr 1.5-1.8 mtrs tall.
Location 2 would be on a mast attached to the fence, not sure how high.
Location 1 would probably be the easiest for me.
The tree at the top is a Melaluca about 10 mtrs tall. The house behind is double story, mine is single. Location 1 is about 20 mtrs from the house behind, location 2 is about 5.5 mtrs.
There are trees across the road, probably 20 mtrs tall and appr 20 mtrs away.
The house next to me in the same street is single story.
North is at the top of the image.
https://i.postimg.cc/9MhyKrrK/Aerial.jpg
TIA
Steve
@66072296 The_Fonz writes...
Has anyone used the soil moisture sensors with the Pantech?
I bought the WH2900 a couple of years ago and was frustrated with no local monitoring other than the display and a couple of weather feeds as the only option. Fast forward to today and Ecowitt have the GW1000 wireless bridge and the improved WS View app. The wife wanted an air quality sensor for the smoke here in Canberra so I bought the bridge and the air sensor WH0290, for the hell of it I bought a couple of soil sensors for the back garden. Plugged the GW1000 in and it picked up my WH2900 straight away, same with the air sensor and soil sensors. Very happy. The range isn't as long as the air monitor but after positioning the GW1000 on an outside wall (bedroom) the range is a good 20M with full bars, any further it drops off quickly. Results are consistant and I can check if the water irrigation system if working well, I've found at around 25% it's a good time to water. I've since added a couple more.
Sorry, I can't find ANY information on the soil sensors, are they battery powered? how do they transmit to the base station? RF, Wifi, Bluetooth?
The range isn't as long as the air monitor but after positioning the GW1000 on an outside wall (bedroom) the range is a good 20M with full bars, any further it drops off quickly.
They now have a GW1000 Mk2 with better range.
Sorry, I can't find ANY information on the soil sensors,
https://www.amazon.com.au/EC
1 AA in the sensor and another in the LED screen. Will connect to both the screen and GM1000 at the same time as the sensor is just a transmitter.
I'm after a bit more advice.
Optimal AWS mounting always describes distance from 'obstacles' in multiples of the AWS height.
In this consideration location 1 is likely the better of the two.
In this consideration location 1 is likely the better of the two
Thanks, that is about what I figured.
Regards,
Steve
I can't get my time to show anything other than GMT time, despite ecowitt and wunderground both being set to Perth Australia timezones.
There is a new firmware version 1.4.7 that claims to address this issue
I received my WH2900 yesterday. I've setup and connected to wifi, but haven't yet installed the outdoor unit, therefore haven't connected to wunderground. I've got an issue though with the indoor display in that the time is exactly 1.5hrs behind. Firmware updated to 1.4.7, and understand that the manual says 1.4.4 and above will automatically update time from the internet, but presumably it is updating to the wrong timezone. Entering setup on the indoor unit allows change of time, which I can do, but it the automatically re-syncs to 1.5hrs behind. Any ideas on how to fix this??
Any ideas on how to fix this??
My understanding is it gets the timezone from the Ecowitt.net server, so you need to connect to this and enter your correct location.
When I got mine and connected to Ecowitt.net it automatically synced mine to SA time including summer time.
gets the timezone from the Ecowitt.net server
Thanks – I'll give that a go. Ecowitt.net seems to be having problems at the moment as it won't let me register because it's not sending the CAPTCHA email.
Still supposed to keep raining for the next week, so we'll see what it does over that time?
Thought I'd share the figures for the 9 days of rain we had after mounting the Nylex
Manual Nylex
119 115.5
23 21.7
109 106.5
53 48
21 20.5
52 52.2
173 168.5
15 14.2
2.5 2.5
Total
567.5 549.6
17.9 mm difference, which by my sums, works out to be ~3.1% discrepancy?
& 10.5 mm of that is over 3 days when it absolutely pelted down.
Anything under 1 mm, I'd call identical, as it depends on how much is still sitting in the bucket, but hasn't tipped, & also the thickness of the water-line in the manual gauge – do you read the top of the line, the bottom, or the middle? :-)
So, yes, we'll keep the manual gauge for proper accuracy, but if it rains while we're away, I'm perfectly happy to say that whatever figure the Nylex gives is good enough!
For what it's worth – yesterday I received a Pantech 2900 from "floralivings' on Ebay.
Price was competitive, ordered on a Sunday – delivered on Wednesday (regional Vic) – so, all good so far.
Then, upon receiving the unit, went through to entire setup process exactly as per the user guide, finally got my station online and registered with Weather Underground – but the console always read 90mins behind my current time.
No matter how many times I reset it, it kept reverting back to exactly 90mins behind what I'd entered.
so I contacted the seller via ebay feedback and left a msg on their phone.
Received a call from Ivan withing app 15mins, and we went through a lengthy (and frustratingly repeated) attempts to correct the issue.
(removed WS View, reinstalled / reset dashboard console / reset weather station etc a few times over, still no luck).
Finally – after a few failed attempts, managed to join Ecowitt, input correct time zone and location – and finally – BINGO! – all set up correctly.
I'm only leaving this so as to give a reflection of the great help/support and assistance I received from Flora Living, and base on this note how (literally) extraordinary such after sales communication is (and how bloody grateful I am – hence this post).
I too received my Pantech 2900 from Flora Livings yesterday. So far so good with setup, rain gauge is spot on.
I based pressure calibration on a BOM station close to me (RAAF Base Richmond).
I am going to try the salt method of calibrating humidity, although I have a concern the salty environment may cause damage to the unit.
Perhaps it is accurate enough for home use out of the box.
I'll check with the bom station on a fine day. it is wet hear ATM, so might be wetter 18.2Km's away.
Thoughts?
Regards,
Steve
I'll check with the bom station on a fine day. it is wet hear ATM, so might be wetter 18.2Km's away.
Rainfall can vary 100m away.
Finally have had time to set up my HP2550. As a bit of an amateur with this what is the best place/height to set it up? Anything recommended? Have provided some options at https://postimg.cc/sGgSNXNM. I was thinking the red dot.
Also picked up up two options from Bunnings (30cm or 1.4m) if either of these make a difference. https://postimg.cc/rzf5t1Dx
Also picked up up two options from Bunnings (30cm or 1.4m) if either of these make a difference. https://postimg.cc/rzf5t1Dx
I'd go the green dot. It'll give the cleanest wind reading and no 'building affect' on rainfall. Test the signal to the indoor station first though if it's a tin roof. Mine's a bit flaky sometimes.
I used the 1400mm from Bunnings so I can pull it down to service without getting on the roof. It's not easy to set up level though and you need to be able to look down on the unit's bubble level while standing on the roof, while not falling. ;)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/n6ENyfdXK1UYefiDA
You'll notice the bottom section on the mast isn't pushed all the way home. Left it so it would come off easier and spray it with Lanox each time to keep it from binding. If you push it all the way good luck getting it out again. ;)
The 300mm might be ok at the green dot but reflective heat off the roof if it's tin could affect temp readings. If the roof is white tin up there you might be ok. A dark roof tin roof can get to 70C whereas a white would read nearly half that.
Have provided some options at https://postimg.cc/sGgSNXNM. I was thinking the red dot.
Agreed green dot is best as it has the most height.
I'd go the green dot.
Thanks. Thinking about it though it is the most difficult location to install. Maybe the yellow dot might be easiest and second best spot. Typically wind/weather comes from the front left corner of the building https://postimg.cc/sGgSNXNM, so less interference for that direction. Would be nice to have up higher but not too keen on getting up there.
I used the 1400mm from Bunnings
Sounds like a good plan. Cheers
You'll notice the bottom section on the mast isn't pushed all the way home. Left it so it would come off easier and spray it with Lanox each time to keep it from binding. If you push it all the way good luck getting it out again. ;
I have one of these, installed it this week. Still got to put the PWS on it. If you look carefully, all the sections have a small nib that stops the sections from being pushed all the way home. I sprayed mine with WD40 initially to keep it from jamming, but bought some WD40 silicon spray for long term usage.
Leveled the bottom section with a spirit level before bolting it in. it was slightly out, but by the time I fitted the next two sections the top one was level.
Hi all,
Question re s/w for the WH2900. I have installed WSView and it works pretty well. However, it appears to only have a dashboard for WU, not for WeatherCloud or WOW, although the PWS is being recognised by both WU and WeatherCloud.
