Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus w/UV & Solar Radiation Sensors

The unit we ordered was suppose to be cabled to replace an existing cable unit at our local VFD that died after many years of use in a fairly rough environment, but we were shipped the wireless version. Went ahead and tried the wireless and it is working fine. Our building is storm harden and we have trouble with cell phones, etc., so we were very unsure about a wireless unit. Our only true disappointment is our existing data logger is not compatible and we will need to purchase a new one.

Very good product. I’d give 4.5 stars if it was available. Barometer needs some tweaking when setting up. The setup instructions don’t provide insight to validating data. I found MADIS to be a good reference once it’s set up. Passed QC with MADIS and WeatherUnderground right out the gate. If you are a weather nut, this will do ya good!

Super affordable and high quality weather station that will give you a staggering amount of data for a low price. I think this is a good product for your money. Pay attention as it is not exactly easy to set up , I had to call Davis Tech support many times to have everything running smooth... Once everything is set you have a great tool in your hands.

f you live in a cold climate think twice before you purchase this weather station. I live in Alaska where -40 F is common through the winter. When the temp reached -40 in early December the temp sensor quit at -39.3. I looked on Weather Underground and you could tell who had Davis weather stations in the area because they were all locked at -39.3. At the same time the wind vane quit working and has not worked since. Davis sent me a test cable to diagnose the problem with the wind vane and will be sending me a replacement wind vane. Support for the wind vane problem was good however the temperature sensor crapping out is not acceptable. Davis offered no solution and only said it was within specification. With regard to the temprature sensor I am very dissatisfied with Davis support. My $29 Oregon Scientific thermometer works down to -55F but my $800 Davis Vantage Pro quits. The Davis website claims that their weather stations are used around the world in all types of climates. I think this is less than honest. I don't know that the wind vane quit because of the cold but that is my suspicion. I will be waiting to see if the replacement will function when it gets cold again. If you live in a cold climate, look else where for a weather station.

I was quite enthusiastic about my new Davis Vantage Pro2 station at the beginning but after over a year of using it think differently. Here is why: CONS: # Hardware # - anemometer failed & stopps sending data to console / WeatherLinkIP datalogger [this is the second time it happened. after unscrewing wind cups and screwing back in (cups pushed all the way up) it works for some days then stops again. No wind speed data is then received for until i do the manual fix. Davis say i have to replace whole arm which is expensive - it only worked 8 months!] - no option to expand memory for both console or datalogger to allow storage for longer periods data: [i set mine to log every minute & logger memory fills up after about two days thereby overwriting any previous data. if not downloaded it's lost forever. not possible to extract same data with such interval from any external sources] # Software # WeatherLink software is extremely unuseful & bad: - random error messages or no error messages at all [try using "Web download" function to downlaod data from weatherlink.com using you account credentials. i am getting a blank error message box, or random messages such as "No new data to download" or connection problems. these are interchangably displayed for the same situation - very confusing. - a lot of "time outs" messages during data download attmepts too - no clear explanations or examples for many settings - the app often crashes for no reason or during data processing / visualisation - it's cumbersome & graphs are useless. I rather use raw text data and process in excel than this app. weatherlink.com for WeatherlinkIP datalogger: - no setting or clear information about datalogging interval [weatherunderground.com captures data at random intervals at roughly 15-25 mins on average!] - only two external sources submit data to external internet sources [CWOP & weatherunderground receive directly from weatherlink.com with no clear (where is eg. FTP??!)] - if you change your password at weatherunderground.com site weatherlink.com stops submitting data to it. there is no notification nor error message shown about a communication problem on the uploads page/tab. PROS # Hardware # - The WeatherLinkIP data logger, ISS and console haven't broken for over 12 months and work fine # Software # IDEAS I would rather have the datalogger to store more data on a memory card (in datalogger or console) then send off to a S/FTP server as raw text or better directly to SQL DB at set intervals e.g. min 1 min for further processing. Then I'd hook that up to any visualisation app. Very simple and useful. At present setup is way overcomlicated, same information have to be inputed in many places/sites. I have to keep one machine running up in order to capture data at 1 min inteval so my question is what's the point of buying IP version of the logger in version PRO cause it's clearly acts as one of those cheap stations that make people happy by just showing current conditions on a screen? UPDATE: 29/11/12 After taking down my station the anemometer is working again. I didn't even touch it so not sure what is going on now... have checked all electronics in particular super capacitor on the ISS's circuitboard + connectors and all appear to be fine ;/ troubleshooting this isn't going to be easy but will replace it just in case. UPDATE 30/11/12 I have got a brand new anemometer/vane delivered from the US to Poland where my station is. It appears to be of a similar build exept the vane has a brass tip and a 4mm wider base. Finally there isn't any plastic ring that need to be attached & a base holding cups is slightly higher going in more into the arm. The famous from failing reed switch positioned as before although appears to have two white bubbles inside its glass instead of one dark. The pole plastic mounting now allows to put cable outside - presume it could have been easily damaged/cut through when incorrectly aligned inside and tightned to pole by bolts (my old one is still in ok). Let's see is this one lasts more than 8 months... (i very hope) UPDATE 04/11/12 After some email exchanges with weatherlink.com (WL) it turns out that their site captures datalogger's data at 60 seconds interval but passes it further to third party sites such as Weather Underground (WU) and CWOP at merly 15 minutes! There is no way to change this, download or view recorded data on their site too apart from a current condition status page and very few rather unuseful to professionals settings. I was encouraged to become "a programmer" and write an app myself or use thirt party apps instead - nice! Well, I'm already ahead and have been using WeatherCat (formerly AKA LWC2) for Macs but this still requires a machine up & running to capture high frequency data samples. Therefore, this weather station despite PRO in name is not fit for the job if you require to capture data at this frequency especially in urban areas (some dataloggers allow 30s intervals).

