Author Topic: OS WMR300  (Read 36898 times)

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Offline Weather Display

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #50 on: June 08, 2013, 03:05:01 PM »
according to manual (which is online)
its 915mhz, 816mhz for the EU version (WMR300A?)
1000 ft range or so
wind is transmitted every 2.5 seconds
« Last Edit: June 08, 2013, 07:43:27 PM by Weather Display »
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Offline Tornado Tim

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #51 on: June 08, 2013, 07:07:59 PM »
Even the radio frequencies are very similar to the VP2.

It looks like a plain copy with a few alterations. Davis could actually have a go at them in court if they lodged patents on the design.
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Offline Weather Display

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #52 on: June 08, 2013, 08:44:52 PM »
I have figured out the history data now
a big improvement over the WMR200 is the fact you can set to keep the history data on the console (with the WMR200 its sent only once)

also its now available in Europe to purchase...cost there is a bit more than a Davis VP..but when you figure it has the built in data logger, similar price
also I found this now
http://corporate.oregonscientific.com/template/wmr300/WMR300_proWeatherStation.html
« Last Edit: June 08, 2013, 08:47:57 PM by Weather Display »
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Offline Old Tele man

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #53 on: June 08, 2013, 09:14:54 PM »
according to manual (which is online)
its 915mhz, 816mhz for the EU version (WMR300A?)
1000 ft range or so
wind is transmitted every 2.5 seconds

Yeah, I know, I found this "hidden" (at OSI corporate) info earlier:

After a little "diggin" I came across this website which shows system accuracy & specifications (which look GOOD):

http://corporate.oregonscientific.com/template/wmr300/WMR300_proWeatherStation.html

New TX frequency, 915MHz(USA), with supposedly greater TX distance (300m).
Outdoor sensor update interval: 2.5-20 seconds.
Outside (12 sec.) and inside (1 min.) RH accuracy ±3% from 0%-to-99% RH.

Capable of handling up to 8 additional T/RH wireless sensors, but those sensors are NOT yet available.
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Offline aweatherguy

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #54 on: June 14, 2013, 10:58:35 PM »
What am I missing about this sensor suite?

1. You want the anemometer either 10' or 30' AGL.

2. The temperature s/b measured about 5 feet AGL.

3. The rain bucket should be much closer to the ground -- like 12 to 24 inches AGL.

At least that's what the official standards are saying. It's great to have excellent accuracy on the measurements, but if you cannot locate the various sensors in the proper place, then accurate readings are of dubious value.

I've always been puzzled by the Davis multi-sensor suite in this regards.

Is it possible to separate these units from each other and locate them at correct heights? I've never looked at the Davis manual to see if that's possible ... can the OS sensor suite be separated like that?



Offline Weather Display

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #55 on: June 14, 2013, 11:08:10 PM »
yes you can separate them
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Offline aweatherguy

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #56 on: June 14, 2013, 11:10:22 PM »
I noticed nobody posted the thought that I had -- that OS has OEM'ed from Davis here -- not copied. The similarities are just too great. Maybe you should buy MORE stock in dippity-do ???

Offline Skywatch

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #57 on: June 14, 2013, 11:16:33 PM »
What am I missing about this sensor suite?

1. You want the anemometer either 10' or 30' AGL.

2. The temperature s/b measured about 5 feet AGL.

3. The rain bucket should be much closer to the ground -- like 12 to 24 inches AGL.

At least that's what the official standards are saying. It's great to have excellent accuracy on the measurements, but if you cannot locate the various sensors in the proper place, then accurate readings are of dubious value.

I've always been puzzled by the Davis multi-sensor suite in this regards.

Is it possible to separate these units from each other and locate them at correct heights? I've never looked at the Davis manual to see if that's possible ... can the OS sensor suite be separated like that?



It's possible but the short cable lengths between the rain gauge and thermo/hygro is prohibitive of this kind of installation unless one obtains an extension cable. Another flaw of the Davis ISS design is wind flow. The rain gauge needs to be sheltered from wind to get accurate rainfall measurements. While the radiation shield (passive non-fan aspirated) requires about 5 mph of wind to keep the air inside the sensor housing "fresh". Otherwise stale air can result in inaccurate temperature and humidity measurements. I think in the VP2 ISS Davis went for simplicity. Which many people like. But this is with the cost of accuracy. Those hidden flaws.  ;)
« Last Edit: June 14, 2013, 11:19:07 PM by Skywatch »
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Offline aweatherguy

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #58 on: June 14, 2013, 11:35:48 PM »
Regarding OEM...I found this blog post:

http://sandaysoft.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9939

where someone named "susanf" is purporting to be associated with Davis and denies that there is any association. Based on this I have no idea what is going on now...such a blatant copy seems surprising but who knows?

