Topic: Which weather station for a farm?

[Sweep]

I am looking to add a weather station to a piece of land that I farm. I am lucky in that there is high speed internet at the location, that I have access to, so I do not need cellular.

I am mainly interested in accurate temperatures, rain fall, and wind speed/direction.  Since it is a couple hours from where I live, I would like close to real time updates on my phone/computer, with the ability to set notifications if it starts to rain, wind gets over a certain speed, etc.  Ability to add a soil moisture probe would be nice, but not necessary. 

Lastly, I want to be able to track GDD, preferably automatically.  I am more then willing to do create an excel spreadsheet to do this myself, but would prefer something that either updates automatically, or something that I can easily update manually.  I know a lot of stations track high and low temps, which is really all I need to track GDD, but I need to be able to then pull it in to my calculator. 

Ideally, I would like to stay under about 300.  I have been looking at the ambient weather ws2000 and ws2902.  A display screen at the site is nice, but it does not need to be anything fancy.  Temp, daily rain fall, and wind would be more then enough.  The priority is online access.  I also have looked at the Ecowitt view system, with a GW1000 station, ultrasonic wind speed, and rainfall sensor.  I do like the flexibility this gives me. 

I should also mention this will be in western iowa, so will be submitted to snow fall.  if I did something like the ecowitt view I could bring the rain fall sensor inside and just leave the wind sensor out during the winter.

Any recommendations as to other stations I should be looking at?  I appreciate the help

Edit:

I think maybe after some more research, I should modify the question a bit when it comes to hardware.  I am not going to purchase a Davis, since they are simply out of my price range.  So, it seems like my question should be based more upon which cheaper system I should go with:
1.) WS-2902.  Seems fairly well reviews, and appears that it will do anything I need.
2.) Eco witt view system, (GW1000, WS68 or 80 anemometer, WH40 rain fall).  Little cheaper since it doesn't have a local screen, but looks like it would still do everything needed.
3.) Anything else I'm missing in that range?

Once again, I would love a Davis, but I am not spending that kind of money right now.  Thanks for the answers

[PaulMy]

You can't go wrong with Davis, including their agricultural geared products.  The Weatherlink Live instead of a console will give you benefits for near live data and save you money.  And I nearly forgot, the AirLink!


Enjoy,
Paul

[Sweep]

You can't go wrong with Davis, including their agricultural geared products.  The Weatherlink Live instead of a console will give you benefits for near live data and save you money.  And I nearly forgot, the AirLink!


Enjoy,
Paul

I saw the Davis, and they do look like they will do what I need.  The only issue I really have with them is that if I were to purchase the vantage vue bundle I would be looking at minimum 465, and almost 600 if I want the base station screen as well.  I have no doubt the quality is good, but seeing options from Ambient Weather, Ecowitt, etc for less then half the price with (seemingly?) the same functionality, it has me wondering.

[PaulMy]

it has me wondering.

You get what you pay for.


Enjoy,
Paul

[tshattuck]

I would definitely go with a Davis Vantage Pro2. I have had one now for 14 years. The accuracy, reliability and customer service can't be beat.

I totally agree with Paul, you get what you pay for.

Keep in mind you want reliability and accuracy. Our local university; Syracuse University has 10 Vantage Pro2+ weather stations that they utilize for environmental monitoring  / studies.

Regards,
Tom

[TraderGary]

I agree with Paul. I've owned two Ambient Weather stations and now my current Davis. You most certainly do get what you pay for.

The Davis web page has some interesting reading on their agricultural systems.

[Sweep]

I think one thing I should note here, is while I am using it on the farm, I am less concerned about super accuracy, and  more interested in Go/No go information.  What I mean by that for example:  I am ready to go spray herbicide, but I am 2 hours away.  I would like the ability to see what wind speeds are doing.  Are they roughly 20 MPH( No go), or are they down around 4 MPH (Go).  The long term recording is an added benefit.  But the decisions I will be making with this unit don't need to be super precise. 

I can justify spending 200-300 on this, but when I get into the 700+ I would need to spend on the Davis, it is hard to do. 

[mixer]

Hi Sweep:

What folks are telling you is that for accuracy, durability, longevity and options, you can't beat the Davis VP2.