Tried WSTool but when it tries to connect to my router it comes up with unknown ssid event though I am broadcasting SSID.
Also tried Ambient Tool, but it seems to need a connection to all 3 sties, WU, Weather Cloud and WOW before setup completes.
What desktop s/w is available to view data? Any thoughts on the above issues?
A couple of more questions on my Pantech HP2550:
1) How can I tell what firmware it is on?
2) Any easy to set up apps to view weather data on iOS? Wunderground is a bit average at the info it shows.
3) Any recommendations for showing data on your own website. Is there an easy way to do this via wunderground, or weather cloud?
1) How can I tell what firmware it is on?
If you are using WSView, select device list, tap on the device and it shows the firmware version. When I set mine up, it came up saying there was a new f/w version.
Perhaps the easiest way on your own website would be to add a link to your station. From what I have gathered, it can be done, but not necessarily easy.
Also found this.
If you are using WSView
Trying to configure WSView but my Pantech HP2550 st up doesn't match any of these https://postimg.cc/t7Lk4CjG
Perhaps the easiest way on your own website would be to add a link to your station. From what I have gathered, it can be done, but not necessarily easy.
Yeah was hoping there would be an easier way without having to be an expert coder!
Trying to configure WSView but my Pantech HP2550 st up doesn't match any of these https://postimg.cc/t7Lk4CjG
If you bought it form Flora Livings, ask them.
It's possible you are using the wrong app. The manual specifies which apps to use. If you don't have a manual, go here.
I use https://www.ecowitt.net & https://www.wunderground.com/
Is there a way to access ecowitt data via WSView?
Hi all,
Do either Weather Underground or Weather Cloud allow for private display of a station like Ecowitt?,
Regards,
Steve
Is there a way to access ecowitt data via WSView?
I just put a shortcut on my phone to the Ecowitt URL which opens in Chrome. You'll find Ecowitt displays much like an app on most phones so this is easier than trying to get WS View or some other app to connect to it.
Any recommendations for showing data on your own website. Is there an easy way to do this via wunderground, or weather cloud?
With regard to transposing your weather data onto a personal web page, with Weathercloud you can get a "sticker" for your device which is basically just a bit of HTML code that you paste on your page but will show the basics. Like you, I was interested in feeding the raw data onto my website but it did look pretty complicated to achieve so put that in the "too hard" basket for the time being.
Got offered a brand new WH2900 for $120. Is this a good buy considering there are newer models now? What's the difference between this and the WH2950 or even the HP2551? I was thinking of getting the HP2551 but if there is not much difference then it would make sense to get the WH2900 based on cost.
Got offered a brand new WH2900 for $120. Is this a good buy considering there are newer models now?
The later models are not necessarily better. The WH2900 is a better design than the 2950 IMHO.
I've just upgraded to the NBN so I have a new modem and now my WH2900 is not uploading its data to Weathercloud. How do I go about changing it to pickup my new modem?
How do I go about changing it to pickup my new modem?
Is your wifi ssid name and password the same as your old modem? It should automatically work.
Hi team,
Received an Ecowitt HP2551 on the weekend and set it up... so far so good, have it going through Wunderground.
Wunderground Android app was a little fiddly to setup – had to specify my station# instead of GPS to see my own stats.
There's an extra sensor (separate from the display) that's used to read internal temp, my question is: how can I access this internal information remotely?
I was hoping to check my home temp before my commute home everyday and trigger my heater to start if it looks a bit chilly...
Update to those with same question:
Found answer by emailing the retailer – Ecowitt have their own weather server page you can register for to receive your sensor info remotely :)
Hi all,
Some observations on my WH2900, comment if you like.
I have calibrated an external digital thermometer and hygrometer using the ice water method and the salt solution in a container method to use as reference devices.
I am using these devices to calibrate the WH2900. The results over a series of tests are interesting. If I calibrate the WH2900 to match the reference units, the calibration does not hold, but varies over about an hour by about 1 or 2%. Just interesting.
Also, if I run the console unit on batteries, I get slightly different results than if I run the console on power both with display on and off. I still have to tabulate the results, but the variation, as I said, is only 1 or 2%, well within the unit's tolerances. Just interesting that the calibration does not hold steady.
Regards,
Steve
ust interesting that the calibration does not hold steady.
Or is the calibration perfect, but the conditions are changing?
Or is the calibration perfect, but the conditions are changing?
I check the reference each time, if the conditions were changing the error would be constant but it is not. I suspect there is some hysteresis in the sensors. As I said though, the variations are within the specified tolerance of the unit.
Also, a second test run gives slightly different results, if the calibration remained the same, even if conditions changed, the error would be the same. Admittedly I'm only doing these tests on my workbench, not an ideal area, but the sensors are not moved between test runs.
Edit: never mind, seems to have kicked in with heavier rain
Hi all,
Got the 2900 and installed it yesterday. It’s been Light rain for the past 2 hours and it’s still got a 0 reading on rainfall
Everything else is reading correctly?
Just wondering which one people recommend, WH2900 or WH2950 and what's the difference between the two?
Has anyone bought a HP2550 which is one of the more expensive ones from the same seller?
Also, I have noticed most people mount it on the house. I am actually thinking of mounting it on the side fence about 20-30m away from the house, any reason for not doing it?
Also, I have noticed most people mount it on the house. I am actually thinking of mounting it on the side fence about 20-30m away from the house, any reason for not doing it?
You need to make sure it is higher than surrounding buildings and a long distance away from your neighbour to get accurate wind readings as the wind will bounce around between properties. Also a building close buy will skew the rainfall data.
Also, I have noticed most people mount it on the house.
Mounted immediately above the ridge line will give you an increased reading as wind pushes up the slope of the roof.
BoM have a standard for their setups:
http://www.bom.gov.au
Anemometers starting page 21.
Ideally anemometers should be exposed over level terrain at a standard height of 10 metres above the mean ground level at locations completely free of all obstructions to the air flow
A table on page 29 has the relevant information for heights and distances from obstructions.
Probably you'll wind up somewhat simpler than the BoM ideal but hopefully slightly better than the very basic info from wunderground.
Anemometers starting page 21.
... and rainfall capture begins at page 35 ... if you want to open a real can of worms. :)
P. 40 ...
For fully instrumented stations with an instrument enclosure, the rain gauge shall be positioned as per the standard Bureau instrument lay out, with the provisions that follow also being met.
The height of the gauge orifice should be 300mm above the ground. Where local effects indicate this height is totally impractical and all avenues to find a site with a suitable exposure have been exhausted, heights of between 300mm and 1 metre may also be accepted, provided the reasons for the departure from the standard exposure are clearly identified on the station history file.
bla bla bla.
But the key here is that the location for wind measurement and that for rain fall measurement; are entirely different.
So for our little all in one AWS, compromises must be made.
Hi all,
What desktop s/w is available to record data from my WS? I am looking at Cumulus but it is old and difficult to set up. Ecowitt server is great but I would like a package that gives me a radar plot of wind strength and direction over time. I know I could make a plot using the excel data from Ecowitt but that is not that easy to do.
On another note, I notice the data on Wunderground and Weather cloud differs from what is displayed on my console, even if I match times. Ecowitt is slightly different, but much closer to what I see on the console.
Regards,
Steve
Did anybody's weather station record a huge spike in solar activity today? Mine hit over 1700w/m2 with a UV of 14 at around 10 minutes to midday (AWST) and then 2369 w/m2 about half an hour later.
I've only had my weather station for a couple of months so haven't got a lot of historical data to compare. But these readings seem abnormally high when you consider that it is a cloudy, humid day in Perth and its currently giving a reading of about 300w/m2.
Could it be a fault with the weather station? Solar flare? Any suggestions welcome.
I am looking at Cumulus but it is old and difficult to set up
Cumulus is old but there's a new, current version – CumulusMX. It's regularly updated and has a strong community
Did anybody's weather station record a huge spike in solar activity today?
Nope. Over in the East though.
Topped 400 today due to overcast conditions from mid morning.
