Been thinking about upgrading my WMII for VP-Pro and wondering what everyone thinks of the wireless versus wired option?
When I first bought my WMII and hooked it up, I had many problems with the cables. I thought wireless would have been a smarter move.
But after reading about problems people have with wireless setups, I started thinking maybe wired was a better choice.
So what is everyone using, and, if you had it to do over, would you make the same choice or switch based on what you know now?
I’m getting gun-shy of wireless anything lately. Seems everything is 2.4GHz. Do you know what frequency is being used for your station? As for snow we don’t see much here either. Avid snow skiiers, so we have to be close enough to play in it, but not live in it
I can’t see how there could be an upgrade, it would need a new ISS (sensor suite) board, and a new console board, so all that would be recycled would be plastic and the anemometer. Could be a trade in program I suppose.
On September 30, 2004, Davis Inc. filed intent with the FCC to produce the second version of the Vantage Pro weather station. By my evaluation of both the owners manuals of the ISS, counsel, and white papers, the new version will be identical in feature set except that they are now implementing a new spread spectrum frequency hopping broadcast/transmit circuitry which will span across 51 random channels from 902-928 MHZ.
This information is free public access through the FCC. all that you need to know is the company’s grantee code in order to get a listing of all the recent submissions they have filed with the FCC for future products they intend on releasing. For Davis, this is ir2. The FCC web address is:
The vantage pro 2 is essentially the same as the Vantage Pro. BUT the difference is that Davis has upgraded the transmitter in the ISS and the Receiver in the console .
Now, I am not sure if Davis would upgrade both your ISS and your console to make this sucker retroactive. From what I have read, there is a bunch of speculation both ways. Personally for me I am keeping what I have on board. Right now it works, Check back with me in 4 months, I may be blowing a gasket or something during winter…
I am looking at upgrading my WX station as well.
What experiences has anyone had with interference from or to ham radio equipment, or should I go the wired station?
Also, if you want UV and solar, wireless is the only choice.
Not true. I have a wired VP (as I never seem to have much success with the reliability of wireless kit) and have both solar and UV sensors. What you can't add is leaf wetness and soil sensors. Having said that you can if you use a Labjack which is what I do (although you can't use the Davis sensors). OK wired is more hassle initially but after it's installed you don't have to worry about reception, interference, changing batteries etc.
I am leaning towards the wired station myself. I agree with Softark about possible reception issues, batteries needing changed, interference from who knows what…to many variables for me to risk spending all that money on it without knowing…wired is harder to setup, but over the long haul I think it would prove to be an easier solution to maintain.
Could we shortly be seeing several Vantage Pro’s on eBay up for grabs?
This could be the time to scrap the UK, European and Rest of the World versions, and just have a single frequency version for use anywhere in the world.
In my experience, if you are within 50m of all of your transmitters, then wireless is the way to go, as you can have a station up and running in an hour. If you have lots of metalwork around you, or several walls between your receiver and transmitters, the go wired.
Does any one know if you can get wireless lightning detectors yet??
Another downside of the wired version is that you can’t use a second console or envoy for the PC interface - you are forced to have the weatherlink in the main console and then add yet more wiring if you don’t want the console in the same room as the PC.
Wireless Lightining. Well Chann from Wisconsin has been known to use his nasty neighbor on occasions. Hands him a metal pole and asks him to stand on the roof in storms.
