I am looking to buy a Davis Vantage Pro2 and a LaCrosse weather station (2310, 2315, 2010, 2510).
I have found a lot of reviews about the Vantage Pro but not much for the LaCrosse. I haven’t found any information for the LaCrosse 2510.
I was just wondering if anyone had any opinions about any of them (especially the LaCrosse). Any input about the customer service and reliability. These weather stations will be for different schools, so reliability will be important.
well, the 2500 type station will only give you every 5 minute updates on the screen, and only every 15 minutes to the PC (or 5 minutes if you use a separate ws2500PC data logger)
compare that with every 2.5 seconds for the davis VP (or even 1 second for windspeed with a Capricorn 2000 or a dallas 1 wire or a ultimeter)
the ws2300 type station is better…8 seconds with cable, 12 to 30 seconds if wireless
The more expensive the weather station, the better the customer service
I own a LaCrosse 2010. It has been up and running for several months with no operational problems. I live about a mile from a METARS station so I have benchmarks. I have found that the barometer is consistently off by .08 which is outside the advertised specification of .03. There is no calibration nor offset for the station receiver (other than altitude but METARS and my location are within 2 meters in altitude) so it reports with a .08 error. This isn’t a major problem because I can set an offset in Weather Display to compensate. The outdoor humidity also does not always report in accordance with METARS. This varies with temperature, time of day, etc. and sometimes is within the 8% advertised accuracy and sometimes shows a differential of as much as 20%. I have e-mailed LaCrosse and they will check the sensors for me under warranty should I decide to send them for service. LaCrosse equipment is entry level, you should expect much better performance from your Davis equipment.
[quote author=N2CSA link=topic=7743.msg52671#msg52671 date=1108218972]
I have e-mailed LaCrosse and they will check the sensors for me under warranty should I decide to send them for service.
kreagan82, I have both the 2010 and VP2. I think the 2010 will stand up the wind but I am disappointed in the performance of the sensors. My outside temp and humidity doesn’t always show up on the console or the data logger. The only sensors that have been completely reliable are the battery powered temp/humidity. I’ve had to located the outside temp in full sun to get a reading but the of course it’s way off.
PDX-Mike, I received a reply in about 2 days from LaCrosse.
Mine was a gift, if I had the choice I wouldn’t buy their product.
Here is a back door # for Lacrosse - call (507) 895-1840 EXT 507 - The lady is real nice and you will likely get her voice mail - leave a message, you will hear back from her the same day.
I have found with Lacrosse e-mail takes at least 2 weeks for a response and leaving a VM on their main line after you listen to music for 5 minutes results in a call back 3-4 days later.
I got the 2310 and I think it’s a pretty decent value for the money. Many say it does not compare to other weather systems and I sure hope not because it costs a heck of a lot less money! Those on tight budgets will appreciate the features for what the 2310/2315 offers.
Only serious negative is don’t use this station in wireless mode as the updates are spaced out at like 2 minute intervals. You’ll miss the whole point of your wind data with this kind of update. Consider it a wired station only for quick updates. Also, rewiring your wind sensor to a twisted shielded(!) pair cable is mandatory (easy to do-- info on this available on this forum), not an option, if running in wired mode, so keep that in mind.
Start with “What is my budget”? All other answers stem from that. Be sure to factor in installation materials, software costs, etc. If you’re planning on having a website, hosting and domain name costs (if any). If you’re planning on having a webcam, hardware and software costs.
Since there was absolutely no way my wife would agree to the cost of a Davis ($400+ and don’t forget WeatherLink $150+), I opted for the very cost effective LaCrosse WS-2310. I paid $140.
But the WS-2310 isn’t perfect:
The wiring absolutely MUST be replaced with better wiring. Plan on spending the first day or so after you get it cutting, crimping, and soldering shielded, twisted wire. Mine is a 2-pair wire specially designed to be outdoors. The cheap phone wire that comes with the WS-2310 is a joke… especially when you cut it open and see the (up to) 4 strands of copper in it… completely unacceptable for long-term outdoors use.