Now, my opinion from what I've read here and other forums.... and was told by the manufactures:

You could get an Ambient WS-2000 or WS-3000 or one of the various clones for about half the price of the Davis.......but they may not last as long (depending on the harshness of your climate).  Look at it this way:  Over time, one Davis will outlast two or three of the less expensive brands.

Really, there is no problem going for the less expensive ones, but (typically) be prepared to spend more over time.   All of these personal weather stations have to maintained and replaced (no different than a car), just depends on how often you want to do it.

[TraderGary]

There can be differences more than just how long a WS lasts.
Here are some examples...

A Davis anemometer is tested to 200MPH. I recall a forum member with an inexpensive station who was expecting high winds and was watching his anemometer and somewhere around 50MPH it suddenly fell apart. That could be disappointing.

If you are interested in seeing your data as it happens, Davis reports Wind data every 2.5 seconds. Inexpensive stations can have reporting intervals sometimes measured in minutes.

It could be important for some to have accurate UV and Solar power data. Most inexpensive stations use a simple light meter and use algorithms to guess UV and Solar values. Davis uses separate UV and Solar Power sensors that are tested for high accuracy.

[tshattuck]

Sweep:
I totally agree with TraderGary. I couldn't have said it any better.

Given your farm is some distance from your home I think reliability should be a top priority for you.

Davis is the most cost effective way to go long term.

Good luck
Tom

[BfdWx]

I have a Davis and could never say anything bad about the accuracy and dependability. I also recently added a Tempest by Weatherflow. So far the unit is awesome, it is relatively new to the market but they have thousands out there. The WiFi capability is very good and its accuracy is right there with the Davis. There is a built in web site supplied by Weatherflow for no cost. Just something else to look at

[Sweep]

There can be differences more than just how long a WS lasts.
Here are some examples...

A Davis anemometer is tested to 200MPH. I recall a forum member with an inexpensive station who was expecting high winds and was watching his anemometer and somewhere around 50MPH it suddenly fell apart. That could be disappointing.

If you are interested in seeing your data as it happens, Davis reports Wind data every 2.5 seconds. Inexpensive stations can have reporting intervals sometimes measured in minutes.

It could be important for some to have accurate UV and Solar power data. Most inexpensive stations use a simple light meter and use algorithms to guess UV and Solar values. Davis uses separate UV and Solar Power sensors that are tested for high accuracy.

I appreciate the continued feedback, but it really isn't doing me any good... I would be happy to accept donations for the additional 600 dollars I would need for the Davis system, but as I have said several times, 900 dollars for a system is not in the budget.  If it came down to it, I would happily do without, as I have done for the years past. I appreciate that the Davis is accurate, I appreciate that it is probably more durable, but to be honest those factors really aren't my primary concern, and I have resigned myself to the fact that I will be looking at a 2-3 year weather station vs a 10 year weather station.  That is fine.  If it is like any other technology, in 3 years my system will be borderline obsolete anyway, and I can replace it with the most current technology. 

As far as 2.5 second reporting or 2 minute recording, that also really doesn't effect my decisions.  I don't need down the second reporting, I need down to the hour reporting.  If they give me an update every 2 minutes, that is more then enough. 

For max wind speed, if it reaches anything over 20 MPH, I really don't care what it is anymore.  It would be interesting to see, but being able to say "Well, my station hits 100 and it was over that" is more then enough for me. 

UV and solar power... not a concern at all.  Nothing I can do about those readings anyway... I can't add more solar power if mother nature doesn't give me enough. 

As I lean further towards the ecowitt system, even if my anemometer did fall apart at 50 MPH I could replace it once a year, and it would still take 7 years to add up to the cost of the Davis...

From here on out, I would appreciate it if I didn't receive any more recommendations for Davis.  I understand they are the commercial leader, and I am ready to accept less than that.  I am more then happy to recieve more feedback regarding ecowitt, ambient weather, weatherflow, or any other COST CONSCIOUS option.  Thanks 

[galfert]

Since you are looking to figure out GDD I would recommend considering a solution that will let you easily have at your data so that you can automate that calculation. Because you are leaning towards the Ecowitt or Ambient system, with either of those I would still recommend adding the GW1000 (and yes it is compatible with the Ambient FO clones) so that you can easily capture the data for automation of the GDD calculation. The GW1000 will let you interface with 3rd party software and then you can easily build that calculation into the various software.

