Indoor temp sensors for Davis Vantage Pro2

[cookwannabe]

I am thinking of getting the wireless Davis over the OS, based in part to the opinions on this forum and on my own research.  Wife (me too) would like to also record indoor temps and maybe humidity in a few locations indoor, in addition to what comes in the console.

Problem is the price I am seeing for the additional sensor is killing me, plus the fact that it is a fairly large box with a cabled senor.  Appears that I would have to get one for each indoor location.  I like the OS solution in that their indoor sensors are quite small and just sit there.

My question is, is there a better (and cheaper) solution for indoor sensors on the Davis? 

Thanks!

[CNYWeather]

Where you getting them from?

Provantage has Davis stuff at a cheaper price

http://www.provantage.com/davis-instruments-6372~4DAVS05A.htm

[talbert1952]

I started my weather watching hobby with an OS WMR968 station and VWS. After about a year the outdoor devices started failing so I replaced the OS with a Davis wireless VP2 and Weatherlink.

The OS console and the BTHR968 indoor sensor were fine so I bought three THC268 temperature sensors with 10' remote probes. I mounted the BTHR968 beside the heat pump thermostat. I put THC268 probes in the refrigerator, a chest freezer and a heat duct. I built a simple web page driven by VWS to display the indoor data so I could monitor the temperatures from work. You can see it here:

http://tobaccovilleweather.com/house.htm

I have no regrets starting out with the OS station. I was hooked on weather watching by the time it started failing. Upgrading to the Davis VP2 was the next logical step.

[cookwannabe]

Where you getting them from?

Provantage has Davis stuff at a cheaper price

http://www.provantage.com/davis-instruments-6372~4DAVS05A.htm

I was looking at Ambient - the price for the indoor sensor at Provantage is cheaper, but nothing like the $29.95 for the OS.  Hmm.

I will look at the other equipment at Provantage though.

How is Provantage with customer service, shipping, etc?

[cookwannabe]

The OS console and the BTHR968 indoor sensor were fine so I bought three THC268 temperature sensors with 10' remote probes. I mounted the BTHR968 beside the heat pump thermostat. I put THC268 probes in the refrigerator, a chest freezer and a heat duct. I built a simple web page driven by VWS to display the indoor data so I could monitor the temperatures from work.

An innovative use for leftover equipment.   

[talbert1952]

I was looking at Ambient - the price for the indoor sensor at Provantage is cheaper, but nothing like the $29.95 for the OS.  Hmm.

I will look at the other equipment at Provantage though.

How is Provantage with customer service, shipping, etc?

Buyer beware. Provantage has an "absolutely no returns" policy and no customer support for Davis equipment. You must deal directly with Davis for any after the sale support.

[CNYWeather]

I was looking at Ambient - the price for the indoor sensor at Provantage is cheaper, but nothing like the $29.95 for the OS.  Hmm.

I will look at the other equipment at Provantage though.

How is Provantage with customer service, shipping, etc?

I've bought add-on equipment from them No problems. I actually got my station
on Ebay.

[cookwannabe]

I was looking at Ambient - the price for the indoor sensor at Provantage is cheaper, but nothing like the $29.95 for the OS.  Hmm.

I will look at the other equipment at Provantage though.

How is Provantage with customer service, shipping, etc?

Buyer beware. Provantage has an "absolutely no returns" policy and no customer support for Davis equipment. You must deal directly with Davis for any after the sale support.

Thanks.  I checked their prices for the other components I'll be getting, and there wasn't too much difference.  Think I'll go with Ambient.

[mackbig]

Davis sensors are very pricy, and very bulky.

For just over the price of one davis sensor, you could get a wmr968 OS station, and three additional sensors.
So if you have the budget for a Davis system, but were worried about dropping another $210 on a single sensor, why not buy both systems... then you have the best of both worlds...  2 weather stations, 3 indoor rooms monitored... but then you need another copy of VWS to record your indoor os data...

Andrew

I am thinking of getting the wireless Davis over the OS, based in part to the opinions on this forum and on my own research.  Wife (me too) would like to also record indoor temps and maybe humidity in a few locations indoor, in addition to what comes in the console.

Problem is the price I am seeing for the additional sensor is killing me, plus the fact that it is a fairly large box with a cabled senor.  Appears that I would have to get one for each indoor location.  I like the OS solution in that their indoor sensors are quite small and just sit there.

My question is, is there a better (and cheaper) solution for indoor sensors on the Davis? 

Thanks!

[Bushman]

Since Davis uses a COTS chip for its wireless, I have to wonder why no one (Davis or 3rd party) makes a simple little weather transmitter.  There's no encryption on the radio datastream as far as I can tell and it is vanilla 900 mHz (8nn in Europe).