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Reviews For: Davis Vantage Pro 2

Category: Weather Stations

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Review Summary For : Davis Vantage Pro 2
Reviews: 57MSRP: 595
Description:
Davis Vantage Pro 2
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.davisnet.com/weather/products/vantage2.asp
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00574.8
KB1HMJ Rating: 2006-08-10
Wireless model: great product Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have the wireless pro2 model, and I am very happy with it and its performance and accuracy. It has been the only unit tough enough to handle the conditions we have here in the northeast US: very cold to very hot with thunderstorms and hail. I have the unit hooked up to a PC and auto-sending reports to CWOPS, GLOBE and my website. No problems to date. When installing, I had one issue with the rain guage that required a reset of the unit: their support staff was very professional and quick. No problems at all.
KC2LLW Rating: 2006-05-09
Great Station Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Received my Wireless Pro 2 yesterday from Ambient Weather out of AZ. Paided $415 Which included UPS ground shipping to NJ. What can I say other than very easy to install and works great! Wireless station is about 200' from console no problems at all, great station works just as advertised should have bought it a long time ago.

Steve
KC2LLW
WO5I Rating: 2006-04-24
Accurate and Reliable Instrument! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I find I like to wait at least a year before posting any review of products, especially something that takes a full seasonal weather cycle to evaluate. After 16 months of owning a Davis Vantage Pro II, I can claim that the unit is absolutely reliable and requires zero maintenance once installed.

Temperature -- I purchased the unit without any fan aspirated sensors, but I found that my temperature readings, even in the dead heat of summer, are within a couple of degrees of the "official" temps posted at area airports.

Humidity -- Living in southeast Texas, where humidity isn't just a good idea, it's the law, I knew that this sensor would get a true test. Again, comparing my readings to official Weather Service data, the Davis unit always showed similar results. The dew point feature can give you a quick idea of when the air mass is getting moist before a rain event.

Wind -- This unit got a great test during Hurricane Rita. Although my home was well outside the hurricane-force wind cone of Rita, I still registered good sustained and gust data. My home is somewhat wind-shielded by some 40-ft. tall pines, but I still get pretty strong gusts in severe thunderstorms. I can always check the data obtained by the data logger to see how hard it blew in an overnight squall.

Rain -- This is probably the most fascinating sensor to watch during a storm. Before, when I had heard some Skywarn spotter estimate rainfall rates as "2-inches an hour", I thought he was full of it. Now I can see how, in the peak of a severe storm, rainfall rates can instantaneously reach up to 6-8 inches per hour. Fortunately, they never hold that level for very long. I also like that the software package will track daily, monthly, and yearly data for long-term climatology.

"Forecast" -- If I have any complaints about the Vantage Pro II, it's in it's attempt to forecast the weather. As best I can gather from watching it for a year or more, it attempts to use only humidity and barometric data to forecast future weather 1-3 days in advance. I'd say that the forecast is wrong about 80% of the time. In short, don't make any picnic plans based on what this weather station predicts. Stick to the weather service.

Sensors -- the sensor array is compact, solar-powered, and extremely low maintenance. In the year plus I've had it installed, I've only had to clean out a few pine needles from the rain collector. Otherwise, the thing is humming along like new.

Console -- This is my favorite part of the station. The console has a large, customizable display that shows every critical weather measurement. The console is updated every 2.5 seconds. Buttons are well-labeled and intuitive so you don't have to refer to the Owners Manual to know how to change from Monthly Rain Total to Yearly Rain Total.

