Latest Site News
Weather-resistant shelters and solar power kits
Updated 9th May 2013
Davis
have released the new 6618 Universal Shelter, which provides
a low-cost, weather-resistant housing for all Vantage
console units: VP2, Envoy and Vue.
The 6618 shelter also provides the basis of a new range of three solar power kits, which each include a 5W/6v solar panel on the front door of the unit. The solar kit is then available with either a 1.5Ah or 12Ah lead-acid battery inside or with no battery (for use as a supplementary solar panel in low-sunshine locations).
Please see the final section of the VP2 Accessories page for further details of all four of these new units.
New Sunshine Hours sensor
Updated 21st April 2013
We are announcing the availability of a new sensor for sunshine hours that is able to log the sunhsine data to a standard Davis weather station and logger. Full details on our Special Accessories page.
Vantage Connect
Updated 14th April 2013
Our page describing the
forthcoming Vantage Connect product has been substantially updated. Although this product
is not shipping quite yet, we have further information
suggesting that Connect is getting close to launch.
The Vantage Connect allows weather data to be uploaded automatically from a remote field site to a website via the mobile phone network. It now becomes possible for real-time weather data to be measured at a remote site (with no facilities required other than mobile phone reception) and then viewed via a central website from anywhere in the world and with readings updated every few minutes.
We expect there to be a real demand for these units as soon as they are released and suggest that anyone with a potential interest contact us to discuss reserving a unit
Weatherlink for Windows v6.0 Subscriptions
Added 14th April 2013
We are pleased to announce the availability, with immediate effect, of annual subscriptions for Weatherlink v6 uploads to the Davis website at www.weatherlink.com. This will allow users of the USB and serial loggers to join the community of many thousands of WeatherlinkIP users worldwide (and shortly to be expanded further with Connect users) who are already uploading live weather data to this network and making use of the many features that the weatherlink.com website offers. Subscriptions will be priced at £36 annually (inc VAT). Full details of the weatherlink.com website are available on our WeatherlinkIP page. Please contact us for further details.
Davis 2013 Catalogue
Added
14th April 2013
We have now received copies of the new Davis 2013 catalogue and product range. These are now available to anyone requesting our information pack. The main theme is of range extension and product evolution rather than the introduction of any radically new station. We can therefore be reasonably confident that the existing Vue and VP2 models will continue to be current throughout 2013.
Highlights of the 2013 range include:
- Release (at long last!) of the Davis Vantage Connect remote monitoring products is now scheduled for Summer 2013. We anticipate that these products will be of considerable interest to anyone wishing to monitor live weather at a remote field site. The Connect range is likely to be the most important Davis introduction during 2013 and promises to be a core product into the future..
- New replacement products for the old weatherproof shelter and solar panel kit products. All Vantage consoles will now fit inside a single, new and cheaper 6618 Universal Shelter, which will also form the basis for 5W solar panel and solar power supply products. Although these units may seem to be only a minor innovation, their increased versatility and lower cost will be very welcome to anyone planning a fully self-contained remote weather station.
Although most Davis prices will remain unchanged for 2013, there will regrettably be a small increase in prices of the weather station + logger bundles, which will take effect from May 1st.
The Weather Observer's Handbook by Stephen Burt
16th July 2012
We're pleased to announce that Stephen Burt's long-awaited Weather Observer's Handbook has now been published by the Cambridge University Press. The Weather Observer's Handbook provides a comprehensive, practical and independent guide to all aspects of making weather observations. This book will fill a major gap in providing a detailed reference guide for all serious weather observers, including major sections on automatic weather stations and their sensors.
Now in stock: This book is now published and in stock Full details on our book page or order from our online shop today.
Vortex Hand-held Anemometer
28th June 2012
We now have a brand-new, easy-to-use, affordable and accurate hand-held Vortex anemometer for sale. Several customers have asked for such a unit over recent months for use in conjunction with outdoor sports and leisure activities and work applications such as crop-spraying. We've now been able to locate and import a suitable unit, and to price it attractively.
Accurate to 4% or 1mph over 10-50mph, clear LCD display and battery operated this is an excellent and easy-to-use unit. Full details are on the Vortex page.
New Specialist Accessories section
Updated 24th December 2011
We've added a new 'Specialist Accessories' section to our main Products menu.
These accessories will all be noteworthy in some way, either as interesting and unusual sensor types or simply as best-in-class
value for more familiar weather accessories.
We're just starting out with this new section and so there are just a couple of new products there as yet, including the fascinating Hydreon RG-11 rain sensor, shown right, and the CoCoRaHS manual rain gauge. But there are more items planned to follow in the very near future, so please keep checking back for further new introductions.
From the Weather Lab
Added 12th November 2011
There's now an expanded topic in our Resources area called 'From the Weather Lab'. This page is intended as a gateway to a collection of informal notes on products and activities that we currently have under test or development and that may be of wider interest. If you're a weather hobbyist then you're welcome to look in here from time to time to see what we're currently working on by way of background projects.
WOW
Added 6th August 2011
WOW is the new UK Met Office's Weather Observations Website - a project that allows private observers to upload weather data measured by their own AWS systems to the Met Office computers and to be displayed on UKMO web pages. Although this isn't quite product news, it is a topic that we're sure will be of interest to many of our customers and so we've added a page here that provides an introduction to WOW.
Clickable map of private UK AWS updated
Posted 26th May 2010
Our 'clickable' map showing the location of many privately-owned online weather stations in the UK and Ireland has just been given a complete makeover. You can now zoom down into any area of the UK to see individual stations much more easily and our new mechanism for generating the map should mean that we can make updates to the map much more easily and quickly than was previously the case. You can see the new map on the map page of our Resources section.
Collaborative Projects
Posted 28th November 2009
Please see new sidebar item.
How to stay up-to-date
Check this page regularly for the latest news on Davis weather stations and other makes and products that we sell.
This column also shows the latest software and firmware versions currently available and other continuing topics of interest.
Latest software versions
Weatherlink (Windows): v6.0.3 (Feb 2013)
Weatherlink (Mac): v5.1.0 (Oct 2009)
WDTU (Envoy8X) software v1.1 (Nov 2011)
VP2 Console Firmware: v3.12 (Feb 2013)
(Consoles made after March 2006 ONLY)
Vue Console Firmware: v3.00 (March 2013)
Envoy8X Console Firmware v3.14 (Feb 2013)
WeatherlinkIP Firmware: v1.0.9 (June 2010)
Virtual VP: v1.2.5 (Sept 2010)
Updates downloadable from:
- Davis website
- Softwx website (VVP)
Collaborative Projects
We often have small background development projects that we'd like to pursue but that we don't have time to resource fully. Please email us if you might be interested in collaborating on these - more details on request. We'd like to hear from anyone able to call in (to Ely - near Cambridge) for a chat in person and who might have skills/interests in weather data and/or programming.
These are typically small projects that might be of interest to hobbyists but which are non-commercial in nature. So, in general, we're not in a position to offer employment or substantive payment, but what we can do is to offer ideas, discussion and eg the loan of hardware to anyone who might be interested in collaborating in a worthwhile hobby project. However, there might be the possibility of some modest quid pro quo and if any projects prove unexpectedly successful then we'd be happy to discuss options for further joint development & marketing.