As mentioned previously, we got one of these https://www.bunnings.com.au/n
Been happy with it, but then it didn't register yesterday's 6mm of rain at all? :-(
Had noticed comments from others re dirt in the funnel & so on, but on checking it this morning, I've found another problem ... bloody Green Ants have decided that it's a lovely sheltered spot to start building a nest! :-(
When I took the funnel off, they started coming out from under the bucket, but I'm not sure if they've gone into the bottom section of the unit, where the thermometer is housed?
Any suggestions on how to clean things out?
I've sprayed around the body with surface spray which seems like it's possibly cleared them out, but I'm a bit reluctant to hose it out or similar, as not sure what the water would do?
Any thoughts?
I've sprayed around the body with surface spray
... can be aggressive on some plastics ... in my expereince.
Washing in fresh water might be the best?
Washing in fresh water might be the best?
Obviously, remove the batteries first!, but then it should be OK?
Water's not going to damage anything internal?
Water's not going to damage anything internal?
I'm not suggesting dunking electronics in water. :)
Certainly battery / power disconnected.
However a gentle blow dry and a day or two in a warm environment would dry it out should the worst happen.
Bit like treatment for phones that have been dunked?
Just bought one of these with some accessories.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/253991500746
Will report back once I have set it up.
I finally got around to installing my weather station at our new house – only took 18 months.
When I try to update the location of the weather station on Wunderground, I can't seem to do it. It appears the location is set when creating the station. So I created another station (and updated the location), but this station is offline because the station is obviously broadcasting as the old one. How do I transfer the API or whatever it is over the new station/new location?
I've downloaded the WSView app on my Android phone, but clicking on the device doesn't bring up the device settings? It only goes back to the device list.
Just bought one of these with some accessories.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/253991500746
Will report back once I have set it up.
Curious about this one as well. How did it go?
Curious about this one as well. How did it go?
I purchased one and installed last July – I was happy with it and it worked well until last month. Suddenly the outdoor unit stopped reporting to the console.
I contacted the supplier and they were very responsive. I tried various things they suggested without success. Eventually I was asked to return it to them for testing (at my cost, which I wasn't happy about, as still in warranty).
They have since replaced the sensor, and it's being shipped back.
See what happens.
They have since replaced the sensor, and it's being shipped back.
So are they reimbursing the shipping cost?
So are they reimbursing the shipping cost?
No, though I'll certainly try.
They pointed to their T & C's where it states they would pay for shipping back to me, but not the return costs.
It doesn't seem fair, and may be against consumer law I don't know, but not worth the angst.
My WH2900 arrives Thu and I would like to hook it up to the net eventually. Is there a preferred one that everyone uses?
With my pantech i use Atmocom which uploads to my personal weather site.
My weather site
Most of the new weather stations upload to weatherunderground, pws etc
Does anyone have instructions or a good youtube video etc that shows WU setup with a 2900 or similar? As per my post above, I'm struggling to get mine working with WU again, after moving house.
My WH2900 arrives Thu and I would like to hook it up to the net eventually. Is there a preferred one that everyone uses?
Ecowitt.net will keep the units time in sync and you can also view your indoor readings.
Weather Underground seems to be the most popular one and you can view your readings via the WS View app but only outdoor.
With my 2900 I use both regularly and occasionally weathercloud
Ecowitt.net will keep the units time in sync
How do you get this to work?
I have my unit logging to Ecowitt, and was expecting it to change the time when DST ended, but it didn't.
+1 on the indoor temperature feature – really useful!
How do you get this to work?
Well I just put my location into Ecowitt.net and it synced the time straight away.
This was last December when I got it and it had DST above the time display on the unit. When we changed back to standard time last weekend DST disappeared off the display and the time moved back 1 hour. I'm in SA btw. I've done nothing else except to keep the firmware up to date via WSview, v1.4.9 at the moment
I just tried to connect my WH2900 to Ecowitt.
I put all the info in needed including mac address of the unit and it says success but
When I look at the site it says no data.
I did this yesterday arvo.
Have I missed something?
We lost power the other day and my WS has now stopped sending data to WU. It's showing as being offline. The WS is connected to my Wifi and I can see it as a 'device' in the app – yet for some reason it just won't upload to WU. Any ideas?
yet for some reason it just won't upload to WU. Any ideas?
Does it upload to other sites, Ecowitt.net?
Does it upload to other sites, Ecowitt.net?
Not sure, as I don't have it set up to upload to other sites.
Edit: just signed up for Ecowitt. Showing offline there also. Interestingly, it doesn't seem to push data to the app either. The app just constantly spins and never shows data. I've re-synced the wifi connection numerous times. I've put it as a static IP aso. Very frustrating.
No real idea, but I wonder if, when you lost power, you copped a spike that's burned something out? :-(
I have setup my weather station with Ecowitt and want to add wunderground to the mix for the seven day forecasting do I have to go through the whole setup with Ws tool to do so?
Hi folks
Help! – I have a Pantech WH2900 that goes very nicely thank you BUT... the clock display is wrong. It is two hours behind and if I set the clock to the right time within a minute or two it reverts to two hours behind (likely timezone setting is wrong)
Going into settings it skips over both Day savings and the ability to enter timezone (which I assume is the issue).
Any ideas on why my settings sequence matches the manual except it misses the steps of DST and Timezone?
Very confused...
Any ideas on why my settings sequence matches the manual except it misses the steps of DST and Timezone?
Register it with Ecowitt.net, enter your location and Ecowitt will sync it to your local timezone including DST, if applicable.
My 2900 also does not have the settings for timezone and DST but as soon as I registered it with Ecowitt the time was correct.
I'm in SA and over summer it also corrected to DST.
Thanks Wahroonga Farm – Checked (just in case) – Router time (and zone) was as it should be.
Thanks Pelican1 – I didn't need to try your resolution – I resolved the issue the old fashioned way by switching it off and on. It restarted fine with the correct time now displaying.
(OK – I had to remove batteries and power down to allow everything to clear, but all is good now)
Thank you folks and forum for your advice.
I resolved the issue the old fashioned way by switching it off and on.
LoL
All's well that ends well. :)
HI, just got the Pantech 2550, Just a couple of questions if thats ok
What is the best weather server to use
and
My barometric pressure reads the same for Absolute and Relative, is this correct or am I meant to set this in the calibration screen and if so how do I find out the pressures ?
Hey all I was wondering if anyone with a PanTech WH2900 has a different value for there Chill and Heat Index values, as mine always show the same value as the normal temperature. Even when uploading to the ecowitt.net website the feels like value is always the same as the normal value regardless of what the wind is doing?
So, I finally replaced my weather station that died about a year ago. Went ahead and got the Ecowitt HP2551, as it got a lot of good reviews. Got it all setup yesterday and posting to WU and WeatherCloud. However, this afternoon it has decided to stop sending to WU. WeatherCloud is still working fine, however.
Now, I remember WU was a bit flaky when I used it with my old weather station. Is that still the case or is there something wrong with the unit?
Edit: came back online after unplugging the display console and plugging back in. Hope I don't have to do that all the time!
Edit: came back online after unplugging the display console and plugging back in. Hope I don't have to do that all the time!
I noted that the last firmware update for my WH2900 was to address WU issues, so might be worth checking with WS-View for a firmware update.
Hey all I was wondering if anyone with a PanTech WH2900 has a different value for there Chill and Heat Index values, as mine always show the same value as the normal temperature. Even when uploading to the ecowitt.net
I've never noticed differences on the unit, but do occasionally (but rarely) see a different feels like temperature on ecowitt.com.
I noted that the last firmware update for my WH2900 was to address WU issues, so might be worth checking with WS-View for a firmware update.
Looks like I already have the latest firmware, 1.6.0. Might have to email them if it keeps up.
DISREGARD: After messing around for ages with an iPhone I tried on an android tablet and it worked instantly. I’ll leave the question though in case it helps anyone else.
Another WH2900 question. Our router recently died and with the replacement I regretfully left the default SSID in place so had to change over all our devices.
So the weather station isn’t connected to the network so I can’t connect to it through WS View.
I’ve tried setting it up as a new device but can’t get past the “connect phone to the weather station wifi” bit no matter what I do. Any suggestions?
I wonder if anyone could please help me choosing the right unit. I live in an apartment building with unobstructed view on just one side – West. I'm about 2/3 of the building height from the ground (about 70m to the ground). I guess any of the highly regarded here weather stations are pretty much useless in my case because wind, rain and light measurements will be inaccurate. I do have a relatively large balcony, where I think I can attach the outdoor unit, but I think it won't really help. Am I correct?
