Topic: Ambient station question

[vdeal]

First time poster here though I've lurked for quite a while. I've been a weather enthusiast for years (actually decades) and have kept track of pertinent weather data manually for a long time. It's time I got a weather station and automate things. For years I wanted a Davis but the high cost and web inoperability have made me look elsewhere. I really like the Ambient Weather WS-2000. As I understand it the console allows for plug and play connectivity to upload data to Ambientweather.net and WU, correct? That's fine but the other part which I understand is an issue is having a local copy of my weather data. I've read the threads on this and also understand about the Fine Offset clones and how the Ecowitt units are almost the same. The question I have is if I use a GW1000 will I be able to locally access my weather data via a program such as WeeWx or such? I work in IT so I have no problem on the computer end of things. I'm also working from the macOS platform if that matters. Thanks for any and all help.

[CW2274]

For years I wanted a Davis but the high cost and web inoperability have made me look elsewhere.

[davidmc36]

...... web inoperability ....

My Davis stations are uploading to web in about 6 different ways.

See sig

[vdeal]

Poor wording on my part. I know you can upload Davis stations to the web but it's not exactly plug and play and requires additional purchases.

[galfert]

If you want to rule out the Davis based on cost that is fine. But claiming that it requires additional purchases and that it isn't plug and play is most certainly not correct.

Here is a Davis station that comes with everything to get your data online (including WeeWX and other software support). Plug and play and nothing additional to buy. For other reasons this is not the station I would buy but none the less it is just an example of a complete Davis kit with nothing additional to buy:
https://www.scaledinstruments.com/shop/davis-instruments/complete-weather-stations/vantage-vue-series/vantage-vue-weatherlink-live-bundle-with-console/

But a Davis station that would be a great recommendation is to get both of these part numbers as your Davis order, and then you'd have everything to get data into WeeWX as you've requested (plug and play and compatible with WeeWX).
https://www.scaledinstruments.com/shop/davis-instruments/complete-weather-stations/vantage-pro2-series/wireless/davis-6163-wireless-vantage-pro2-plus-with-24-hour-fan-aspirated-radiation-shield/

https://www.scaledinstruments.com/shop/davis-instruments/hardware-data-loggers-software/hardware-software-bundles/davis-6100-weatherlink-live/

That is a complete plug and play solution. Nothing additional to buy.

Regarding the Ambient station and to answer your question....well there if you want the data into WeeWX without hassle then you need to add the Ecowitt GW1000. Is that then not something additional to buy? I think you could argue that it is something additional to buy. See how pointless that argument is about having something additional to buy. You get what you need. A weather station is always a combination of components...whether bundled in ready made kits or not is irrelevant as there are always components/parts. There is certainly some flexibility when the parts are not bundled that way you can make it your custom way. I don't even know how to answer the plug-n-play talking point, because I don't see the relevance as no non-plug-n-play proposal has been presented.

Lastly, if you want to run WeeWX on macOS, you can. But I'd still prefer to run WeeWX (or other software) on a dedicated weather system. A Raspberry Pi is a nice solution if you don't otherwise have running hardware that can be more like a dedicated server, rather than using an every day daily driver computer that you normally use for desktop/laptop personal use.

[vdeal]

Ok, then, let's just rule the Davis out on price.

I really don't want to use WeeWx (or another software program) for anything more than data analysis from time to time. I know I can also pull the data from the WS-2000 console via an SD card so that's an option.

[galfert]

Pulling data from the SD card (from the WS-2000) is not an elegant solution at all.

With the GW1000 it is necessary to be running WeeWX or other software 24/7. That is the only way to get data as their is no data archive in the GW1000. You are essentially creating the data logger with the WeeWX (or other software) and the GW1000 is just the gateway to the live sensors. This is not a big deal to accomplish with a Raspberry Pi. Then data on the Pi with whatever software you decide to run is then accessible via any other computer you have by simply accessing that applications portal that is running on the Pi.

Technically there could be some alternative solution where you pull data from an online service that you have uploaded to but this is also not an elegant solution compared to having local live data being directly saved for any future use you would like.

[vdeal]

Thank you galfert, I'll look into the Raspberry Pi option.