Mebus TE923 / Honeywell TE923W / Irox USB pro

Did you remove the internal antenna?

Ed

Yes, I did.

-Keith

thanks

Another update on the antenna modification: the base did detect the atomic clock in Colorado
last night for the first time. I made the modification three days ago, but the base did not
detect the atomic clock signal until last night. We’ve been overcast, with nearly continuous
snowfall, since the modification was made, but last night was mostly clear, so maybe the weather
was affecting the reception. We’re overcast with snow again today (and forecast for the night),
so I’ll see if the base does or does not detect the clock signal tonight.

-Keith

Good to know. I started the mod but was a little hesitant to remove the internal antenna. I’ll revisit this over the weekend.

ED

Just be sure to be very careful with the connection to the antenna on the internal PC
board; it’s not very robust.

-Keith

Hi Everyone –

I am a new user here, just finished reading this whole thread. I just purchased the Honeywell 923W and am using the trial version of WD. Trying to get everything to work together, having some problems.

It seems that one of my main problems is keeping the station in communication with the sensors. I’m using new lithium batteries and the sensors are only about 30-50 feet. In the last few days each of the sensors has gone “off-line” at least once. The temp sensor is the worse, I have to keep taking it back to the station and forcing re-communication (using the down button). So, I’m really interested in this external antenna mod I’ve seen.

I would assume if I do this my warranty will be voided, a real concern. Aside from that, I don’t read German, so can’t follow instructions on how it is done. Can someone post a description, with pics maybe, of how they did it successfully??

I am also having some problems with WD, but need to get the sensor reception fixed first. One thing I noticed about WD is it showing rain on two days when we have not had any. Worked at trying to get the rain totals back to 0, wasn’t successful.

Thanks!

I very much doubt that the same antenna is used for the 433 MHz sensor communication and the very much lower frequency of the clock signal receiver.

There is only one antenna inside the unit, so it must be being used for the atomic clock. I saw
no evidence of a different antenna; if it’s there, it would have to be a patch antenna etched
into one of the circuit boards. That said, however, my base unit is now reliably picking up the
atomic clock signal from Denver every night since the switch to the external antenna.

-Keith

I thought those clock receivers usually have a ferrite antenna, but if it is using that little bit of wire to pick up a 60 khz/5,000 meter signal then I’m not surprised it doesn’t work very well.

I don’t read German, either, so I ran the page through the Google language tools and translated it into
English. That gave me enough understanding to make the modification. I didn’t take any pictures, so
can’t help you with that. It really isn’t that difficult, you just have to take care with soldering the wire
antenna onto the pad on the circuit board so that you don’t lift it and ruin the board.

I’m quite sure it voids the warranty, so you have to decide if that’s OK for you. I decided it was, as I
was tired of the base losing contact with the senors continuously. I didn’t think there would be any
resolution from Honeywell, other than a refund, so I went with the modification.

-Keith

There could have been another sort of antenna that I just didn’t see. I wasn’t looking for
anything other than where the internal antenna was located and making the modification
for the external antenna. If I ever open the unit again, I’ll try to remember to look for other
types of antennas.

-Keith

I removed the internal antenna and the reception has greatly improved. I had previously attached an external antenna

ED

That’s interesting. I’m not an RF engineer, so I don’t know what the addition of a
second antenna to the unit would do, but it apparently caused it to not get the
signals reliably.

-Keith

Hi,

I am completely new in this forum and in the personal weather station world !

I have purchased a Cresta WXR815LM weather station, which is exactly the same as TE923 models. Everything works fine excepted when I connect my USB cable in order to transfer data to the PC. Minutes after minutes, I loose each of my external sensors and I need to reset the station to recover them.

Has anybody already faced (and hopefully solved) the same problem ?

Thank in advance.

DV

somone has posted a solution to your other posting about this:
http://discourse.weather-watch.com/t/34309

Gidday Everybody, this is my first post on Weather-Watch.Com.

Another Kiwi here :slight_smile:

I have joined this forum on GBPeter’s recommendation, and also because I have ordered a Honeywell TE923W weather station. I know they are not as good as a Davis, but nevertheless are a big step up from the standalone LaCrosse and OS equipment I am using currently.

My LaCrosse Rain Gauge has just died after only 2 years in service and I have to say I am disappointed. Water got in to the battery compartment, and even though I have cleaned the board thoroughly with IsoPropyl Alcohol, the operating range is only a few feet even with fresh batteries.

Rather than just buy another standalone Rain Gauge, I have decided to spend a bit more and get something with PC Connectivity, so I can use WD after being suitably impressed with GBPeter’s setup. I didn’t want to spend the NZ$1k+ that a Davis station costs, so have decided to go for the iROX / Honeywell after seeing Windy’s comments earlier in this thread.

I have a couple of questions:

  • Earlier in this thread, there were all sorts of issues regarding unreliable connectivity from the host PC via USB to the weather station. Things like the driver program and even WD itself needing to be restarted every day or else flat-lining occurred.

- Have these issues been pretty much resolved now?

  • Secondly, I am aware that the FTP part of WD hangs every few days in GBP’s setup. To the point where he has installed a scheduler task under Vista to reboot his PC every 24 hours.

- Is the FTP function of WD reliable in other people’s experience?

Assuming positive answers to both of these, I am looking forward to becoming a WD customer 8)

Cheers,

Grant.

for the hardware signal strength issue, some people have extended the aerial and that has helped
(WD is OK re earlier threads, now)
for the FTP, I do not have any problems myself
it will depend on though your internet connection (the faster and more reliable the better), ftp server used (free ones will cause trouble)

No worries on that score. The instructions on extending the aerial looked simple enough.

OK, great to hear, thanks Windy. :smiley:

I have a wireless connection, and although it’s not that fast, it is extremely reliable. The FTP server is provided by my ISP and I haven’t had any problems with it before.

On the strength of your replies, I will download the WD Trial Version as soon as my hardware arrives.

Thanks again.

Thanks a lot.

Indeed, it looks like it is a matter of distance between central unit and probes.
Bringing them closer removes the problem. Perhaps I was at the limit of sensitivity and activating the USB connection made the link broke (interferences, lower electrical resources, … ?).

Thus for all those people who face the same problem, just try to reduce the distance between sensors and central unit and it should work.

Thanks for your help !