Topic: Best/most accurate hardware

[TheLegendOfTim]

Hi 

I’m about to buy a new weather station. I’ve found this Ecowitt/froggit stuff, because I want to see the weather on my phone, and get it on a computer to use for smarthome etc.

I don’t need a display, but what hardware are the best and most accurate?
I can see ecowitt have separate wind and rain, and the wind can be ultrasonic.
Froggit have some all in one sensors.

What are the best to get? If the ecowitt is better, I could maybe buy that, but then I have to pay import tax and so on.

I hope this makes sense, and you guys can help me, so I can buy my new weather toy 

[galfert]

Well both Ecowitt and Froggit are manufactured by Fine Offset. They are the same in just about every regard. Froggit even uploads to Ecowitt.net online service. The one difference though is that with Ecowitt you can get every model that Fine Offset makes. With Froggit you can only get what they decided to carry. But the parts are interchangeable. Meaning you can start with a Froggit and add Ecowitt parts or the other way around. That is as long as the frequency matches. Froggit only uses 868 MHz, so you would need Ecowitt 868 MHz parts to be compatible. Ecowitt will though sell you any frequency that you want as long as it is permissible in your country, like you can choose 433 MHz if you prefer. Ecowitt ships worldwide. Froggit only seems to ship to Europe. Since you are in Europe you can also look at Misol, but they use 433 MHz. What you'll realize is that there are many Fine Offset clone resellers.

If you want the best data then you get separate components because it allows for better sensor siting. The all-in-one sensor array is a compromise. But internally they use the same parts. The difference is just placement. For this reason alone your best choice (since you are in Denmark) is Ecowitt only because the other resellers have not decided to yet carry the separate sensor components.

[TheLegendOfTim]

Thank you so much for your answer, galfert.

I think you are right about the separate components is the best way to go.
I can see that Ecowitt have both the ultrasonic and "normal" anemometer. Do you - or someone else - know with one of the two is the most accurate? The best?

Well, as you all can hear, it's important for me to get the best 

I need two complete sets, for two different locations, so I want to get the best for my money.

Thank you

[Mandrake]

I have both and I would say that for normal conditions the Ultra sonic is by the far the best.
I have had the Ultra-sonic on test since pre-production and I am very happy.
Its far more sensitive to low winds and has a much quicker update so shows gusts better than the traditional system. The downsides of the WS-80 are that it does not read as higher max wind as a normal wind vane model. It also is sensitive to low temperatures (sub zero) and offers a power connection (USB) to heat the sensor during extended cold periods. I personally have not had need of that during this last winter so a null issue for me. I also don't see Hurricane strength winds and so again no issue.
The positives in my case are the winner.

[galfert]

Well, as you all can hear, it's important for me to get the best 

I need two complete sets, for two different locations, so I want to get the best for my money.

Are you saying you want the best from Fine Offset / Ecowitt, or are you saying you want the best sensors from whichever company has the best sensors? Hobbyists (or small businesses) that want the best sensors go for Davis. Fanatics (or corporations) that want the best sensors period go for Vaisala or RM Young or the like.

EDIT: I'm not saying that Fine Offset / Ecowitt is not good. It is just that they represent something else that a hobbyists may like. I think Fine Offset /Ecowitt represents a good value, numerous features and decent support from both the company and an extensive user community, with a focus on value without being bad quality. With quality there is junk, good/fair, and excellent. I'd rank them good/fair. They have consistently continued to improve their products and sensors. We are even going to soon have the ability to have a Sensirion SHT35. Fine Offset clones of today are quite different from the previous generation, and the ones of tomorrow will be different than today.

[PaulMy]

When it matters...
https://www.davisinstruments.com/resource/nik-wallenda-relies-davis-weather-station-life-line/
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/nik-wallenda-makes-historic-niagara-falls-walk-1.841429


Enjoy,
Paul

[Mattk]

Well, as you all can hear, it's important for me to get the best 

I need two complete sets, for two different locations, so I want to get the best for my money.

Are you saying you want the best from Fine Offset / Ecowitt, or are you saying you want the best sensors from whichever company has the best sensors? Hobbyists (or small businesses) that want the best sensors go for Davis. Fanatics (or corporations) that want the best sensors period go for Vaisala or RM Young or the like.

or Lufft

[TheLegendOfTim]

This took a wrong turn. I can see I didn’t said it clear enough, and that’s where the misunderstanding come.

The best fine offset/Ecowitt.

I would love a Davis, but I can’t justify spending so much for two of those.

So Ecowitt/Fine Offset for now, it sounds like a good value for the money pick, for a beginner like me.

[TheLegendOfTim]

I have both and I would say that for normal conditions the Ultra sonic is by the far the best.
I have had the Ultra-sonic on test since pre-production and I am very happy.
Its far more sensitive to low winds and has a much quicker update so shows gusts better than the traditional system. The downsides of the WS-80 are that it does not read as higher max wind as a normal wind vane model. It also is sensitive to low temperatures (sub zero) and offers a power connection (USB) to heat the sensor during extended cold periods. I personally have not had need of that during this last winter so a null issue for me. I also don't see Hurricane strength winds and so again no issue.
The positives in my case are the winner.

