Davis Vantage Pro2: Good, Not Great
Written: Dec 17 '07 (Updated Dec 21 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: • many sensor options; • solar powered; • good build quality.
Cons: • Price doesn't include software, firmware cable; • Mono LCD; • No atomic clock.
The Bottom Line: The Davis Vantage Pro2 is costly enough to take a big bite out of your wallet, yet will not forecast weather as well as some of its inexpensive competitors.
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| NewsView's Full Review: Davis Weather Stations: Wireless Vantage Pro 2 |
The Davis Vantage Pro2* is considered among the best a weather buff can buy. It is also among the more expensive weather stations on the consumer market. The question is, does it live up to its own hype? Having used a Davis Vantage Pro2 for three years, I am unable to relate the same level of enthusiasm that someone who installed it, say, just last week might express. With time I've gotten to know the system, and it isn't nearly as close to perfect as one might imagine for the money.
For those who are unfamiliar with Davis Instruments Corp. and their weather station products, the retail price on a wireless Vantage Pro2 ranges from about $550 (street price) to in excess of $700 for the Vantage Pro2 Plus. The most significant difference between the two versions of the Vantage Pro2 relate to the presence of a fan-aspirated radiation shield, and the "plus" refers to the inclusion of Solar and UV sensors. The standard Vantage Pro2 package, which I own, uses a passive radiation shield, sans the optional sensors. Whether passively shielded or fan aspirated, each are designed to protect the instrumentation from direct sun, primarily so that readings, such as temperature, will be more accurate. For ultimate temperature accuracy, the fan-aspirated version is recommended, however. Both incarnations of the Davis Vantage Pro2, meanwhile, are available in cabled or wireless varieties, while the "integrated sensor suite" (ISS) is solar powered.
The console runs on an AC adapter and/or three C batteries (the batteries also serve as memory backup). The Vantage Pro2 LCD console screen is mono, which is somewhat of a throwback in view of today's high-resolution color screens on everything from PDAs to cell phones. Nevertheless, it is quite readable.
The standard Vantage Pro2 package contains a barometer, hygrometer, anemometer with wind direction indicator, and, of course, outdoor and indoor temperature sensors. The unit is also capable of making use of a wide array of optional sensors, such as a Solar Radiation sensor and a Leaf/Soil Wetness sensor. The Vantage Pro2 can track many forms of weather trends and data, but to transfer them on to the computer or Internet requires the optional WeatherLink software and data logger — a $165 package which is apparently not currently compatible, incidentally, with newer Intel-based Macs. (Actually, Davis has posted on their Web site the contradictory caveat that "At this time WeatherLink for Macintosh, while compatible with Intel Macs or OS X 10.5 Leopard, is not compatible with Intel Macs that are running OS X 10.5 Leopard.") Regardless, Mac users may wish to think twice before spending just as much as their PC-using counterparts on the optional WeatherLink software. According to the Davis Web site, unlike the Windows versions, the Mac version does not log data from leaf wetness, soil moisture, or UV sensors. It also does not include Citizen Weather Observer Program or GLOBE Program capabilities, and may not be used with E-Mail/Phone Alert or Agricultural/Turf Management Modules." Mac users should not despair, however, because there are third-party software manufacturers, such as AfterTen Software, that offer Vantage Pro2 compatible options.
Davis touts the Vantage Pro2 as the first and only weather station "in its class" to use frequency-hopping spread spectrum radio technology to transmit weather data wirelessly up to 1,000 feet (line-of-sight). According to the Davis Web site, typical range through walls under most conditions is 200' to 400'. Adding wireless repeaters extends the distance up to 1.7 miles.
Two areas in which the Davis excels over lesser-priced brands is in resolution — the ability to report both extremely high and low humidity conditions, for example — and in update frequency. According to Davis, the barometric pressure is updated every minute, the outside humidity is refreshed every 50 seconds, inside temperatures and humidity levels every minute, and outside temperature and precipitation every 10 seconds. Barometric pressure readings are within 0.03"Hg plus or minus, elevation ranges to roughly 15,000 feet, outside humidity within three percent, indoor humidity within five percent, rainfall within four percent, and indoor and outdoor temperatures within one degree. Outside humidity ranges from 1-100 percent, whereas indoor humidity ranges from 10 to 90. (Source: Davis Vantage Pro2 vs. the Competition: Specifications.) Lastly, the Vantage Pro2 is available in three versions: US (United States), UK (United Kingdom), or EU (Europe).
Now that I have summarized the Vantage Pro2 features, it is time to explore more subjective impressions and observations. Since the burning question on any weather watcher's mind is how accurate a given weather station is for the money, I will not waste time repeating additional specifications that Epinions typically provides in the "Details" link at the top of each product review page. Nonetheless, I encourage prospective buyers to read the Vantage Pro2 product manual, which is available on the Davis Web site at http://www.davisnet.com/support/weather/support_docs.asp?dtype=1 .
The first problem I noted with the Davis Vantage Pro2 is that during Santa Ana wind conditions reported wind speeds do not agree with averages derived from local Weather Underground stations. Readings are not consistent with Beaufort estimation techniques, either. The anemometer is located very close to 33 feet — "regulation height" as it were — so there is really no explanation for the seeming discrepancies. In my observation the console rarely reports wind speeds below 3mph, or gusts above 20mph. Last year, my area experienced a windstorm that left tree branches littering the streets. Even so, the Davis Vantage Pro2 recorded wind gusts at less than 30mph! Using the optional software package to link the Vantage Pro2 to the Internet, had I done so, would have fed erroneous data to the Weather Underground network. Fortunately, my weather station has never been set up to transmit data in this manner. (For this reason, too, I am unable to comment in this review on the pros and cons of the optional software or data logging capabilities.)
