I too have the wireless Davis unit with all the options mentioned by
Larry below. All options except bird spikes and funnel filter as my
unit is about 10 years old predating those improvements. I am very
satisfied with its function and never heard it on any radio. I will be
relocating it to a tower or other elevated location (favoring a tower)
as a couple of my cows once ate the interconnecting wiring between the
anemometer and main unit. This during a brief period when the
surrounding protective electric fence was powered down.
I expect to mount an arm at least 3 ft long horizontal from the tower on
which to mount the Davis to get a more accurate wind direction and speed
with less turbulence interference from the tower. As the tower in
question is a tilt over with hinge 8 ft above ground I can tilt the
tower to service the Davis as if it were an antenna. Birds like to
perch on the rim of the rain gauge funnel and their deposits tend to
plug the funnel. Thanks for the info Larrry re the bird spike and
filter upgrade. I will look into those upgrades re their
retrofitability and separate purchase availability.
Patrick NJ5G
On 9/1/2015 12:25 AM, Larry McDavid wrote:
I've had a Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 wireless weather station for
5 years and it has been flawless. I have two receiving console display
units and have never had any RFI susceptibility or emission problems
with this system. However, the sensor suite transmits on 902 - 928 MHz
in Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum mode, not at 430 MHz as stated
below.
Since the system uses FHSS RF mode, you are unlikely to *ever* detect
it on any ham receiver.
The sensor suite is powered by a solar cell which charges a super
capacitor for overnight operation. If several days without sunshine
are encountered, the unit includes a Li primary cell as battery
backup. My system includes a 24-hour fan-aspirated radiation shield
powered by its own solar panel and NiCd cells.
These systems do require at least annual maintenance so they should be
accessible for service. In particular, the tipping-bucket rain gage
needs its conical collector and the buckets cleaned as they accumulate
dust and dirt. There is a recent version of the collector funnel that
has a better filter at the bottom and has bird-repellent spikes. Since
my aspiration fan runs 24/7, the plastic louvers that make up the
radiation shield also need cleaning once a year.
I had a previous wired Davis system for 25 years so I now have some 30
years of accumulated weather data stored on the connected computer. I
never had any RF problems with either of these Davis Instruments
systems; both performed flawlessly!
Now, granted, some will say we don't have "weather" here in Los
Angeles (I live near Disneyland). Historically, though, we do get
*some* rain and often have wind with gusts to 70 MPH where I live.
I've seen relative humidity values as low as 5 % during a "Santa Ana
Wind."
Larry W6FUB
On 8/31/2015 9:45 PM, Bill Parry wrote:
I have a La Crosse that is mounted on the tower (wireless) and have
had no
RF problems. Works just fine.
Bill W5VX
-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk [mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf
Of Lew
Sayre
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2015 10:58 PM
To: Ken
Cc: Towertalk Reflector
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] weather station on tower?
I've had the Davis Vantage Pro II wireless for the past 3 years. Very
reliable and rf quiet. It Tx around 430Mz but I've never heard it or
recognized it on hf or vhf..
...
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