Buying a WMR200 ...Help please.

[Tenez]

Hi I am new here and in fact weather station is also a new interest to me.

I am keen to buy the WMR200.

1 - Are people owning one happy with them? I have read a few negative feedbacks.
2 - Is there a difference between the 200 and 200A?

FRom what I read, I 'd be better off with a Davis VantageVue but indeed the price is steep.

[skysummit]

I have a 200a.  You know what?  I can't remember what the difference is between the 200 and 200a. 

I'm very happy with mine.  The key thing is to place your sensors in the correct areas.  Forget about mounting the sensors all together like on the pictures shown for the WMR200 unless you have an absolute PERFECT location.

The anemometer should be around 30' feet and completely away from all trees and buildings.  Also, I recommend purchasing the radiation shield for the hydro/thermo sensor on Ambient's website.  It greatly improved the accuracy of my sensor, however still does have small spikes under direct sunlight.  A few people have built "shelters" for their sensors or mounted small fans either above or below their shield to increase air flow.  However, if you mount your sensor between 6 & 6.5 feet above the ground, over dirt or grass, and away from concrete, metals, wood, etc., you could see nice results.

I thought about the same thing....should I go with a Davis?  It would be the optimal choice, but was a little out of my price range.  So with proper tinkering and placement, I do recommend the WMR200.  You can also add the UV sensor to it for a low cost.

[Tenez]

Thanks Sky. Much appreciated. I am going to buy it now....and if anything goes wrong, I'll blame it all on you!

Are the data in your signature from the wmr200? Looks cool.

Cheers.

[skysummit]

Thanks Sky. Much appreciated. I am going to buy it now....and if anything goes wrong, I'll blame it all on you!

Are the data in your signature from the wmr200? Looks cool.

Cheers.

Yes.  The data in my sig along with on my website is from my WMR200a.  Also, if  you plan on getting online with it, make sure you either upgrade Virtual Weather Station to internet version or get something like Weather Display or Cumulus.

[Tenez]

Ok - Again, thanks for the tips.

[killwilly]

I have owned both the WMR-100 and 200. Whilst the consoles themselves are quite good, the same i,m afraid can't be said for the remote sensors. In the two years I owned them I replaced the UV sensor three times and the main wind/thermo sensor twice.

In the end I decided I would ditch OS and bought a Davis Vantage Vue, which so far has been brilliant. My advice would be to go for the Vue, if you can stretch your budget, you wont regret it.

Alan

[Tenez]

Thanks Kill. one question more then, would a US vantage pro (or vue) work as well in the UK, besides the power adaptor issue? I saw on the davinet site that they have different frequency for US and UK/EU?

[TorH]

I can only speek regarding the EU model, and here in Norway (Europa) it's other frequency it uses as you mentioned. The freq. that the US model uses isn't allowed used for this here. I suppose maybe those freq. are used to something else. But of course it works 

Thanks Kill. one question more then, would a US vantage pro (or vue) work as well in the UK, besides the power adaptor issue? I saw on the davinet site that they have different frequency for US and UK/EU?

[Tenez]

Thanks Tor. So in short a US version in teh UK shoudl work despite working in a probably forbidden freq range.

Any experience from uk owners?

[killwilly]

Thanks Tor. So in short a US version in teh UK shoudl work despite working in a probably forbidden freq range.

Any experience from uk owners?

I have never heard of anyone using any wireless weather station here in the UK which had been purchased in the US, due to the problem with the difference in frequency. I do know of a number of people who have bought wired weather stations in the US at considerable savings.

One thing that does worry me about purchasing in the US is warranty issues, should you need to make a claim.

Alan.

[SlowModem]

Of course, the US uses 110Vac and 60Hz for electrical things.  I don't know what the UK uses.

[Tenez]

Ok - Thanks. The reason I was asking is someone on ebay UK sells a VP2 (US version) practically new for about £350 but I sent him/her a question and hasn;t replied thus far.

I'll certainly give it a miss after reading your comments.

As I am new to those "gadgets", I'll go with the cheaper WMR200 (definite now despite its imperfections) and if I like it and don't get bored, will probably update it to something more pro like the VP2, though I am disappointed the latter hasn't got a radio clock.

Have a good weekend all.

[Tenez]

Hi JUst received my WMR200. I'll set it up tomorrow on my roof (I live in London and the house is on a hill) so I shoudl get good wind exposure. Should I also put the temperature sensor out there or is the roof reflexion going to mess up the temperature a bit?

Finally, the console will be 3 storey down. Will I get a decent reception through the floors? What is your experience?

Many thanks

T

[skysummit]

The roof may affect your temperature readings.  It did to mine.  That radiation shield that comes with the OS sensor is really not much of a shield.  I had to separate all my sensors to get optimum accuracy.  See if you can mount your temp/hydro sensor appx 1.8 meters above the ground...and not over or near concrete, metal, etc.

When I first received mine, I quickly mounted it up on the roof.  It was about 6 feet higher than my roof, but my temp readings were still a good 10 degrees higher than what they should have been.

[DaculaWeather]

I had a WMR100b and it was not that reliable. That's why I went with a Vue.

[Tenez]

Thanks Sky. What about the reception? how far are your sensors from the console? I guess teh 3 storeys will affect the reception. ..

[skysummit]

Thanks Sky. What about the reception? how far are your sensors from the console? I guess teh 3 storeys will affect the reception. ..

Rain gauge, UV, temp/hydro are only about 40 feet away.  My anemomter is about 120 feet away.

[Tenez]

So hopefully it should work but a first test of putting the Anenometer one floor above was negative. Makes me nervous.

[skysummit]

So hopefully it should work but a first test of putting the Anenometer one floor above was negative. Makes me nervous.

If there would be no solid objects between your console and the anemometer, I'd think it would work, but those walls and ceilings may cause a problem.

[killwilly]

You could have problems with reception. First try placing the console as near to a window as possible, I had mine on the window sill of my study. You can also improve reception by wrapping a length of copper wire around the antenna.

Get a piece of wire about 300/400mm long, wrap one end four turns around the antenna and let the remainder extend upwards forming a loop on the end to prevent accidents. Not pretty, but effective.

I had the occasional loss of signal, but the copper wire did improve reception.

Hope you enjoy your new toy.

Alan.

[Tenez]

Thanks a lot for the tips both of you. It seems to work fine so far when in the garden so I will check today the roof set up.

If I get addicted to weather data, I might upgrade to VP2 at one stage but for now this is fine. I like the atomic clock! That's something which made me tilt for OS...but that's because i m probably not that serious about weather data accuracy.

[skysummit]

Thanks a lot for the tips both of you. It seems to work fine so far when in the garden so I will check today the roof set up.

If I get addicted to weather data, I might upgrade to VP2 at one stage but for now this is fine. I like the atomic clock! That's something which made me tilt for OS...but that's because i m probably not that serious about weather data accuracy.

That's my thinking too, however my WMR200 has worked perfectly fine for over a year now and has been dead on with accuracy.  Therefore I have no reason to upgrade just yet.

[Tenez]

Yes Sky, I must say that I had read a few negative comments on the WMR200 and was sceptical buying it. OS owes you one here cause I can honestly say that you were one of the few +++ comments I read.

But now that mine is on the roof and reception works fine, I believe I made the right choice. Maybe one slight negative comment is the relatively slow communication between the sensors and console....1/min but that certainly very acceptable foe now.