DAVIS Vantage Pro2 manual

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Table of contents for the manual

  • Page 1

    V antage P r o2 W eather En v o y Manual ™ F or V antage Pro2 & V antage P ro2 Plus W eather Stations ™™ Davis Instruments, 3465 Diablo Av enue, Hayward , CA 94545 • 510-732-9229 • www.da visnet.com[...]

  • Page 2

    Weather Envoy for V antage Pro2 Manual Rev . B, April 10, 2006 Document Part Number: 07395.281 For V antage Pro2 Weather Envoys # 6316 & 6316C V antage Pro ® and V antage Pro2 ™ are trade marks of Davis Instruments Corp., Hayward, CA. © Davis Instruments Corp. 2006. All rights reserved. Information in this document subject to change w ithou[...]

  • Page 3

    1 W elcome to th e W eather Envo y! W elcome to Davis In struments’ W eather Envoy ® . The W eather Envoy provides a new and exciting way of getting weather data from your V antage Pro2 ™ weather sta- tion and into your Windows (95 or later) or Macintosh (OS X) computer . The W eather Envoy ® includes the data col- lection and logging functio[...]

  • Page 4

    Hardware Installation 2 • S tandard 4-Conductor 40 ' Extension Cable (# 787 6-040) (For Serial connections only) - For more flexibility in the placem ent of your W eather Envoy , add one 40 ' (12 m) extension cable to extend the distance between your station and the computer . (48 ' (14.4 m) maximum) Hardware Inst allation The W ea[...]

  • Page 5

    Install the Data Logger 3 CAUTION: Plugging or unplugging the data logger while power is applie d to the Envoy can lock up or damage the logger . The WeatherLink data logger must be installed before you install the batteries. 1. Remove the three screws from the back of the Envoy case 2. Separate the case halves to expose the data logger connector .[...]

  • Page 6

    Install the Batteries 4 3. Carefully insert the data logger (Ser ial or USB) i nto the connector slot, making sure to push data logger firmly in place. 4. Rejoin the case halves, making sure the data logger cable passes th rough the cable channel. 5. Fasten using the t hree screws you previously removed. Inst all the Batteries 1. Find the battery c[...]

  • Page 7

    Mount Your Weather Envoy 5 Optional: Connecting AC Power The operating battery power for a cable d W eather Envoy is appro ximately 10 days. For a wireless W eather Envoy , the battery power is approximately 5 months. The W eather Envoy is supplied with an option AC power adapter that can be installed as an optional power source. Note: If installin[...]

  • Page 8

    Mount Your Weather Envoy 6 Envoy Location Y ou should place the Envoy in a locatio n where it easily accessible and can be easily connected to a computer . For more accurate readings, follow these sug- gestions: • A voi d placing the Envoy in direct sunlight. This may cause erroneo us inside temperature and humid ity readings and may damage the u[...]

  • Page 9

    Local Computer Installation 7 The screws should be 3.2 5 '' (82.5 mm) apart and lined up vertically . 3. Drill the marked locations with a 3/32 '' or 7/64 '' (2.2 to 2.7 mm) drill bit. 4. Drive the two #6 x 1 '' (3.5 mm x 25 mm) pan head self-threading screws into the wall. 5. Leave at least a 1/8 '&apos[...]

  • Page 10

    Local Computer Installation 8 V antage Pro and V antage Pro2 consoles. See the W e atherLink Get ting S tarted Guide for complete instructions on connecting the data logger to your com- puter . Also, see W eatherLink Online Help for additional setup instru ctio ns. USB Connection Complete the local USB connection by using the instructions b elow: 1[...]

  • Page 11

    Remote Computer Installation 9 attempt to use more than 4 0' of extension cable, or the data logger may hav e difficulty communicating with the computer . Note: The data logger does not require a cons tant connection with a computer to continue logging and storing data. Although the data logger should remain conne cted to the Envoy at all time[...]

  • Page 12

    Remote Modem Connection Notes 10 Note: Before installing the Envoy and modem at a remote location, test the data logger and connection first using a direct connection like that shown in the section above. Remote Modem Connection Hardware Requirement s The following additional hardware is required for a phone modem co nnection. • One internal or e[...]

  • Page 13

    Installing the Software 11 By default, W eatherLink hang s up the connection to the modem after one minute without any communicat ion with the station. Use the Communica- tions Port dialog box in th e Setup menu of W eath erLin k to change this default value. (See the W eatherLink help files for more infor m ation.) Note: W eath erLink will not han[...]

  • Page 14

    Running the Software 12 Macint osh Computer 1. Place the Install Disk in your CD ROM drive. 2. Copy “install.sit” fro m the CD to y our desktop and o pen it. 3. The instal lation softwar e will automatically extract itself. 4. Run “install”. 5. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the install atio n. Running the Sof tware T o ru n the s[...]

  • Page 15

    Running the Software 13 Communication Port Settings W eatherLink con tains a dialo g box for lo cat ing the communications port (either USB or serial) that the data logger and W eather Envoy are connected to. Use the Communications Port dialog box to select the communications port that is used to co mmunicate with the En voy . 1. Select Communicati[...]

  • Page 16

    Running the Software 14 Note: The only way to clear an alarm in the Weather Envoy is to modify the threshold in the Alarm Setup screen to a value that would no t cau se an alarm, or to delete the va lue altogether . 1. Select Set Alarms from the Setup menu or press Ctrl-A. The Set S tation Alarms dialog box displays. Enter the following information[...]

