Thoughts on the WeatherFlow AIR/SKY Station

I’ve had Davis and Oregon Scientific stations. The WeatherFlow(WF) is my first station with sonic anemometer and haptic rain sensors. I admit having a solar sensor and lightning detector is a nice addition to my station. Not having to purchase additional hardware to connect to a computer is nice. At first I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of having sensors powered only by batteries. I don’t know how long the batteries will last but if they last a year I will be fine with replacing them annually.

I am currently running 2 instances of WD, one reading my Vue and the other reading WF data. I see very little difference with barometer and wind readings between stations. The one sensor that shows a major difference is the rain sensor. It’s a double edge sword with the WF…when my location receives rain, actual rain drops they measure very close to the same amount. But when the rain drops are very small (ie. drizzle) the WF fails to record any rain while the Vue tipping bucket faithfully records rain. I know WF is working on calibrating the rain sensor so perhaps in the future they can improve the ability to detect drizzle.

The solar sensor appears to be working correctly. The only change I made to get my readings to agree with local conditions was to tell WD not to use the new solar calculations (the default). When using the new calculations I was unable to get the solar% and conditions icons to match my actual conditions. I believe the new calculations lower the max solar value which has the effect of raising the solar% and I just was unable to correctly adjust the raw readings to match my actual conditions. Un-ticking to the use the new method made adjustments much easier and I am able to use the solar readings without making any adjustments in WD to attain correct sky conditions.

As for the lightning detector I can only say that I am getting strikes. Living on the coast we rarely get lightning. So while the WF is reporting strikes I have been unable to verify my strikes with other sources. I suspect that the strikes I am getting are not actual lightning strikes but more likely to be something in/near my neighborhood that is being interpreted as a strike. As we get closer to summer my chances of getting actual lightning will increase so I hope to be able to confirm the sensor actually works.

I have not tested the datalogging capability of the WF with WD importing missed data.

So far I am pleased with the performance of the WF when compared to the Vue. Time will tell how the WF will standup to the harsh conditions of my location so close to the ocean.

Interesting Thanks Dan.

I have not tested the datalogging capability of the WF with WD importing missed data.

that works no problems I can tell you that :) (just have the switch on under control panel, data logger)

WF have developed a solar powered rechargeable battery system for the windspeed sensor now (in testing still). I have one here at a site near me

Good deal…I am hoping they make the Breathe available soon

My views on WF are somewhat mitigated. I’ve been running it for ~7 months. On the whole, my initial experience was reasonably good, but with some negatives. Under extreme driving rain, both wind and rain measurements go haywire, compared to both Davis and Oregon, due to the acoustics of the rain blowing onto the top and water being retained in the wind slot, settling on the electrodes. I know that WF are working on a good finish in the slot to improve this problem.

On the whole. it does what it says on the box for normal conditions, but the data may be somewhat different at times. D & O always agree to within normal tolerances, when WF may differ, but which is correct? My instinct says that D & O are, because, e.g., rain and wind are measured using mechanical sensors which I can see working, but who knows? In case of power problems, I changed the SKY batteries, but that made no difference.

One word of minor warning: the UV measurements are mainly in the UVA part of the spectrum, whereas sunburning is mainly in the UVB. The UV Index from this sensor is not necessarily the real index measured with more sophisticated instruments. What can you expect for the price?

Batteries: I’m using cheap supermarket ones. After 7 months, AIR is still OK (2.9 V) but I changed SKY unnecessarily for a reason to be explained later; they were still at about 2.65 V/pair and should have been OK. There is no risk of freezing here, in Cyprus, so expensive batteries are a waste of money in these conditions.

Integration with WD: No real problems. I’ve run stand-alone and with all three stations on one 'puter. Although it is possible, and does work with the 2wd.txt, addition (?), I don’t really recommend multiple installations. Much better to have each WD on separate computers, IMHO (if I could ever be humble!). Main question is lightning counts. The WF shows no. of strikes/estimated distance. WD shows when strikes exist, on the wind direction graph: I suggest setting the Max graph scale in Settings to 5.

Security: that the WF can freely alter their software (unless otherwise set up) on YOUR computer could theoretically present a security risk, if a mistake were made. I can’t say how much of a real risk that presents.

