After eight years I’m on my second wireless anemometer (433 MHz), and I’ve got a problem. A few days ago I started to get erratic readings, then flat-lining at night. Ah, I thought, replace the batteries because the solar panel doesn’t work at night. So I did, but no change: in fact, things got worse and I lost all signal from the thing. It works if I bring it down from the pole but not up the pole where it has been working for years. Transmitter problems?
Today I deployed a brand new anemo (my third) and - guess what - signal OK at ground level, no signal up the pole.
All other sensors, scattered around the garden, are still working fine. No unusual conditions for wireless connectivity, like high atmospheric pressure or wet roof/walls. . . in fact we’ve had a lot of rain recently and it worked through that.
Console still feeding other data to WD.
So what else can I look at? (And don’t say “buying a VP2+” )
Pic shows basic anemo setup, although temp/hum sensor was removed years ago.
Thanks. It’s just a passive solar panel that used to power temp/hum and anemo, and it’s been like that for 8 years.
In desperation I have mounted the old anemo (still working at ground level) on a suitable post nearer the console while I try to think of my next move. . .
Maybe the solar panel is u/s (still produced 5.84V in the low sun yesterday) and I should try disconnecting it? Then I would be replacing batteries every few weeks, I expect.
Sensors (anemo, temp/hum) use normal alkaline or lithium batteries, so solar panel doesn’t recharge per se. But it does prolong the life of said batteries, up to 2 years. . . and so, as I said, I thought flat-lining at night was a sure sign of battery failure. Not so.
If I’m understanding correctly, the only time it doesn’t work is when it’s up the mast? So if it’s nearer ground level (and presumably nearer the console) it always works? Day and night? If so, that suggests it’s probably not a battery/charging issue.
I’d be looking at other changes that have occured nearby recently. Any new radio signal sources in your house or nearby? I know in this area there seems to be an increasing trend for radio based Internet connections. Alleged ‘Ultrafast’ connections (100Mbps) Not sure what that makes my long-standing 350Mbps connection! Sooper-dooper ultra-megafast? I don’t know what frequencies the connections use or whether they could interfere with your station frequency.
Have there been any other changes in the house? Things moved, new walls, large metal objects moved around, ??? Maybe the signal path between the mast top and console has become more obstructed (in a radio sense) and that’s attentuating the signal more that previously?
Yes, but the problem is that it had always worked up the mast until recently, with appropriate battery changes. So what has changed?
Not in the house. Wouldn’t have a clue about nearby.
No. And, as I said, it wasn’t down to a wet flat roof or wet brick wall, both of which can attenuate the signal.
Anyway, I put the old anemo (with new batteries) back up the mast about noon, but I didn’t plug the solar panel in. As you can see, it has worked OK since then. . . green trace is 10-min average.
(You can also see the difference in measured wind speed when it’s 5 metres up in the air!)
I’ll give it 24 hours to see if it runs overnight and then maybe plug the solar panel back in. . .
Well, it worked OK overnight, including a 7-hour calm verified by the station about 0.4 km away. (That means it actually registered about zero throughout, with occasional random changes of direction: if the signal is lost WD just flatlines the last readings it has stored.)
Reconnected the solar panel at about 14:20, seems to be OK so far. . .
I have the Oregon Scientific WMR300 with an erratic temp readings, they range from -30 to 60 degrees C!. After all the research it would seem the sensor has failed. A new sensor is the only option. I’ve tried all the resets on both indoor and outdoor units but to no avail. Sadly, it seems, the sensor is not available so I’m looking for a new set up. Could this be the problem with your WMR200?
I am sorry that one failed sensor seems to render your WMR300 useless. I think it was a blatant copy of a Davis station, so I am surprised that a replacement sensor is not available
I am lucky that all WMR200 sensors (except the original temp/hum sensor) are still available - at a price. (I did buy a spare temp/hum sensor a long time ago but when I came to use it it failed after 24 hours. It was out of warranty.) I don’t think the solar panel is available, either.
Multi-channel temp/hum sensors are still available, which can be used in many situations. I now use one as my main temp/hum sensor and another one to measure “feels-like” temps in the garden.
My anemometer actually seems to be working again (fingers crossed), but I have no idea why I had the problem described with both old and new units. . .
That’s probably 1000 cycles until the capacity drops to something like 75%. So it might go for 10000 cycles and still retain a charge of 10%. If the sensor only needs 5% to run on a typical day then it could go for many years before failure.
Based on my old wmr928 that would be a 3.6v pack then that would give the sensor a full 3v to work, the back up batteries are only giving 2.5v after the back feed prevention diode so although the manual does not mention this the solar panel is actually the primary power for the sensors
That’s exactly right. . . I did search old topics recently and discovered that the panel is the primary power source, but I didn’t find reference to a battery. I discovered that by looking for a replacement solar panel on the website of a popular supplier, and they had batteries in stock.
Anemo behaved itself all last night, so obviously disconnection was the right way to go until I can replace the battery.
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