Topic: What should i replace my complete Netatmo weather station with?

[Da9L]

I have a netatmo weather station with both the rain gauge and anemometer and an extra indoor module that i use in the garage.

I'm however not impressed with it. There is serveral factors that i think is problematic

• The weather stations data is only available for you to see if you have a working internet connection. I live in a spotty area, so if my internet is down i cant see my weather station data, even though I'm at home and on the same LAN
• The range between the modules and the base station is not that good
• The interface is only updated with new data from the modules every 10 minutes, which is rather atrocious
• The anemometer is extremely unprecise. So much in fact that there can be totally wind still while i sometimes get a "very strong winds" warning on my phone
• I doubt the longevity of the outdoor modules. I'm on my second anemometer because the first one was broken when i first got it in one of the screw holes holding the battery cover. The second one was also split in one of the screw holes, which i glued myself the same day i got it

Due to the above problems i face with my netatmo weather station I want something else and i have the following bullets i want it to have:

• The weather stations data should be available even without internet access. I'm imagining a webinterface that can be accessed via a local ip/hostname
• Data should also be available throug a smartphone app. Although i acknowledge that for this part to work it might require internet access.
• Data should be refreshed more often than the 10 minutes of the netatmo weather station
• It should be relatively precise
• Preferably it should be able to integrate with 3rd party systems / have an API. I use Home assistant on a Raspberry Pi, and i would like to be able to get my data inside of that
• A base station with display would be nice, but not needed
• Expandability would be nice, so that i can add additional modules when needed. Like a temp/humidity sensor for my garage etc.
• It should be purchasable from within the EU due to tax constraints when buying outside of EU

Also CO2 measurement at the indoor / outdoor modules would be nice but not required.

I like lists, which you can probably tell.

[Mandrake]

OK, well I am biased towards the Fine Offset stations.
I would recommend that you purchase one of the DP series stations from Froggit if you are concerned about Customs etc
https://www.froggit.de/?cat=c40_DP-Series-dp-series.html

This gives you a GW-1000, a weather sensor array and you can choose to add upto 8 internal WH31 temperature/Hygro sensors
Also available are a Air Quality sensor (pm2.5) and Soil Moisture sensors.
All of these can be added to the GW-1000.
The GW-1000 is however a headless weather station, by that I mean there is no weather console. You would use a web browser to look at your data on Ecowitt.net or via the WS-View app on Android to look at live data when on your home network.

If you would like a console to display the data you could purchase a WH3000 base station display from Froggit (see spare parts page). Its an OK display. If you want the current best display (Hp2551) (Froggit now sell it as a HP1000SE Pro). You could buy the whole system from Froggit and add the GW-1000 + sensors or just mix it up.

If you are not so bothered about buying from outside of the EU then you could get Lucy to quote for all the weather station components via Ecowitt. This is what I did.
To purchase this from Ecowitt (see www.ecowitt.com) and request a quote from Lucy (support@ecowitt.net).
You can find my story and a review on most of the components you are interested in here:
https://www.netweather.tv/forum/topic/90735-ambient-weather-ws-2000-fineoffset-hp2550/

I should add that if you follow the story completely through you will see that you can now use other software (weeWx, weather display, CumulusMX) with a RaspberryPi to read and log the GW-1000 data locally. I use CumulusMX on a PI to read and log all my data in addition to the Internet services such as Wunderground, WoW and Ecowitt.net

[Da9L]

This all looks nice. Is there any particular reason why i should contact Lucy from ecowitt ? Do you know where ecowitt is located and ships from ?

Arh yes that Hp2551 / HP1000SE Pro you mention is exactly the display i want. I like that is more dynamic in the view and can show history in a table.

But I'm not sure i understand all this. Will i be able to just get the display (Hp2551 / HP1000SE Pro) and it will just connect with a GW-1000 (or the DP1500 as i assume froggit is calling it)

[Mandrake]

Ok. Ecowitt is the primary reseller of Fine Offset weather stations and helps develop the products and firmware. Fine Offset are the manufacturer.
Other resellers also purchase these in bulk and sell them under their brand names in different territories, such as Ambient in the USA, Froggit in Europe. There is also Aercus and Misol and some others I have forgotten.

So, some of these can be purchased through Amazon in the UK, so possibly in your home Amazon market as well or direct from the Froggit website.
Ultimately though if you want it direct from Hong Kong/China then you go via Ecowitt as they can source or sell you anything that you might want. The downsides are of course a small shipping (and sometime manufacture delay) and Customs.

You are going to need the external sensor array so you might as well order the complete HP1000SE station with as many external sensors you want and then add the DP1500 (Gw-1000) from the website as an extra. The GW-1000 will read all the sensors including the external one.

[Da9L]

Ok. Ecowitt is the primary reseller of Fine Offset weather stations and helps develop the products and firmware. Fine Offset are the manufacturer.
Other resellers also purchase these in bulk and sell them under their brand names in different territories, such as Ambient in the USA, Froggit in Europe. There is also Aercus and Misol and some others I have forgotten.

So, some of these can be purchased through Amazon in the UK, so possibly in your home Amazon market as well or direct from the Froggit website.
Ultimately though if you want it direct from Hong Kong/China then you go via Ecowitt as they can source or sell you anything that you might want. The downsides are of course a small shipping (and sometime manufacture delay) and Customs.

