Topic: Significance of WiFi

[jagman653]

I hate to have to ask, but do I really need WiFi for a simple home weather station?

I've used an Oregon Scientific RGR126N for a long time and was happy to just have rainfall & outdoor temperature on a black & white indoor display. If I understand correctly, WiFi would let me share my data with other weather stations but why would one want to do that?

Only WiFi justification I can think of is if that feature would allow my indoor display to be reset to show rainfall at some nearby weather station if my display is showing wrong totals due to battery failure or whatever. That would be significant, but is that a realistic expectation?

[box]

Of course not

It's what suits your requirements and if that doesn't include sharing data across the internet that's fine

If all you need is rainfall and temperature then it doesn't matter if you have a battery failure just change the batteries and start again

[Garth Bock]

If you're wanting just to view weather conditions at home then WiFi is not needed. However, there are some perks to having WiFi. Some stations have a phone/tablet app so you can check conditions when you are away from home. Nice to know how much rain fell or was it windy when you are far away. Some of the apps allow free accounts so your friends/family can see what your weather station is reporting. The other thing is sharing your data with collection sites help with future climate and weather predictions. What it comes down to is you get to decide how far you want to go with it.

[jagman653]

If all you need is rainfall and temperature then it doesn't matter if you have a battery failure just change the batteries and start again

But just starting again at 0.00 after battery failure means my displayed yearly total rain isn't really the yearly total at all; it's just the amount tallied since the battery failure. For me, that defeats the purpose of having a rain gauge. I guess each of us has his/her own reasons for having these home weather stations, but I like to compare our readings with family and friends, and with what the newspaper says.

Thanks for you input though.

[jagman653]

Would "some perks to having WiFi" include being able to reset my yearly rainfall to that reported by a nearby public weather station? Could someone guide me to an economical weather station that would allow me to do that?

[Garth Bock]

Would "some perks to having WiFi" include being able to reset my yearly rainfall to that reported by a nearby public weather station? Could someone guide me to an economical weather station that would allow me to do that?

Why would you want to force your station to match rainfall reported miles away? Rainfall is not consistent between sites and can vary greatly. I upload to Weather link.com and in my phone app I have other local stations displaying. There are times when a station 2 miles away shows a difference from what my station shows. There were several times when a spotty storm dumped rain on one but not the other. To match station amounts would be falsifying the data. My station measures for my location and theirs measures for their location. Also, how do you know the other sites is accurate? They could show no rain due to a plugged up rain bucket or have poorly functioning equipment. However, if you strongly feel you need to "match" some other station, WiFi is not needed as some stations allow you to change or "offset" observed data at the local console/base station. I and I am sure many others here would recommend against adjusting or falsifying data on your station based on another station that might be miles away.

[Vasco]

I and I am sure many others here would recommend against adjusting or falsifying data on your station based on another station that might be miles away.

Definitely a NO-NO. . . but I find a CoCoRaHS manual rain gauge in my back yard quite useful as backup.

It agrees with the station rain gauge around +/- 5%.

[jagman653]

I think we're talking past one another.

If my gauge said my year to date was, say, 1.22" and another nearby site said 1.55" I certainly would not want to change mine to 1.55." OTOH if mine said 0" because of a battery failure and another nearby said 1.55" I'd like to change mine to 1.55"

But, I'm now thinking I'll keep using my old Oregon Scientific. I have an electronic adjuster that I connect to the rain gauge so I can run up the display to anything I want. I do believe there are more modern systems that can do this but haven't found one yet.

[davidmc36]

... if mine said 0" because of a battery failure....

.......I would want to set it to whatever another station or log from manual gauge that is at least in the same yard as the main station.

Anything less is just "making it up".

[jagman653]

Making it up? Not really. Keep in mind that I'm starting with a display saying 0 and replacing it with a value published by the LA Times. How can that be bad? Also, my crops don't depend on knowing the exact rainfall. I'm doing something that interests me 

What's that saying? ... "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good" or something like that.

BTW, my old Oregon Sci now says 0.26" after resetting it with my homebrew reset device. It uses the RF transmitter in the rain gauge to send a calculated number of pulses. Each pulse represents one tetter totter tilt, or 0.04" of rain fall.

[Vasco]

Coincidentally, my station reported 2.1 mm this morning but I noticed the gauge had lost contact with the console. I didn't have time to check the batteries today, but I read the CoCoRaHS gauge at midnight and it showed 5.0 mm.

I didn't hesitate to change the rainfall data in Weather Display. Just wish I could change it in WU.

A Davis station about half a mile away registered only 3.6 mm.

[CW2274]

I'll throw my two cents worth in here by saying that using other people's data is a no-no in PWS land, especially rain. It's as dynamic of a wx parameter there is, other than wind, and even that can be more consistent than rain. If one can't send one's own reasonably accurate data, don't send any. Like I said, my two cents, but obviously folks will do what they want to anyway. 

[jagman653]

Being a newbie, i'm not familiar with the lingo here. What does WU mean in   "Just wish I could change it in WU" ?

[broadstairs]

WU means Weather Underground Google it.

Stuart

[jagman653]

@CW227
As a newbie and interloper with decade-old, low-end hardware, rest assured I won't be posting my "falsified" data to anyone's online database

[CW2274]

@CW227
As a newbie and interloper with decade-old, low-end hardware, rest assured I won't be posting my "falsified" data to anyone's online database

[WeatherHost]

Only WiFi justification I can think of is if that feature would allow my indoor display to be reset to show rainfall at some nearby weather station ...

Would "some perks to having WiFi" include being able to reset my yearly rainfall to that reported by a nearby public weather station?

Keep in mind that I'm starting with a display saying 0 and replacing it with a value published by the LA Times.

No other site will have the same rainfall you will.  Not even one a half mile away.  I've seen heavy rain within a mile when I didn't get a drop.  Don't worry about other sites.

If you want to be able to reset data, get one that records to your computer.  Battery fails in station?  Replace it, then reset the display to your own recorded data.

[Vasco]

As a newbie and interloper with decade-old, low-end hardware, rest assured I won't be posting my "falsified" data to anyone's online database

In which case feel free to do exactly what you want with your data 

Just be aware, when the time comes, that with some stations you may have to post your data to someone's online database before you can see them 

[davidmc36]

My first Full Spectrum weather station did not have ability to communicate outside the display console. I never looked at other stations because the whole point was knowing what the conditions are where I am located.

[jagman653]

Just be aware, when the time comes, that with some stations you may have to post your data to someone's online database before you can see them 

Interesting. Just yesterday I found a Weather Underground station about 1/2 mile from my home and will probably take a peek at it after a rain.

[sky_watcher]

Interesting. Just yesterday I found a Weather Underground station about 1/2 mile from my home and will probably take a peek at it after a rain.

I sit between two airports. I record the reading from the stations and occasionally do comparisons. As expected, the correlation between their rainfall readings and mine are pretty good if there has been widespread rain (alto-, nimbo-stratus clouds), but relatively poor when there are showers (cumulus clouds).