Should I hand over hunreds $$$ of dollars to Davis and hope for the best?

[Ugly Duckling]

I thought I was sold on Davis but as I surf the forum I came across people claiming they have constant lockups with their expensive Davis Weather Stations. Some say there is problems with the loggers too. What is going on? Is this what should be expected of these expensive Davis stations? Davis claims  "Davis makes professional quality cabled and wireless weather stations " Davis makes and sells Professional quality weather stations but they lock up and their loggers don't work?

Should I hand over hundreds of dollars to Davis and just hope for the best?

Many Happy Weather Changes,

Marci Anna

[dalecoy]

Yes. 

I'm sure your fellow pilots have various comments about various aircraft - even about the ones that are more expensive than others.

Many people (quite reasonably) come to these forums to ask for help with problems.  Not many come to ask for help with successes.

If you ask "has anybody had a problem with...", you'll likely get more answers from folks who have had problems, than from folks who have not had problems.

Regarding "problems with loggers" - the vast majority are really "the logger works fine, but I need a lot of help getting my computer (and/or software)  to work with it". 

It's up to you what you want to spend your hundreds of dollars on, of course.

[wxtech]

I don't have wx station lock ups.  [I have browser and email lock ups.]  Davis is so reliable you can set it up, learn how to customize it then forget it.  I go so long between tweaking that I have to relearn the PWS.  Davis is home/personal quality and is priced as such.  I've worked with military/industrial rugged equipment and is priced beyond our reach.  I have experience with Campbell Scientific, Vaisala, Climatronics, and Handar dataloggers.  They are out of the category that Davis is in.  Those dataloggers interface directly with all the wx sensors.  I prefer the Davis, whose products are simple to use & last forever.
I have two Davis serial dataloggers and a WLIP datalogger.  I bought the first in 2004 with a VantagePro.  I bought the second with a VantagePro2.  Both are still working fine.  I decided to upgrade and bought the WLIP.  It too works perfectly, despite what some are saying about WLIP.

View my data: http://www.lexingtonwx.com/
Weatherlink dot com: http://www.weatherlink.com/user/wxtech/index.php?view=main&headers=0
Weatherlink dot com summary page: http://www.weatherlink.com/user/wxtech/index.php?view=summary&headers=0
Rapid Fire to Wunderground: http://www.wunderground.com/swf/Rapid_Fire.swf?units=english&station=KGALEXIN1
CWOP: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxpage.cgi?call=CW2074&last=240
PWS: http://www.pwsweather.com/obs/KGELEXIN1.html

[d_l]

Now that you are thinking about costs, note that there is the Davis MSRP price and then there are the non-published, discounted prices from various dealers such as Rainmanweather, Provantage, Ambient, Archer Trading Post, etc.  You must email those dealers to get links to their discounted price pages.

[justin470]

I have been using my Davis Vantage Pro 2 since January 2008 and have not had any problems with the hardware or software.

Since then, I have added several additional Davis sensors and all of them are trouble free as well.

I can not say the same for some of the other equipment I have used in the past.

Even with Davis having some problems here and there I still think they are heads and shoulders above the rest.

Justin

[utahweatherbear]

I owned a lacrosse for a few years and it suited my needs fine, but decided to get the vue last year. so far I am extremely happy with it, the durability and accuracy seem superior to my lacrosse. I love the look and feel of the unit, it is sleek and compact. Very solidly put together, and totally wireless. I have minor issues with the wind and rain being in the same spot, so if you want to separate them go with the vantage pro 2 instead.

[neondesert]

Should I hand over hundreds of dollars to Davis and just hope for the best?

No, you should look at as much information as you can and make an informed decision.

BTW, while Davis is pricey in comparison to some other choices, there are MUCH more expensive options out there.
Columbia Weather Systems comes to mind.  4-6 grand or so depending on configuration.
What matters most is what you can afford and what you want your station to do.

Here is a list of stations that Ambient Weather has compiled.  It gives a great overview of features, price and reliability:

http://ambientweather.wikispaces.com/Weather+Station+Comparison+Guide

[dalecoy]

I decided to upgrade and bought the WLIP.  It too works perfectly, despite what some are saying about WLIP.

There's nothing inherently bad about the WeatherLinkIP.  It has added capabilities and added limitations/requirements.  With current firmware, as far as I can tell, the only "problems" are experienced by those who expect it to work just like the serial or USB logger, but with added capabilities.

[d_l]

With current firmware, as far as I can tell, the only "problems" are experienced by those who expect it to work just like the serial or USB logger, but with added capabilities.

Nope.  Some of the WLIP's problems were caused by Davis server problems.  There were at least two major instances of those this year plus some minor intermittent ones.  When the servers weren't accepting uploads in a timely fashion, that caused a chain reaction pile up with all the other softwares/computers that were trying to LOOP the WLIP.

Hopefully all that has been fixed and that enough capacity has been added to handle all the future WLIP users.

[Cienega32]

No, you should look at as much information as you can and make an informed decision.

Bingo!

And what dalecoy said about people asking "what problems do you have with..." will provide responses with whatever problems they've had.

I've had my VP2 with USB logger since April 2007. Never had a problem with the USB logger and the only real hangup has been with one version or another of the WeatherLink software (others have too) but that all works out in the end.

[BurnsvilleWeather]

I've had my Davis VP2 since 2007 and have never touched it other then to add to it.  Works very well and very satisfied with it.  As for the loggers, I did have a problem with their USB interface and was told to switch to the serial one.  Once I did that, it worked excellent.  They traded out USB to serial for me for free, they even paid shipping.  I was very pleased.