Here's another confuser: OS says they have NIST certification ... but most of their stuff is manufactured in China ... but Davis manufactures in the US which makes NIST certification more logical. Are the WMR300 sensors manufactured in the US? Can you get NIST certification for a product manufactured in China?

I wonder if the sensors use frequency-hopping and if so, do they use the same hop sequence as Davis (which has already been published on the internet)?

Sorry, many more questions than answers!


Offline Weather Display

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #59 on: June 15, 2013, 12:03:35 AM »
the way the console and transmitter work is different to Davis from what I can gather
(with the WMR300 you pair them up,on 1 of 8 channels to select from )
Note that lots of remote stations that are not Davis use the Davis rain gauge
another thing, the rain gauge is not black like the Davis, but is dark gray instead (same for windspeed/direction)
The transmitter housing and solar panel are also bigger on the WMR300
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Offline Weather Display

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #60 on: July 03, 2013, 06:35:32 PM »
just a follow up after having the station outside for 3 weeks
no rusting of the nuts and bolts supplied
so they are good quality stationless
(other cheap chinese stations they rust in no time here)
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Offline mackbig

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #61 on: July 05, 2013, 08:36:25 AM »
Old Tele Man already used Google to find this... here it is one more time.
http://corporate.oregonscientific.com/template/wmr300/WMR300_proWeatherStation.html

For those wondering about NIST claim.  They actually dont make one really, they say you can optionally get your sensors certified for NIST Traceability.  There is a full section on the NIST reference within the link

Andrew


Here's another confuser: OS says they have NIST certification ... but most of their stuff is manufactured in China ... but Davis manufactures in the US which makes NIST certification more logical. Are the WMR300 sensors manufactured in the US? Can you get NIST certification for a product manufactured in China?

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Offline Bushman

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #62 on: July 05, 2013, 09:16:27 AM »
I bet if some enterprising soul went to the US FCC site they might  find lots of info about the comms and other parts of this station.  :whistle:
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Offline NeverDie

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #63 on: July 25, 2013, 12:23:46 PM »
What's everybody's current best guess as to when the wmr300 and its related sensors will be available for purchase?

Offline Weather Display

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #64 on: July 25, 2013, 03:03:44 PM »
September?
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Offline NeverDie

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #65 on: July 26, 2013, 11:44:20 AM »
That's in agreement with Cabela's estimated ship date being 5-6 weeks from now.  
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Oregon-Scientific-Ultra-Pro-Weather-Station-WMR/1608261.uts
It will be telling whether that estimated shipping date stays stuck at 5-6 weeks out, or if it counts down as the weeks pass.

Is $650 the price people were expecting?  That seems like quite a jump up from the wmr200 pricing.  I'm not saying there isn't value to justify the price, but it does largely divorce the wmr300 from probably the bulk of OS's prior customer base, who probably would have already bought a Davis if they were prepared to spend $650.

Any guesses as to how expensive the temp&RH sensors might be?  i.e. What's everybody's best guess as to the likely price on the 915Mhz equivalent to the THGR810?  I'm guessing the price will be higher, because it sounds as though it will be utilizing a more accurate, digital sensor.  So, if the street price on a THGR810 is about $40-$50, I'm guessing the street price on the 915Mhz unit, with a more accurate sensor and triple the RF range, will be $60-$80?

From what I've read on this forum here, the design is frozen?  i.e. they're not still doing major debugging?   So, manufacturing is the only bottleneck?  OS should want to provide their sales channel with inventory before the 4Q shopping frenzy.

I like that they've tripled the range over the wmr200 (so, allegedly, 1000 foot range, just like the Davis), and also that it can wirelessly monitor up to 10 sensors without requiring them to be clustered.  i.e. you can position them individually however and wherever you see fit.  It's that flexibility, plus maybe some near-term leapfrog over Davis in accuracy and/or update speeds, that will attract buyers.  Or, did  miss something?  If not, then for buyers who don't value those two attributes, or who value it less than Davis's proven track record in the field (together with being the sort of de facto "safe" choice that still nets IBM a lot of business), it may be a tough sell.  Unless there's more to the value proposition than we've heard, I'm surprised OS didn't price it more aggressively, at least in the near-term, to get a more rapid market penetration and gain faster acceptance among a larger number of the opinion leaders.

