Topic: PWS on the cheap in Poland

[murrayhenson]

I've spent a bit of time doing some research for a PWS and believe I have settled on an Ambient Weather WS-1080.  As far as I understand it is inexpensive, can be cheap (but apparently that is an attribute that is often shared with other sub-$250 USD PWS units) but that it generally works "ok" and best of all it will work with a variety of third-party bits of weather software for Mac OS X, such as Weathersnoop.

So, what I'd like to know is:  are there any other units between $100-$150 that I ought to be looking at instead?  The Honeywell TE821 seems to be in my price range but (?) doesn't seem to work with Weather Display or Weathersnoop... and the Oregon Scientific WMR100 seems to be both in my price range and seems to work with the software I'd like to use ...but I'm wondering what I get for the extra $40-50.

At this stage of things - I'm just getting interested in running a PWS - whatever I end up with doesn't have to be (nor, I suspect, will it) particularly accurate but I am planning making the data available via weatherunderground.com. 

One other little factor, besides cost and Mac OS X is that I live in an apartment.  I already understand this is going to throw the figures off to some degree but there's not much I can do about that other than to try to get the equipment as far away from the building as possible.  Oh and I also live in Krakow, Poland and sometimes we get a bit of snow though less than parts of the US.

Any suggestions or comments are very welcome!

[gadget_guy]

Greetings and Happy Thanksgiving from Virginia.  I believe that my grandparents came to the US from the Krakow area.  My last name is Jezioro.

I have a WMR100 and I'm pretty happy with it.  I see the biggest advantage is the ability to add optional sensors.  That may not be a consideration for you.  The other issue may be the wireless connectivity.  Depending on the construction of the apartment building, getting a wireless signal to the console may be a challenge.  I ended up opening up the WMR100 and adding an external antenna which solved my connectivity issues.

Good Luck!

[murrayhenson]

Greetings and Happy Thanksgiving from Virginia.  I believe that my grandparents came to the US from the Krakow area.  My last name is Jezioro.

Well then, dzien dobry! 

I have a WMR100 and I'm pretty happy with it.  I see the biggest advantage is the ability to add optional sensors.  That may not be a consideration for you.  The other issue may be the wireless connectivity.  Depending on the construction of the apartment building, getting a wireless signal to the console may be a challenge.  I ended up opening up the WMR100 and adding an external antenna which solved my connectivity issues.

My needs regarding data sources are fairly simple:  temperature, wind speed/direction, humidity.  UV/solar info would be neat but isn't critical.

Regarding the wireless connectivity for both the Ambient Weather and WMR100 setups:  in order to post data to wunderground, must the "base station" or console be physically connected to a computer?  I assume so and, if that assumption is true, then a console with very poor wireless connectivity may present an issue.  All home/apartment construction here is done from nearly bomb-proof concrete.  I would guess that from my Mac's location to where the measurement equipment will be is roughly 30 meters/100 feet.  However, I can easily have a laptop and the console located within 3-4 meters of the measurement equipment if necessary.

[SlowModem]

Are you from Poland or did you move there?

I have a website from Poland linked on my website:

http://www.meteo-grodziec.pl/

One of the great things about this forum is the world-wide participation.  

Sorry that I don't know anything about your type of station/software/mac.  But welcome to the forum and enjoy your stay! 

[wuhu_software]

I have never heard this Mac software mentioned in the forum but it looks pretty good:

http://www.tee-boy.com/WeatherSnoop.html

[murrayhenson]

Are you from Poland or did you move there?

Moved, about five years ago.  I'm originally from Oregon.  My wife is Polish and it was easier for me to move here than her to move to the US... although not as easy as one would think (stupid bureaucratic paperwork).

As far as Weathersnoop goes:  This seemed to me to be the most Mac-oriented of the various pieces of Mac-compatible weather software.  If it doesn't work for me I'll try something out, but it seems like it will be ok.

And as far as Polish weather sites go:  there are a fair number of them.  I was astonished to find this:  http://stacje-pogody.pl/  ...A comparison of a large number of bits of weather monitoring hardware.  There's also a fair number of PWS web sites or at least more than I expected.  There's also a similar forum:  http://stacjepogody.waw.pl/index.php  ...Too bad my Polish is still quite poor ...but luckily my English is still just fine.

