Author Topic: 24 hour FARS addtion to VP2  (Read 649 times)

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Offline JordanFord

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24 hour FARS addtion to VP2
« on: July 13, 2020, 10:13:47 PM »
Hello!

I am meteorology student located in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. There are no Davis distributors in my area and I have found it fairly difficult to find the 24 hour FARS upgrade for the VP2 at a reasonable price... ~$320 USD + ~$100 USD shipping.

So far the prices I have found online were from:
- Scaled instruments (with tax):  ~$420 USD ~$590 CAD
- Scientific Scales (with tax): ~412 USD ~$580 CAD

Anyone have any other Davis distributors I should try?

Offline ashland weather

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Re: 24 hour FARS addtion to VP2
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2020, 07:56:45 AM »
Amazon has it for $374.85

Offline johnd

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Re: 24 hour FARS addtion to VP2
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2020, 10:16:38 AM »
Must say that I would at least ask the question as to whether a 24hr FARS is of much benefit in a location like St Johns?

I'm guessing that there's not a huge amount of bright sunshine, especially in the winter months, which (a) limits the usefulness of the 24hr FARS and (b) means that the batteries may be more likely to go flat, then the fan obviously stops and ventilation of the shield actually becomes worse than with the standard passive shield (because of the much more enclosed shield design). But at the same time there is probably at least some wind much of the time to help ventilate the passive shield naturally.

In these respects it's similar to the UK and my advice here is either to stick with the passive shield or if you definitely do want a FARS then to go with the daytime-only FARS add-on kit which retains much of the standard passive shield.
Prodata Weather Systems
Prodata's FAQ/support site for Davis stations
Includes many details on 6313 Weatherlink console.
UK Davis Premier Dealer - All Davis stations, accessories and spares
Cambridge UK

Sorry, but I don't usually have time to help with individual issues by email unless you are a Prodata customer. Please post your issue in the relevant forum section here & I will comment there if I have anything useful to add.

Offline rockncola

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Re: 24 hour FARS addtion to VP2
« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2020, 01:39:42 AM »
Similar predicament here, except I'm coming from DFARS, so I already have many of the needed parts. Appears my only option is to fork out another $472 delivered to Australia just to buy the whole 24-hour aspirated kit despite not needing the rest. No thanks.

edit: Don't want to hijack this thread, so started another.
« Last Edit: July 15, 2020, 03:54:39 AM by rockncola »

Offline JordanFord

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Re: 24 hour FARS addtion to VP2
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2020, 08:29:32 AM »
Must say that I would at least ask the question as to whether a 24hr FARS is of much benefit in a location like St Johns?

I'm guessing that there's not a huge amount of bright sunshine, especially in the winter months, which (a) limits the usefulness of the 24hr FARS and (b) means that the batteries may be more likely to go flat, then the fan obviously stops and ventilation of the shield actually becomes worse than with the standard passive shield (because of the much more enclosed shield design). But at the same time there is probably at least some wind much of the time to help ventilate the passive shield naturally.

In these respects it's similar to the UK and my advice here is either to stick with the passive shield or if you definitely do want a FARS then to go with the daytime-only FARS add-on kit which retains much of the standard passive shield.


I was thinking of connecting a power source to the fan so I wouldn't run into this issue. The station is in a fairly sheltered suburban yard, which sees a lot of solar rad (for Newfoundland) in the summer time. I find the extra 0.2ºc of accuracy in strong solar rad and light winds quite appealing. Have you done a side by side comparison of the DFARS vs FARS?

Offline johnd

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Re: 24 hour FARS addtion to VP2
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2020, 08:52:19 AM »
Quote
I was thinking of connecting a power source to the fan so I wouldn't run into this issue.

OK, fair enough, but usually advisable not to exceed 2v on the fan supply - most people who do power the fan externally find that this is perfectly adequate

Quote
Have you done a side by side comparison of the DFARS vs FARS?

Not personally, but no obvious reason why there should be much difference - the fan & motor is identical between the two. I think most users looking for a mains-powered fan would use the DFARS kit - it's cheaper and with no obvious disadvantages.
Prodata Weather Systems
Prodata's FAQ/support site for Davis stations
Includes many details on 6313 Weatherlink console.
UK Davis Premier Dealer - All Davis stations, accessories and spares
Cambridge UK

Sorry, but I don't usually have time to help with individual issues by email unless you are a Prodata customer. Please post your issue in the relevant forum section here & I will comment there if I have anything useful to add.