FAQs

Sadly, no. Spiders and ants have no respect for the quality or the price of your weather system. The only solution is regular maintenance

Yes. All our products using a radio frequency comply with New Zealand regulations and are labelled with the R-NZ compliance mark

It depends. Many users do not have any ongoing fees. Two groups of users will have annual subscriptions or plans:

1. People upgrading from the free, Basic Tier of the Davis website, weatherlink.com. The website has three tiers: Basic, Pro and Pro+. Basic is free, the other two are paid. See more information below in the FAQ section on weatherlink.com
2. Customers with EnviroMonitor systems. These have annual data plans, which include the Pro Tier of the website and cellular charges

It depends on your site. For most locations in New Zealand, nature kindly assists with this, with plentiful winds, so a standard radiation shield is enough.

The purpose of the 24 hour fan-aspirated radiation shield (FARS) unit is to regulate the sensor readings and maximise the sensor accuracy by circulating the air in the radiation shield around the temperature/humidity sensor. The FARS unit has a battery powered fan to do this.

A FARS unit on your ISS can be a great piece of kit for situations where there is little wind and the temperature reading is important, such as inside a shelter belt on an orchard where there is little wind and lots of sun.

The wireless Vantage Pro 2 sensor suites and weather station bundles give you the choice between a standard radiation shield or FARS option.

Sensor suites:

• The wireless sensor suites and transmitters have solar panels and super capacitors with a backup lithium battery
• The cabled sensor suites are either plugged into a Weather Envoy or EnviroMonitor IP Gateway and use mains power or, if plugged into a 6803 EnviroMonitor Gateway, are powered by the Gateway’s solar panel

Consoles and receivers:

• The legacy consoles, WeatherLink Live, Weather Envoys, and EnviroMonitor IP Gateway run off mains power and have the option of adding backup batteries
• The 6313 WeatherLink Console uses mains power and has a built in battery, like a tablet

It depends on your Davis system set-up but there are several options:

• On the Davis website, weatherlink.com
• On your phone, via a  Davis app, usually the WeatherLink app
• On the WeatherLink console
• On the WeatherLink Desktop Software on your PC Windows computer
• Integrated into your system using an API

• Nothing lasts forever! Keep in mind that New Zealand’s island weather is notoriously tough on weather stations, especially with the wind blowing the rain sideways. Many of us live near the sea and some of us near geothermal activity, which doesn’t help
• Having said that, you can expect your Davis station to keep going for years
• The stations are made of good UV-resistant plastic. Like the solar panels, that UV plastic lasts well
• Some sensors, such as the temperature/humidity sensor, will wear out over time. These can be replaced on the Vantage Pro 2. (The Vue will need the entire PCBA replaced)
• The backup battery will need replacing every few years
• Regular services to check for ants and spiders and that the wind vane and cups are spinning freely are recommended to help your gear last longer
• The Vantage Pro 2 has been manufactured for almost 20 years and we can still supply parts to keep those early ones going
• When possible, the improvements to Davis sensor suites have been made to be able to retrofit to the earlier models
• Check out our wide range of parts for the VP2 and the Vue in our web shop and our tech support in our FAQs and Resource Page

Yes! For both Android and iOs devices. Actually, there are three:

• Davis Instruments WeatherLink app. This allows you to access your current/most recent data from weatherlink.com and view your station data with historic highs and lows. Free to download and you don’t even need to have a station. Anyone can download this, search by station name or location and save stations as favourites. There are almost 500 stations on the map for New Zealand alone.
• Davis Instruments EnviroMonitor app. This is for EnviroMonitor users only and is used for set up and diagnostics
• Davis Instruments Mobilize. Mobilize lets growers focus on frost, growing degree days,  chill accumulation and irrigation requirements. This is for EnviroMonitor users and others with a Pro tier (paid) subscription to weatherlink.com

There are a lot of phrases and terms used by Davis

• Integrated sensor suite, ISS and sensor suite: all refer to a collection of sensors mounted together with a transmitter. There are two varieties, the Vantage Vue and the Vantage Pro 2 (VP2). Usually an ISS compares favourably to the price of one sensor and transmitter
• Vue and VP2: The two varieties of Davis sensor suites, Vantage Vue and Vantage Pro 2
• WeatherLink: usually refers to a Davis software or data product. There are the data loggers and serial interfaces, the PC Desktop software, the new console, the Live, the app and the website: all use WeatherLink in the name
• EnviroMonitor (EM): The latest Davis system. Two options: a cellular Gateway that uses the Spark network to get data to weatherlink.com and the WeatherLink app or an IP Gateway. The EM systems add extra sensors using the EM Node
• Weather Station: Usually (but not always) used by Davis to mean a bundle (sensor suite and console) sold together
• 24 hour fan-aspirated radiation shield (FARS): The standard radiation shield surrounds the temperature/humidity sensor to stop direct sunlight from impacting your temperature reading. It relies on the wind to circulate the air inside the radiation sensor. The 24hr FARS unit is an extra feature on the Vantage Pro 2 Sensor Suites, and has a battery powered fan to circulate the air

