Author Topic: Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 (Read 6208 times)

junianby · « **on:** January 11, 2009, 12:46:59 PM »

I'm looking at buying a Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2. My question is, if I am using VWS, do I still have to get the weatherlink software to connect the station to my PC?
Thanks, Nick

Sigdigit · « **Reply #1 on:** January 11, 2009, 01:32:13 PM »

Don't have to use it, but you do have to buy it to get the hardware necessary to interface with your computer. Hardware and software is one package, it is not sold separately.

offroadjosh · « **Reply #2 on:** January 11, 2009, 01:54:02 PM »

actually i saw somewhere on the davis site where they sold it just as a data logger... i will look in a bit here and get back to you..

Josh

Bushman · « **Reply #3 on:** January 11, 2009, 02:30:55 PM »

You have to buy the logger and software as a package. No HW only. Sorry.

kray1000 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 11, 2009, 02:50:46 PM »

Quote from: offroadjosh on January 11, 2009, 01:54:02 PM

actually i saw somewhere on the davis site where they sold it just as a data logger... i will look in a bit here and get back to you.

Think of it as buying the hardware and getting the software free.

offroadjosh · « **Reply #5 on:** January 11, 2009, 03:30:43 PM »

yea you guys are right i thought i saw it in the replacement parts...

Josh

Sigdigit · « **Reply #6 on:** January 11, 2009, 03:32:11 PM »

Just got my serial data logger/Weatherlink from Ambient for about 118 bucks. Works great, no regrets.

racenet · « **Reply #7 on:** January 11, 2009, 10:13:58 PM »

Quote from: offroadjosh on January 11, 2009, 03:30:43 PM

yea you guys are right i thought i saw it in the replacement parts...

You may have, but even then, you'd get the software with it.

offroadjosh · « **Reply #8 on:** January 11, 2009, 10:29:44 PM »

Quote from: racenet on January 11, 2009, 10:13:58 PM

Quote from: offroadjosh on January 11, 2009, 03:30:43 PM
yea you guys are right i thought i saw it in the replacement parts...

You may have, but even then, you'd get the software with it.

maybe thats what it was

junianby · « **Reply #9 on:** January 11, 2009, 10:30:09 PM »

Thank everyone
Nick

tomcj2 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 11, 2009, 11:03:51 PM »

I use WL quite often for reports that I cannot get from VWS as easily.

Garth Bock · « **Reply #11 on:** January 12, 2009, 09:41:44 AM »

I have an Envoy and no console. I use WL to update time\date on the console and other things. I bought Virtual VP so I can run it at the same time. Really cool.

tomcj2 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 12, 2009, 04:01:53 PM »

To run WL and VWS at the same time you will need Virtual VP that you can try here:http://www.softwx.com/weather/virtualvp.html

junianby · « **Reply #13 on:** January 13, 2009, 09:28:19 AM »

Will Virtual VP work with the USB connection?
Nick

Garth Bock · « **Reply #14 on:** January 13, 2009, 10:15:08 AM »

Although I went serial, it should work transparently with Virtual VP. I am running WL, VWS, and WV32 with no problems. I was running WD in demo but it timed out. I was looking at Weather Live from WD and MesoMap Live. Weather Live from WD requires a clientraw.txt file be uploaded to the website. I especially like MesoMap Live.

waccamaw · « **Reply #15 on:** January 19, 2009, 07:49:33 PM »

can someone tell me if the davis vantage pro tells what weather is going on outside? like light rain,rain,snow,freezing rain etc.

blackjack52 · « **Reply #16 on:** January 19, 2009, 08:01:34 PM »

Rain....yes, along w/ intensities. Snow will be difficult as far as measuring. Freezing rain is iffy. All of these would rely on VWS/WD software to indicate the conditions exist for light/heavy rain, snow, etc. The only one I'm aware of that can be accurately measured is rain.

waccamaw · « **Reply #17 on:** January 19, 2009, 08:03:58 PM »

thank you .i know on weather underground the data of the weather stations on there tells you what the weather is outside and i was wondering how it works ,because i am fixing to buy a vantage pro 2

Anthony · « **Reply #18 on:** January 20, 2009, 09:15:32 AM »

MadALwx. I think one of us is reading his question incorrectly. I read it this way. If the console were sitting in a room with no windows. And he was to look at it. Would it tell him what the weather was outside? And the answer to that question in my opinion for the most parrt would be no.

And as for the conditions (ie rain, snow, ptly cldy etc) reported on WU. That comes for the METAR for that stations location. But the temperature, humidity etc do come from that particular station.

blackjack52 · « **Reply #19 on:** January 20, 2009, 10:21:29 AM »

I see your point Anthony; I was basing this all off of running software w/ the console. However, except for the rare occassions when the console reports it's raining with the icons it displays, you can quickly deduce it is not by looking at the rainfall rates. Yesterday the console showed a snow icon; we had flurries.

Upon further thought, you would also be able to tell if conditions existed for freezing rain by looking at the rainrate and noticing the OAT. I think, if you have a working knowledge of what the combined data presented by the console, you can also determine a meriad of other conditions; storms likely, fog, cloud cover, approaching squals. I don't place a lot of stock in the forecast algorithms, or METAR for that matter, since they're only hrly updated.

Utilizing software w/ the console only makes extracting and viewing the data easier, allows better forecasting, and enhances the purpose of having such an expensive station.

Anthony · « **Reply #20 on:** January 20, 2009, 01:41:37 PM »

Good point. Thats was just how I took his question.

WeatherBeacon · « **Reply #21 on:** January 20, 2009, 02:12:58 PM »

Quote from: MadALwx on January 20, 2009, 10:21:29 AM

I see your point Anthony; I was basing this all off of running software w/ the console. However, except for the rare occassions when the console reports it's raining with the icons it displays, you can quickly deduce it is not by looking at the rainfall rates. Yesterday the console showed a snow icon; we had flurries.

Just for clarification, the icons at the top of the Davis VP console are short term forecast icons for the next 12 hours. When I first obtained my VP (and hadn't yet fully read the manual) and saw the icon display rain when it wasn't actually raining, I thought, "Well this is disappointing." Once I read the manual I realized it was a short term forecast icon. See the back page and page 26 of the manual.

The umbrella icon, however, appears when the station detects rain. This occurs when the station detects 0.02 inches of rain within a 15 minute period (page 24).

Regards,

Kevin...

blackjack52 · « **Reply #22 on:** January 20, 2009, 02:48:03 PM »

That's right. I forgot about that. Thanks for clarifying.

LIWeather · « **Reply #23 on:** April 02, 2009, 07:46:08 PM »

How is fog detected? Is it a visual observation or detected by a radiation/solar type sensor? I've been contemplating getting a solar sensor for my VP 2 and wondering if this would indicate when fog was present.

d_l · « **Reply #24 on:** April 02, 2009, 08:18:16 PM »

I don't think you could tell from the solar sensor data alone that you had fog, but from a reduction of solar radiiation in the data coupled with very high humidity and a dew point that was close to the outside temperature AND a lack of measurable rainfall, you could probably guess that you had fog from the data.

The data for foggy conditions would be very close to a light misty rain and might be indistiinguishable if the rain didn't accumulate.

We rarely get fog here, but I saw those conditions once this past winter. I still don't think I could scan my old WL data and pick out the foggy event without knowing that it happened there one day for a few hours.

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Author Topic: Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 (Read 6208 times)

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