[SlowModem]

And as far as Polish weather sites go:  there are a fair number of them.  I was astonished to find this:  http://stacje-pogody.pl/  ...A comparison of a large number of bits of weather monitoring hardware.  There's also a fair number of PWS web sites or at least more than I expected.  There's also a similar forum:  http://stacjepogody.waw.pl/index.php  ...Too bad my Polish is still quite poor ...but luckily my English is still just fine.

What would we do without Google?   

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fstacje-pogody.pl%2F

That's pretty neat!

[gadget_guy]

Dziękuję pan

Alas, my Polish skills are way too limited.  I understand the language better than I can speak or write it. 

The WMR100 does not have a data logger so it needs to be connected to the PC all the time.  The console receives info from the sensors via a wireless communitations protocol.  The console connects via a USB cable.  It can be a challenge getting a signal from the sensors to the console.  Concrete buildings can prove to be a formidable challenge.

The next model up the WMR200 does have a data logger alas it is considerably more expensive, and the logger is known to corrupt data. Today I had a spurrious rain data point of 99.99 inches.  I was able to clean it up in Weather Underground, but still, it is frustrating.   

[DanS]

Dziękuję pan

Alas, my Polish skills are way too limited.  I understand the language better than I can speak or write it.  

The WMR100 does not have a data logger so it needs to be connected to the PC all the time.  The console receives info from the sensors via a wireless communitations protocol.  The console connects via a USB cable.  It can be a challenge getting a signal from the sensors to the console.  Concrete buildings can prove to be a formidable challenge.

The next model up the WMR200 does have a data logger alas it is considerably more expensive, and the logger is known to corrupt data. Today I had a spurrious rain data point of 99.99 inches.  I was able to clean it up in Weather Underground, but still, it is frustrating.  

gadget_guy, did you see this from your other post with regard to the rain readings issue? http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=8098.msg77475#msg77475

Dan

[killwilly]

One other thing to consider if purchasing a wireless station from the US is, the protocol will be different and you probably wont get a signal.
It would better for you to purchase a European station.

Regarding signal range. I have found my OS 100 better than my 200.

Alan.

[murrayhenson]

That WS-1080 station is made by a Chinese company called Fine Offset, it is sold under many different names in different regions, Watson, Zephyr, Maplin, PCE-FWS, Velleman, are some of the others. I think it has an atomic clock time setting function, if so it would be better for you to get a continental european version so that it will be set up to use the German time service transmitter. Seems to be a nice station.

As I understand it, Fine Offset makes two versions of the WS-1080 - one with and one without the atomic clock function.  Whatever I get, I'm getting it here in Poland, so no worries.  I know of at least one other personal weather station user/enthusiast in the country using the Fine Offset WS-1080 and they've been using it for awhile without it breaking so it must tolerate the weather here ok.

[murrayhenson]

This may be asking a bit but:  can anyone here comment on why I would go with the Oregon Scientific WMR100 over the Fine Offset (aka Ambient Weather aka several other names) WS/WH-1080 in terms of build quality or accuracy of readings?  ...The only reason I have seen so far is that it is possible to add modules later.  I don't know if the WS/WH-1080 has a data logger or not but it isn't a deciding point for me as the station will be hooked up to a laptop 24/7 anyway.

Also: thank you all for the replies so far!

[gadget_guy]

DanS - I missed that post.  I've been bete atesting WUHU for OS equipment.  I'll try WUHU on the Massanutten WMR200 and see what happens.

murrayhenson - I agree that for you the advantages of the WMR100 are minimal.  I could not make a strong case to purchase one over the other.  What ever you buy, I hope you have lots of fun with the equipment.

Andy

[murrayhenson]

murrayhenson - I agree that for you the advantages of the WMR100 are minimal.  I could not make a strong case to purchase one over the other.  What ever you buy, I hope you have lots of fun with the equipment.

Andy:  noted.  I found out the WMR100 is expensive here, anyway.  Here, the WH/WS-1080 runs for around $130 (which includes the standard 22% sales tax) but the WMR100 doesn't retail, even online, for less than about $250 (including sales tax).

Good news is that there is someone living a bit less than a mile away with a Davis Vantage Pro2 so I will be able to check the output from (I guess) the WH/WS-1080 and compare for accuracy.