Author Topic: A few questions regarding the WMR88  (Read 6580 times)

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Offline BaronV

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A few questions regarding the WMR88
« on: June 28, 2011, 10:08:46 AM »
Hi there. Im thinking of replacing my current La Crosse system which my be going the way of the dodo soon (not sure but who cares!) Theres currently an offer for a WMR88 with a free UV sensor and its quite affordable and Im thinking of grabbing it. However I live in a double story house and when I bought the La Crosse it came with a free 2nd base unit. Ive looked at the oregon website and it seems to me that all the sensors for the WMR88 are the same as the WMR80 and the only difference between the two is that the WMR80 has no USB. So if I purchase an additional WMR80 base station will it work just fine with the WMR 88 system? (ie recieve all the sensor data wirelessly + no conflicts) Ive been doing this with my LaCrosse so I figure it should be the same for Oregon.

Second Question. Do you HAVE to press the reset button everytime you change the batteries? What happens if you dont press the reset button? Its annoying that every sensor has its own set of batteries, and especially for the anemometer it would be a pain to climb up on the roof every few months to change the batteries. Im thinking of soldering two wires to the battery terminals and running a long wire to the ground level and fix a battery holder at the end so that changing the batteries would be easy. But the problem is that the manual says to press the reset button everytime you replace the batteries.

The alternative would be to add a solar panel to continuously charge the batteries, but Ill be using NiMH batteries and if I just hook a 5v solar panel to the batteries i might fry them without a charge controller since I live in sunny Malaysia. I do NOT want to pay the ridiculous price to buy Oregon's solar panel unit. So any suggestions? Im happy to just change batteries every few months using the method above without a solar panel but theres that dang reset button!


Offline Gulfcoast

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Re: A few questions regarding the WMR88
« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2011, 12:39:15 PM »
I've never had an OS brand so I can't answer your question, but if you will contact Ambient Weather in AZ I'm sure they can answer it and more. They have online chat during the weekdays.

I'm very pleased with this little station and the replacement parts are cheap...  I don't even want anything else.

Use free Cumulus weather reporting software and it's all great:

http://www.ambientweather.com/amws2080.html
« Last Edit: July 02, 2011, 12:41:07 PM by Gulfcoast »

Offline Skywatch

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Re: A few questions regarding the WMR88
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2011, 03:38:27 PM »
The consoles work as one way recievers so you can add as many consoles as you like. The sensors working with stations that have the small, "3.0" logo on the front will work with any of the WMR80, 88, 90, 100 and 200 stations. This includes the anemometer, temperature/hygrometer unit, rain gauge, UV sensor, and any additional temperature and humidity sensors.

      When you change the batteries it automatically goes into a sensor scan mode. You don't have to puch the "search" button. The only time you need to push the search button is when any of the sensor's batteries are being replaced, or if a sensor is not communicating smoothly. This happens to me all the time. Replace the batteries it should be fine.

 I'm not shure the OS. sensors and solar cell are capable of charging. The solar unit only provides power during the day so the batteries are only used at night which is suppost to increase the life of them if they're not working 24Hr. NiMH won't make any difference.
« Last Edit: July 02, 2011, 03:40:24 PM by mckTXaws »
I live in an apartment and for the moment am not a home weather watcher.

I am a storm chaser.

Offline FrozenPenguin

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Re: A few questions regarding the WMR88
« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2011, 06:21:31 PM »

The solar panel won't charge the batteries, it's only offloading them to save power like mcktxaws said, the manual actually specifically states not to use rechargable batteries.

I've only had my WMR (200) for a month, but i would hope the batteries will last longer than 2 months, especially if you have a lot of sun during the day (something we have minimal of here).   Just make sure you use good alkaline batteries (or lithium).





Oregon Scientific WMR200A + UV

Weather Site | | CWOP:7791

Offline BaronV

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Re: A few questions regarding the WMR88
« Reply #5 on: July 02, 2011, 06:42:05 PM »
Thanks for the reply guys! I think ill just run a long wire from the battery terminals to the ground so that I dont have to climb up on the roof to change the batteries. Quite frankly its very difficult to do so and quite dangerous to get up to where I plan to fix the anemometer. So i dont want to be doing it frequently. (once a year is plenty).

I also have a question regarding the anemometer update frequency but I think id best do it as a new post since it involves questions of modding.

Thanks again!