Have a Davis and not sure what it is? Check out our helpful info sheet ‘IDing Davis Components’ on our Resources page

• All Davis sensor suites give you air temperature, humidity wind direction, wind speed, rainfall
• Consoles and Weather Envoys give you air temperature and humidity and barometric pressure
• EnviroMonitor Gateways give you barometric pressure
• You can add extra Davis transmitters and Davis sensors to get other measurements, such as solar radiation, UV radiation, soil moisture, soil temperature and leaf wetness
• With the EnviroMonitor systems, you can use four sensors in any configuration with a Node with any Davis sensor and a variety of third party sensors
• These third party sensors allow measurement of: carbon dioxide, water depth and level, flow meters, PAR (PPFD), pressure sensors, pressure switch, water potential, water quality and weight

• Our website. There is lots of information in the web shop (including prices), resources page (which has spec sheets and the latest Davis catalogue) and other sections of this FAQ page
• You Tube. Davis Instruments have their own channel, with numerous videos about their products
• By downloading the Davis WeatherLink app and trying it yourself. It is free for the Basic Tier. Search on the map and save any nearby stations as favourites
• By getting in touch with us. Email us or call. Come see us in person at the New Zealand Fieldays at Mystery Creek

• For almost all of our customers, we recommend wireless Davis systems
• The exceptions are a) sites where there are a lot of radio transmissions and a cabled variant can give peace of mind and b) with EnviroMonitor Gateways where the cabled sensor suite can be powered through the Gateway and mounted on the same pole
• Cabled sensor suites are more prone to damage, including lightning strike and cable damage
• Use of a cabled sensor suite and Weather Envoy does not allow you to include soil moisture or other remote transmitters
• Cabled products are not compatible with the WeatherLink Console or WeatherLink Live

There are a number of factors that will point you to one Davis system over another one. You have some decisions to make:

• Decide what data you want: what parameters you want to measure and how often
• Consider what options you might want in the future
• Decide how you want to view the data. On your computer and off-line? On your phone?
• Consider your site: do you have internet? What distances are involved? Are there buildings and shelter belts in the way?
• We have systems for most situations. Check out our Davis Enquiry Info sheet on our Resources page. It will give you an idea which system will work in the different scenarios above
• Get in touch to discuss. We enjoy helping you find the most cost-effective system for your needs. If our products don’t match your needs, we will try and point you in the right direction

Lots of different people. Our customers include:

• Businesses needing to meet resource consent conditions
• Companies monitoring wind conditions, such as ports, quarries, adventure activities, agricultural contractors, pilots and crane operators
• Growers interested in frost alerts, chill hours or growing days
• Farmers and growers interested in soil moisture and temperature and/or irrigation
• Researchers, farmers and growers interested in staff or stock welfare concerns, such as heat stress, or predicting horticultural or agricultural pests or disease
• Engineers integrating weather monitoring into construction projects and building management
• Educators
• Weather enthusiasts

There are a lot of phrases and terms used by Davis

• Integrated sensor suite, ISS and sensor suite: all refer to a collection of sensors mounted together with a transmitter. There are two varieties, the Vantage Vue and the Vantage Pro 2 (VP2). Usually an ISS compares favourably to the price of one sensor and transmitter
• Vue and VP2: The two varieties of Davis sensor suites, Vantage Vue and Vantage Pro 2
• WeatherLink: usually refers to a Davis software or data product. There are the data loggers and serial interfaces, the PC Desktop software, the new console, the Live, the app and the website: all use WeatherLink in the name
• EnviroMonitor (EM): The latest Davis system. Two options: a cellular Gateway that uses the Spark network to get data to weatherlink.com and the WeatherLink app or an IP Gateway. The EM systems add extra sensors using the EM Node
• Weather Station: Usually (but not always) used by Davis to mean a bundle (sensor suite and console) sold together
• 24 hour fan-aspirated radiation shield (FARS): The standard radiation shield surrounds the temperature/humidity sensor to stop direct sunlight from impacting your temperature reading. It relies on the wind to circulate the air inside the radiation sensor. The 24hr FARS unit is an extra feature on the Vantage Pro 2 Sensor Suites, and has a battery powered fan to circulate the air

Have a Davis and not sure what it is? Check out our helpful info sheet ‘IDing Davis Components’ on our Resources page