Wireless rate and reliability is completely unacceptable. The unit must be wired. There’s another 4-8 hours of wiring, drilling, etc.
The housing for the hydro/thermo sensor is a joke. Expect to replace it with a proper weather-resistant housing. Luckily, there are some very low cost options here (white plastic bowls for instance) which will work just fine.
The humidity sensor is well… very low cost. It really only works between 20% and 90%. Over the short term, this affects other important things (dew point for instance). So if you live some place which is very dry or very wet, the WS-2310 could be frustrating.
Ok, that behind us… My WS-2310 has been remarkably accurate once I got all the wiring replaced and wired the unit. I’d say other than during times of high humidity, it’s just as good as the much more expensive Davis units. And if you read up on my posts in the CWOP forum, I’m a bit of stickler for accuracy.
For the cost, it simply cannot be beat… warts and all.
Actually, this stuff can add up quickly if you consider everything you are using to make up the weather station.
The total cost of my weather station including the Ladder, computer it is running on, software (WD, WDLink), Post, masts, mounting etc… was $1560.00.
I got the VantagePro Plus for around $960 but there was the cost of WD, WDL, the post, masts, mounting stuf, I factored in the cost of the computer it was running on (sole use) etc… That ladder was so I could get up on the roof to install the Anenometer, the only time I’ve used it. Even part of the cost of my Cell phone and some software purchased to run on it was included in the purchase price (Audiovox SMT5600)…
Twas not all a loss or actually I guess it was since the entire amount was included as a business expense however which is basically a tax deduction for the Corporation.
This year will add, Lightning Detector, related software and I am still trying to come up with a decent though inexpensive cloud sensor and some sort of webcam setup.
I been using my Lacrosse 2310 for about 14 months, over all it has been very reliable. I use it wired and get updates about every 7 to10 seconds. Wind and rain also very good. A heater upgrade would be usefull one time ice kept them from working. The only concern I have is the the humidiy seems to be off on the lower scale, it rarely reads below 45% when local METARS are 30% or less. It also never reads higher than 93%, I use WD to compensate for that but it makes the low scale even more off!.
Yeah, it’s beginning to look like it. I guess you get what you pay for. I picked up my WS2310 for $150, was torn between it and the Oregon Scientific WMR-968. I could have got the WMR-968 for $10 more, but from the package I couldn’t tell if it could be interfaced to the PC. Now that I read up on it though, it looks like it has issues too (slower readings, bigger tip on rain guage).
Think I’ll start saving up for a Davis… Or start playing around with 1-wire…
Okay I’m new to this forum, but very interested. First off, I was the “national sales manager” at La Crosse Technology from 1999 to 2002. In fact, I was the first employee there (besides the owner). Anyway…La Crosse Technology certainly has a place in the world, much like $1.00 toys and $5.00 bottles of Vodka. To anyone here, in this forum, I would really recommend saving money for a little while longer and going for a Vantage Pro. Davis Versus La Crosse? Can’t even compare. Every note I’ve seen on here for La Crosse (or OSI) is “I’m happy with it, BUT…” Not true with comments on the VP. Yes, everything has its limitations and electronics by nature are quirky. I’ll post more replies in here later; I have a lot to add!
There have also been comments about VP’s…e.g. the unreliable reception on wireless units seems to get mentioned quite regularly. I’d feel more upset at having spent $2500 (yes that’s what they cost in the UK) on a top of the range wireless VP to find that the reception wasn’t too good!
Well, talking about that kind of price spread, sure! $250 for a La Crosse unit and $500 for a Davis is not much of a difference. $2500 is a different story. There is a good reason for several weather stations on the market. La Crosse fills some good gaps in the “affordable” category.
We’re working on a wireless station, but focusing on wind and temperature only. It’s being designed in Switzerland, and we plan on releasing it worldwide by the end of the year. I’m looking around at the comments on the weather stations around, to get a good feel for what we need to watch out for. Ease of use and setup plus long term reliability are outweighing “cool” features like sunrise/sunset. So as I peruse the site, I’ll learn a lot more what is most important. As things progress, I’ll give some sneak-peeks.
I’ll tell you what I got when we decide - within this month.