I've taken a look at the GDD formula and it appears to be simple enough and when I get a moment I'll try and see if I can build a script for it.
GDD = (daily max up to 86°F) - (daily min up 50°F) / 2 - 50 ...with some adjustments based on soil and management and environmental considerations which should be accounted for also.

That is pretty neat. You bringing up the topic caused me to research it and learn about it.

[Sweep]

Since you are looking to figure out GDD I would recommend considering a solution that will let you easily have at your data so that you can automate that calculation. Because you are leaning towards the Ecowitt or Ambient system, with either of those I would still recommend adding the GW1000 (and yes it is compatible with the Ambient FO clones) so that you can easily capture the data for automation of the GDD calculation. The GW1000 will let you interface with 3rd party software and then you can easily build that calculation into the various software.

I've taken a look at the GDD formula and it appears to be simple enough and when I get a moment I'll try and see if I can build a script for it.
GDD = (daily max up to 86°F) - (daily min up 50°F) / 2 - 50 ...plus some adjustments based on soil and management and environmental considerations which should be accounted for also.

That is pretty neat.

Thanks for looking at that.  Agreed, the formula isn't terribly difficult, and I have built formulas in excel in the past that handles it quite well.  I had intended on adding a GW-1000, since it does look like it makes exporting data very flexible.  It can be a handy piece of information for crop management, since I can get a pretty good idea of maturity of the crop, based off of GDD's, when combined with information like rain fall totals, planting date, etc.  I consider myself fairly tech savvy, and would certainly use this as an excuse to learn a new software. 

[TraderGary]

There can be differences more than just how long a WS lasts.
Here are some examples...

A Davis anemometer is tested to 200MPH. I recall a forum member with an inexpensive station who was expecting high winds and was watching his anemometer and somewhere around 50MPH it suddenly fell apart. That could be disappointing.

If you are interested in seeing your data as it happens, Davis reports Wind data every 2.5 seconds. Inexpensive stations can have reporting intervals sometimes measured in minutes.

It could be important for some to have accurate UV and Solar power data. Most inexpensive stations use a simple light meter and use algorithms to guess UV and Solar values. Davis uses separate UV and Solar Power sensors that are tested for high accuracy.

I appreciate the continued feedback, but it really isn't doing me any good... I would be happy to accept donations for the additional 600 dollars I would need for the Davis system, but as I have said several times, 900 dollars for a system is not in the budget.  If it came down to it, I would happily do without, as I have done for the years past. I appreciate that the Davis is accurate, I appreciate that it is probably more durable, but to be honest those factors really aren't my primary concern, and I have resigned myself to the fact that I will be looking at a 2-3 year weather station vs a 10 year weather station.  That is fine.  If it is like any other technology, in 3 years my system will be borderline obsolete anyway, and I can replace it with the most current technology. 

As far as 2.5 second reporting or 2 minute recording, that also really doesn't effect my decisions.  I don't need down the second reporting, I need down to the hour reporting.  If they give me an update every 2 minutes, that is more then enough. 

For max wind speed, if it reaches anything over 20 MPH, I really don't care what it is anymore.  It would be interesting to see, but being able to say "Well, my station hits 100 and it was over that" is more then enough for me. 

UV and solar power... not a concern at all.  Nothing I can do about those readings anyway... I can't add more solar power if mother nature doesn't give me enough. 

As I lean further towards the ecowitt system, even if my anemometer did fall apart at 50 MPH I could replace it once a year, and it would still take 7 years to add up to the cost of the Davis...

From here on out, I would appreciate it if I didn't receive any more recommendations for Davis.  I understand they are the commercial leader, and I am ready to accept less than that.  I am more then happy to recieve more feedback regarding ecowitt, ambient weather, weatherflow, or any other COST CONSCIOUS option.  Thanks

My reply was entered right after Mixer's whose post concentrated on cost over time.  I simply offered other things to think about. You should understand that this is a public informational forum. There may very well be many people reading this discussion in the future and you should understand that the needs of others may not have your budget constraints. I wish you the best of luck in assembling a weather station that meets your requirements.

[Sweep]

There can be differences more than just how long a WS lasts.
Here are some examples...

