Davis Vantage Pro 2 model 6152.

Buy the 6152C wired version, not quite so convenient but it will work legally anywhere.

Thanks for responses.

I guess the next question is can a US sourced 6152 have its radio frequency easily/cost effectively changed to the frequency of TE923W or WMR968 or similar. I appreciate that if it is possible that it would have warranty implications with Davis but as the units are supposedly so trouble free warranty would not be a large issue.

I think the OZ distributor may change the freq of the units they import and sell, but they aren’t likely to do it cost effectively for you. I doubt it’s possible for anyone to do it without access to Davis proprietary info.

It got me baffled why the AU and EU version need to be so expensive, all what is different is the frequency.

The frequency will be interesting as NextG sits in the range area of the AU and EU version. NextG is the “competitor” of GSM.

I run a VP1 since 2002 without a problem, I know the ISS board has a bug but that does not worry me to much. It is a wireless, I like to go VP2 with solar and uv but cannot justify the price difference.

I am hinting towards the US version but I am not brave enough as yet, I might do it one day just to protest against the price difference. Honest it is almost double the price here than it is in the US, why???

My station is based in Dayboro (www. dayboro.info or www.lyndhurst-hill.info) that is in QLD if you are in the area feel free to drop in for a cuppa and I show you how things can work (and do not work :-)).

It’s not technical, it’s just business. I think the biggest factor is that there’s an exclusive distributor arrangement instead of everybody and his brother buying direct from Davis and selling competitively at a low margin - while relying on Davis USA to do all the support. Then there’s some unavoidable extra costs like import taxes, and sales taxes which are generally higher than in the US (some US states do have a sales tax, but US prices are always quoted before any sales tax), and the higher cost of employing staff outside the US.

I thought they just changed the dollar sign to a pound sign #-o #-o

That’s pretty much it in a nutshell, though there are one or two further factors. The cost of shipping stations by airfreight around the world is nontrivial. And the other key aspect is providing local warranty and support, which Niko mentioned but I’d underline because it is a very significant expense for local distributors and one which is not refunded by Davis AFAIK. Also in this context there may be a longer warranty, eg here in the UK all ‘official’ Davis supply has a full two-year warranty. Finally there’s the issue of local market size. If you’re a local country dealer selling maybe 30 or even 100 stations a year then you’re just not able to operate with the same economies of scale as people like Ambient or ProVantage who I’d guess are doing 500+ units per year (and scarcely having to even consider after-sales support once the box has shipped).

But having said all this, if Davis could be persuaded to relax their veto on supplying local dealers direct (ie direct from Davis) raher than via a monopoly trade importer in many countries then you would I’m sure find retail prices very significantly lower in export countries.

For sure davis will have warranty and if the unit is broken than they will replace it.
Shipping cost is 9 out of 10 times paid for by the end user anyway.
I assume that dealers do not only sell davis, for sure they have a wider range of products.

Let me clarify: Yes - Davis will ultimately replace faulty hardware if under warranty (but only for one year), but the local dealer will have two sources of additional expense. First there’s the staff cost of dealing with the support incident. If you’ve ever run a business you’ll know that the overall cost that has to be allocated against staff time is very significant, say $100 an hour even for a small business. So for an incident that might take an hour all-told to deal with (time on the phone/email - often repeatedly and often ‘false alarms’ when there’s no actual fault, actually dealing with a physical return and then shipping out a replacement) it’s easy to rack up a $100 cost on a single incident. Second there’s the cost of holding extra inventory to provide replacement parts plus the cost of shipping out replacements & returns to Davis. I know you might not want to believe this but in the real world all these costs do add up.

Shipping cost is 9 out of 10 times paid for by the end user anyway.
Well in one sense that's true - all costs ultimately have to be covered by the end user or the business goes bust. But the costs of shipping stock around the world are quite significantly higher than eg within the US.
I assume that dealers do not only sell davis, for sure they have a wider range of products.
Yes but the same argument applies to the other products too. A dealer for weather station products in the US will have a potential market of 300 million people or thereabouts and with one of the highest disposable incomes in the world. Other dealers in individual countries will have a fraction of that market size, typically with a lower disposable per capita income.