Scott

[dalecoy]

Sorry - my fault for dragging this topic off-point:

With current firmware, as far as I can tell, the only "problems" are experienced by those who expect it to work just like the serial or USB logger, but with added capabilities.

Some of the WLIP's problems were caused by Davis server problems. 

We could argue, of course, but I don't see that as something inherently bad with the WeatherLinkIP logger itself. 

..., that caused a chain reaction pile up with all the other softwares/computers that were trying to LOOP the WLIP.

...

...because they

expect it to work just like the serial or USB logger...

[d_l]

Dale, anyone buying the WLIP should understand that with all that extra price over the serial and USB loggers that they are purchasing both a hardware device AND a small weather website AND a data back up service. It is all one package. 

If your weather reporting is set up to depend on the Davis servers, then a failure there is just the same as a WLIP hardware problem.

If the data back up service is functioning as it should, there is no problem using Weatherlink and one other software/hardware LOOPing device simultaneously.  I didn't think serial (and USB?) loggers can do the same reliably without using VVP.

[SlowModem]

I've had my Davis VP2 since 2007 and have never touched it other then to add to it.  Works very well and very satisfied with it.  As for the loggers, I did have a problem with their USB interface and was told to switch to the serial one.  Once I did that, it worked excellent.  They traded out USB to serial for me for free, they even paid shipping.  I was very pleased.

Scott

I would agree that their customer service is top-notch!   

[tobyspond]

Marci,

You need to buy what you feel comfortable with.  I'm happy with the Davis Vantage Pro2 with the USB and although I did have an interference problem,  I was able to troubleshoot it and correct it.  The source of my problem was a paper shredder that was located too close to the console; once I moved it no more interference.   

Happy decision making

Kerry

[NickelPlate]

With current firmware, as far as I can tell, the only "problems" are experienced by those who expect it to work just like the serial or USB logger, but with added capabilities.

Nope.  Some of the WLIP's problems were caused by Davis server problems.  There were at least two major instances of those this year plus some minor intermittent ones.  When the servers weren't accepting uploads in a timely fashion, that caused a chain reaction pile up with all the other softwares/computers that were trying to LOOP the WLIP.

Hopefully all that has been fixed and that enough capacity has been added to handle all the future WLIP users.

That's exactly right. Dale (in his usual snarky tone) is probably referring to me and that big complaint thread I started several weeks ago (if not then my apologies to Dale in advance). My issues were mostly a result of Davis having problems with their servers (by their own admission), that and getting used to the fact that WLIP can only handle one communications channel at a time and could be handled better (again by Davis own admission from their Engineering department). Once you understand that, and as long as Davis keeps up their end of the bargain AND maintains ample server capacity everything moves along just fine. You can get the best of both worlds (streaming rapidfire data to WU, CWOP, PWS + weatherlink.com). Works great with Cumulus. However, if she has no interest in Davis' wl.com site though and you don't like the idea of your setup reliability depending on an outside source beyond your control, then I'd say save the money and go with the USB or serial version.

Regards,

NP

[Ugly Duckling]

As usual many good replies. I love people telling me I'm wrong, I really do!

Wxtech - Maybe lockups are similar to IE lockups? Oh my I hope not that often. Guy I love your page with all those dials, so cool! Instead of me having to learn how to do that maybe you could just my name on page, huh? Save me a lot of work, Lol

Thanks for all the comments everyone!

Many Happy Weather Changes,

Marci Anna



[dalecoy]

I wasn't referring to any particular thread - sorry if it looked like that.

And complaints about problems with WeatherLink.com are certainly legitimate.  I don't think you'll find anywhere that I defended WeatherLink.com

And certainly the WeatherLinkIP hardware/firmware could be improved.  

If the WeatherLinkIP is viewed as a package that includes WeatherLink.com, then I agree that it "inhales briskly".  So, given all of those extra pieces, the WeatherLinkIP package is clearly less reliable.  The package of WeatherLinkIP and WeatherLink.com has clearly demonstrated poor performance.

Anybody who wants the added features of the WeatherLinkIP should understand that

 It has added capabilities and added limitations/requirements.

...and does not work the same (as other loggers) with currently-available software packages.

So, I absolutely agree with you guys.

[Flag]

So what other stations would you be considering then? Makes, models etc

[Bushman]

Rainwise or Vaisala

[Flag]

Rainwise or Vaisala

Sorry there, I thought I was directing the query at the OP? Not sure if the OP wants to raise the stakes from hundreds to thousands of $$?

[Skywatch]

Rainwise or Vaisala

With all due respect, Were talking about cheaper weather stations. The ones you listed Rainwize and Vaisala go for at least 1100$. The original post states that the 550$ is expensive for the VP2, don't expect those 1000+$ stations to be taken into consideration. Besides as far as best bang for the buck, those Rainwize stations have those bulky consoles that limit the data they provide. the consoles are basically waisted space. You don't get the same features as others like those of Davis. Also those Vaisala stations are commercial, industrial, educational, and arn't really ment for home use.

[Skywatch]

Well I've had my VP2 since February. Shure, not as long as others here. But so far I havn't seen any problems. I geuss it's just a matter of not overloading the station with function commands. As many of us are well aware, those Davises are capible of alot. Even the best can get all jammed up. But if you ask me, go with a Davis. So far I'm having fun with mine. Heck I've already added a solar radiation sensor and leaf/soil station. Yes it's well worth the savings.

[DanS]

" Also those Vaisala stations are commercial, industrial, educational, and arn't really ment for home use. "

Give one to me and I'll see if I can adapt it for my home use. (it's free to dream anyway).

[Flag]

Yes I would have to agree too it is a silly comparison and would really like to hear from the OP what they are considering or comparing their thoughts/thinking too.