A Davis anemometer is tested to 200MPH. I recall a forum member with an inexpensive station who was expecting high winds and was watching his anemometer and somewhere around 50MPH it suddenly fell apart. That could be disappointing.

If you are interested in seeing your data as it happens, Davis reports Wind data every 2.5 seconds. Inexpensive stations can have reporting intervals sometimes measured in minutes.

It could be important for some to have accurate UV and Solar power data. Most inexpensive stations use a simple light meter and use algorithms to guess UV and Solar values. Davis uses separate UV and Solar Power sensors that are tested for high accuracy.

I appreciate the continued feedback, but it really isn't doing me any good... I would be happy to accept donations for the additional 600 dollars I would need for the Davis system, but as I have said several times, 900 dollars for a system is not in the budget.  If it came down to it, I would happily do without, as I have done for the years past. I appreciate that the Davis is accurate, I appreciate that it is probably more durable, but to be honest those factors really aren't my primary concern, and I have resigned myself to the fact that I will be looking at a 2-3 year weather station vs a 10 year weather station.  That is fine.  If it is like any other technology, in 3 years my system will be borderline obsolete anyway, and I can replace it with the most current technology. 

As far as 2.5 second reporting or 2 minute recording, that also really doesn't effect my decisions.  I don't need down the second reporting, I need down to the hour reporting.  If they give me an update every 2 minutes, that is more then enough. 

For max wind speed, if it reaches anything over 20 MPH, I really don't care what it is anymore.  It would be interesting to see, but being able to say "Well, my station hits 100 and it was over that" is more then enough for me. 

UV and solar power... not a concern at all.  Nothing I can do about those readings anyway... I can't add more solar power if mother nature doesn't give me enough. 

As I lean further towards the ecowitt system, even if my anemometer did fall apart at 50 MPH I could replace it once a year, and it would still take 7 years to add up to the cost of the Davis...

From here on out, I would appreciate it if I didn't receive any more recommendations for Davis.  I understand they are the commercial leader, and I am ready to accept less than that.  I am more then happy to recieve more feedback regarding ecowitt, ambient weather, weatherflow, or any other COST CONSCIOUS option.  Thanks

My reply was entered right after Mixer's whose post concentrated on cost over time.  I simply offered other things to think about. You should understand that this is a public informational forum. There may very well be many people reading this discussion in the future and you should understand that the needs of others may not have your budget constraints. I wish you the best of luck in assembling a weather station that meets your requirements.

Understood, and I have no problem with the first recommendation for Davis.  It was the next 5 recommendations for Davis, ignoring my stated budget constraint, that I did have a problem with.  The beauty of an online forum vs a posted article is that each person can ask for recommendations for there specific situation.  I have read plenty of articles, many of which recommend Davis.  By posting here I was taking the next step, to get personalized results around my specific requirements, one of which is budget. 
If you wish to create a reference for future visitors to utilize, please consider requesting a stickied thread, with common reccomendations.

I am a member of forums with several hundred thousand members and up, and almost all of them have a "what should I buy" thread at the very top.  This allows them to post something along the lines of:
#1 recommendation money not withstanding-Davis V2
#1 recommendation for 3-500 dollars- insert product here
#1 recommendation for 2-300

and so on and so forth

This has proven to be a fairly efficient method, and greatly reduces clutter.

[vinceskahan]

Since you have quality internet and (I'm assuming) power, you have some options within your difficult to hit 300 dollar budget.   If you can get up to 350 you can get some quality gear for sure.

Weatherflow - avoid.  Rain is 'not' usable.  Quality control issues in the hardware and software.  Solar not working in dark latitudes for 'many' users. They're nice people but obviously having growing pains in their product and support.   Cost is $329 US.

Davis - preferred option for me - A Davis Vue sensor suite is $170 or so.   Their WeatherLink Live device to connect to Internet is about $180.  So for 350 you are done+done with a known high quality instrument and known excellent support.   Upload using WLL to WU or other sites and use your phone vs. their website or whatever other sites you can upload to as a display.  Solar powered that works.

Ecowitt - uncertain how accurate the rain or wind are but temp+hum are good. The price of is certainly attractive depending on whether you want ultrasonic or solar-vs-AA power.   New stuff, so uncertain about how long it would live in high impact weather locations.