We are drifting way off topic here and know that Prodata has some very valid points for the UK, as dealers can only source supplies from the Official UK Importer. However, I believe that it is the cosy arrangements made by overseas manufacturers and Official importers, to attempt to stifle direct retail sales from overseas to the UK, that is compounding the problem. This does not just apply to Wx Stns but a whole host of other products as well. The same cosy arrangements seem to exist in just about all other overses markets. Usually, it is the product “guarantee” that is not upheld, or made extremely difficult in some way or other. This topic is endless :frowning: :frowning: :frowning:

This subject came up on another forum, as did that of the warranty of units bought from overseas.
Does anyone know if the warranty for an overseas unit will be valid in another country or does then unit have to be sent back to the original supplyer for warranty work to be done?

Sure, if you buy a Rolex from an official source it will have an international warranty :wink:

:slight_smile: Hi Guys,
Well I don’t like been ripped off so I ordered a VP2 from the states,

Just as long as Ofcom don’t pay you a visit, confiscated the VP2 & fine you up to

My WMR928 Seldom picks up any data so I also have been looking at upgrades.

I also have gone for a Davis import from the USA to UK before I realised they used different frequencies.

If I recall the Oregon ones all used 433MHz so I assumed wrongly the Davis units also would.

Is the transmitter on the outside pod directional? Or can you focus the signal on just where you have your logger?

Automan.

Re using A US VP2 the manual says the frequency used is

US Models: 902-928 MHz FHSS, Overseas Models: 868.0 - 868.6 MHz FHSS

At Regulator archives - Ofcom Ofcom it says that band is used by Ham Radio stuff

902 - 928 FIXED Amateur Mobile except aeronautical mobile Radiolocation

S5.150 S5.325 S5.326

So is it anything to worry about for use in the UK?

Automan.

It doesn’t say it’s ONLY used for ham radio, it also says it is used for these services:

FIXED
Mobile except aeronautical mobile
Radiolocation

Trust me, if it was legal to use the US version in the UK Davis wouldn’t have bothered with a different version and all the separate European approvals.

Niko beat me to it…You may find that it is the likes of Vodaphone who are using those freqs…ie: "Cellular mobile services operate within the frequency ranges 872-960 MHz, 1710-1875 MHz and 1920 - 2170 MHz"…It is for that reason that the US Davis Kit is NOT authorised for use in the UK as it has the potential to interfere with those services.

Here’s a fuller list of the frequency band usage, note the ones that say ‘closed’!!

Business Radio (Digital TETRA PAMR) 917 - 921 MHz Closed N Closed Details
Business Radio (GSM-R Railway Use) 921 - 925 MHz Closed N Other Details
Cellular Radiotelephone Systems (GSM 900/1800) 880 - 915 MHz Open N Network User Station Details
Cellular Radiotelephone Systems (GSM 900/1800) 925 - 960 MHz Open N Network User Station Details
Non-operational Development 0 - 60 GHz Open N 1st Come 1st Serve Details
Non-operational Temporary Use 0 - 60 GHz Open N 1st Come 1st Serve Details
Public Wireless Networks (2G Cellular Operator) 880 - 915 MHz Closed N Closed Details
Public Wireless Networks (2G Cellular Operator) 925 - 960 MHz Closed N Closed Details

As I understand it, these require licences to be able to operate on these frequencies and as they cover the likes of TETRA, railways and mobile phones then the chances of getting an operators licence for them is very remote.
As I said above, if you are cought using illegal radio equipment then it’s can lead to confiscation of the equipment and upto a

Thanks for the clarifications.
Perhaps I should have gone for the hard wired one - never mind, to late :frowning:

Indeed the 900Mhz band in the UK is mainly for mobile phones but I see browsing the www that several vendors are selling baby monitors and other such gadgets all of which use 900Mhz all of which I assume also do not meet ofcom requirements.

I see another source of EU ones is http://weatherstation.net/store/product_list.php?id_group=143

Automan.