WXforum.net
Weather Station Hardware => Other Weather Station Hardware => Topic started by: Kev on May 19, 2020, 10:40:53 PM
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One dies, (TWI) another is reborn.
I'm really excited about this news! Heath is currently working on a successor to the ID-5001. Early schematics have been drawn up already. Currently they are leaning towards a return to an LED display as opposed to LCD. That is all there is for information currently. It is in the very infant stages right now. I'd highly recommend contacting Heath and giving input on what you'd like to see in a new console. Input on an LCD or LED display. I have to say, the LCD gets my vote for looks, although the LED is user-fixable. Options that would be nice to see added would be Lightning, Solar Radiation, UV and Leaf Wetness sensors.
I posted about this over on a couple Facebook WX groups, so some of you may know already. This is not rumor, it is direct from a phone conversation with Heath's Vintage Division.
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As a proud owner and user of an ID-5001 for many years until it died a few years ago, I would vote for the LCD screen. Sure, the fluorescent tubes would burn out and need replacing every so often, but that blue and white screen was so much more informative, readable, and actually soothing than the red LED screen of the previous model.
I just had my chimney re-sided last month and the ID-5001 sensors and all traces of it were finally removed.
One of the great features of the Heath's was the instantaneous readouts of wind speed and direction. A derecho passed through here in the early 1990's. It was just after midnight, and I was standing in my great room at the time. I heard a huge 'whoosh' and felt a palpable suction as it passed over, and my roof groaned, if there is such a thing.
Later I saw a max windspeed of 104 mph on the ID-5001! No way my Davis would have captured that instant. When I went for my early morning run that day, I was amazed by the number of downed trees and limbs that I had to circumnavigate. A billboard in north Lincoln with 8 or 10 large I-bar supports firmly anchored in the ground was flattened with the I-bars bent but still anchored in place. You could see downed trees along I-80 all the way from Kearney to Lincoln for years after this. Some here thought it was a tornado, but when all of the damage indicated a wind from west to east, this idea was untenable.
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That's a shame your 5001 expired. What failed on it? As you know they are quite user-serviceable. Pretty much every component is still available for them. The LCD screen is the main issue, if that ever fails there is no replacement. There's a big group of us folks keeping them going. Heath offers many replacement components for these stations now.
Here's mine, a 1990 ID-5001-C, chugging along nicely. The indoor humidity is hooked to an ambient light sensor outdoors. I upgraded the lamp circuit to an LED tube. It snaps into the fluorescent sockets. Rated for 6 years of continuous use. The tube is 120v, so the sockets had to be jumped direct to the power in. You lose the dimming feature, but that's a small trade-off for a trouble free backlight. I replaced some other components, an IC went bad and knocked out half the keypad. The biggest problem was the barometer had a bad temperature compensation issue and couldn't be fully calibrated. I finally traced the problem to D401, the temperature compensated 6.2v zener diode in the barometer transducer power supply circuit. It turns out these are highly prone to shorts from long-term exposure to heat. That took a long time to diagnose. I knew voltage was flowing uncontrolled so I finally worked out the problem via the schematic. I really need to chronicle my ID-5001 journey at some point in a thread.
(https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/6b8e/oscqwiazf0riitv4g.jpg) (http://www.mediafire.com/view/oscqwiazf0riitv/IMG_7611.JPG/file)
What a weather story, that is quite incredible. And the sensors survived. A testament to their quality and how you had them mounted. How does the display show 104? I assume it read as 04? I know from an indoor test I saw that when the 5001 hits 100 it shows it as 01. The highest gust I've had so far is 64. I really am spoiled by the instant real-time readings and high vis display. The high 32 point wind direction resolution is great as well. And the weather alert system is brilliant. That always sets off the alarm at exactly the time it should during weather. I took some time to dial in the parameters for the alert/warn. I know the Davis instruments are excellent, but the time delay plus the lack of a display console I can see across the room are real negatives for me.
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I was downloading the daily data extremes, and that’s where I saw the wind speed. Unfortunately that data died when the computer holding it went belly up.
I’m wireless now with my Davis VP2+, and I no longer have the ID-5001 sensors. The rain funnel even blew off my chimney last fall!
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Memory failed me regarding this 1993 derecho. I commented about it here (https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=15875.msg153611#msg153611) and the windspeed was greater than I remembered!
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120! That is incredible. Even though it was a gust, it's remarkable that you suffered no damage from that.