I purchased one of these about 5 years ago for my Parents out in the country and it is fantastic! I put it up on a 24-foot iron pole on a hill about 500 feet from their house to get it into a completely open area. The display station inside the house picked-up the signal perfectly. Amazing amount of data: Rainfall accurate to 1/100th of an inch; Wind direction & speed; temperature; humidity; solar radiation; UV index and more. Data updates rapidly so you can see the changing wind speed and direction in real time. Shows rainfall rate per hour and sometimes here in Texas, that is AMAZING! It forecasts the weather using built-in algorithms very well. I have been amazed at how many times it forecasted rain when it was a hot, dry day and sure 'nough, it rained within 24 hours. It is the Cadillac of weather sensing and information suites! The only problem is that it has NO contingency for birds sitting on it! This is a real problem. The birds sit on the rim of the rain collector and they 'drop' waste into it which eventually clogs the little hole the rain is supposed to go through to be measured. This stops the accurate rain total until you can get up there and clean the rain bucket out. Also, the birds sit on the weathervane/wind direction sensor and cause it to register incorrectly and have also caused the sensor to change position on the end of the stem it is located on. This causes the wind direction to be displayed incorrectly until you can get up there and reorient the sensor arm in the correct direction. I have asked Davis Instruments on numerous occasions what could be done to prevent this from happening (because it is A ROYAL PAIN to get up on top of the 24-foot pole to clean and adjust the sensor suite) and they have always told me they don't know of anything that can be done. I purchased a new one of these for my Parents for Christmas this year and I am going to glue some pins/spikes/tacks/? upside down to the top of the rain bucket and weathervane arm to keep the birds from landing on them. This is how they keep birds off of billboards in high-bird areas (look at the billboards around LAX airport). The spike points keep the birds from landing on them. So, I'm going to try that on a small scale. I thought about putting some type of hardware cloth over the sensor suite or around it but that would negatively affect the accuracy of this amazing piece of equipment. I am going to take the old unit and send it to Davis Instruments for refurbishment and then install it here in the city for me and my neighbors. One suite will drive an unlimited number of the 'display stations' you put inside your house so all my neighbors can participate in the data if they purchase a display station for their own house. I will connect my station to the Internet/Weatherbug so I can see the weather conditions at my house even when I am out of town.

Very easy to install and very accurate. A little confusing getting things setup to view online such as WeatherUnderground but the information is out there, just be patient.

Only issue was that the instructions for installing wind mast and ISS together was confusing, however, after a phone call to Davis Instruments the issue was resolved. Very happy with the support and I am impressed with the product.