The long story....
FYI: I have two WMR968 Consoles, but only one anemometer.
Today, I got some high windspeeds (50mph) that did not match the outside conditions. So I took and observed my extra wmr968 console outside and it was constantly showing wind speeds in the 30 or 40 MPH range, the extra console connected to my computer and VWS was also showing the same exact numbers. Yet the wind cups were not spinning more then about 10 Miles an hour. There was no problem with the wind direction vane. I removed the solar battery, AAs, disconnected the sensor, reinstalled, and replaced the AAs with fresh ones. I then reset the solar transmitter and observed the transmit light working twice. I screwed all the tiny screws back in, and resynced my console. At which point I got the wind direction vane and it showed movement. But now the speed stayed at 0 mph, although the cups were clearly turning. I then spun them by hand (somewhat quickly) thru a few sensor updates and they still stayed at 0. I then removed the set screw on the wind cups, checked the condition of the shaft. All was good. Just a small tiny spider in the nose of the cup. I put it back together and gave it some spins for a minute or so, console still displayed at 0 mph. At that point I put the ladder away and thought I will need to purchase a new Anemometer. I reset the extra console one more time, just hoping, and again just the direction vane, 0 mph. 60 minutes later, I reset the console again, this time I got the direction vane, and speeds of 20 to 30 mph (again that was too high for the conditions).
Now the wierd part, after about another 5 minutes the speed settled down to between 3 and 8 mph (Our conditions at the time).
....And for the last 4 hours has been operating normally. Since then I fixed my numbers in VWS but have not resynced the VWS connected console until I make sure the wind speed issue seems corrected. I would rather have zero data on my website than erroneously high wind speeds recorded. I am going to attempt to sync the VWS connected console in the morning if the extra-console shows numbers that are within our condition range.
I received the WMR968 for a Xmas gift in December 2007. I have already replaced the outdoor temp and humidity sensor once.
I have also researched the internet and Ambient has the best price with shipping so far, About $105. Not cheap.
Does it sound like my unit is close to full failure or is this just a weird glitch? Has this happened to anyone else?
I looked back thru my data the last few days and sometimes there are 4 or 5 hours of 0 wind speeds and then numbers, I would consider normal. But this is the first I have noticed erroneously high speeds.
Comments and suggestions are welcome.