Conclusion -- if you have ANY interest in following weather, get this station. You will love what it does. I got mine from ProVantage for about $200 less than Davis' MSRP.
KC0OFZ Rating: 2006-02-27
Vantage Pro 2 Advantage Time Owned: N.A.
I am the happy owner of the Vantage Pro 2 wireless station and have no regrets about the purchase. It performs great in cold and warm weather. I have had it working flawlessly in temperatures down to -30F with about a -45F windchill and it also works in warm weather as well. The set up is straight forward and simple. I have the anemometer about 25 feet up right now and the ISS about 9 feet up.
This summer, once my tower is up, I will put the anemometer at the standard of 33 feet but will still have the ISS at about the same 9 foot height. The reason for this is the easy of servicing the rain collector which I feel may collect more than just rain, maybe the occasional bird or insect nest.
The temperature and humidity sensors are accurate when compared to the weather sensors that the local news service has in town as well. I plan to add the day-time fan kit to the radiation shield and hope to also add the UV and solar sensors sometime. One I decide to add computer logging, I should have it almost complete, although I am still trying to talk the YL into the soil moisture, soil temperature, and leaf wetness sensors for the garden.
I have had no interference issues with the wireless either, even with a 900 Mhz cordless phone in the house. I am so pleased that I may buy another unit to use mobile during storm season as well.
If you want a great weather station, pay a little more and get a Davis Vantage Pro 2. It is well worth the extra coin.
KQ6EA Rating: 2006-02-25
Superb! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I, too, read all the reviews here before I decided to buy this unit. I also have friends that have used the Oregon and Peet products, and were not happy with them. Setup was a breeze (pun intended!), and the installation went without a hitch. They even included *stainless* hardware, unusual for a consumer item. I also bought their WeatherLink package because I wanted to do computer logging, and send the data out to the Internet. With the aid of a serial-to-Ethernet converter, I now have my Vantage Pro2 on my network, and can access it from anywhere I go. Very well made, looks nice in the shack, and works very well.
K1ESL Rating: 2006-02-14
Totally awesome Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It's almost hard to believe the rave reviews for Davis products, but getting my own sure makes me a believer. Ambient Weather was a great place to get it from, with their own software included with the WeatherLink package. Easy to set up, quality through and through, and the usability and features are fantastic. One thing I worry about is accuracy, but comparing the results with nearby stations on the Weather Undergound shows it's right on.

A previous reviewer says "you get what you pay for" and that is absolutely correct in this case - it's super quality. Everything is exactly as I would have wanted it designed.

I chose the wireless model, even with the extra expense - and my YL surprised me with a 2nd console to put in another part of the house - that's where it really pays off. I also chose the fan-aspirated ISS, we get baking hot sun with no breeze, and so far the temps are where they should be, compared to my other outside sensors which all get some kind of extra heat from their case or location.
N0LTM Rating: 2006-01-27
should not have procrastinated Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have been wanting to put up a weather station for a few years now. I had a hard time trying to justify the cost of a wx station. My YL got tired of me talking about it so she went out and got me a Davis wireless VantagePro2 as a gift. I had been researching wx stations for some time, reading reviews everywhere, including eham and found that everyone likes the VantagePros. Needless to say I wasn't disappointed. The integrated sensor suite (ISS) was very well designed and easy to put up. I mounted mine on a antenna mast attached to a wood post. I have not had a problem with the either the ISS nor the console. Yes this unit is expensive; however I believe the phrase "You get what you pay for" definitely applies here. Both the ISS and the console are made out of high quality materials and so far have been very durable.

73's

Steve
GM6TVR Rating: 2005-12-22
This is the one Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
After witnessing the death of two Oregon 918 wireless set ups, I finally took the bull by the horns and purchased the Vantage Pro 2. Now this is a quality piece of kit, with the data recorder inline (which fits neatly inside the display unit) the system is superb. Software gives the owner professional looking screens giving all the information you could wish for.
I am delighted with this one.
73's
John
gm6tvr / gm6tvr/4s7 / gm0fqv / 9g1bj
N1YZ Rating: 2005-11-19
A superb piece of meteorological gear Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Having had another dedicated weather computer for a number of year I was not prepared for the rather amazing increase in quality. My station is the wireless model and is transmitting about 50'. The rain gauge, anemometer, wind vane, humidity/temperature sensor package sit 6 feet off the ground. They are attached to an 8.5' piece of galvanized pipe that was placed 2.5' below ground in a pvc pipe. The entire base hole was filled with cement. I've been just missed by a tornado once, and don't want the instruments to fly away :)

The data presentation and historical research ability of the stand alone unit are great. The accuracy of the temperature and humidity readings have been verified with professional level instruments. I love the graph showing the last 24 readings of which ever value you select.

My next step will be to get a data logger to process and upload weather Data to the CWOP program.

By the way, the station display sits less than 2 feet from UHF, VHF, and HF radios. I've detected no interference on any of the equipment at all.
W3JKS Rating: 2005-10-08
Outstanding Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased the Vantage Pro2 Weather Station with the Emergency Response option. I use it in my mobile emergency communications trailer along with Virtual Weather Station and ALOHA - both work well with the Pro2.

So far I have not had any issues with RF interference (I have the cabled version). A++!