As an amateur photographer, I tend to document all my hobby how-to projects. I know I'm not the first person here to install a Davis Leaf & Soil Moisture/Temp Station, and I'm sure there are a lot of folks who can interpret the information gleaned from it a lot better than I will. And since Davis sent this to me to review, what better way than for those of you not familiar with the station to watch as I learn. Larger images can be seen on my SmugMug gallery.
(CLICK HERE) Click the thumbnail to see a larger image, and then click the large image to see a full screen version.
I'm cross-posting this on the MacWeather and WeatherCat forum, and portions will be on my Facebook page.
Anyway, I'll be like the tech guys and do an "unboxing" thingy here.
Here are all the pieces parts still in their package.
All the parts unwrapped except the WeatherLink data logger and VP2 Console. I'll use my setup, and add the Leaf & Soil Moisture/Temp Station on another channel.
Here is the complete station set up to test functioning and reception. On the lid is the Leaf Wetness sensor, the green sensor is the Soil Moisture Sensor, and the probe with the black wire is the Soil Temperature sensor. Plugging the Soil Temperature and Moisture sensors on the same channel (in this phot the Soil Moisture is mistakenly in #4, but I moved it to #1 for testing) allows the Soil Moisture to use the Soil Temperature in its calculation. If they are not on the same channel, the Soil Moisture is calculated assuming that the temperature of the soil is 75˚F.
I mounted the Leaf & Soil Moisture/Temp Station transmitter on the same post as my VP2 ISS is mounted. I set the transmitter as Station #3, and added it to my VP2 Console and, using WeatherLink for Mac, set the Weather Envoy to use Station #3
No photos yet, but I've temporarily mounted the Leaf Wetness sensor on a steel rod driven into the ground beside my ISS post. The U-bolt is too small to fit the post everything else is mounted on. I think I'll use a 1" galvanized post and mount both the transmitter and Leaf Wetness seρor on the same post. That way I won't have wires to run from one to the other. I temporarily stuck the Soil Temperature sensor in the ground in the raised bed garden plot barely visible in the last photo above. I'm also "conditioning" the Soil Wetness sensor, as described in the installation instructions, by soaking, drying, then soaking again before planting it in the soil. I have some schedule 40 1/2" PVC, but the walls are too thick to insert the Soil Moisture sensor as shown in the manual. I'll drill it out a bit until it fits.
My soil here is very sandy, as we live on an ancient beach. All of our gardens and raised beds have been amended with a *lot* of compost, manure, and peat moss. In the raised beds, I can easily stick my hand down a foot into the soil, so it drains quickly. I might add a second Soil Temperature and Moisture sensor and bury them deeper in one of the other beds where we grow perennial crops, such as strawberries, grapes, rhubarb, or raspberries. The soil here is less disturbed and might give a better indication of the condition of the soil in the rest of our perennial flower beds and yard.
As I noted above, I added the Leaf & Soil Moisture/Temp Station as Station #3 on the VP2 Console and WeatherLink. While I was at it, I swapped Station #1 and #2, making the ISS Station #2 and the Wireless Anemometer Transmitter Station #1. This will take advantage of the more frequent readings of Station #1 for the wind, which is the most changeable.
I'm using the public beta of
Trixology's WeatherCat (Formerly Lightsoft Weather Center) on my Mac to view the data from the Leaf & Soil Moisture/Temp Station. The Leaf Wetness has been a flatline at zero since installing, but worked fine in pre-testing. I'll see if we have dew in the morning. The soil temperature was 62˚F when I installed it late this afternoon, and has dropped to 59˚F here at 10:30 pm. That's just amazing, as out ground is normally frozen solid this time of year!
That's all I've got right now. I'll get more done tomorrow and add some more photos. Thanks for reading along, and feel free to comment or offer advices.
Steve