The GDD stuff requires a little software, but all three options above have solid weewx drivers already available if you wanted to stick a raspberry pi with weewx on your LAN at the farm.  A raspi is $50 or so but you would want to factor in the time value of your labor setting up that extra thing.  That said, you 'could' do just about any dashboard you wanted to if you went weewx and it can feed just about any Internet weather site you can think of.

Ecowitt + raspi/weewx would be under 300 with the 'dunno how long it will last out there' caveat for the ecowitt hardware.  Davis is certainly a known answer if you can just bump your budget up a bit.

[galfert]

I tried to create a topic to compare the popular options a couple of years ago. I never made it sticky because making it sticky would mean that it would need to be maintained, because information changes quickly. It also seemed that nobody wanted to share their gripes about what they had which is what I was looking for.
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=37425.0

That old thread that I started is already outdated. For example Davis now has an ultrasonic anemometer option which is much better than the Ecowitt ultrasonic. Ecowitt now offers the SHT35 which is not possible on a Davis (it is limited to SHT31 or older SHT75). It also gets really complicated sorting through all the options to truly compare everything. Even if you narrow your search to just Davis your choices for logger and understanding all those options is complicated in the different ways that you can connect and expand your station. The same can be said with Fine Offset clones and it is also complicated to understand all the FO clone reseller brands and firmware differences, and frequencies, and console options and sensor options that can differ based on where you purchase, not to mention the possibility of creating a hybrid FO clone multi-branded station.

It is just too much information. And the bottom line is that there just isn't the "best" weather station for everyone. Because everyone has different needs and wants and different things have different value to different people. There are pros and cons for every station. Basically what I'm saying is that even if money was no object there still is no "best." I'd argue that even an RM Young or Vaisala is not the best because it isn't compatible with the various software that many weather hobbyists like to use. Also the best sensors does then also often mean that you will sacrifice on display eye candy, and to many that is more important. To some people it is purely about the sensors and they don't even have a display or even if they do have a display it is of little importance and many just look at the data on their computers and mobile devices.

You can't even get agreement even within the brand. Take the Davis logger options for example. There is no best logger there either. There is a compromise there too and you need to weigh the pros and cons.

If you are new, the best advise is to just read. This section of the forum is full of people constantly asking the same question. The next thing to do is to get informed from the users of each brand that you are considering. Rather than pit brand against brand, you just look at them individually and then make a decision based on what you like that you see in each thing being considered.

[Sweep]

Since you have quality internet and (I'm assuming) power, you have some options within your difficult to hit 300 dollar budget.   If you can get up to 350 you can get some quality gear for sure.

Weatherflow - avoid.  Rain is 'not' usable.  Quality control issues in the hardware and software.  Solar not working in dark latitudes for 'many' users. They're nice people but obviously having growing pains in their product and support.   Cost is $329 US.

Davis - preferred option for me - A Davis Vue sensor suite is $170 or so.   Their WeatherLink Live device to connect to Internet is about $180.  So for 350 you are done+done with a known high quality instrument and known excellent support.   Upload using WLL to WU or other sites and use your phone vs. their website or whatever other sites you can upload to as a display.  Solar powered that works.

Ecowitt - uncertain how accurate the rain or wind are but temp+hum are good. The price of is certainly attractive depending on whether you want ultrasonic or solar-vs-AA power.   New stuff, so uncertain about how long it would live in high impact weather locations.

The GDD stuff requires a little software, but all three options above have solid weewx drivers already available if you wanted to stick a raspberry pi with weewx on your LAN at the farm.  A raspi is $50 or so but you would want to factor in the time value of your labor setting up that extra thing.  That said, you 'could' do just about any dashboard you wanted to if you went weewx and it can feed just about any Internet weather site you can think of.

Ecowitt + raspi/weewx would be under 300 with the 'dunno how long it will last out there' caveat for the ecowitt hardware.  Davis is certainly a known answer if you can just bump your budget up a bit.