I think my best option is to get a weather station that shows accurate indoor/outdoor temperature, pressure and humidity. (Sunsets/Moonsets is a bonus). My budget is <$250. Does anyone has any recommendations?
Thank you for your suggestion. I have a 12-year old Oregon Scientific AWS888N, which costed me over $100 and I still think it is very basic (still goes strong though). I would like to have something more professional. I just think that living in a city high-riser limits my potentials.
Are there any other suggestions?
I just think that living in a city high-riser limits my potentials.
Are there any other suggestions?
are you an owner or a renter?
do you have access to the roof or is that the domain of a penthouse or 2?
If you have access to the roof you may be able to mount one there and still communicate to it from your apartment
Being an owner may give you a bit more sway with the Strata Committee to get permission to mount it on the roof
Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I am a renter. This is a 42 level residential tower. I am on level 26. Either way – up on a roof or down, somewhere on a lamp post near Harbour, – it will all be in excess of the outdoor unit transmission distance.
I also considered a different approach. The balcony is facing West. In front of me is slightly over 180 degrees of unobstructed view from South through the West to North (I’m lucky that the building has a curved shape). The other 180 degrees behind me are blocked by the building itself. I was thinking about attaching outdoor unit to the balcony rail. I've seen some models, I think from Ecowitt ( like the HP2553), with a mounting arm in a gooseneck shape. This, in theory, should move the unit farther away from the building. However, I think that wind/rain data will still be compromised. Therefore, I think whether investing in some of the advanced models discussed here, in my case, will be a waste of money?
will be a waste of money?
Unfortunately, I think I'd agree with you :-(
About all you'd be able to reliably get would be outside temp & humidity, & facing West 26 floors up, they're not necessarily going to have full relevance to ground level?
They have acknowledged that there are issues with this model and have offered to provide a free replacement in "Later this year, our second version of this item will be set for distribution in Australia, with this rain counting issue corrected as well as other enhancements for use in the southern hemisphere"
An update to this matter.
After 6 months of delay Lacrosse Technology have now advised that they will no longer supply a replacement unit as they offered and as accepted by me.
I went to Lacrosse seeking a fix and was advised their unit wasn't suitable for Australian conditions and had a number of faults. They offered a replacement I didn't ask for one.
The unit was not fit for purpose.
I have advised them this is unacceptable and asked that they honour their offer.
So unless they change their mind, one can guess what my recommendation for this company might be.
Update
Immediate response
"The response from the remote server was:
550 permanent failure for one or more recipients (intlsupport@lacrossetechnology.com:blocked)"
The model number is C80758-AU
conversion for Australia appears to be stick AU on the model number
I wonder whether the ACMA came to the same conclusion:
LaCrosse Weather Station Model C80758-AU
23 June 2020
the product is being voluntary recalled as it was found to be operating in a frequency not suitable for Australia.
https://www.costc
Some excellent info all through this thread and it's got me sold on getting a Pantech or Ecowitt station.. I've been keeping an eye out for sales/discounts but haven't had any luck as yet. If anyone spots 1 please feel free to drop me a msg or post in here.
Cheers
I think my best option is to get a weather station that shows accurate indoor/outdoor temperature, pressure and humidity. (Sunsets/Moonsets is a bonus). My budget is <$250. Does anyone has any recommendations?
Still searching... So I wonder if anyone could please recommend me a reliable weather station without wind/rain module?
The cold weather and short days have seen the end of the batteries in my weather station. It is a Fineoffset WH1080 with alkaline rechargeable batteries. Can I replace them with NiCd or NiMH or do I need to hunt down alkaline?
I replaced them about a year ago and used alkaline rechargeable from Jaycar but NiMH are so ubiquitous I'd prefer them.
If anyone is interested, Amazon AU currently have a flash sale on for the Ecowitt HP2551 for $237.99
So I wonder if anyone could please recommend me a reliable weather station
Just grab this one ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ at $237.99, and don't worry about the fact that wind and rain will be wrong.
An update to this matter.
After 6 months of delay Lacrosse Technology have now advised that they will no longer supply a replacement unit as they offered and as accepted by me.
I went to Lacrosse seeking a fix and was advised their unit wasn't suitable for Australian conditions and had a number of faults. They offered a replacement I didn't ask for one.
The unit was not fit for purpose.
I have advised them this is unacceptable and asked that they honour their offer.
So unless they change their mind, one can guess what my recommendation for this company might be.
Additional and final update top this matter.
Lacrosse finally came good after a bit of to and fro and refunded purchase price.
Refund via paypal, who took their cut, to the price I was advised weather station had cost.
I asked for a similar station from their Australian website but was advised that lacrosse.com.au wasn't really them so they wouldn't do that, they were prepared however to try and organise a discount if I decided to buy via lacrosse.com.au
I found this to be interesting.
Anyway after being informed that I was "spam" blocked automatically by their system, even though there was a email conversation going back weeks using the same addresses, I managed to get onto Jennifer, who was a welcome human who sought to resolve the problem.
I am now looking for a weather but there is a brand I will not be looking at.
Looking to pick up 1st weather station and looking for a recommendation
Tossing up between the Ecowitt WH2910C and the Pantech WH2900. Looking very comparable.
Any preference guys and gals?
Actually just noticed the Ecowitt doesnt appear to include the bird spikes... Not that i can see anywhere.... Have a lot of minor birds here...
Pantech WH2900
Had mine since December, hasn't missed a beat.
Got the bird spikes with mine but don't use them, not necessary in my area
I think, hardware wise, the 2 units are pretty identical except for the 3 arm sensor versus 2 on the Ecowitt
I think, hardware wise, the 2 units are pretty identical except for the 3 arm sensor versus 2 on the Ecowitt
I have a recollection that the two arm model is also the Pantech 2950, so probably the same unit (out of the factory) as the Ecowitt?
I have had my Pantech 2900 just over two years now, hasn't missed a beat. Changed the batteries for the first time last month.
Can't recommend the Pantech's highly enough.
Thanks all!
One other question, on the Pantech does the main unit have a battery backup? I.e if the power to the house drops does the main unit have batteries where it will continue to remain synced? We tend to have a few local power drops a year, and would not like to attempt to repair every time
One other question, on the Pantech does the main unit have a battery backup?
The display, yes. I had a new electricity meter installed last week, so power was out for an hour. The Pantech display didn't lose power (just dimmed) and didn't need to be paired again.
So just pulled the trigger on an ecowitt HP2551.
I setup wunderground last night and it seems ok. The lack of integration in the wunderground app is not great, it just basically ships you out to the same web URL as you would be using on a browser.
For anyone that set it up with the other weather servers, which one is better, wunderground or weathercloud etc?
Edit: I just setup the ecowitt browser version and it's pretty good, fits the bill nicely on my pc and tablet.
Thinking about how best to mount a 2900 to the house. Im considering extending the current aerial pole which is barge mounted.
What distance should i get the unit above my ironstone metal roof to reduce temperature inaccuracy? Id like it to be at 1.5m ish for ease of install / maintenance.
Would be good if there was an inexpensive station with seperate wind and temp sensors
Any idea how to change the timezone on my WH2900? has just started to show 2 hours ahead of my zone?
What distance should i get the unit above my ironstone metal roof to reduce temperature inaccuracy?
see https://www.wunderground.com/pws/installation-guide
If the thermometer is placed on a roof-top, make sure it is at least 5 feet above the roof-top.
The one issue with elevated stations is that due to higher (more accurate) wind velocity, rainfall may be less accurate.
The one issue with elevated stations is that due to higher (more accurate) wind velocity, rainfall may be less accurate.
It seems to be at trade off when it comes to where to place it. I have mine on top of the roof right now but may bring it down from there and mount it closer to the ground. I want both rain and wind to be as accurate as they can be but i'll setting for rain right now so i'll move it closer to the ground.
The one issue with elevated stations is that due to higher (more accurate) wind velocity, rainfall may be less accurate.
Higher or lower? Mine is located about 3m above the roof on a tv aerial pole I got from Bunnings. Works very well and sectioned so it's (relatively) easy to remove.
Readings seem accurate for all – I'm not particularly OCD about absolute accuracy though. I did adjust my rainfall calibration down slightly as it did seem to read too high. Always hard to tell compared to the BOM because rainfall can be very localised.
