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Weather Station Hardware => Other Weather Station Hardware => Topic started by: Stormtracker on June 22, 2018, 12:32:57 PM

Title: Peet Brothers-- current users
Post by: Stormtracker on June 22, 2018, 12:32:57 PM
Anyone running a Peet Brothers station?   I am interested in current opinions/reviews of their products.   My application is in northwest Louisiana where rainfall is our most dynamic weather occurrence.  Our winds are rarely more than a gentle zephyr and the temperatures are nice, except hot in the summer.   I might add that this would be to replace an aging VUE which has been a good station, but I am so tired of the 80's LCD display...  Thanks.
Title: Re: Peet Brothers-- current users
Post by: DaleReid on June 22, 2018, 01:55:28 PM
This is completely my opinion, based on experience with Peet from perhaps as early as possibly 13 years ago, best guess.

I bought a 2100 ultimeter station right after they came out, at the Dayton HamVention.  Same station is still perking along, but did have to replace some cups on the bigger cupped version I bought.  The humidity sensor also got replaced, but with a new unit I got off from eBay.

The thing just keeps plugging along.  I've had no issues with this station.  I did find a Weather Display frame some years later, again on eBay, for a fraction of the cost.  It too has been easy to set up makes seeing the values in another room very easy and also in the dark with the LED displays.

I have an rs232 serial port feeding Weather Display, and then posting to a web page I look at.

I have no problems with the electronics.  The unit I'm using is older and old.  The barometer tracks well with the Texas Wx Instruments that I have, along with the Vaisala WXT 520 and the local airport.

It is wired.  It is pretty easy to set up, both physically and with the console selections.  The team on the phone (when I needed to buy some stuff or had a minor question) was prompt, knowledable and helped endear me to their product.

I wish there were a solar option, and I guess an updated version, but I"m not sure to what.  You can use a tipping bucket of any brand as far as I can tell, but I think the big one I got was the ubiquitous RainWise at the time. 

Not fancy, but still pretty cool looking.  Remote display that is a good across-the-room-viewer.  Keeps plugging away.  Seems to track very close to the other gizmos I have running.

I'd be interested in what others have to say.  This seems to be a good company, nicely engineered, does all I need to.  They seem to have sort of been lost in the dust with all the other stuff coming along.  But it works.
Title: Re: Peet Brothers-- current users
Post by: thomas on June 23, 2018, 11:20:18 PM
Like Dale I have had a Peet 2100 and the Weather Picture for about 12 years.  Last fall a close lightning strike with power failure sent the Weather Picture on the fritz.  Replace the system with a second Davis wireless unit.  I feed the data into a Wintel mini pc (https://www.thekingwarehouse.com/products/wooyi-wintel-pro-mini-pc-intel-atom-x5-z8350-1-92ghz-quad-core-2gb-32gb-with-wifi-bt4-0-rj45-100m-lan-tv-box-win10-wintel-w8-pro-1?cmp_id=1413587000&adg_id=52425152301&kwd=&device=c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxfbU26jr2wIVWrXACh3KVQNHEAQYASABEgKoxfD_BwE)  This than sends data to a 21" monitor on the wall for the Weather Picture effect. (far cheaper that the cost of a Weather Picture)  For display software I use AddinWX or Weather Solution.
Title: Re: Peet Brothers-- current users
Post by: vreihen on June 24, 2018, 08:02:08 AM
I believe that the OP's question was a result of reading a few recent online reviews that imply that Peet is owned by someone else now and their current support and quality is suffering.

No personal experience with the product, but the 2100 was on my short list for a new station just because they freely published the serial protocols and are popular in APRS.....
Title: Re: Peet Brothers-- current users
Post by: DaleReid on June 24, 2018, 09:59:23 AM
Well, then, I guess I missed some point that is actually very important.

I haven't read much about the company, it's ownership, future vision and all.

Were these some other forums which discussed this?  Was it in an amateur publication or circulation?

I'm not planning on much more wx stuff at this stage of the hobby, but would be very interested where the current owners stand on continuing support, new development, and so on.  Thanks for the clarification.  Dale
Title: Re: Peet Brothers-- current users
Post by: vreihen on June 24, 2018, 01:00:11 PM
I can't find the info now that I'm looking for it.  Is this a case of "If you read it on the Internet, it has to be true" spreading misinformation?  I did notice that Amazon has essentially been scrubbed of all Peet Brothers references, so maybe it was customer reviews on there?

eHam.net has it at 4 stars, and a few of the reviews there mention the reed switches that I recall being in the missing reviews:

https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/3198 (https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/3198)

Like I said, it was #2 on my short list for a new station even after doing my due diligence.  The final decision was price and luck, which let me piece together a console-less Davis VP2 for under $400 a few months ago.....