Topic: Pro2 vs Pro2 Plus

[Bucs44]

I am an Ambient Weather station owner currently.  WS-2902 and have decided to step up to the Davis stations and was wondering if the Pro2 6253 is sufficient for me or if I needed to move up to the 6353 which has the UV and radiation sensors.  Looking for solid opinions on which the best option would be or if there was an even better option that I haven’t looked into yet.

[Garth Bock]

Pro2 Plus gives you everything in one expensive shot. If you would like solar and UV both this is the way to go. I would even go the route of buying one with either a DFARS (Daytime Fan Aspirated Radiation Shield) or the 24 Hour FARS. This depends on how much accuracy you are looking for and your budget. I did it the slower budget friendly way. I bought a VPro 2 and then as I could afford I added first the shelf and solar and then later the UV and down the road I added a DFARS. I spent a little bit more in the long run but spread the cost out over the years. I also added an Envoy so the console with logger wasn't tied to computer. Doing the upgrades was very easy. So it's up to what you want to see and what you can afford.

[PaulMy]

Hi,
There are several ways to configure your Davis ISS, and the console or Weatherlink Live.
6253 is a VP2 ISS with the 24-Hour FARS so a first upgrade from the basic VP2, and the new 6313 console
6263 is the VP2 ISS with the 24-hour FARS and UV/Solar sensors, and the new 6313 console
Both are a very good upgrade from the basic ISS 6152.  I enjoy my 6163 (same as 6263 but with the old console instead of the new colour console).


Other things would depend what you want to do with your data.  The 6253 and 6263 can upload to Weatherlink.com (Davis Cloud) but at present has no data logging, data logging in the sense that it can be read and used by third-party programs like CumulusMX.  So with the 6252/6253 or 6262/6263 and doing the settings to uploading to WL.com you can view your data there and/or on the Weatherlink App as well as on the 6313 console.

Weatherlink Live can be added for the use by third-party programs on your computer or Pi for the live data stream as well as the logged data at WL.com. 

Adding a Davis AirLink is also a nice addition and it can upload to Weatherlink.com and viewable there and on the App, but again it is not yet an option to view it on the 6313 console.

Enjoy,
Paul

[johnd]

Other things would depend what you want to do with your data.  The 6253 and 6263 can upload to Weatherlink.com (Davis Cloud) but at present has NO data logging. 

But Paul don't forget that the 6313 console (as in 6253/6263 stations etc) does have extensive data logging already built into the console (in addition to uploads to weatherlink.com), and in a few ways the options for graphing sensors on multiple transmitters are superior to most 3rd party software. But yes it is absolutely true that there is no local export currently available for the data that is logged in the console.

[Bucs44]

Ok - I purchased the 6253 Vantage Pro2 with the 24hr Fan Aspiration.  This comes with the new WeatherLink Console.  Is there anything else that I need to purchase?  What is WeatherLink Live used for?  Won't my system send results to WeatherLink.com site?

This is just a hobby for me - I'm not into displaying data over the internet but was wondering if I needed anything else in my setup.

Thanks
Christian

[johnd]

You might use Weatherlink Live if you wanted to pass data to local software to do your own data processing. But if you are happy with simply uploading to weatherlink.cm then the 6253 should do that fine.

[PaulMy]

Hi, a very good choice
No, you would not "need" anything further to view your data, and yes it sends to Weatherlink.com.  You can view your data on your 6313 console, on Weatherlink.com, and on the Weatherlink App.

Weatherlink Live is primarily a data logger, and that sends the data to Weatherlink.com (like your 6253 can do).  It is somewhat a predecessor to the 6313 console for sending data to Weatherlink.com, and allows third party programs to access the data, both live and historical, that can then be used for personal websites.  It has also been noted that the Weatherlink Live has longer battery life than the 6313 in case of power outage.  But the Weatherlink Live has no viewable console screen so data only viewable through the Weatherlink.com website or Weatherlink App.


Enjoy,
Paul