Topic: Fix/upgrade my WS-2080 or buy another budget system?

[petebert]

After three years my WS-2080 has died. I never changed the batteries on it so at first I assumed it was just the batteries. Changed them and the base unit still isn't receiving a signal so I'm guessing the transmitter died, new transmitters are $20.

My only complaints with the WS-2080 is the common issue of the temperature reading too high when the sun hits it. Another issue I have which may be unusual is that spiders climb into the rain gauge and build nests on the part that moves. This causes that part to get stuck in one position until I clean it out.

What I want out of a weather station are just the basics, inside/outside temp, humidity, wind and rain. Right now I keep the WS-2080 base unit attached to the computer 24/7 and occasionally load Cumulus to look at historic information and trends.

It would be cool if there was a way to keep the base unit away from the computer but still have it transmit to the computer without a cable connection. Right now my base unit being attached to the computer 24/7 is inconvenient because the computer is in out of the way office type room in the house. Would be nice if I could keep it in a more convenient spot like the kitchen but still have it transmit to the computer, not sure if any of the newer units are doing that.

I was looking at the acurites, will their internet bridge do what I described above? Am I forced to use their website to pull the data? I'd prefer not to be forced to use a website to do that. Another nice option with the acurite is the extra temp/humidity sensors available, it would be nice to put one in the basement.

I like the price point of the acurites at under $200. I see the Davis products are highly touted on this website and the Vantage Vue can be had for under $300. So if it's a better product I might not mind spending that much extra. My concern is that when reading the reviews for both the acurites and the vantage vue they both report having the temperature issues my WS-2080 does.

So any new packages I should consider or should I repair and upgrade my solar shield for under $100? If it makes any difference I'm in rural Michigan. My current weather station sits on a old t-post between two fields.

[PaulMy]

Vantage Vue can be had for under $300.

If you want to connect the Vue console to the internet or to third party software like Cumulus you will need the datalogger, which is just over $100 extra.  Yes higher cost, but the quality is there. 

So any new packages I should consider

There are other options for connecting such as Meteohub and Meteobridge that others familiar with these may comment on.

Paul

[DoctorKnow]

I would keep the WS-2080 and build or buy a radiation shield. These are relatively easy to make, and inexpensive to buy, and very effective. I would not recommend the acurite over what you have, instead, go with a meteobridge for the station, (approximately $100 total) and you can plug it anywhere you want, and it will send a wireless signal from that point to your router.

[nincehelser]

I was looking at the acurites, will their internet bridge do what I described above? Am I forced to use their website to pull the data? I'd prefer not to be forced to use a website to do that. Another nice option with the acurite is the extra temp/humidity sensors available, it would be nice to put one in the basement.

I like the price point of the acurites at under $200. I see the Davis products are highly touted on this website and the Vantage Vue can be had for under $300. So if it's a better product I might not mind spending that much extra. My concern is that when reading the reviews for both the acurites and the vantage vue they both report having the temperature issues my WS-2080 does.

It sounds like the bridge will do basically what you want.  If you want to pull off your own data, it's not hard to do with some simple network monitoring.  I use a Raspberry Pi and some scripts I wrote.  Any old PC running Linux could be used.  http://nincehelser.com/ipwx

Last year's "Black Friday" I was able to purchase a complete Acurite system with the bridge for under $100 shipped.  It especially helps if you get their 20% Facebook coupon.

If you have a properly running fan you can get good temperature data.  Spiders gumming up the works were a real problem for me this year, though.

[petebert]

What do you think about going to the newer WS-2095? Some stuff is saying it doesn't have the temperature issues and I'm just finding out that the console from my WS-2080 is the same and you can run as many consoles as you want with these. So I could have one in the office and one in the kitchen.

[DoctorKnow]

What do you think about going to the newer WS-2095? Some stuff is saying it doesn't have the temperature issues and I'm just finding out that the console from my WS-2080 is the same and you can run as many consoles as you want with these. So I could have one in the office and one in the kitchen.

If you don't mind the compromise of an "all in one" location weather sensors, then it would be fine. I like to take wind speed at 30 ft, rain and temp at 5 ft. Some don't care about wind and locate the sensor near the ground.