  • Page 17

    Running the Software 15 Low alarms work the same way . For exam ple, if the wi nd chill threshold is set for 30 ºF , the alarm begins sounding when the temperature drops to 30.0 º and will continue until the temp er ature again rises above 30.0º. If you’re on battery power , th e alarm will sou nd for two minutes only . If you’re using the A[...]

  • Page 18

    Running the Software 16 The Auto Down load dialog box ap pears. The st ations which appear in the Auto Download List will be downlo a ded auto matically . 2. T o add a st ation to the Auto Download List , do uble-click on the station name or select the station from the S tation Names list and click Add . The station name moves to the Auto Download [...]

  • Page 19

    Weather Data Measured & Calculated 17 The Download At dialog box appears. 5. Enter the following informat ion: • Download Times - Select the hour(s) at which the software should automati- cally download information from this st ation by clicking on the desired hour in the list. Y ou may se lect as many download hours as you want; the software[...]

  • Page 20

    Weather Data Measured & Calculated 18 Wind The anemometer measures wi nd speed and wind direction. T emperature The W eather Envoy uses the ISS temperat ure sensor to meas ure the outside air temperature. A second temperature sensor in the W eather Envoy measures the inside air temperature. Additio nal tem p erature sensors (available only with[...]

  • Page 21

    Weather Data Measured & Calculated 19 on our perception of the tem perature.The THSW Ind ex requires a solar radia- tion s ensor . Humidity Humidity itself simply refers t o the amount of water va por in the air . However , the amount of water vapor that the air can contain varies with air temperature and pressure. Relative humidity takes in to[...]

  • Page 22

    Weather Data Measured & Calculated 20 units (inches or millimeters) at the time it is displayed. Convertin g at displ ay time reduces possible com poun ded rounding errors over time. Four separate variables track rain tota ls: “rain storm”, “daily rain”, “monthly rain”, and “yearly rain”. Rain rate cal culations are based on the[...]

  • Page 23

    Weather Data Measured & Calculated 21 UV (Ultra V iolet) Radiation Note: Requires optional UV sensor (#6490) , included on V antage Pro Plus weather sta- tions. Energy from the sun reaches the earth as visible, infrared, an d ultraviolet (UV) rays. Exposure to UV rays can cause num erous health problem s, such as sun- burn, skin cancer , skin a[...]

  • Page 24

    Weather Data Measured & Calculated 22 T . B. Fitzp atrick of the Harvard Medica l School dev eloped a categorization of skin types 1 thro ugh 6 which were ad opted by Environment Canada. These skin types are detailed in T able 3b below . Note: More about the Fitzpatrick Skin T ypes is available in: Fitzpatrick TB. Editorial: the validity and pr[...]

  • Page 25

    Weather Data Measured & Calculated 23 W eather Envoy can also display UV Inde x, an intensity measurement first defined by Environment Canada and since been adopted by the W orld Meteo- rological Organization. UV Index assigns a number between 0 and 16 to the current UV intens ity . Th e US EP A categorizes the Index values as shown below . The[...]

  • Page 26

    General 24 returned through evaporation (from w et vegetation surfaces and the stoma of leaves) with the amount of water vapor returned thro ugh transpiration (exhal- ing of moisture t hrough plant skin) to arrive at a tot al. Effectively , ET is the opposite of rainfall, and it is expressed in the same units of measure (Inches, millimeters). The W[...]

  • Page 27

    Communications (Wireless Models Only) 25 Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 AA-cells Battery Life, Wireless . . . . . . . . . . . . . up to 4 months Battery Life, Cabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . up to 1 mo nth Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modular RJ-11 Cable Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [...]

  • Page 28

    Troubleshooting Guide 26 Sea-Level Re duction Eq uation . . United Sta t es Method emplo yed prior to u se of current "R Factor" method Equation Sour ce . . . . . . . . . . . . . Smithsonian Mete orological Table s Equation Accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . ±0.01" Hg (±0.3 mm Hg, ±0.3 hPa/ mb) Elevation Ac curacy Required . . . . ±1[...]

  • Page 29

    Troubleshooting Guide 27 Communications Problems ? Why can't the W eatherLink software co mmunicate with the data logger and station? If you are having trouble establishing comm uni cation between W eather- Link and the W eather Envoy , start by checking the weat her station 's own diagnostics. Remove all power to th e W eather Envoy and [...]

  • Page 30

    Finding the Correct Serial Port 28 Finding the Correct Serial Port The software includes a procedure for locati ng th e serial port to wh ich your station is connected or determining wheth e r that serial port is working. Usin g the Loopback command (as opposed to T est) will help you find the correct port and determine whether the serial port or t[...]

  • Page 31

    Program Problems 29 The software automati cally selects the correct COM port for you in the Communications Port dialog box. If it cannot find the l oopback connector at any COM port, your serial port may not be worki ng. Consult your com- puter documentation for help. Modem Initialization S tring The software automatical ly enters the following mod[...]

  • Page 32

    Contacting Davis Technical Support 30 ? W eatherLink says “No new data to down load” but I know there’ s data there. What can I do? W eather Envoy is smart enough to send onl y data it hasn’t already sent to the computer . So, when you initiate a new download, the program will retrieve the first record after the la st record shown in the W [...]