Today I've been looking at the WS-1000 and reading what y'all have to say about accuracy problems. I do think Ed should offer some additional beta testing on revised unit. It's better to have subjects to test the unit and not have to pay for something that might not work correctly and then pass on the information rather than be selling something that may not be much better and having some angry customers wanting their money back.
So from what I'm hearing is the wind speed is a bit sluggish which it appears the station reads down to 0.1 mph according to the web site which if the anemometer it's self can't read anything below 2mph as stated defeats the purpose of reading down to 0.1 mph. The site also states the unit has a wind direction resolution of 1 degree. Can anyone comment on this?
Also, does this station actually have solar and UV sensors or does the station assume this information from the solar panel on the front? According to some of the images and the drawing on the web site looks like they're separate sensors on the corners of the rain gauge.
From what I'm hearing the WS-1000 just sounds like another piece of junk at least compared to the Davis Vue in that price range.
Also the site says the kit includes a 2nd temperature and humidity sensor. How well does that work?
Skywatch,
I usually do not get involved in public postings. I learned a long time ago that it is unwise. However, I think it is irresponsible for you to call this station
another piece of junk based on the comments made during a beta testing. I am assuming you have never owned or tested one, and based on comments from a beta test (and I emphasize, this was a beta test), you came to some of your own conclusions.
I would not say there have been overwhelming complaints about the accuracy, and we have yet to have a single unit returned, contrary to your comments. I feel we did due diligence, and implemented many of the comments in the documentation as well as future releases of this product. There was a second beta test, you were just not made aware of it.
Some notes to set the record straight.
1. Davis clearly makes a better weather station. They are also more expensive. If you want to report to Wunderground.com independent of a computer (with a web appliance like the WeatherBridge) that supports rapid fire, it is significantly more expensive. Also, publishing to Wunderground.com using WiFi with the WeatherBridge requires a weather station, data logger, 2.0 Hub converter and finally the WeatherBridge itself. All of these devices require some configuration. The WS-1000 handles all of this within the display console.
2. The windspeed is actually an average of the wind in the 16 second update period. The gust is the peak windspeed updated in the 16 second update period. This is a common practice for weather station manufacturers... provide both an average and peak windspeed within the update period. I believe this is a much better approach than taking a snapshot of the windspeed every 16 seconds.
If the station reports 0.1 mph, that is an average over the entire sample period, rather than the anemometer spinning at a rate of 0.1 mph when the update occurs.
3. The UV sensor was not ready for production. We decided to remove this feature. We may add the sensor back in at a later date.
4. The wind direction resolution is 1 degree.
5. The weather station does have a solar radiation sensor independent of the solar panel.
6. There is a second wireless sensor that can be placed indoors or outdoors. I would say this not a "half truth", but an actual fact that the WS-1000-WiFI has two wireless transmitters. The reason for this is the console can heat up and cause a false reading. We would recommend placing it indoors, because the barometer is temperature sensitive and the barometer's temperature correction is more accurate when placed inside, plus you get more life out of the sensor.
7. There are plans to add WeatherBug and CWOP. If there is one thing I have learned, it is best to start simple, and add additional features later.
Regards,
Ed
Ambient Weather
