Author Topic: AcuRite Atlas Vs Davis Vantage Pro2  (Read 1304 times)

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Offline devarona

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AcuRite Atlas Vs Davis Vantage Pro2
« on: February 19, 2020, 05:18:46 PM »
Hey folks! Ive been reading extensively through forum posts but Im such a newbie to this that I thought maybe putting a post up will help us make a better informed decision.

I work at a startup thats developing systems for commercially airdropping cargo. Weve been using online weather for winds aloft, but we need a weather station to report on winds on the groung.

Ive narrowed it down to AcuRite Atlas and Davis Vantage Pro 2.

My question is, how hard is it to setup and capture data from either, since the fastest solution would work the best for us and the second question is reliability of data from both. They both seem to have pros and cons and from what Ive read, positioning either product is key but it seems like both would work fine for what we need. We just need to know which one to pick based on the data capturing criteria (easy of recording/exporting data) and of course their reliability.

It would mean the world to help this newb out! I skydive for a hobbie so my knowledge of weather is limited to spitting in the air and if the spit flies back into my face, then I wont jump lol.

Offline doubleohwhatever

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Re: AcuRite Atlas Vs Davis Vantage Pro2
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2020, 05:37:48 PM »
Of those two, I would go with the Davis. That said, if the data would be anything remotely close to mission critical, I would opt for a professional anemometer from RM Young (youngusa.com) or something of similar quality.

Offline devarona

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Re: AcuRite Atlas Vs Davis Vantage Pro2
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2020, 05:44:20 PM »
Of those two, I would go with the Davis. That said, if the data would be anything remotely close to mission critical, I would opt for a professional anemometer from RM Young (youngusa.com) or something of similar quality.

Yeah... I read the post from the Broncos guy and have that as a pricier option if we decide we need absolute reliability.

Offline doubleohwhatever

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Re: AcuRite Atlas Vs Davis Vantage Pro2
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2020, 05:50:42 PM »
Got a link to that post/thread? Just curious what was said.

Offline devarona

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Re: AcuRite Atlas Vs Davis Vantage Pro2
« Reply #4 on: February 19, 2020, 06:00:23 PM »
Got a link to that post/thread? Just curious what was said.

https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=38655.0

I guess the next question is what would be the reason of stepping up from a $700 Davis instruments unit to a $2000 unit from RMYoung?

Offline doubleohwhatever

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Re: AcuRite Atlas Vs Davis Vantage Pro2
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2020, 06:17:29 PM »
Ah, that thread. Sorry, I'm not a sports person so had no clue what NFL team that was for.

As for the reason in price difference, one is targeted mostly at the higher end of the consumer/hobbyist market and the other is a professional instrument. For example, the Davis units transmit via a proprietary (although well understood) protocol and only officially support their base stations and receivers. Professional units like those from Young transmit data via industry standard methods. Calibration is another difference. Professional units are calibrated to higher standards and units can be ordered with a NIST calibration certificate.

Offline CW2274

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Re: AcuRite Atlas Vs Davis Vantage Pro2
« Reply #6 on: February 19, 2020, 06:27:15 PM »
Calibration is another difference. Professional units are calibrated to higher standards and units can be ordered with a NIST calibration certificate.
No doubt RMY is superior, but the VP2 can also come NIST certified, and it ain't no slouch even if it's not.

Offline vreihen

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Re: AcuRite Atlas Vs Davis Vantage Pro2
« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2020, 08:11:56 PM »
AcuRite goes out of their way to keep you from accessing your data locally.

There will soon be a flood of AcuRite fans mentioning all kinds of hacks/kludges/interceptors/screen scrapers suitable for hobby use, but none of them are as simple as plugging a Davis logger into their console and getting a USB/serial/ethernet handoff with a documented API and well-supported in commercial PWS software.....
WU Gold Stars for everyone! :lol:

Offline devarona

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Re: AcuRite Atlas Vs Davis Vantage Pro2
« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2020, 04:18:40 PM »
AcuRite goes out of their way to keep you from accessing your data locally.

There will soon be a flood of AcuRite fans mentioning all kinds of hacks/kludges/interceptors/screen scrapers suitable for hobby use, but none of them are as simple as plugging a Davis logger into their console and getting a USB/serial/ethernet handoff with a documented API and well-supported in commercial PWS software.....

Ok so the next question is, if I went with Davis, what would I need to capture a full days worth of data that I can export to a CSV file?

 

anything