BIG PROBLEM! WF no longer works on either Android or Windows, since 3 weeks (intermittent flatlining at random times and periods. It is suggested that HUB has gone haywire and I hope that the problem will be resolved shortly. I believe ‘they’ are working on it. This is a one-off on my system alone.

Dan, would you be kind enough to remind me where that setting is located - old mind has a tendency to forget things like that… :oops:

I am not too sure what you mean by that - I am not running any software on my computer for the WeatherFlow weather station - any update of the firmware for the WeatherFlow devices (Hub, Sky, Air) is done through the network to which they are connected.

Have you tried contacting WF directly at ‘[email protected]’ - they are quite good at supporting their devices and respond quickly - they might be able to check your devices from their operating center.

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I don’t understand this statement…what WF software are you running on your computer?

Maybe I’m just paranoid. The network to which they are connected also serves 5 other 'puters.
Have you tried contacting WF directly at ‘[email protected]’ - they are quite good at supporting their devices and respond quickly - they might be able to check your devices from their operating center.

They’ve not come up with the answer, after >week. I’m hopeful they’ll have an answer shortly. Suggestion HUB may have a hardware fault??? Patience is a virtue

Firmware update for the WeatherFlow hub is done through the network cable which connects WF to the router, well, that is how I have setup my WF. Unless I misunderstood the concept, a firmware update is ‘pushed’ to the hub via a specific channel/port. I am sure the people at WF are and have been concerned about security and would not place any of their users in any kind of hacking danger.

My hub went on some kind of shutdown (a few months back). After trying different options under the direction of one of the WF technician, it was decided that a new hub would be required. A new hub was mailed to me (and was received within about a working week). I was requested to returned the defective hub and pay for the return cost - once I knew what the shipping costs were, I sent them an eMail message with those costs and within a day or so, those cost were refunded to my PayPal account.

I have been really pleased with the WL support in the Community/forums and through private eMail message - they really to solve any problem as promptly as they can.

Dan, thank you for the screen capture (way easier for an old brain to understand) - is it not said that a picture is worth a thousand words (now-a-day, probably much less than a thousand words with all those rising costs)…

Oh, by the way, the only software on my computer that has ‘any contact’ with the WeatherFlow weather station is my browser.

The issue is WF punches a hole in the firewall and anytime you do that it creates a security problem. As it has been since the start of the internet, the only way to remain secure is to not connect any device to the internet.

I have no specific knowledge of the WF but I would guess that updates are “pulled” rather “pushed”. IOW the hub regularly checks in with the server and downloads available updates. That type of connection is somewhat more secure than having the hub open to connections from the outside world.

From what I have read (and understand) in the WeatherFlow Community/forums, a firmware update is ‘pushed’ from the WF main server to the local user hub.

For example, a while back, some users were seeing discrepancies in the WF UV values from values of surrounding weather stations. Just for those users, WF ‘pushed’ a firmware update to try to improve the interpretation of the UV sensor. Once the people at WF were satisfied the modifications made to the firmware were effective, a new firmware updated was eventually released (over a few days period) to all the WF hubs.

First you talk about them freely changing software on your computer which was pointed out that they don’t do, then switch to firmware upgrades.

Have you ever thought about asking your question on the WF forum? They are very open on their processes and I’m sure would answer your question.

Big problem resolved: it was because the 5 V power supply feeding the HUB was supplying random values of voltage. Replaced the PSU and all fell back to normal!

one thing about the Hub is that it draws so little power that some power supplies will not even activate to power it
and so it might have been related to that

I see the solar charger is now available
https://shop.weatherflow.com/products/solar-power-accessory?utm_source=SWS+account+owners&utm_campaign=99c116ea0a-SOLAR_EMAIL_ANNOUNCEMENT_MAY2019&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e3814546b6-99c116ea0a-382255609&mc_cid=99c116ea0a&mc_eid=ae1e95332b&_ga=2.144012349.981394343.1557204341-375875282.1521402447

Yes, I have the solar charger and plan to install it today. Looks like a really quick install once I get to the SKY hee hee :lol:
I’ll let you know how it goes.
So far their support has been GREAT as I’ve had my HUB, AIR and SKY all replaced quickly after some trouble shooting with the WeatherFlow staff. =D> =D>

Update: Took much longer to lower the mast than to install the solar panel (about 2 minutes for the solar panel).

Cheers

MikeyM

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