Vue no FARS

[arrowspace90]

Back in Oct. when I stuck my Vantage Vue up on the roof, I was concerned that, come the blistering hot summer, my temp readings would be too high for the lack of an aspirating fan.

But hmmm, my readings have been spot on with nearby airports expensive stations, day after blistering day (it's currently reading 101 degrees outside and climbing).

With the trees and other houses around me, I had no choice but to put my Vue up over 25 feet above the ground.  Perhaps by doing so, I unwittingly compensated for the lack of the fan 

Of course, now I read that with no fan, my low temps at night might read a smidge cooler than ambient because of a "small, black-body radiation effect".  Something only a meteorologist could measure (less than a degree).

At any rate, it seems to be working out just fine.  Waiting with paranoia for the "low battery" message.

[killwilly]

Out of interest. Do you notice a drop in rain data when the wind is blowing? I have my Vue located in a similar location to you and find in winds of more than 10mph, I have no rain data at all.

Over a twelve month period, this can result in a 20% difference between my annual rain data and other station within a 10 mile radius.

I have posted this question on the forum before, but no other Vue owner appears to have the same problem. I am aware that rainfall can vary over a few hundred yards, but surely not to this extent.

I should add, that I also have an old Oregon rain gauge located at about six feet above ground level, which is somewhat protected by a nearby fence and my house. Whilst this is also not an ideal location. I do get more accurate rain data than from the Vue.

I have thought of resiting the Vue to the same position as the Oregon gauge, but I think that would result in false wind and temperature readings. Sadly, I am caught between a rock and a hard place.

[hayskswx]

My vue is on the roof of my home and I don't have that problem.

[johnd]

@killwilly: In general the Vue rain gauge seems to perform pretty well even in moderately windy conditions. I'd expect a highish-mounted Vue to under-read rainfall a little simply because of height effects. But you seem to be reporting a total cut-off of rainfall reading at speeds >10mph, which is just bizarre.

Assuming that you've checked that there are no mechanical oddities with the spoon mechanism, I think I'd start to wonder if there was some strange electronic problem with the Vue SIM board that was causing some interaction between rainfall recorded and measured wind speed (ie when the speed rises above some threshold value it starts interfering with rainfall processing) - even this sounds pretty unlikely but it's difficult to come up with any other explanation and it's definitely not a general problem with the Vue model.

If you ever want to see comparative data we have Vue running not a million miles from you at Littleport at:

http://www.weatherlink.com/user/esnprodata/

or data from the same Vue ISS via a beta Vantage Connect RF unit at:

http://www.weatherlink.com/user/espaceconnect/

(NB Don't pay any attention to the seasonal rain total on these displays - this Vue unit has been used for various different trials and demonstrations over the past months and we really need to reset the seasonal totals properly, but the current/daily/monthly totals should be fine.)

[killwilly]

johnd.

I have had this problem from day one, (10th December 2009). About 7 months after installation, I had the problem "Low battery" appearing on the console and after a lot of emails back and forward to Davis, they did agree to replace the whole battery compartment, which was supplied by mcmurdo UK and not the original vendor of my station. They also supplied a new rain tipping spoon which I also replaced. Whilst the station was dismantled I also greased the battery contacts, which did cure the "Low Battery" problem.

However, the rain data issue still persists. During the past few days we, like the rest of the UK have had quite a lot of rain, which has been recorded without a problem, but I have not recorded any wind speed higher than 7 mph during the heavy rain.

I do like the concept of the Vue, but for my situation, maybe I should have chosen a station with a separate rain gauge. I should also add that I do remove it twice a year for servicing, cleaning, battery check, etc. This is done at the end of October and the end of March. 

[txagwx]

My Vue reads warmer in the full sun vs my RM Young shield, and my new daytime aspirated Pro2.  It reads slightly cooler at night vs the other 2.
My Vue also records more rainfall vs the NWS standard 11" rain gauge, by about 2%.