By far, the most disappointing weakness in the Davis Vantage Pro2 pertains to the forecast icon/trend. Here in notoriously sunny Southern California, the unit displays a "Partly Cloudy" icon 95 percent of the time. Presently, as I type, there is a 60 percent chance of rain within the next day or so and the unit has inexplicably decided to display the "Mostly Clear" (Sun) icon. During the summer months, even during a 110-degree Labor Day heat wave with not a cloud in the sky, all I got was the "Partly Cloudy" icon and a corresponding ticker-tape forecast, both before and after, indicating "little temperature change".
If the Davis Vantage Pro2 displays a Mostly Clear icon at all, it is brief -- perhaps two hours or so before switching back to Partly Cloudy. It also rarely displays the "Rain" icon even when the rain gauge is collecting so much precipitation that the ticker-tape says it is "raining cats and dogs". If the Rain icon appears in advance of a bona-fide rainstorm, it is usually so brief that it is easy to miss -- as little as one hour before returning to the Partly Cloudy icon. Because the icon changes so little and so briefly, it is easy to assume that the text forecast also remains unchanged. However, occasionally there is a noteworthy text forecast change, such as "Precipitation possible within 24 to 48 hours," for which there is no corresponding visual tip-off (icon change). Curiously, the Davis Vantage Pro2 barometer trends do not agree with other weather stations on site, either. As mentioned, above, a 60 percent chance of rain is forecast for my area in the next 24 hours. My La Crosse weather station is predicting rain, and indicates a downward arrow on the barometric trend. Meanwhile, the Davis Vantage Pro2 is indicating that pressure is rising to the point where it has switched from its typical Partly Cloudy forecast icon to Mostly Sunny. One icon that never appears is the "Cloudy" icon — not even during Southern California's predictable "June gloom" season.
According to the Davis documentation, the visual forecast icon is tied into weather conditions for roughly 12 hours, whereas the text-based forecast is designed to predict conditions within 24-48 hours. In my experience, neither are particularly accurate. In all fairness, however, weather prediction is the single-most difficult aspect of weather watching. Inexpensive weather stations, for that matter, also tend to make inaccurate predictions because their visual forecast icons are far too changeable. Barometric changes associated with sundown, for example, may be enough to throw off a poorly designed weather station's forecast indicator. Davis Instruments, by contrast, has apparently taken the opposite approach by making their forecasting icon less changeable in response to barometric shifts. There are both good and bad points to this approach, but the reality is that little can compete with the tools professional meteorologists have at their disposal.
For the past three years I have enjoyed the ability to compare the Davis Vantage Pro2 against wireless weather stations at the same location manufactured by Uniden and La Crosse, respectively. Ironically, the La Crosse displays a more accurate forecast for 1/10th the price. Given the number of five-star reviews that weather enthusiasts tend to post on the Internet for the Davis Vantage Pro2, I am surprised that Davis has so poorly executed the Vantage Pro2 forecasting features in comparison to companies that do not produce weather stations even remotely as expensive. Even on the rare occasion that the Davis Vantage Pro2 predicts wind or rain, it seemingly does so only when correlated to the rainy season. This, in turn, all but precludes a forecast change in advance of an out-of-season storm. By contrast, the La Crosse unit consistently displays a Rain icon a day or so in advance of any incoming rainstorm regardless of season for an overall accuracy of about 65 percent compared to a Davis forecasting accuracy rate of about ~20 percent during the Spring and Summer months, and a ~40 percent accuracy rate during the Fall and Winter.
Contacting Davis about the weather forecasting problem while the unit was still under warranty resulted only in a useless explanation regarding forecasting algorithms, and a comment on the part of the support rep to the effect that, if anything, the Davis Vantage Pro2 should be the most accurate in California because that is where these units are designed. Davis support staff are friendly, but no offer was made to take the unit in for repair or replacement while under warranty.
Other areas that could stand improvement: For the price paid, the Davis Vantage Pro2 ought to contain an atomic clock. Because it does not, I experienced a daylight savings problem. Apparently, the May 2005 firmware revision is too old and must be updated at a cost to either buy or rent the cable necessary to flash-update the unit (among other bug fixes). Another problem: Davis product documentation is somewhat slim, and the present incarnation of the Davis Web site is lacking in relevant support information. The owner's manual, for example, fails to warn users that replacing the lithium battery that serves to back up the sensors when solar power is insufficient will trigger a "Low battery at Station 1" warning for hours on end. Google — not the Davis Web site or documentation — came to the rescue instead.
Bottom line? The Davis Vantage Pro2 is somewhat over-hyped. While virtually any consumer-level weather station will fall short of "professional" standards of accuracy, I expected far better from Davis Instruments given a retail price for the Vantage Pro2 that starts at $595. For these reasons, I would recommend the Davis Vantage Pro2 primarily to those who need the specialized features offered by the optional add-ons, such as the repeaters or agriculture sensors. If money is no objective, however, the Davis Vantage Pro2 is a worthwhile pick for the mere fact that it is designed and manufactured in the United States, which is increasingly rare and therefore worthy of a vote with the pocketbook. If, on the other hand, you intend to use a home weather station only in a basic, no-frills form, there are competing weather stations on the market that will not break the bank. Although it is often said that "you get what you pay for", weather prediction is still as much of an imprecise art as it is a science, and no amount of money spent on precise data collection equipment can overcome that fact. Consequently, it is not necessary to spend $600 or more to land in the ballpark when it comes to setting up your own amateur weather station. Budget conscious weather watchers have options in the $150-$300 range that provide all of the core features, but with the added bonus of PC-compatible data collection software included at no extra cost.
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Recommended:
Yes
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