Author Topic: Cold climate complete kit  (Read 998 times)

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Offline ross0201

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Cold climate complete kit
« on: May 30, 2022, 11:54:24 AM »
Hi,

I'm looking for a weather station and am confused about what I need exactly. The two most recommended seem to be the Davis Vantage Pro 2 and Ambient WS-5000. Budget is flexible, less is more but I want to be durable. I might want to expand with soil temperature/moisture at some point. I understand how that works on the Ambient, I'm pretty in the dark as to what the Davis needs for that to work.

The Ambient seems more straightforward to me, but I still have questions:
  • Does it need a heater for MN? A power cord complicates my setup
  • Or does it need power anyway, I can't really tell

The Davis I'm pretty confused by, I was leaning toward the kit with Vantage Pro2, WeatherLink Live Bundle (no console):
  • Is the outdoor bits fully solar and battery powered?
  • Does it need a heater in MN?
  • How do I decide if I need the fan aspirated temperature?
  • What would I all need to add sensors, like soil temperature?
  • I would want to use the cloud service, does that require a monthly/annual fee?

I appreciate any advice on these, or other units!

Offline chief-david

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Re: Cold climate complete kit
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2022, 12:22:45 PM »
I can help with part of that.

Davis VP2-cant go wrong
Every part of the outside is solar powered unless you add a heater. You would want good access to change the battery and do maintenance/cleaning.

fan aspirated shield-only if is is close to a roof

UV and solar is great to have
Soil only if you need it for farming/gardening (depending on your location)

The heater works to a point-around 15-20F after that, it is less effective. Again, if you add a heater, you need an extension cord. I ran one many years without a heater.

Welcome.






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It's not you-It's WU.

Offline ross0201

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Re: Cold climate complete kit
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2022, 12:32:47 PM »
Thanks! I actually started looking more into these because of my garden. We got a very late frost (I think May 22) that killed a lot of plants, forecast was only supposed to drop to 39 and I couldn't verify it was frost.

I looked at UV and solar but I don't know enough to know how to use that info, what does it mean?

Offline PaulMy

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Re: Cold climate complete kit
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2022, 02:12:16 PM »
Hi,
Quote
1. Is the outdoor bits fully solar and battery powered?


2. Does it need a heater in MN?
3. How do I decide if I need the fan aspirated temperature?
4. What would I all need to add sensors, like soil temperature?
5. I would want to use the cloud service, does that require a monthly/annual fee?
1. As chief-david mentioned, for Davis all the outdoor sensors, etc. are solar powered with a battery backup.
2. The heater is only for the rain gauge if you want to measure the snow melted to precipitation equivalent.  The Davis heater works only for the older style rain buckets.  I don't us it so my Davis precipitation during the winter is not correct.  However I participate in the CoCoRaHS program and do manual precipitation reporting including daily SWE (Snow Water Equivalent).  You can cover the rain gauge in the winter so no precipitation recorded during that time.  There are several DIY approaches as well.
3. Fan aspirated will improve the temperature reading, especially in low wind conditions and hot climates.
4. Extra Davis sensors are available including soil temperature.  You would just need to purchase the optional sensors and these are received and recognized by the console or Weatherlink Live device.
5. The Davis Cloud Weatherlink.com is free for a basic plan, and can upgraded to Pro or Plus Plus subscription that provides access to full data logs and charts and a more frequent data logging.  The current data can be viewed on the Davis Weatherlink App, or via internet browsers.

Quote
I looked at UV and solar but I don't know enough to know how to use that info, what does it mean?
UV  Ultraviolet index - Wikipedia
Solar Solar energy - Wikipedia
and provides the evapotranspiration (ET) Evapotranspiration - Wikipedia
You can view some data here from the Charts tab and select Solar  http://komokaweather.com/cumulusmx/index.htm


Enjoy,
Paul

Offline ross0201

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Re: Cold climate complete kit
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2022, 06:00:46 PM »
Can extra sensors be added to the same brain as the wind and rain sensors, or would I need a separate transmitter?

 

anything