Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 Weather Station (Wireless)

After trying several different brands of weather stations - and putting up with their unreliability and premature failures, I decided to sink a bit more money than I had previously in hopes of a more reliable weather station. Also the slow response and reporting times of the other ones I tried created an exercise in frustration in that they missed wind peaks 90% of the time as they seemed to only report the wind speed at the moment of reporting.I had an Acu-rite that lost contact with the transmitter every time the wind was above a stiff breeze. The transmitter was 25 feet away from the receiver and in direct line of sight. Plus its humidity sensor failed at just over a year old.Installation took just under an hour as I already had a support set up for an older weather station so I just had to mount the ISS and anemometer. I elevated the anemometer to about 20 feet and this is included in my installation time.You can get your latitude and longitude from a number of sources. I used the National Weather Service page to get the position of my local airport and then mapped my elevation with Google Maps (the 25 foot difference did make a difference with the barometer, so I got as close as I could).Davis seems to have taken a different route with their weather stations and provide what I consider excellent value for the money. My Vantage Pro II has performed without flaw for over a month (I could NOT say that about the Acu-rite unit).Update times of 2 1/2 seconds is a major plus tracking wind speeds (it updates the outside temperature every 10 seconds). The Acu-rite weather station I retired reported every 18 seconds and frequently missed an update so I had to wait 36 seconds.Taking the receiver around the land, I was able to keep reliable contact for a bit over 1000 feet...and through a thick stand of trees and a dirt berm. Using the diagnostic screen, I called it quits at about 1400 feet when packet corruption reached about 50% (it reports reliability, but I did mental calculations with reported lost packets) of packets received. Here inside, it registers 99% reliability and only has to resync now and then. It has registered wind speeds way in excess of what the Acu-rite reported as the top recorded speed without even a hiccup.This station is ideal for people with large plots of land, and if you need to monitor weather (or use any additional temperature, leaf or ground moisture sensors) outside the range where it is reliable, there are also two different types of repeaters available, and you have a lot of flexibility with the repeaters. Also, the receiver which comes with the station also serves as a repeater if you purchase other receivers for around the house, office, etc. which can't receive the transmitter.I set the barometer for my elevation and it is in agreement with the one at the airport less than 10 miles away almost all the time. The only time the barometers didn't agree was with a fast moving front coming through the area which is understandable.The moon phase icon takes a little getting used to as it is backwards to all the other ones I have here. Full moon is reported by the moon segments being empty while the rest of my clocks, etc darken the segments to show light (no big deal; just have to remember how they designed it!). The onboard clock keeps time better than the other weather stations or thermometers I have tried, plus Daylight Saving Time does work!Graphing is a nice touch and it does take a bit of time to play around with to get the most out of....it is worth taking the time if you are into trends over time.I cannot speak about the computer linking software, UV or solar detectors.Others have mentioned the forecast feature. It may be more accurate than many of the others, but it still does not beat the good old weatherman! Having said that, I do not use it for forecasting the next 24 hours.One gripe I have read from others is that many weather stations don't report or record rainfall for a while after it starts to rain. A heavy dew could cause false rainfall readings. Davis programmed their stations to not report until they get two bucket tips within a 15 minute period. This is documented in the instruction manual.If I had a feature request: I would love to have two backlight brightness settings, but that is a personal thought and in no way detracts from how I feel about the Vantage Pro II station.The backup battery for the transmitter is readily available at Walmart, Walgreens, or just about any other location which sells batteries for general electronics like cameras, etc, so it is not some odd battery with limited options for purchase.Bottom line: If you want a reliable weather station with a lot of installation flexibility, it is worth the extra money.UPDATE April 10, 2014:Now that a month has passed since my review, I stick with my review. There have been no nasty surprises or even any unpleasant ones.One concern from my bad experiences with Acu-rite and the others I have tried, the clock has kept time very nicely. I also still trust my Davis to not miss wind peaks in gusty weather...also unlike the others.On a light note, the ticker tape often gives a bit of whimsy telling me it is good kite flying weather or it is raining cats and dogs!I am still glad I purchased the Vantage Pro 2.

January 2016 update: This station is still rocking as it did the day it was new. Yes, I have replaced the battery, which wasn't low yet, but did so anyway. I have also replaced the OEM rain collector with the new and very improved one. But, and this is a huge but, this is a really accurate and dependable weather station. I have reported my station to Weather Underground since I purchased it, and without bragging, it has been the most visited PWS in my area since I put it up... and I contribute that to it's accuracy and name brand. There are lots of lesser brand PWS in my area but they often fail and report erroneous data. If you care to check out it's data, the station ID is KNCHICKO15.Bottom line: if you are serious about real weather data, then this is the unit for you.-----------February 14/2014 update:A hidden feature, or at least it was for me. The HUGE rain collector also acts as a snow collector. Let me expand. While I would not recommend you climbing up a pole/your roof to measure snowfall, you can have the best of both worlds. Build a "snowboard", instructions can be found on google; then use the rain fall measure when the snow melts in your gage to determine exactly how much rain is equal to how much snow. The recent winter storm here on the east coast of the US, (check my profile to find out exactly where) left 5.5 inches of total snowfall and sleet accumulation on the ground, (in my area, yours may vary) has measured 0.77 inches of rain as it melts in my gauge. So, the old wives tale that one inch of rain equals 12 inches of snow is not correct. This has been proven by me and Davis, so I know it's true. :)-----------As soon as I unpacked this baby, I knew it was of "higher" quality over the unit it was replacing. Yes, the cost was 4x, but the quality is equal to the increase in cost.The wind speed/directional part is very sturdy. The rain gauge is really sturdy compared to my previous unit. Also, the collector for the rain gauge is huge compared to the standard rain gauge. It has to be more accurate. Also, the entire unit is more "weather proof" over the unit it is replacing.With that said, the unit alone deserves ten stars. But, and a huge BUT;What brings this down to a five star rating is: Software. A joke at best. Looks like something I wrote in QuickBasic back in 1990. Also, it is a resource hog which means it is a dinosaur. Yes, It very SLOW! Documentation: This is also a joke. I've seen fifth graders write better instructions. Way too much is assumed that it makes this a total waste of paper. Yes, if you have owned Davis' products from day one, and have evolved along with them, then you are up to speed, but if you are like most, you are totally in the dark. Support: this also is a joke. I spent over two hours today (90 percent of the time was being on hold) talking to support to find out I knew more than they did. My biggest problem was connecting my station to Weather Underground. Seems that the latest version of their software "left out" this option. You have to download the module that allows you to send data to Wunderground.com .Also, you have to tac on to the price of this unit $150 bucks just to connect it to your computer... What they don't tell you is that you don't need the "weatherlink" account to upload to weather underground. This alone tacs on an additional $30 per year. So, this $485 PWS turns into a $700 PWS really fast, and the cost keep adding up.Bottom line, this is a TOP KNOTCH product. But, all the EXTRAs needed to utilize it, are for a lack of words, extortion.Would I recommend this to another? Yes and no. If they want quality and DON'T want to share their data via the internet, then this is the unit for them. If they want to share the data, then perhaps they can find a MUCH cheaper method.Davis, don't get me wrong, this is a great product but your poor documentation/crappy software/extra costs really are negative points.If anyone that has this unit is having problems, comment to me and I will help you set up your system and software. It's a huge learning curve but it can be achieved without running up a huge long distance telephone bill.