I Got a Davis Weathercenter for my birthday!!!

[Persepone]

A Vantage Pro 2!!! Wireless. Very excited!

Does anyone out there have any tips on installation, etc.? General advice?

Also, does anyone know what happens if it goes below freezing with the rain gauge? I'm worried and don't really have the $160 available for the heater right now... Do I stand out there with a hairdryer if it goes below 32 or what?

I can live with "inaccuracy" or even take it off temporarily--but don't want to damage the rain gauge. Should I cover it or something so it does not get water in it that freezes or something? What should I do?

Hopefully someone can tell me what is best to do about the rain gauge.

[SouthernWx]

I have a wireless Vantage Pro, and didn't purchase the rain gauge heater either......will just let the sun melt any wintry precip that fall & freezes in it.

You might want to call Davis support before using a hair dryer to melt ice/ snow....the extreme heat could damage internal parts of your rain gauge or other wx station components (a blow dryer temp can reach 160° degrees).

Congratulations on your birthday and the home wx station

[NWIASpotter]

I would love to have one of those, but I just don't have the money

[Aslkahuna]

Generally, all you have to do when the rainguage freezes up is wait for the accumulated precip to melt. During ZR events, your wind sensors will also likely ice up and give erroneous readings as well, you also wait for the ice to melt off. To prevent raingauge freezing from being a problem for me I also have a non recording standalone that I can bring in and thaw out under snow or icing conditions.

Steve

[isobar]

Don't do like I did and spray windshield fluid on it (the rain guage and/or anemometer). Yes, it melted the ice, but it registered 35" of rain that day.

Congrats Persepone!!!

[Wnghs2007]

How much does the Davis Vantage Pro II Wireless Home System Cost.

Thank you to anyone who can tell me what it costs.

[binovc]

A couple of way to provide heat to the rain gauge. Find or build a small box that the unit can fit in. Line it with foam and foil. Place a 25 watt light bulb in the box and it should be warm enough to melt snow.

You can also go to a pet store and purchase a plastic heating pad that people use to keep their reptiles warm with. You can wrap this inside the cone. Their was a good link on the net somewhere about this, but I have not been able to find it. I have used both these methods, with different rain gauges, and they work well.

[Stephanie]

That's great!

Happy Brithday Persepone!

[P.K.]

How much does the Davis Vantage Pro II Wireless Home System Cost.

Thank you to anyone who can tell me what it costs.

A lot, although they are cheaper there than they are here.

http://www.davisnet.com/weather/products/stations.asp - Prices are on here.

http://www.meteorologica.co.uk/product.asp?numRecordPosition=4&P_ID=9&strPageHistory=&strKeywords=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=84 - Here is a British website selling them for a comparison. £1 = $1.94

[NWIASpotter]

Usually they can be found on ebay very easily and are usually sold from 350 to 450 dollars. A lot of other types of weather systems can be found there as well.

[isobar]

We got a Davis Vantago Pro from Scientific Sales for $355.
http://www.scientificsales.com/
It's cabled, not wireless. My husband researched and found them to be a bit more reliable.

Persepone - Regarding installing ... we're still having some dilemma. We mounted it on a tripod and have it about 30 ft from the house down by the pond. The neighbors haven't been real pleased about it though. Plus it's below the surface, and I'm not getting very accurate wind readings.
What we plan to do is detach the anemometer and mount it on the roof. Ideally it should be 33 ft from the surface.
Whereabouts do you live? Here in So. Indiana, we don't get much ice or snow, but we did have to strap it down after a couple gust fronts blew it over.

[P.K.]

Usually they can be found on ebay very easily and are usually sold from 350 to 450 dollars. A lot of other types of weather systems can be found there as well.

Shame the Vantage Pro 2 systems that are on there aren't legal over here though.

[isobar]

Usually they can be found on ebay very easily and are usually sold from 350 to 450 dollars. A lot of other types of weather systems can be found there as well.

Shame the Vantage Pro 2 systems that are on there aren't legal over here though.

Wow PK, sorry to hear that. It seems rather odd. I wonder why they're illegal there?

[P.K.]

Something to do with the radio frequencies they use. When the UK version is released (I don't think it has been yet) it will use a different frequency and we will be charged twice as much as you have to pay for them.

This is from someone who sells these stations in the UK (But isn't the UK distibutor mentioned here) :

Now, with the Dollar being around 1.94 Pounds it would be good if the UK Davis distributor would do the same and reduce the prices but they are actually trying to set their market place at an inflated price (told this directly from Davis!) and refuse to consider reducing their pricing. This obviously doesn't make sense since people can see the price of accessories in the US. The UV sensor you quote is around $350, about £180, almost half the price of the unit in the UK. Add to that the fact that it is the same sensor, there are no UK/EU/USA version differences for these add ons and it shows this issue. In fact, I found it online here in the UK for £385 still (the UK RRP)!!!

[NWIASpotter]

Sorry to hear that PK... and if anybody wants to get rid of a weather station that they don't want... be sure to PM me Because I REALLY want one...