Mine is located about 3m above the roof on a tv aerial pole I got from Bunnings. Works very well and sectioned so it's (relatively) easy to remove
Hey Scythe, what pole are you using from Bunnings? Have you earthed the pole for lightning protection?
what pole are you using from Bunnings?
This one: https://www.bunnings.com.au/a
Added two extensions to it. Guy roped down for stability. No grounding for lightning.
I've had a Wh2900 for about 10 months now still running strong without any issue, how often do you need to replace the alkaline batteries in the outdoor unit ? I was kind of expecting to have had to change them by now.
Any idea how to change the timezone on my WH2900? has just started to show 2 hours ahead of my zone?
On my 2900 there is no timezone option in the menu, it just synced to the correct time when I set it up and entered my location on Ecowitt.net.
I'm in SA and it also automatically adjusts for Summer Time.
how often do you need to replace the alkaline batteries in the outdoor unit ? I was kind of expecting to have had to change them by now.
I suppose it depends how much the batteries are used. If there are plenty of sunny days then the unit is running off the capacitors and not really using the batteries.
I've had mine since last December and I put slightly used lithium batteries in when I set it up and it's still going strong and we've had quite a few overcast days here this winter
I've had a Wh2900 for about 10 months now still running strong without any issue, how often do you need to replace the alkaline batteries in the outdoor unit ? I was kind of expecting to have had to change them by now.
I've had mine for 2 years this month, and don't remember changing the batteries. If I have, it would have been once. They seem to last a very long time.
Hey guys,
I've had a wh2900 for a few months, and it's been great, butlast night it stopped reporting temp, humidity, and dew point. But it's still reporting everything else.(https://i.imgur.com/iHnA9sb.jpg)
Anyone else had a similar issue. Do I need to climb up on the roof to do a hard reset? Or could it be a hardware issue? :-S
Hey Guys,
My birthday is coming up and thinking of using it as an opportunity to treat myself to a weather station. I don't know where to start. Some relatives in the states have them and recommend a few brands (some of which are not readily available here) but i find the more I look in to these the further i get away from being able to decide on a model.
Budget is up to 400-500 — not saying that I necessarily want to spend that much, but i'm also not after a basic model. I'm a data hungry weather fanatic :P
Could anyone recommend any models they have first-hand experience with? A big thing for me is connectivity to weather underground so that I can share my data with them and all like I access there's. But can also see it on the go, online at home etc.
Appreciate any recommendations!
Could anyone recommend any models they have first-hand experience with?
Have a read of the thread.
Budget is up to 400-500
You definitely don't need to spend anywhere near that
You definitely don't need to spend anywhere near that
Yup :)
I would suggest that the two most usually deployed here:
PanTech Wifi Weather Station TFT LCD Wireless Professional PT-HP2550
PanTech Colour LCD Wifi Wireless Weather Station PT-WH2900
Sometimes with different branding ... but same same.
It seems that the vast majority of weather stations are likely sourced from Fine Offset Electronics Co., Ltd Shenzhen, China. http://www.foshk.com/Wifi_Weather_Station/
PanTech Colour LCD Wifi Wireless Weather Station PT-WH2900
Ive had this for a few years with no issues so far.
I do wish I got the model that can record to SD card though.
Hey guys
Thanks so much for the advice. I'm leaning towards the PanTech Wifi Weather Station TFT LCD Wireless Professional PT-HP2550 at this stage.
Appreciate the recommendations!
PanTech Wifi Weather Station TFT LCD Wireless Professional PT-HP2550 at this stage.
I've 2 x W2900; but the additional features (display and stats) offered by the HP2550 are I think worth the extra pennies.
I'm leaning towards the PanTech Wifi Weather Station TFT LCD Wireless Professional PT-HP2550 at this stage.
As Wahroonga Farm says it's also worth checking out the same stations under different branding.
Eg the EcoWitt HP2551 which is identical to the Pantech HP2550, other than the sensor array being "I" shaped instead of "Y" shaped.
Why is that. Internet not reliable?
Yep.
Stuck on "mobile broadband" which is flakey at best.
NBN right past the house FTTC but can't connect. Long story...
I do like the feature of being able to save and store locally. Is that data openable with a spreadsheet or similar to be able to graph or table?
Eg the EcoWitt HP2551 which is identical to the Pantech HP2550, other than the sensor array being "I" shaped instead of "Y" shaped.
Ive just bought this model, $279 delivered from Amazon. Pretty happy with it. The ecowitt web dashboard is good, just login via a browser on pc, phone or tablet. Ive given the login to a mate so he can check out the temps from his house.
I did set it up with wunderground but found the ecowitt web dashboard better.
Moose from Marketing writes...
I did set it up with wunderground but found the ecowitt web dashboard better.
Thanks for that. :)
I hadn't bothered with ecowitt.net and had relied on Wunderground and WSView for the smartphone.
But I do agree that ecowitt.net has a nice display on lappy and phone AND it provides the indoor temperature. Cool, or is that ... warm. :)
Just had to work out the WH2900's MAC address. :)
However, I am not at all fussed with the Ecowitt Weather Map background (Mapbox), nor the device location setting methodology.
But I do agree that ecowitt.net has a nice display on lappy and phone AND it provides the indoor temperature. Cool, or is that ... warm. :)
Im loving the graphs, I mean who doesn't love graphs :)
This is the bit im loving, being able to check what it got down to over night, along with tracking the wind and rainfall etc
cold weather and short days have seen the end of my weather station. It is a Fineoffset WH1080
Looks like it is no longer transmitting. I tried 2 sets batteries yesterday and no luck.
So I'm looking to replace it. Obvious choice is a HP2550 but when browsing Amazon I saw the GW1001. I don't need an indoor console, I use my phone to access the old station through weewx so having it web based is fine, actually desirable.
So two questions:
Does anyone have experience with the GW1001?
Does anyone have experience with the WH51 soil moisture meters? I'd like to add one or two to monitor my hop yard.
Moose from Marketing writes...
I'm loving the graphs
The key for me is that it loads and updates considerably faster than Wunderground. Wundergrond can be very klunky.
Yeah. It just works betterer. :)
The key for me is that it loads and updates considerably faster than Wunderground. Wundergrond can be very klunky.
Yeah. It just works betterer. :)
You're right about the map background though, mine just loads blank but im also publishing to wunderground so i can use that if i need that feature.
On wunderground it was cool to see all the stations nearby and the varying outdoor temps, some of the stations about 1km from me were reading 3 degrees lower. I had no idea how many people had stations around here, i thought i was the only weather nerd lol
Moose from Marketing writes...
I had no idea how many people had stations around here, i thought i was the only weather nerd lol
Pretty funny isn't it? :)
Certainly not sooo many on ecowitt.net. Maybe that's why it works well. :)
Wunderground
https://i.postimg.cc/TTZ05tx
Ecowitt
https://i.postimg.cc/QxK5XrF
Heres what i get on wunderground
Vs ecowitt
I'm actually showing more on ecowitt but i swear there was more on wundergound a few nights ago.
What is everyone using to mount these on the roof? Was thinking an Antsig antenna mount from bunnings e.g.
https://www.bunnings.com.au/
What is everyone using to mount these on the roof?
A J-Pole is fine. https://imgur.com/gallery/yZWilER
Thank you – how do you handle the inevitable battery change/clean out of rain gauge?
I am in considering the benefits of having it as high as possible in terms of getting good readings (which would be on second level of my roof) vs. difficulty of retrieving it for maintenance.
how do you handle the inevitable battery change/clean out of rain gauge?
I basically just get a pair of tall steps and hop up on the roof. I've set an alert via the Ecowitt website to send me an email when the battery is low to avoid a physical check, but it should last a year or so.
Cleaning the rain gauge is done every six months or so depending on your location. I don't have a bird problem so have not installed spikes.
I guess it's a trade off between accurate readings and ease of maintenance versus safety. If you're uncomfortable with heights perhaps something a bit nearer the ground may suit you better but keep it away from buildings and fences etc.
What is everyone using to mount these on the roof?
Mine is just attached to the top of existing TV antenna mast.
What is everyone using to mount these on the roof?