I was about to ask if you kept any of the sensors. I would have been interested in them. Do you recall what went bad on the 5001 console? I'm working on a TWI WR-25 at the moment and either need to build a wind boom or find an old Heath boom to use. In experimenting I have discovered the Heath wind boom is fully compatible with the WR-25. Dale Reid is dissecting the humidity board so that can be built from scratch as well. These are the last two obstacles in getting the WR-25 usable, the console is fully functional.
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Sorry, but I discarded all of the external gear during the chimney re-siding. The anemometer was slow and sticking again and the wind vane wasn't reliable either any more. I replaced the bearings in each in about 1989, but they had gone bad again. The only sensors that remains are I think the indoor temperature and humidity sensors, also unreliable. These factors are what led to me not attempting to resuscitate the console when it died again. I had replaced the power board earlier as well.
I'm a weather buff, not an electronics expert, so I'm not sure what blew the fuse that ended it all for my ID-5001. There wasn't much to motivate me to try to get it working again except the gorgeous clock and non-working instantaneous wind speed. I still have all of the manuals, instructions, etc.
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I too would look forward to possibly purchasing a new HK 6001 unit! That'd be awesome!! I have a 4001 currently running and do love the instant wind speed readings. It has proven time and again to catch higher gusts than my Davis Vue. Another big advantage to the 4001 and 5001 over many if not all Davis consoles is that you can EASILY see the display and read the values of each reading. Even the Capricorn II Plus weather station I have is much easier to read than the Davis weather displays.
Full speed ahead on development of the 6001, keep us all posted, can't wait to get my hands on one of the weather stations!
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Jerry,
Very sorry to hear that. Too bad I didn’t catch you a little bit sooner, and I would have been happy to try to help you get the console back up and going. It would have been nice to have that running alongside your Davis. I have done a complete refurbish on mine, including the wind boom and placing the humidity and temp sensors in a Davis radiation shield. The bearings are usually good for about 10 years. That’s true for any wind sensors. The fuse blowing may have been the power transformer going bad. There are a few other things that can cause the fuse to blow too, such as the flourescent tube going bad.
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Don,
It sure will be, I can’t wait either! I know it will probably be pricey, but you can be sure it will be worth every penny. I will for sure keep everyone posted. I imagine we won’t know much more until it’s announced on Heath’s site. It’s true that all of those displays are incredibly visible.
I’ve seen your 4001, I subscribed to you on YouTube, really enjoy your weather equipment videos btw. I just watched your DBX 2 review.
How are the other barometers tracking with the DBX 2 so far? I got a Testo 511 handheld precision absolute pressure meter for calibrating my consoles and it works great. Turns out the 5001 barometer tracks almost perfectly with it. The Testo does become more accurate by + .4 or .5 than the 5001 at extreme lows or highs. Higher sensitivity. It’s a negligable difference though and they always come back into sync when the pressure changes.
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Don,
It sure will be, I can’t wait either! I know it will probably be pricey, but you can be sure it will be worth every penny. I will for sure keep everyone posted. I imagine we won’t know much more until it’s announced on Heath’s site. It’s true that all of those displays are incredibly visible.
I’ve seen your 4001, I subscribed to you on YouTube, really enjoy your weather equipment videos btw. I just watched your DBX 2 review.
Well thank you, I appreciate it!
How are the other barometers tracking with the DBX 2 so far? I got a Testo 511 handheld precision absolute pressure meter for calibrating my consoles and it works great. Turns out the 5001 barometer tracks almost perfectly with it. The Testo does become more accurate by + .4 or .5 than the 5001 at extreme lows or highs. Higher sensitivity. It’s a negligable difference though and they always come back into sync when the pressure changes.
I have the 4001, a HK 1990 Barometer and the Davis Vantage Vue. It's been at Davis for a refurb for over a month so I can't compare it. I can tell you my HK 1990 is pretty much right on with the DBX. The 4001 wanders time to time but right now it's off by -.03". Not too bad.
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Very welcome, keep ‘em coming. You need to add a 5001 to your collection, I was surprised you sold your Questech 5001 a few years back.
That’s really good, really shows how well made the Heath equipment was that it can keep up with precision modern instruments. Did you mangage to fix your frozen wind direction issue on your 4001? If you ever need help troubleshooting anything, feel free to message me and if I can help I will.
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Do we know anything new on the potential development of a HK 6001 weather station?
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I would guess not.
The website https://shop.heathkit.com/shop (https://shop.heathkit.com/shop) has the last copyright date of 2021.