How high is higher max wind? I found somewhere, that the highest wind recorded last year, at the official station approximately 1km from one of the locations, was 30m/s (I don’t know what scale you measure wind speed in)
But my house have -unfortunately- very large trees almost all way around. It takes a lot of wind - and sun too.

[Mandrake]

OK, so the standard Tri-Wing or Bi Wing External sensor array that comes as default with the HP2550/1 reads wind speeds as below
Wind speed range 0 – 50 m/s (0 ~ 100 mph)

The WS80 optional ultra sonic anemometer (standard with the HP2553 set) reads as follows
Measurement Range           Accuracy                                                    Resolution
Wind speed    0~40m/s      <10m/s, +/-0.5m/s ≥10m/s, +/-5%            0.1M/S

With the HP2553 you will also get a WH40 stand a lone rain gauge, which is better than the all in one and allows for easier mounting where you can service it more regularly

As for your location, don't worry about trees etc, no location is perfect, you are simply trying to measure the weather conditions in your location. However you should mount the WS80 in the sunniest and clear position that you can so that it can charge its super capacitor to run the sensor as much as possible.

[TheLegendOfTim]

OK, so the standard Tri-Wing or Bi Wing External sensor array that comes as default with the HP2550/1 reads wind speeds as below
Wind speed range 0 – 50 m/s (0 ~ 100 mph)

The WS80 optional ultra sonic anemometer (standard with the HP2553 set) reads as follows
Measurement Range           Accuracy                                                    Resolution
Wind speed    0~40m/s      <10m/s, +/-0.5m/s ≥10m/s, +/-5%            0.1M/S

With the HP2553 you will also get a WH40 stand a lone rain gauge, which is better than the all in one and allows for easier mounting where you can service it more regularly

As for your location, don't worry about trees etc, no location is perfect, you are simply trying to measure the weather conditions in your location. However you should mount the WS80 in the sunniest and clear position that you can so that it can charge its super capacitor to run the sensor as much as possible.

Thank you for the answers. It sounds like the ultrasonic is the best, from what you are saying.
And the 2553 set is the way to go. Should I still buy the internet gateway? I hope I can connect it to a raspberry pi, and get the data in a database or use it in home assistant.

I can see you are from UK. Is there anyway to get this from EU, or is the states/China the only way? The import taxes and fees are killer here, so it will make it way more expensive then the list price. 

[Mandrake]

Unfortunately it seems at the moment that direct from Ecowitt is the only way at present if you want the WS80 Ultra sonic anemometer
You do not want to buy weather kit from North America as these will be set to use 915Mhz and may cause interference or suffer from Interference in Europe (mobile phone frequency)
I have been encouraging them (Ecowitt) to consider selling via Amazon in the UK/Europe as we seem to be the only market that does not have this option yet.
I will send you a PM regards the import costs

If you want to do anything with your data then the best way is to get a GW1000 as that will allow you to read the data from the GW1000 as an when.
You can use the HP2550 to send data in Ecowitt or WeatherUnderground format to a custom server location and some folks do use it, but a GW1000 for its cost is so much easier and gives you many future options.

[galfert]

For data expandability it comes down to this. There are two methods. And no, I'm not referring to WU versus Ecowitt protocol. Those both fall under "Customized" server upload. The two methods are "Customized" server upload and API. Only the GW1000 supports both. The other consoles only support "Customized" server upload.

• "Customized" server upload - This method has tow options. You can use WU protocol or Ecowitt protocol. Every Fine Offset supports this feature except for Ambient branded station because their firmware has removed this. There are two supported protocols and both push data to a server; WU protocol and Ecowitt protocol.
  
  • Ecowitt protocol - This is a POST type HTTP method. The Ecowitt protocol sends all the sensor data. Including all extra sensors. It is complete. This can be scheduled to any number of seconds you want.
  • WU protocol - This is a GET type HTTP method (but don't let the name fool you, it is still pushing the data to a server). The WU protocol adhears to only sending the basic sensors that WU supports. No extra sensor data is sent. You can also choose the interval.
• API protocol - This method is only supported by the GW1000. This is a pull method. The GW1000 is not pre-configured to send any data anywhere. Some other server initiates everything and asks the GW1000 for data. The GW1000 sees the IP address of where the request is coming from and responds to this API request. This allows the GW1000 to respond to many different API requests all from different places (different IP addresses). This allows you to run multiple servers (or multiple applications) all asking for data. It is up to the software to determine how often it asks the GW1000 for data. The API method supports all sensors.
  

The API method is superior if the server asks for the data frequently enough, as it allows for multiple software to benefit from all getting the data. Some software that currently use the API method are; Cumulus MX, Meteobridge, and Weather-Display. Currently WeeWX does not support the API method, but work is being done to support this in WeeWX. It will be a while for this though.