You are going to need the external sensor array so you might as well order the complete HP1000SE station with as many external sensors you want and then add the DP1500 (Gw-1000) from the website as an extra. The GW-1000 will read all the sensors including the external one.

Very nice I guess these are the things that i need:

https://www.froggit.de/product_info.php?info=p436_hp1000se-pro-wi-fi-internet-funkwetterstation.html ( i went with the HP1000SE PRO edition as i like the Y shaped sensor array )
https://www.froggit.de/product_info.php?info=p410_dp1500-wi-fi-weather-server-usb-dongle.html
.. and then add all the external modules that i need or get them in a package with the main station as that seems to be an option as well.

One more question though. If i do get these, what webinterface will i be able to use ? Is there one locally on the main base that i can access via a local ip or ?

[Mandrake]

What you have selected is perfect.
You might want to add some DP50 (Wh31) to the DP1500 (Gw-1000). These additional indoor/outdoor temperature sensors are really very useful and allow you to place them around your location for localised temperature/humidity readings.

The HP2551 can upload its data direct to the Internet (ecowitt.net, Wunderground, WeatherObservationWebsite etc)
The Gw-1000 likewise can also do these uploads.

The HP2551 cannot be addressed directly from a browser.
The GW-1000 can view its live data directly on your local network via the WS-View Android app on your phone or tablet
looks like this:
 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Obviously if you are away from home or at home you can look at your full suite of data via Ecowitt.net. (I suggest that you register an account and have a look at the public data)
If you publish to Wunderground etc you can also look at this data via the WS-View app or via a web browser

If you add a Raspberry Pi and additional weather software like WeeWx, WeatherDisplay or CumulusMx then you will have a local web server on the Pi that is displaying and logging your data from the GW-1000 as well. So all sorts of options if you dont want to be reliant on Internet uploads.

The manual for the HP2551 can be seen here if that helps
http://www.ecowitt.com/upfile/201909/HP2551%20Manual.pdf
and the manual for the Gw-1000 here:
http://www.ecowitt.com/upfile/201910/GW1000%20Manual.pdf

[galfert]

Don't forget the Meteobridge which was actually the first to be compatible with the GW1000.

[mdtoro]

Why not the Ecowitt HP3501?  Are there limitations on the sensors available with the 3501?  I see the WS80 and WS68 may have limitations to what display they connect to.  The display compatibility isn't quite clear when I review the Ecowitt site.

OK, well I am biased towards the Fine Offset stations.
I would recommend that you purchase one of the DP series stations from Froggit if you are concerned about Customs etc
https://www.froggit.de/?cat=c40_DP-Series-dp-series.html

This gives you a GW-1000, a weather sensor array and you can choose to add upto 8 internal WH31 temperature/Hygro sensors
Also available are a Air Quality sensor (pm2.5) and Soil Moisture sensors.
All of these can be added to the GW-1000.
The GW-1000 is however a headless weather station, by that I mean there is no weather console. You would use a web browser to look at your data on Ecowitt.net or via the WS-View app on Android to look at live data when on your home network.

If you would like a console to display the data you could purchase a WH3000 base station display from Froggit (see spare parts page). Its an OK display. If you want the current best display (Hp2551) (Froggit now sell it as a HP1000SE Pro). You could buy the whole system from Froggit and add the GW-1000 + sensors or just mix it up.

If you are not so bothered about buying from outside of the EU then you could get Lucy to quote for all the weather station components via Ecowitt. This is what I did.
To purchase this from Ecowitt (see www.ecowitt.com) and request a quote from Lucy (support@ecowitt.net).
You can find my story and a review on most of the components you are interested in here:
https://www.netweather.tv/forum/topic/90735-ambient-weather-ws-2000-fineoffset-hp2550/

I should add that if you follow the story completely through you will see that you can now use other software (weeWx, weather display, CumulusMX) with a RaspberryPi to read and log the GW-1000 data locally. I use CumulusMX on a PI to read and log all my data in addition to the Internet services such as Wunderground, WoW and Ecowitt.net

[galfert]

Why not the Ecowitt HP3501?  Are there limitations on the sensors available with the 3501?  I see the WS80 and WS68 may have limitations to what display they connect to.  The display compatibility isn't quite clear when I review the Ecowitt site.

The HP3501 is a good display console. Personal preference if you want a smaller display and like to see data and graphs at the same time. The HP2551-C is considered a bit more premium but then the graphs although also there need to be called up with button presses. As for compatibility with sensors take a look at this.
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=38491.0

[mdtoro]

Why not the Ecowitt HP3501?  Are there limitations on the sensors available with the 3501?  I see the WS80 and WS68 may have limitations to what display they connect to.  The display compatibility isn't quite clear when I review the Ecowitt site.

The HP3501 is a good display console. Personal preference if you want a smaller display and like to see data and graphs at the same time. The HP2551-C is considered a bit more premium but then the graphs although also there need to be called up with button presses. As for compatibility with sensors take a look at this.
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=38491.0

Thanks. The other post is very detailed. It looks like the HP2551-C has the best sensor compatibility.