Lost Contact...

[Te Puke Weather]

Hi all, over the last 24 hours I have been have and issue with my base station losing contact with the weather station.

Has any else been having this issue?

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[gabba]

Hi

What is the brand / model of your station? Generally check batteries and reset everything  - but spose you've done that!

There are a good range of stations around here so someone should be able to help

[JennyLeez]

Yep usually thats a sign of failing batteries

[iomkiwi]

or spiders....

[Te Puke Weather]

Batteries are all good, only new 3 weeks ago, its the first time its ever done it for that amount of time. Its been fine all day today.

[gabba]

Okay I see from your website it's a Digitech XC-0348. Many of us have our station types in our signature lines. so it's easier to help out in these situations. You might want to thinlk about that 

So if it's not any of the above:
(a) Is this a regular thing - is there any pattern to it?
(b) have you or your neighbours purchased any new electronic equipment lately - esp wireless routers, phones and the like
(c) Is there any liquid in the system - check battery connections are dry and free of dirt
(d) check any cables are secure and dry
(e) Can you move your base station closer to your weather station temporarily - even i it is away from your PC for a few hours

That would be the next things I'd try

[Te Puke Weather]

Hi

to answer your questions.

(a) Is this a regular thing - is there any pattern to it? No, was just the other night.
(b) have you or your neighbours purchased any new electronic equipment lately - esp wireless routers, phones and the like? No I have asked today, and all the same.
(c) Is there any liquid in the system - check battery connections are dry and free of dirt? Had a look, its clean and dry
(d) check any cables are secure and dry? One a little lose, pulled out and cleaned.
(e) Can you move your base station closer to your weather station temporarily - even i it is away from your PC for a few hours? Yes I can move it, however all seems to going well again. But will keep that in mind.

Cheers for your help 

[TokWW]

I gather it is a wireless station, so was there a bus parked in nearby backyard or visitor, garage door opened, electrically noisy dryer or grinder, or a ham radio close by, was outside clothesline full of damp washing...  so many weird things to interfere with direct line of transmission.

[choc-a-holic]

Recently I went thru a similar issue.  I tried everything with my rain gauge...it stopped talking to the base station (WMR200) which is wireless.  Nothing had changed except I moved the base station about 200mm.  I  changed the batteries twice and still had problems.  In the end I relocated the rain gauge and it has not missed a beat.  Weird but it worked. 

One other time I did find that the new batteries were stuffed...they lasted less than a week.   I have had few problems with one brand of batteries and have changed brands and problem has gone away.

[GrantK]

Up until last August I had a Honeywell (aka Irox) weather station with wireless sensors.  Advertised range was 100 metres, but in practice, it was more like 20.  If I parked our ute between the console and one of the outdoor sensors (only about 6 metres away), communication was lost.  The range was really disappointing, and that was one of the key reasons for buying a Davis.

Various people warned me off buying a wireless version but I have had no problems at all, even though one of the sensors is more than 100 metres away, over the brow of a hill, in among trees, and behind a brick water tank.  Communication is error-free 97 or 98% of the time, and when there is a packet error, the console waits for the next transmission.  Recently it warned me that the battery was low at two of my remote stations, rather than simply losing communication as the cheaper stations do.  Replaced both batteries and the error messages cleared.

One thing I've noticed is that all of Davis' wireless sensors and the console have a short aerial attached, just over 11cm long.  The cheaper stations don't do this, instead relying on internal aerials, and this may well be part of the reason that the range of a Davis wireless system is so much better than most other brands out there.

[Te Puke Weather]

Just and update, I have moved the station on to a new pole, much higher now, and I have had know more issues, for over a week.

So hoping that the issue is resolved....

[TokWW]

That sounds like good news TPW! No more fretful loss of comms and data!