Topic: Shopping list for station to web

[ericfynne]

If the main purpose of the station is to monitor conditions in the olive grove, then it makes perfect sense to measure the wind speeds at a lower level than 30 feet.

But recommending a toy Fine Offset station over a Vantage Vue, particularly when the owner has said he is away for months at a time and is looking for a reliable system? That's completely crazy. Allowing your irrational dislike of certain products that you haven't even used yourself is doing the OP no favours at all. Sometimes you just have to accept that you don't know everything, and learn when to keep your weird and dangerous opinions to yourself, rather than trying to pass them off as facts.

Eric.

[Jáchym]

Hi Eric,

I have absolutely no problems accepting I dont know everything, I never even in the slighest thought that and I am happy to learn. However, I dont like you saying my opinions are weird and dangerous.

First of all, I did not say he should buy WH1080, I said that placement can play a more important role than sensor accuracy. I never told him to get WH1080, rather I meant that a correctly placed WH1080 can provide better results than incorrectly placed Vue and that is not saying WH1080 is ideal.

Also, trust me when I say that placement is more important because I have experience with many PWS stations, have installed several. The fact that I dont have a good one myself means nothing. I have installed or saw several Davis stations as well, saw how they are installed and what the data shows. Not to mention the fact that in my every day job, we administer over 800 stations all over the country, so I do know a thing or two from what I sometimes see with my colleagues.

i am not saying you are wrong, maybe in this particular case, wind is not so important, but I did want to make it clear, that in general, this is not the case.

[Jáchym]

And this is slightly off-topic, I do not agree with it, but just a little curiosity:

a toy Fine Offset station

I would say about 99% of my colleagues would disagree with this too..... because they would tell you they are both toys Even the Pro 2... but it is probably because most professional meteorologist dont know much about PWS, they see them all more or less the same and are especially aware of the ones most accessible - i.e. NetAtmo, and then no wonder they think what they think. Sort of a stereotype. I did have a discussion about this recently with my colleague who said all PWS are for children.

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

Jachym...Enough!

Some of us "children" are getting fed up with this !
 
Some of us "Children" DO know what we need to do for Site Specific measurements, and your standards 'quotes', while totally accurate, correct and very patronizing and insulting, are irrelevant in the case of Olive Farmer, and my hillside.  I DO NOT own a child's toy, and resent the implications... I own a VUE, because more sophisticated and expensive systems are over kill for my location,... and I know how to operate, maintain and calibrate it for the purpose it was purchased... . I am NOT reporting conditions at the Airport, the National Guard, at the State Capitol.. I'm reporting conditions at MY LOCATION... SITE SPECIFIC, and for various reasons, the temperature, wind, humidity gradients are more representative for this location exactly as they are right this moment... and that was determined through months of testing, observation, comparison and calibration.

Eric is totally correct, above! Ease UP!

And just for your info... although UN-Official, and a Child's Toy by your standards, my station is monitored and 'considered' by nearby NWS offices, with numerous "well-dones" and inquiries for confirmations...

So Back Off some! 

[Jáchym]

As I saw many times already on this forum...

it would sometimes be useful if you read carefully what other people write and only then start writing nonsense... no point in arguing with someone like you

[CW2274]

If my toy was based at an airport and supplying potentially critical landing info, I'd fly into it in a heartbeat.

[txweather.org]

Ill jump in the band wagon...

I own a vue and had for the past 4yrs.... I have not had an issue with my "toy" and while I do get your argument Jáchym, I dont think that argument fits all users.
Me for example: I been wanting to upgrade for the past 3yrs  to a Pro 2 with all bells and whistles.... But I just cant justify the spend. This is a hobby for me that has turn in to a benefit to my wife's flower/vegetable/fruit gardens and trees/fruit trees.... We grow fruits and vegetable in my backyard (Wife initiated project ) My irrigation system gets data from my vue and base on that data it knows when to water and feed the flowers/trees/vegetables.

It has worked very well for us. It has not failed us once. To shell out almost 1500 dollars just because people think my vue is a toy... Meh... Ill stick with my "toy"

[Jáchym]

And I completely agree!

The problem with CSS is that he did not read carefully what I wrote earlier. I said that I do agree that if wind is not that important, which it probably isnt, then it is fine. But I did want to emphasize, that in cases where you really want to have accurate data from all your sensors, an all-in-one, even a more expensive one, can provide worse results than even cheaper stations with less accurate, but separable sensors - which again by no means mean the readings would be highly accurate.

That was my only point. OliveFarmer has specific needs, in which case he probably would do ok with Vue (if wind does not have to be that accurate).

So let's just leave it there. I really think there is no point in arguing about it any further. I am not saying you are wrong, but I think some of you didnt get my point.

[ericfynne]

The wind speed is quite likely to be important to Olive Farmer. But the point is that the wind speed at 30 feet probably isn't, it's the wind speed lower down which is important. So my point, if you care to take your own advice and read more carefully, is that measuring the wind speed at a lower level is perfectly sensible.

Incidentally, I know several professional meteorologists, and none of them think that a PWS is a toy. Unless it actually is a toy, like a Fine Offset.

Eric

[johnd]

More generally there are two reasons why users run an AWS:

1. Simply to monitor weather, ideally as per WMO guidelines in which case yes the anemometer should be as high as possible (assuming that 10m is not achievable).

2. For many other practical purposes. Many arable farmers need to know the wind speed at around 2m height to decide whether spraying is a good idea. Yacht clubs, wind surfers want to know wind speed at eg 2-3m above the water for obvious reasons. Athletics clubs, archery clubs etc also want to know the 2m wind speed. And so on.

More AWS buyers fall into the second group than the first.