How do you guys see it?
« Last Edit: July 26, 2013, 02:28:21 PM by NeverDie »

Offline Old Tele man

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #66 on: July 26, 2013, 01:38:32 PM »
In one aspect, the WMR300 seems to be a logical "up-grade/migration" from the earlier WMR200, ie: both have 10 sensor capability...something none of the Davis systems have.

FWIW, the additional WMR200 T/H sensors were (A) cheap, costing less than $50 each (GOOD), but also (B) had rather lousy %RH specs (BAD). Hopefully, this is corrected in the "new" WMR300 sensors?!?!
« Last Edit: July 26, 2013, 01:40:08 PM by Old Tele man »
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Offline Weather Display

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #67 on: July 26, 2013, 02:30:00 PM »
there has been a couple of revisions to the software that OS provides and to the console firmware over the last 2 months
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Offline NeverDie

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #68 on: July 26, 2013, 04:17:50 PM »
Is there weather software that can fuse the data from two different weather stations (say, one operating 433mhz and one operating a 915Mhz)?  If so, which weather software can do that the best and most easily?

Benefits would be:
1.  It would facilitate an upgrade path for the users who want to milk their existing system for all it is worth, but who can replace worn-out sensors and gauges with improved devices as their old devices get retired.  
2.  It would allow you to monitor up to 20 devices, without being limited to 10.
3.  It would allow the use of cheap, inexpensive sensors in those situations where they would still be "good enough".  
4.  The cheaper, more range limited sensors could be positioned closer to the base receiver, and the higher cost, longer range devices could go further out.
5.  Possibly separate the two receivers but network their data back to the PC that's running the software, thereby providing yet another, different way to expand RF coverage.
« Last Edit: July 26, 2013, 04:26:44 PM by NeverDie »

Offline Scalphunter

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #69 on: July 26, 2013, 05:14:07 PM »
I see that they went on temperature from -55 on the WMR 200 to -40 f on the 300. So that is an step backwards in my opinion. Guess They don' t think about cold climates. Hit -64 here last wanted.

Offline mackbig

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #70 on: August 01, 2013, 07:29:56 AM »
I wonder if they fixed the "humidity does change below minus 10C" bug.

Andrew

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Offline Weather Display

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #71 on: August 01, 2013, 02:33:06 PM »
its the same temp/hum sensor that Davis uses pretty much
So I would say so
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Offline killwilly

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #72 on: August 02, 2013, 02:33:26 AM »
yes you can separate them

I believe it can be separated by using the extension cable, see this copied from OS FAQ

Q2.   Can I connect the bundled wind, rain or temperature & humidity (thermo/hygro) sensor separately?

A.   As wind, rain and temperature & humidity (thermo/hygro) sensors require transmitter box for data transmission, they cannot be used separately. However, you can place the Anemometer/ wind direction sensor away from the transmitter box with the 12m cable of the sensor. Also, separate transmitter & mounting parts for additional temperature & humidity (thermo/hygro) sensors will be available later.

Personally, I think this is a backward step and one thing I dislike about my Davis Vue. I also have an OS 100 and 200, which is far more flexible when choosing a site location. Agreed, it is a far more substantial station than any previous station offered by OS, but the fact that the two censors can only be separated by using a cable is a none starter for me.
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Offline DanS

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #73 on: August 02, 2013, 04:12:12 AM »
yes you can separate them

I believe it can be separated by using the extension cable, see this copied from OS FAQ

Q2.   Can I connect the bundled wind, rain or temperature & humidity (thermo/hygro) sensor separately?

A.   As wind, rain and temperature & humidity (thermo/hygro) sensors require transmitter box for data transmission, they cannot be used separately. However, you can place the Anemometer/ wind direction sensor away from the transmitter box with the 12m cable of the sensor. Also, separate transmitter & mounting parts for additional temperature & humidity (thermo/hygro) sensors will be available later.

Personally, I think this is a backward step and one thing I dislike about my Davis Vue. I also have an OS 100 and 200, which is far more flexible when choosing a site location. Agreed, it is a far more substantial station than any previous station offered by OS, but the fact that the two censors can only be separated by using a cable is a none starter for me.

The fact they it can be separated at all (with or without cables) is a big plus in my book. I would imagine that if the Vue or other "all-in-one" stations had the 'separable with cable" option that some folks would use that option with their stations. I know I would. ;)

Offline Old Tele man

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Re: OS WMR300
« Reply #74 on: August 02, 2013, 04:07:14 PM »
Yup, it's much easier to "cut & splice" wire than it is to "chop & saw" plastic when performing DIY sensor separations...of course, 'wireless' would've been even better (wink,wink)!
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