I got this mount off eBay which affixes to the existing line of roof fixings and allowed me to mount it just below the roof ridge cap for best height. It has an adjustable foot to cater for varying roof pitch. I can also safely access the WS for maintenance if need be as it is away from the edge and the pole is only just over 1 metre.
Hey all,
Installed the weather station today (received it for my birthday ;) and the advice here was really helpful.
I've installed everything as required, the panel inside is reporting data and i've logged in to Wunderground. I'm a bit stumped here even after a few hours it is showing as 'offline' yet as I am typing this I can see it displaying live-info.
I've also checked the station ID and Key are correct on the display unit.
Does wunderground take a while to sync or am i perhaps doing something wrong?
Edit: So EcoWitt connected in about 2-seconds and is reporting data. So i suspect the issue is on the wunderground end. I'm guessing it might need some time to keep the feed of data building? Lets see.
Hi all, a short note to follow up on a couple of posts from me a year ago regarding getting the Panthech WH2900 Wifi weather stations sensor values into Home Assistant home automation (which I have running on a Raspberry Pi).
So for anyone with a compatible WiFi Ecowitt/Fine Offset station that has the custom upload server config option, there is now a way to directly get the data into HA without additional external software or hardware, through a HA custom component.
See the custom component here created on Github by Garbled1
https://github.com/g
Works well even though it's still fairly new and obtains the internal sensor data as well as external. The sensor updates are at the same rate as the outdoor unit transmits, so updates happen much faster than I got via Weather Underground.
Cheers.
there is now a way to directly get the data into HA without additional external software or hardware, through a HA custom component.
Interesting. I might give this a go this week if I get a chance.
I'm guessing it might need some time to keep the feed of data building?
Yeah, it will get there. Maybe overnight, maybe 24 hours. But having found ecowitt.net, you won't be spending much time on WU.
Thank you
I love the simplicity of Ecowitt, tbh. Especially that Mac-address setup. Took less than 2 seconds! I also learnt today that turning the panel off at the wall when I went out — it was in a temporary location — stops recording data. Anyway back home and it's on. WU still showing offline, and EcoWitt is showing online (and live data) but isn't recording. Will give it an hour or so to 're-boot'.
Strangely, the weather station has also recorded 4mm of rain today — for which there has only been a lot of wind — not any rain. Which was strange. But i'm going to leave it in the current spot for a week or two, look out for anything odd and then when i take it down to inspect everything is in place and all and if need — perform any calibrations. It got me thinking. Has anyone else ever noticed any weird quirks with theirs?
for which there has only been a lot of wind — not any rain.
How steady is the mounting pole? The wind could be causing it to move around/vibrate causing the rain bucket to tip.
Having said that, 4mm is a lot of of tips
it isn't in it's permanent location but something i've been considering for when i affix it permanently in a week or so.
In the meantime, does anyone know how to get these damn things synced with wunderground? I'm about to rip my hair out... everything is correct and data is transmitting (EcoWitt website is picking up the PanTech HP-2550 perfectly). It is just wunderground.
My ID was ISYDNE1127, i noticed 1125, 1126 were also relatively new and reporting as 'offline'. I got a little frustrated and deleted again. ID is now ISYDNE1130. Updated that and the key inside the console — no luck.
At the moment I have
Station ID: ISYDNE1130
Station Key: [exactly as provided by wunderground]
If it helps, i also don't have the wU icon it is showing in the manual appearing on the home-screen...
Edit 5:56: I think the cause is perhaps temperamental software and WU. I was heavily 'tilted' (learnt that word from my younger cousin just recently) and decided 'nope' I need to just leave it be. Hard-reset everything then leave it be for a week. I logged in *before* connecting EcoWitt or anything andd about 30 seconds after i added the new ID and key, i now have the 'WU' logo in top left.
Edit 2: I also realised the source. I have a pole affixed to a pool-fence post. As my dog is walking past she is intentionally rubbing at it and nudging it. So i know to put it on the inside of the fence. I think this might be tripping the water sensor.
Hi guys,
I'm looking to upgrade from my old Fine Offset HP-1001 weather station.
Currently looking the ECOWITT GW1001 Wi-Fi Weather Station on Amazon.
Is the outdoor sensor essentially the same as the other slightly higher priced Ecowitt Units such as the HP2551?
Also does this device mount/fit easily on a standard J-Pole.
Thanks in advance.
That is what i just got, the outdoor sensor is the same from what i can tell just dont get a screen. Which is fine i just use my phone and PC etc..
Will fit a jpole, but was cheaper to get a galvanised pole than an antenna pole. Manual states The U-Bolts will accommodate a pipe diameter of 1-2 inches.
https://www.bunnings.com.au/
That is what i used, like $7 and whatever you need to fix it.. Antenna mast at bunnings was $56 or so.
That is what i just got, the outdoor sensor is the same from what i can tell just dont get a screen. Which is fine i just use my phone and PC etc..
Will fit a jpole, but was cheaper to get a galvanised pole than an antenna pole. Manual states The U-Bolts will accommodate a pipe diameter of 1-2 inches.
https://www.bunnings.com.au
That is what i used, like $7 and whatever you need to fix it.. Antenna mast at bunnings was $56 or so.
Thanks mate, appreciate the help. I used to have my old HP-1000 fixed to a galvinised pole, wasn't sure if this new station would suit. Definitely the most cost effective solution. How area you finding the station in general, are the sensors quite accurate?
It's currently sold on Amazon for $150 ( Ecowitt GW1001), is this a sale price or do they normally retail for that?
I paid $150 as well i think it is just normal price. I have compared mine to others in the area and it seems to reflect the same data. I think the wind is very dependent on where people are placing them so i have noticed most discrepancy there in comparing.
Overall im pretty happy with is, for $150 it sure seems to be more feature rich than what they had at bunnings.
Hi Weather Gurus
I'm also about to enter the world of home weather stations, but in the fact finding stage.
I'm in a 2 story town house, with a flat metal roof. Small garden out the back, but it's too close to the 2 story structure to mount a weather station out there.
I'm assuming it needs to be on the roof. Or, do I get separate sensor? Temperature mounted in the small garden. Wind and rain on the roof?
All in one on the roof?
Or does heat reflected off the roof affect the temp sensor, hence perhaps separate sensor in the garden?
Or mounted on an antenna pole, to get it above the roof? Is that OK for all sensors?
Lastly, having a metal roof, will that affect signal back to the wifi router, which is in a cupboard under the stairs of the ground floor. So there's the second story and a metal roof to get through to get the signal to/from the roof.
I've managed to save quite a bit because of covid lockdowns (silver lining), so can go as high as $500 (including mounting, possible wifi repeater, etc).
Why is the HP2553 not really talked about in this forum? Anyone have it?
Why is the HP2553 not really talked about in this forum?
Prolly a bit dearer and scarer, but with the battery powered rain gauge independent from the solar powered temp and wind sensors, it may better suit your application ie rainfall measurement in the yard (closer to the ground) and the rest on the roof, somewhat like professional stations.
Lastly, having a metal roof, will that affect signal ...
It depends where and how you mount the rooftop collector.
The wireless paths are ... outdoor units -> 900Mhz -> Indoor display unit -> WIFI -> router.
So .... the display must
- be in 2.4Ghz WIFI range of the router
- be in 900Mhz range of the outdoor sensors.
Lastly, having a metal roof, will that affect signal back to the wifi router
If it is working directly on WiFi, go up there with your phone and try it out. I get good WiFi reception on my roof, which is metal and goes through a first level floor.
Like the above poster mentioned, the sensors don't normally communicate directly with your WiFi router. It is usually a lower frequency. I have my anemometer off the TV antenna and on windy days, it affects SBS and Channel 9, not that we watch FTA very much
Prolly a bit dearer and scarer
I ask about the HP2553, because I'm curious how good the ultrasonic anemometer is. Most other units have cup anemometers (not sure the correct term, but you know what I mean), so I understand the theory of no moving parts in the ultrasonic version. Just wondering how accurate they are, and over time, power consumption, etc.
Anyone out there have one of these?
The wireless paths are ... outdoor units -> 900Mhz -> Indoor display unit -> WIFI -> router.
Now that I read that, it's probably obvious. Thanks for pointing that out. I'm feeling my setup is more likely to work now.
just bought one of these HP2553 on ebay, with the 21% off deal ebay are currently running.
