WXforum.net
Weather Station Hardware => What Weather Station Should I Buy? => Topic started by: alhamilton on October 01, 2007, 10:13:49 AM
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Davis 6152C vs Davis 6162C ?
OK its down to the VP2 or the VP2 Pro with UV and radiation. Ambient has them priced at $332.95 and $645. What advantage is it to spend over $300 for the UV and radiation. I don't understand the need, but don't want to miss out on an important capability.
al
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I don't understand the need, but don't want to miss out on an important capability
The need is basically up to you. It's just that much more capability your station has and that much more you can offer to visitors of your web site. If you are at all interested in the extra sensors make sure you get them when you purchase your station. They are considerably higher to add later. Just keep telling yourself, it's only money. :wink:
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I don't understand the need, but don't want to miss out on an important capability
The need is basically up to you. It's just that much more capability your station has and that much more you can offer to visitors of your web site. If you are at all interested in the extra sensors make sure you get them when you purchase your station. They are considerably higher to add later. Just keep telling yourself, it's only money. :wink:
I don't have the radiation or UV sensors, but you might want to ask the forum members about their reliability. It seems that I recall reading some complaints that those sensors might not have a long life. You might want to check around the forum or simply post the question here.
Regards,
Kevin...
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My UV and Solar sensors are 4 years old and still going strong.
No 3+ UVI reading at midnight here. :D
Bob
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I've been running a post-purchase addon UV/Solar sensors on my Davis VP1 for about a year and a half. Except for washing off the occasional bird dropping, they've been working fine.
It's MUCH cheaper to buy them up front (as part of the VP2+ config). Even using ProVantage (least expensive sensor price available then), it was >$100 more to add it on later.
I recommend getting them both. The UV sensor is great and helps your site warn about excessive sun exposure in your area.
The Solar sensor (with Weather-Display) can use the W/m2 observed v.s. W/m2 predicted to estimate cloud cover.
I use both functions with WD on my site.
Best regards,
Ken
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The Davis console uses solar radiation along with wind speed, temp, RH, and BP to calculate evapotranspiration (ET). I had a client have me order and install a VP2 without the UV and Solar.
Then he found out that he wanted ET. By the time I ordered the sensor shelf and the just the solar sensor, and charged him for installation, he'd spent enough that he could have bought both of the sensors up front.
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I don't have the radiation or UV sensors, but you might want to ask the forum members about their reliability. It seems that I recall reading some complaints that those sensors might not have a long life. You might want to check around the forum or simply post the question here.
Regards,
Kevin...
I've had my old vantage pro since release in 2001 and the solar/uv sensors are still working perfectly. I just retired it in favor of the new vantage pro 2.
Glor
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OK, you all have convinced me. I bot the Davis VP2 Pro 5162c yesterday and will have a lot of questions next week when it arrives. First question, does the Davis supplied software meet the requirements for a quality station?
al
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If you mean WeatherLink (which comes with the hardware logger), then Yes, it does a fine job of logging conditions, creating NOAA-style climate reports, and allowing upload of conditions to CWOP, WeatherUnderground, and your own weather website.
Others have found that it takes more than one weather program to produce the results you may want. For example, near-realtime weather conditions reporting is available with either Weather-Display or Virtual Weather Station.
A comparison of the software available and features/pros-cons is available here on the Software Reviews section (http://www.wxforum.net/reviews.php). For a start, WeatherLink is a good base. To run multiple station software from the Davis Vantag Pro2 console, I highly recommend using VirtualVP (http://www.softwx.com/weather/virtualvp.html) (which allows up to 4 weather programs to interface with the console). I use it (along with StartWatch (http://www.softwx.com/windows/startwatch.html)) to run WeatherLink, Weather-Display and VWS all at the same time from my VP1+ console.
Best regards,
Ken