Where are you able to get the Davis hardware for that price?  On there website they have the vue listed at $245, and the Weatherlink live is listed at $250... if I could get those for closer to 300, I may be interested, but at 500 it is tough to justify over the ecowitt.  Thank you for the break down, it is much appreciated

[Sweep]

I tried to create a topic to compare the popular options a couple of years ago. I never made it sticky because making it sticky would mean that it would need to be maintained, because information changes quickly. It also seemed that nobody wanted to share their grips about what they had which is what I was looking for.
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=37425.0

That old thread that I started is already outdated. For example Davis now has an ultrasonic anemometer option which is much better than the Ecowitt ultrasonic. Ecowitt now offers the SHT35 which is not possible on a Davis (it is limited to SHT31 or older SHT75). It also gets really complicated sorting through all the options to truly compare everything. Even if you narrow your search to just Davis your choices for logger and understanding all those options is complicated in the different ways that you can connect and expand your station. The same can be said with Fine Offset clones and it is also complicated to understand all the FO clone reseller brands and firmware differences, and frequencies, and console options and sensor options that can differ based on where you purchase, not to mention the possibility of creating a hybrid FO clone multi-branded station.

It is just too much information. And the bottom line is that there just isn't the "best" weather station for everyone. Because everyone has different needs and wants and different things have different value to different people. There are pros and cons for every station. Basically what I'm saying is that even if money was no object there still is no "best." I'd argue that even an RM Young or Vaisala is not the best because it isn't compatible with the various software that many weather hobbyists like to use. Also the best sensors does then also often mean that you will sacrifice on display eye candy, and to many that is more important. To some people it is purely about the sensors and they don't even have a display or even if they do have a display it is of little importance and many just look at the data on their computers and mobile devices.

You can't even get agreement even within the brand. Take the Davis logger options for example. There is no best logger there either. There is a compromise there too and you need to weigh the pros and cons.

If you are new, the best advise is to just read. This section of the forum is full of people constantly asking the same question. The next thing to do is to get informed from the users of each brand that you are considering. Rather than pit brand against brand, you just look at them individually and then make a decision based on what you like that you see in each thing being considered.

Absolutely, and the joy of following a tech related hobby... look on the bright side.  One of my other hobbies involves building computers, and where weather stations seem to change over the course of a few years, the "best" CPU may often change 2-3x per year... same with GPU, mobo, and most other components.  It is nearly impossible to keep up.  Thank you for the help

[vinceskahan]

Where are you able to get the Davis hardware for that price?  On there website they have the vue listed at $245, and the Weatherlink live is listed at $250...

scaledinstruments.com or scientificsales.com are the usual places to get good prices.  I've dealt with both vendors and would recommend them both.

Looks like scaled currently has lower prices but check them both.

[galfert]

My recommendation is a VP2 or forget Davis. The VP2 is great and has all parts available for replacement. The Vue on the other hand I feel is a terrible investment. You may luck out and get a good one or you never know and in 18 months your humidity sensor is done and you are out of warranty with no replacement parts. Your only option is to replace the entire outdoor unit. The Vue is a terrible investment.

Therefore if the VP2 is out of budget then go for Ecowitt / Ambient or some other FO clone. But I'm also not saying that the Davis is the best option. For some the more appealing option to begin with is the Ecowitt / Ambient or FO clone, not because of price but because of other factors.

Certainly I'm sure that there are plenty of happy Vue customers...but that doesn't mean it isn't a gamble.

Just my opinion. You are all entitled to yours.

[PaulMy]

Where are you able to get the Davis hardware for that price?  On there website they have the vue listed at $245, and the Weatherlink live is listed at $250... if I could get those for closer to 300

https://www.scaledinstruments.com/shop/davis-instruments/complete-weather-stations/vantage-vue-series/davis-6110-vantage-vue-sensor-suite-with-weatherlink-live-bundle/


Enjoy,
Paul

[davidmc36]

Where are you able to get the Davis hardware for that price?  On there website they have the vue listed at $245, and the Weatherlink live is listed at $250... if I could get those for closer to 300

https://www.scaledinstruments.com/shop/davis-instruments/complete-weather-stations/vantage-vue-series/davis-6110-vantage-vue-sensor-suite-with-weatherlink-live-bundle/


Enjoy,
Paul

This is what comes up as the perfect idea to me. Gets you On-Line with a decent selection of upload options....then you can spread out tapping into some more budget to replace/upgrade the outdoor to a VP2 in a couple years or something. could also  add to the indoor suite if interested.

[galfert]

Not a single person in this thread is a Davis Vue owner. It is possible that some started with the Vue and upgraded to the VP2. It would be good to hear more about that experience.