Which one is the best and easiest to set up and use. Which one integrates best with Weather Display? Thanks in advance for your opinions.
Hmm, performance doesn’t matter huh :?
My vote is the Davis VP, not cheap but you get what you pay for.
Yes I agree with Nikoshepherd, I have in the past also had a grow weather, you pay good money, get good results !
Cheers
I would say that the best station is what you expect it to do vs. what you want to pay.
Davis does a lot of things, but it does have problems with the wireless. ISS transmission is in theUS only 1 mW. The more sensors you add beyond the solar/uv the decrease inpackets. It is easy to set up and config even with the weatherlink datalogger which is extra cost.
You can get a cabled version which seems not to have many issues as the wireless. I had a WMII before my VP Plus and it was a good unit. Too bad its discontinued, but Davis does have a great replacement policy and stands strongly behind their products. Great company.
They have a catalog on line (pdf) and you can check the specs out .
IF I were to buy a new unit I would go back with Davis but get their fan aspirated united but that is a different story.
Either way, WDisplay interfaces very well with a whole bunch of options as you can see. You get the most bang for your buck with WD. 8)
I am on my fourth Peet Bros Ultimeter but I know they don’t have the best station and it definitely is not the best with WD, but… They have a auxilliary LARGE display that tops anything anyone else has that has kept in the fold. Not cheap either because you can drop an extra $500 on the display but it sure sells politically at home 
when you can hang that thing on the wall in a conspicuous place. :lol:
I know little about the stations since this is my very first…but what I can chime in with is that we’ve had no problems with it so far. We got a Davis Vantage Pro Plus with UV/Solar sensors and three extra probes for the ponds… It proved to be extremely simple to setup…practically plug and play.
Greg:
I started out 4 years ago with the OS WMR968, wireless, and was pleased with the operation of it. The biggest drawback, not weather related, was the punishment I put my dog through everytime I touched their screen to view additonal data. The horrible high pitched sound would send my dog running and even hiding. I got to the point that if I had to make any adjustments, I sent the dog outside. Even with plugging up the sound hole, there was still enough of a shrill that was annoying.
I’ve since switched over to the Davis Vantage Pro and that solved the dog problem plus it gave me the the Solar/UV sensor. Setup is a no-brainer and of course WD blends right in without any problems. Of all the forum problems, very few exist for the Davis.
(PS: check your ABC 38/40 station 10 PM weather, I’ve been sending data to them daily)
Greg:. The horrible high pitched sound would send my dog running and even hiding. I got to the point that if I had to make any adjustments, I sent the dog outside.
Strange? every time I sit down in front of the WD program , my wife finds things for me to do for her? Hmmmm Related events !
Guys,
I should have mentioned I do care about accuracy and, not to sound rich or anything of the sort but, money isn’t the biggest concern. I have an original one-wire system and it is very accurate, very very well built, and stable but if and when something ever happens I would like to simplify and not have to do so much “tinkering”. This is why I’m asking. So far it sounds like the Davis VP is the way to go. Don’t they have a wired and wireless version. Which is the better of the 2?
Losmon1:
You stated
PS: check your ABC 38/40 station 10 PM weather, I’ve been sending data to them daily)
Give me more details. Greg
Thanks for all the suggestions guys.
ISS transmission is in the US only 1 mWThe actual transmitter power of the non-US version is the same as the US version so don't expect it to be any better.
wireless is nice if you need that option. However, since it has such a low output , it is RF interference has its effect.
IF you have the option to run cable to your location, then the cabled is the way to go.
I had to use wireless because of my situation, but the cable won’t have the reception issues. You might want to go to their site, scroll down through weather support to their information area such as manuals and do some reading before you make your decision.
Guys, I should have mentioned I do care about accuracySorry to be snippy Greg, it was very early in the AM here and I had just finished having the Sheriff's dept shut down the all night party next door :evil:
Don't they have a wired and wireless version. Which is the better of the 2?It depends, with wired you have the advantage of flexibility, multiple consoles, no wiring, but the disadvantage that the communication can be, uh, temperamental. With wired you don't have so much flexibility but the data will be very reliable. Just depends on how you can install it and your priorities. I have 2 wireless ones and they are the best choice for me.
so you have nbighbors like mine. Mine - the guy brings the company car home. Ok. The car is a huge semi, which Nature-Boy likes to start up and run for 4 hours a day, every day, especially at night when the windows are open . He says its to charge his battery. I would love to battery his charge but… The local police drove by and that was all. When he is on the road, his wife runs her cycle up and down the street. I got to do two things… either win the lottery and move away or dig a bengal tiger trap in the street for the wife or call the trucking company and whine to them.
At least his genetic offering of a lab rat son leaves the weather station alone.
Ah, the pre-going back to school/work temperment.
I do like the VP. I think one of the best advantages of the wireless is the ability to add sensors, such as soil temperature/ ability to relocate the anemometer via transmitter or different sensor locations which happen to be wireless. But I would really look at the instruction / application notes .
Its very low maintence. Birds crap at times in the rain collector and you have to replace the backup battery for the solar cell every year, but other than that, its really easy to set up and get running.
The best is that Davis really stands behind their products and are caring and responsive. If you have grown to like the way Brian H. does his software, then you will like Davis.
Yeah, they’re usually very contrite the following day (well, towards the evening when they’ve slept it off) and always suggest we have a friendly beer - which is exactly what started the problem in the first place.
Good point about Davis support, can’t be beat, also you aren’t going to run into a problem like this one either http://weather-watch.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4860
Abiet has a good spec comparison table at http://www.shopambient.com/specs/specs.PDF
Am I understanding this correctly. If your go with the wired version you can not add things like a soil sensor and other add ons?
I believe that’s correct, the leaf/soil/temp and temp add-ons only come in wireless so with wired you can add UV and solar but that’s it.
Oh, to answer a FAQ before you ask, you do have to buy Davis Weatherlink package to get any data out of the VP into your PC. Weatherlink includes both the datalogger/interface and software, you can’t buy just the hardware part so think of the sofware as a gift.
I recommend the Davis VP too 
(i got myself a second hand one, and I added a bulewave solar sensor…works great!)
i have a wireless one
has taken a fair bit of experimenting of positions for the console to get best reception…finaly the resting place has been right on top of the pc desk!
YOu only live once!
Gee…I have the lacrosse 2010 wireless with solar sensors… I guess nobody likes lacrosse 8O
It does what I need it to do so I guess thats good enough for me…FOR NOW… :twisted:
lacrosse 2010 is a fine weather station too. They are a nice company. I had one once, but I needed something a bit different. Wife didn’t like me drilling into the brick to attach all the sensors with it. Sheesh.
Now she has this to contend with in her yard.
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personally, I would not want a station that only updates every 3 minutes, like the La Crosse
some people have also had trouble with the separate data logger reception…and then again some people have alot of trouble with the davis reception too