Went with the ultrasonic unit and heater as at 1600 metres it gets cold and very windy, 160 kph is not
uncommon, doing 80-100 kph right now.
Can anyone confirm the additional devices, like the temperature sensor and soil monitor work with the 2551/2553? The individual devices say they need the gateway but don’t mention working with the 2551, etc. I would like to be able to add additional temp sensor. This is the ecowitt in particular but I’m sure the pantech would be the same.
Also, the consensus on here lately seems to suggest connecting to the ecowitt site is better than WU?
I would like to be able to add additional temp sensor.
Sound of crickets...
I ordered a Pantech HP2553 on Friday, with an extra temp sensor, I can report back when it finally arrives if no one else gets back sooner.
Sound of crickets...
Sometimes feels like they follow me around – or maybe I brought my own..
I have found this morning a review on amazon that suggests there should be no issues, so I might just go with that and take the plunge. But would be interested how you go regardless.
But would be interested how you go regardless.
I live in regional NSW. So I expect delivery anywhere between Wednesday and the end of the month...
Can anyone confirm the additional devices, like the temperature sensor and soil monitor work with the 2551/2553?
I have the Ecowitt 2551 installed in rural NSW and also have four additional temp sensors and the soil moisture sensor in use with my setup. I also have the Air Quality meter. All ordered from Amazon and delivered within 5 days. Setup is a snap and they appear in the display once the batteries are installed and you have set the DIP switches to ensure each runs on a separate channel ID. I have my display set for rotation of sensors so they show in order around the house. You can name each sensor for the location they are installed into for easy identification.
Is anyone else having problems with Weather Underground?
My weather station is showing "offline" and therefore no readings in the WSView app on my phone. Yet the Ecowitt website shows my readings fine which indicates that it is sending data via the web.
The WU website appeared to go tits up at 4:42AM (AWST) this morning. Just wondered if anybody else is having issues with WU which is not exactly renowned as being very reliable?
Is anyone else having problems with Weather Underground?
Sorry, all good here, showing up on both ecowitt.net and WU.
I have the Ecowitt 2551 installed in rural NSW and also have four additional temp sensors and the soil moisture sensor in use with my setup
This is exactly what I want to hear. Thanks zarbs!
And just when I go to pull the trigger on the 2551 it goes OOS on Amazon. Maybe its an expensive sign telling me to get the 2553.
all good here
Back online again myself since midnight and working fine.
I can only assume that the server I was connected to decided to have the day off. I feed data to WU, Ecowitt, Weathercloud and Met Office but it always seems to be WU that suffers the most issues.
Has anyone had issues using standard alkaline batteries in their weather station?
Lithium is recommended for the outdoor sensors but it just seems to be because of the high or low temperatures experienced.
Lithium is recommended for the outdoor sensors but it just seems to be because of the high or low temperatures experienced.
I use lithium primaries. They too can suffer from temperature changes but are more resilient. They also won't leak. At such low drain, I don't know if they give you any benefit in capacity. The ones in my outdoor hygrometer and thermometer are still going after 7 years, the anemometer goes after 3 years, which is about the same when it had alkalines.
Lithium is recommended
And extending that question. Anyone had experience with Ni Metal Hydride rechargeables outdoors? Slightly lower voltage, just wondering if that's a factor. Plus any heat/cold issues?
And extending that question. Anyone had experience with Ni Metal Hydride rechargeables outdoors? Slightly lower voltage, just wondering if that's a factor. Plus any heat/cold issues?
No, just have to change them much more often. Often the sensor will report low power after a month, then continue for another 9 months or so
Hey all,
Trying to help my dad set up a WH2900 remotely (which is an absolute nightmare)
We seem to have set up the unit to connect to wifi, and it's showing the solid wifi symbol.
But nothing showing on the WS View app. In 'Device List' the unit has an IP and MAC address, but no weather info is showing. Similarly, we have set up an account on Wunderground and input the key and station id, but it's showing as offline.
I can only imagine the station isn't actually connected to the internet? The router only has 2.4ghz so it's not that. Would the unit show a solid wifi symbol even if the wrong wifi password was input?
Hi dooosh,
I'm a complete IT dummy ... but if WS view has identified an IP address (and MAC) that is a lease from your Dad's router, which can only occur if the WIFI link is established with this router.
Is the display <-> outdoor unit link established correctly? Does the display report OK?
Edit: The fact that WS View can 'see the device' would indicate that the internet side is good?
Can you 'see Dad's device' on WS view remotely?
Edit 2: I do find Ecowitt registration easier (MAC address) and a better display.
I do find Ecowitt registration easier (MAC address) and a better display
I agree. I've just setup a new Pantech HP2553. The Ecowitt connection worked for me immediately and is transmitting beautifully.
As far as I can tell, I've setup wunderground correctly, but it's still reporting offline on the website.
Can you 'see Dad's device' on WS view remotely?
No – the WS View app has no data. The unit display has everything though.
No – the WS View app has no data.
As WF suggested, did you try the Ecowitt registration?
That worked straight away for me on Saturday. Wunderground seemed to be setup, but was reporting offline on the wu website.
Update: It's just magically appeared this afternoon, but has now disappeared again. I suspect the issue is on the WU side, as I haven't changed anything here.
Update 2: And now it's back again. After setting up WU on Saturday, I've changed nothing on my side, and it's only just started working in the last hour or two.
My old station has died and I was using Cumulus software to log the weather details via USB to a PC. The new stations that I am looking at do not have a USB port but WiFi . Is the software compatible or only via upload to WU or similar ? I am more interested in looking at weather patterns and being able to go back over previous monthly detailed readings. Is this possible with different software as Cumulus seems to be not viable any more. I am looking at the Holman Aspect WiFi or an Ozweather WH2900. Any suggestions ? I have looked at this thread but either missed what I am looking for or has not been discussed. TIA.
Ozweather WH2900
Looks like it's a Pantech/Ecowitt – exactly the same model. They all come out of the same factory – Fine Offset is the OEM.
Update 2: And now it's back again. After setting up WU on Saturday, I've changed nothing on my side, and it's only just started working in the last hour or two.
Similar story here – logged in to check today and it started uploading randomly last night. Unit now connects to Wunderground and the WS View app as expected. Weird.
Anyone had experience with Ni Metal Hydride rechargeables outdoors? Slightly lower voltage, just wondering if that's a factor. Plus any heat/cold issues?
Pantech WH2900 has NiMh rechargables and a small solar panel. Has been good on the same batteries here for nearly two years with no issues related to hot/cold.
I am more interested in looking at weather patterns and being able to go back over previous monthly detailed readings. Is this possible with different software
Yes WU, Ecowitt (the better IMHO) and others record your historical data 'in the cloud'.
Data is available over various periods and may be customised and exported as an .xlxs excel file.
Ecowitt Data periods
https://i.postimg.cc/Nj1W743
Ecowitt Monthly data table example
https://i.postimg.cc/4xCD9MS
Note: Ecowitt records the display panels indoor data. WU does not.
The cheap and cheerful Pantech WH2900 for ~$200 will do the job just fine.
Unit now connects to Wunderground and the WS View app as expected. Weird.
WU has had a few lengthy, 8 hours or so, down periods over the last few weeks.
This may well have tripped you up?
New service registration may have been 'off air' for longer periods???
You'll be happier on Ecowitt. :)
Cumulus seems to be not viable any more.
Completely incorrect.
Last update to CumulusMX was 14th September 2020.
Development is ongoing.
See the related forums here.
https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/
My Cumulus based site here.....
http://weather.inverellit.com/index.htm
Will add to that, it also uploads data to other sites including:-
Weather Underground
Windy.com
PWS Weather
Met Office WOW
APRS/CWOP
Weathrcloud.
Thanks ProtocolSki. That is more than what I am after. I had trouble getting CumulusMX to download. I can find the download but it will not unzip or seem to do anything. I will persevere but being a bit of a novice I am a bit hamstrung.
The main thing to get your head around with CumulusMX is that it doesn't have a traditional interface.
It's an engine so to speak.
It's interface is Browser based, so you open it in Chrome etc.
What this means is that you can open the interface on any device; PC, Tablet, Phone....
As long as they are connected to you local network.
Once you understand that concept, it's all smooth sailing.
