Topic: WMR200 Bad Rain Data

[gadget_guy]

I'm getting spurious rain data from my WMR 200 which then gets uploaded to Weather underground.  Yesterday it happened again.  The rainfall rate graph shows .22 inch between 5:30 and 6:30 PM.  Of course there was no rain.  I'm using VWS and have checked the box that says clear WMR archive after each download.  I also manually clear the data logger about once a week and still I get bad data.  It appears that drain data is the only anomaly.  I checked the rain gauge for insects, etc, but didn't find anything.  Any ideas?

[stevebrtx]

It's just one of the little added novelties of the 200, you get all the real data plus some things it imagines. The other evening I looked at my rain rate graph and it was 34.59"/hr. That didn't seem to likely, so did surgery on the dbase.csv. I have a 100 sitting within an inch of the 200 and never has done that in 4 years.

When I first got the 200 I had immediate problems and so over a 2 month period I tried every imaginable way to cut the spurious readings with essentially no success. I finally went back to the 100 and the 200 is data logger only.

I have on rare occasions had a single bucket tip due to wind. If it was within a drop or two of tipping, then stopped raining, but later wind or some physical vibration caused it to finally tip, so the reading total is correct, only the timing, but you only get .04" per tip, so that's not your problem, it's just an unfortunate characteristic from the factory. About the only fix I've seen is to spend $500-700 on a Davis and still have to deal with USB data logger problems.

[BigOkie]

It's just one of the little added novelties of the 200, you get all the real data plus some things it imagines. The other evening I looked at my rain rate graph and it was 34.59"/hr. That didn't seem to likely, so did surgery on the dbase.csv. I have a 100 sitting within an inch of the 200 and never has done that in 4 years.

When I first got the 200 I had immediate problems and so over a 2 month period I tried every imaginable way to cut the spurious readings with essentially no success. I finally went back to the 100 and the 200 is data logger only.

I have on rare occasions had a single bucket tip due to wind. If it was within a drop or two of tipping, then stopped raining, but later wind or some physical vibration caused it to finally tip, so the reading total is correct, only the timing, but you only get .04" per tip, so that's not your problem, it's just an unfortunate characteristic from the factory. About the only fix I've seen is to spend $500-700 on a Davis and still have to deal with USB data logger problems.

I see you hold the same regard for Davis as I do...good products, but overpriced (IMO).

[stevebrtx]

It's like Jerry Reed said, "when you're hot you're hot - when you're not you're not". Davis makes it happen and you pay the price, or whine like me. I suppose part of it is my insistence on wireless for a variety of reasons, but I have a rather extensive wireless security system that works perfectly, never a bump so, who knows?

[PaulyA]

That happens to my rain data too.  If on Monday I have 20mm (1 inch) ] of rain and then it doesn't rain for the next couple of days, all of a sudden my WMR200 decides it has to report Monday's rain total. To get around it, the day after I have rain I have to rest the memory on the WMR200 display so that the rain total is zero again. (Hold the Mem button until it beeps).  The downside to this is that the Max/Min on the display is lost, but my station is permanently connected to a computer, so it doesn't matter.
 

[gadget_guy]

Thanks for the tip.  I'm going to try that

[stevebrtx]

Not to be a wet blanket, but that only keeps the console clear of abstractions. The other day we had a power outage of an hour, so I dutifully downloaded the 200 logger data and merged it into the dbase and it was later that I saw the 34" rate/rate anomaly, so even with limited use, the 200 can still goof up readings. I limited all Ranges so I didn't get any more "634mph" gusts etc. but of course in the case of rain - ?

[PaulyA]

I get that too.  Resetting the console still doesn't stop me displaying the odd crazy wind reading, an ear popping low air pressure or dew point of -200°.  I think that is a feature of the weather station.

[stevebrtx]

Yes, a "feature" and I paid extra for mine when I brought it through customs - ha.

[Offbeatmammal]

I've been running our logger for a couple of years now and the suprious rainfall is making it pretty useless for anything beyond an expensive novelty.

I thought it was the WVS software I was using but looks like it a combination of crap hardware and software.... there doesn't seem to be a good, cheap, fun setup

[gadget_guy]

Sigh!  I've been tinkering with the WMR200 for months now and I'm no closer to a solution for the bad data other than editing and deleting.  I tried manually clearing out the memory although VWS is supposed to do it at each download.  That made no difference.  I tried moving the location, and using better USB cables.  Nothing seems to stop the bad data.

[DanS]

GG, did you see member Ardigier's post here, at the top  http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=8098.msg77475#msg77475 ?  Not sure if this is the same as you're battling or not. Maybe running the station without VWS to see if it behaves like that?  Best of luck with it.

Dan