With the new property purchased, the very first thing I wanted to do is start collecting weather data. I wanted a weather station that fit the following criteria:
- Collect rain, wind (direction/speed), temperature, and barometric data
- Ability to upload data to a website so I can manipulate the data if needed and see historical data for design purposes
I settled on the Davis Vantage Pro 2 kit which included a wireless control station. At the time, I stumbled upon David Holmgren’s website and saw that he was using this weather station as well (edit: the link to this seems to have disappeared), so I figured it must be alright. As an option, I also bought the usb serial interface so I could connect the controller to a computer and the Weatherlink software for the Mac.
There was no ideal place I could find to put the weather station on my property, because there are very mature eucalyptus trees all around, so I tried to place it as best I could. Now that I have been experiencing the weather for a year here, I will eventually be moving it. Experience is the best teacher. 🙂 It has been fantastic to be able to get rain and wind measurements as this has direct influence on tree selection and placement.
Now that I’ve been using the device for a while, here is my opinion, and lessons learned:
Lessons learned
1. Since I was planning on putting this device online, it was not really necessary to purchase the weatherlink software, although I have been using until I got everything working online. The weatherlink software is completely dated, limited and unsexy.
2. Although I’ve had no problems with the USB interface, I should have bought the network interface instead. That would have made the solution more flexible if I need to change things later. It also means if I wanted to, I could access the weather station directly from another location instead of relying on a computer connected to the controller.
Pros:
Very flexible product. You can add all kinds of things like a solar radiation sensor, soil moisture sensor, etc.
Controller is very reliable and wireless range is great. It runs on batteries for about 6 months or an adapter (I use both).
Cons:
Controller interface is clunky and unintuitive. Basically useless to me except to present the data to my computer, it also looks and feels dated. It seems a lot bigger than it needs to be. Clock seems to be wandering quite a bit as well (luckily I sync time with my computer).
The Weatherlink software is crap and pretty expensive for what it does. It looks like it was designed in the 90’s and never had a refresh. I wouldn’t recommend the software if you can find alternatives.
Rain collector is made of plastic and seems a bit cheap for such a pricey product. I would expect something more substantial that will last for years.
Would I recommend it? Yes. Even despite the cons, it is rock solid and does what it advertises, although a bit pricey for the quality.
Do you have a better weather station to recommend? What are you using?