Is it possible to import historical data from Weewx to Cumulus MX?
I've been running my WH1080 on Weewx for a couple if years and am considering switching over but would like to bring the history with it.
I have just updated my Ecowitt HP2551 to the latest firmware and am trying to set it up to send data to ecowitt.net. The previous firmware didn't have the ecowitt.net option. How long should it take before you start seeing data in ecowitt.net? It has been just over 24hrs now and nothing has appeared at all yet, it is still showing as Offline. All of the other services, ie WU etc are all receiving the data ok.
The interval is set to 1 minute and I have double checked that the MAC address is correct. Does the StationID have to be the same as the WU station ID at all? I didn't think so.
Any ideas?
(Rebooted the console multiple times)
Regards
Steve
I just set up this afternoon a new 2900 station and that started uploading pretty much straight away to Ecowitt.net . I had a few issues but finally got it working. Trying now to upload to Cumulus MX but cannot make head nor tail of it.
Trying now to upload to Cumulus MX but cannot make head nor tail of it
Apparently the WH2900 doesn't work with Cumulus because it doesn't log the data, only displays it and uploads to cloud services. Cumulus needs data logging by the unit to extract and display it or something like that
Been trying all day and cannot get Cumulus MX to display data. All I have is the home page with dials and dashboard etc but no live data.
Thanks Pelican. I can now find everything I want on Ecowitt which I am happy with. The only issue now is I would like to update the yearly rainfall figures but cannot find how to add in the past figures. Anyone steer me in the right direction?
Is it possible to get data from the https://www.holmanindustries.
I bought one last week and would love to log and access the data myself without going via WU or WeatherCloud.
Hi All,
I have read most of this thread, and wondering if I missed it but; do any of these 2-300 dollar units run a display on battery as opposed to plugin?
The internal unit has battery back-up to keep the WIFI logging, but the battery does not support the display, so display is off.
Not sure how long it will survive on the batteries?
The internal unit has battery back-up to keep the WIFI logging
My WH2900 turns off the WiFi on battery
My WH2900 turns off the WiFi on battery
Thanks.
Ah my mistake, brain wasn't in gear. :(
Yes battery is just to maintain configuration until power returns.
I thought – from this thread – that once you connected your weather station with Ecowitt.net, that it should adjust the local LCD display unit for DST.
I have an OzWeather branded WH2900 connected with firmware 1.5.4 to Ecowitt.net, and the settings on Ecowitt.net show Melbourne as the time zone, and auto-adjust is ticked.
But the LCD display unit did not adjust today.
How do you get it to adjust the LDC display unit automatically, or is it just the web display that displays correctly?
Have my station setup on ecowitt.net
Is it possible to have the map showing on the main screen like Wunderground, instead of having to select it from the menu. I find it good to compare my readings with stations around me.
But the LCD display unit did not adjust today.
Mine did, I'm in Victor Harbor SA
I haven't done anything other than select my location in Ecowitt.net
Mine's Pantech branded BTW
My Pantech branded unit displays the correct time but on the analysis page on Ecowitt the daily rainfall readings stop and start at 23:00, not midnight. The daily readings are out if it is raining during that hour ie they are added to todays readings, not yesterdays. Hard to describe accurately.
EDIT Fixed itself somehow. Looks like it was a daylight saving issue.
Does anyone know the difference between the Ecowitt WH31 and WH32 temperature and humidity sensor?? They seem to be exactly the same (apart from the name of course..) but descriptions are written differently. Maybe only the reporting interval (61s v 64s)
http://www.ecowitt.com/wifi_weather/79.html
http://www.ecowitt.com/wifi_weather/94.html
Thanks.
Just got the email from ebay yesterday, pantech 2553 has a deal for $399.xx now.
Does anyone have feedback for this model?
My Pantech 2550 stopped recording rain this month, any suggestions. Also wondering where I get the firmware for this model to ensure it's upto date
My Pantech 2550 stopped recording rain this month, any suggestions.
I don't know anything directly about the Pantech weather station, _but_ if the rain gauge is a "tipping bucket" kind of one (like my Netatmo rain gauge is), see if there are spider webs inside that are stopping the bucket from tipping.
I find I have to open mine up and clear the spider webs a couple of times a year (the accumulated webs tie the bucket up so it cannot tip any more), even though the only way "in" to the mechanism for an enterprising spider is down through the little hole in the funnel that aims the collected rain onto the bucket(s).
see if there are spider webs inside that are stopping the bucket from tipping.
Yep, I actually thought of this earlier got up and opened it up and found several very large black spiders in there.
Yep, I actually thought of this earlier got up and opened it up and found several very large black spiders in there.
Lol :)
That'll do it.
if there are spider webs inside that are stopping the bucket from tipping.
Not exactly, but similar ...
Manual gauge showed 20mm for yesterday, while the Nylex only had 12.5?
That's a much bigger difference than usual but I put it down to a lot of the rain being from a thunderstorm, so it just couldn't keep up?
Was up the back yard this morning, near the gauge, & noticed a cloud of little (what I've always called baby Christmas) beetles around it, which are usually attracted to light colours, such as the cream & light blue gauge :-( Had a look down the funnel, & there were about a dozen beetles stuck in a ball blocking the actual drain opening! :-(
Have emptied them out twice since then, so may have to make up a fly screen shield of some sort, although that would probably interfere with the rainfall as well?
Anyone had experience with Ni Metal Hydride rechargeables outdoors? Slightly lower voltage, just wondering if that's a factor
I had to replace them every 3 weeks, that was with Eneloops. It's been almost 2 years and still going with the Lithiums.
Hi, the people I work for use a lot of batteries. We've found Powerex 2700 AAs to be much better than the Eneloops. For your application, you would probably be better off with the slightly lower capacity low discharge units. I would be inclined to just go with the Lithiums though.
Best 9 volts are Ipower but they need their own charger.
The display screen on our Nylex https://www.bunnings.com.au/n
2 x AA so took one old one out, new one in & same same for the second battery, & at that stage the unit beeped, apparently reset itself & deleted all of it's memory :-(
Not much use keeping records in a unit that will delete them all every time you have to change the batteries :-(
I thought that only changing one at a time would have kept power in it so that wouldn't happen?
Looking to grab a present for a family member. What are the good units these days for displaying indoor/outdoor temperature?
I thought that only changing one at a time would have kept power in it so that wouldn't happen?
If there's no AC adapter it won't hold charge.
For a budget unit that's what's to be expected I suppose.
Looking to grab a present for a family member.
What's your budget?
You can get super budget ones that work good as fizzie linked just above but don't hold temps, so ok if they just want to know the local temp.
More enthisiest ones can be had for ~$150-250
If there's no AC adapter it won't hold charge.
Thanks.
For a budget unit that's what's to be expected I suppose.
Guess so :-(
What do the Pantech & EcoWitt units do when it's time to change batteries?
What do the Pantech & EcoWitt units do when it's time to change batteries?
All the data is ... in the cloud.
All the data is ... in the cloud.
Thanks WF!
Ahh well, guess I'm keeping the spreadsheet going after all!
(Which I was always going to be, mind you :-))
What do the Pantech & EcoWitt units do when it's time to change batteries?
They have an AC adaptor.
Mine only hits battery if there is a blackout.
I can pull the batteries out and it still works fine.
Actually, thanks for reminding me. I should check the batteries in mine
All the data is ... in the cloud.
That won't restore the max/min etc on the unit though will it?
That won't restore the max/min etc on the unit though will it?
The battery maintains the indoor unit config whilst de-powered (mains power loss).
See ...
My WH2900 turns off the WiFi on battery
Thanks.
Ah my mistake, brain wasn't in gear. :(
Yes battery is just to maintain configuration until power returns.
The battery maintains the indoor unit config whilst de-powered (mains power loss).
Yep. I was more referring to your response re fizzie's question.
Not much use keeping records in a unit that will delete them all every time you have to change the batteries :-(
What do the Pantech & EcoWitt units do when it's time to change batteries?
To which you replied..
All the data is ... in the cloud.
I agree to a point.
With the Pantech, the internal unit will give you a history of the max / min etc of internal and external temps. Some like to reset these each season or have historical Max and min you can see at the push of a button.
You can't do that with the website (oh, and Wunderground doesn't record indoor temps.
I could be misunderstanding Fizzie though.