Topic: WeatherLink Console 6313 has arrived!

[Mapantz]

Every single morning now, the console is dead and unresponsive until I power cycle it.

Davis customer service is a disgrace.

Absolutely fed up with this bullsh*t!

Console has completely frozen now:

https://ibb.co/CHGW5Wv

[Bellmac]

I'm not talking about junking the system that sends data from the sensors, although it is pretty dated.  I am talking about an interface between the sensor data and the rest of the world.  Davis does have a number of those types of products (EnviroMonitor Gateways, Weatherlink Live, Weather Envoy), but some are way too expensive for regular consumers, both for initial purchase and subscription fees.  Weatherlink Live somewhat resembles what I am talking about, but still a bit expensive.

[johnd]

I'm not talking about junking the system that sends data from the sensors, although it is pretty dated.

Well TI CC10xx protocol may be dated in the sense of being introduced some considerable time ago (20-25 years plus, though there have been updates to the chipset family in the interim I believe). But the question I'm posing is which newer wireless protocol offers comparable features (low power, range etc) but better or more cost-effective performance?

I am talking about an interface between the sensor data and the rest of the world.  Davis does have a number of those types of products (EnviroMonitor Gateways, Weatherlink Live, Weather Envoy), but some are way too expensive for regular consumers, both for initial purchase and subscription fees.  Weatherlink Live somewhat resembles what I am talking about, but still a bit expensive.

OK, but other similar receivers for Davis data like MeteoStick (as the basis for such a 'translator' device) or Meteobridge Pro (as a more complete solution) are also much the same price. It seems to be the going rate for such a device when all the development, production and support costs are factored in. I don't condone the Davis pricing or defend it, but it is what it is. Davis is neither a charity nor an open-source outfit, but a business. And in business to make a profit. Davis is surely entitled to price products so as to maximise profit, just like any other business. I'm not sure that the right decisions are always made about pricing, but no-one here is privy to all the development, production and support costs that Davis have to account for (plus AEM pressure no doubt) and so I for one am not going to try to second-guess their pricing algorithms.

Ultimately IMHO it all comes back to competition, either for weather station systems in general (comparable to VP2 I mean) or just for a translator device to WiFi or BT or whatever. All the information is out there in the public domain (and has been for many years) to make a third-party translator device, whether it be based on say MeteoStick or eg RTL-SDR or using the TI chips directly, but I don't see anyone stepping forward to develop and market such a device. Maybe the economics aren't so attractive after all? Perhaps an overall sales volume of maybe 10,000 units (at an optimistic guess) over several years is not sufficiently enticing against the potential profit for a $100-150 product? Just speculating out loud - I don't pretend to know the answer. All I do know is that no such product seems to be currently forthcoming.

[Bellmac]

JohnD-

Don't get me wrong.  I am not on a rant about evil corporate types exploiting its customers.  But, in general, when companies make products most efficiently and at the lowest cost, both the company and its customers benefit.  It is supposed to work that way.  No charity involved here, just the natural workings of the marketplace.  I perceive the 6313 as an attempt by Davis to modernize its products, which is a good thing (much like nautical navigation instrumentation going from Loran to GPS - the VP2 reminds me of my old clunky Loran receiver).  I am questioning the strategy of in-house development of a stripped-down tablet when it might be far more economic to avoid display development and go with an existing inexpensive, widely-available product.  Much of this tends to look like Davis trying to drive customers to use the premium (i.e., not for free) Davis cloud services even when they do not really need that.  I don't know if the 6313 is a stripped-down Android OS (cannot tell from the T&C's), but if it is not, the cost for Davis to develop its own OS is substantial and the customer has to pay for that.  Again, my $100 Samsung tablet has about twice the display area as the 6313 and probably a lot more horsepower and memory.  Why do OS development when Android and other tablet manufacturers have already done it and spit out updates regularly.  Much better to put the work into a separate data interface and Android (and Windows 11) apps.  If Davis does not do it, someone else probably will.

[johnd]

I do understand your thinking, but:

1. To the best of my knowledge, this is an Android tablet at heart, so Davis haven't remade an OS (and almost certainly wouldn't have the expertise inhouse to do that). The software is probably 'just' an app running over the top of the OS, but obviously with adjustments so that the tablet always boots straight into the app and I guess with some watchdog routines etc.

2. Interested parties have had 20 years now to create their own receiver and, other than a few hobbyists ingeniously decoding the sensor messages, there has been to my knowledge only one set of commercial products, ie Boris at Smartbedded with his Meteostick and Meteobridge Pro devices. They are both great products but not cheap because of low volumes and attract only limited interest. I struggle to see anyone else entering the market now, BICBW obviously. Plus Davis have obviously made their decision about interface architecture and created the 6100 WLL and 6313 products and it's difficult to see them changing tack now,

[miraculon]

Every single morning now, the console is dead and unresponsive until I power cycle it.

Davis customer service is a disgrace.

Absolutely fed up with this bullsh*t!

Console has completely frozen now:

https://ibb.co/CHGW5Wv

I see that the local console data is there, as is the wind info. Do you have a separate anemometer transmitter?

Have you checked the ISS battery? it almost looks like you are missing the ISS. A console reset might initialize the frequency-hopping sequence in the morning and there is enough for the ISS to begin transmitting again. Just a thought....

Greg H.

[Mapantz]

Every single morning now, the console is dead and unresponsive until I power cycle it.

Davis customer service is a disgrace.

Absolutely fed up with this bullsh*t!

Console has completely frozen now:

https://ibb.co/CHGW5Wv

I see that the local console data is there, as is the wind info. Do you have a separate anemometer transmitter?

Have you checked the ISS battery? it almost looks like you are missing the ISS. A console reset might initialize the frequency-hopping sequence in the morning and there is enough for the ISS to begin transmitting again. Just a thought....

Greg H.

Anemometer is on it's own transmitter.

All transmitter batteries are fine. My WLL picks them all up fine and there's barely ever a resync.

The WLL shows each transmitter's RSSI between -50dB and -60dB. The console is always -80dB to -90dB and is constantly resyncing. The antenna placement on the console is absolutely shocking in terms of signal.

[maltbie]

Maltbie-

Did you try the factory reset, which can be found in the Device Information screen.  When I first got mine, I messed up some stuff, so just did this.  It is a complete start-over and re-provisioning.  It is briefly discussed in the last part of the manual and some other Internet sources (Prodata).  It will revert to the original firmware and then update to the latest.  All data is lost.

No.  I don't want to lose my data and when it installs the latest update, it will likely fail again.

I spoke to Davis technical support.  They are aware of the problem and don't have a fix yet.

Davis is sending a new unit to me.  None of their fixes worked.

[WheatonRon]

Maltbie-

Did you try the factory reset, which can be found in the Device Information screen.  When I first got mine, I messed up some stuff, so just did this.  It is a complete start-over and re-provisioning.  It is briefly discussed in the last part of the manual and some other Internet sources (Prodata).  It will revert to the original firmware and then update to the latest.  All data is lost.

No.  I don't want to lose my data and when it installs the latest update, it will likely fail again.

I spoke to Davis technical support.  They are aware of the problem and don't have a fix yet.

Davis is sending a new unit to me.  None of their fixes worked.

After you receive your new console, please post an update to this thread and inform us whether it fixed your problems!