Notes on the Weather Station

Weather Station Tips

Remember to put a new battery in the Davis consoles. The new batteries are on the table near the whiteboard. This protects in case of power loss.

Take an instruction manual with you to help you set up.

Weather Station Software Setup

1. Install the PCLINK software from the floppy disk on the PC that will eventually communicate with the Davis console/datalogger.
   
   
2. Connect the Davis console to the PC using the Weatherlink PC COM PORT Adapter. Turn on the console.
   
   
3. Run the PCLINK program from the PC.
   
   
4. Choose File > New Station. Choose a name for your station and enter it into the Station Name box. You can place this station in a different directory or drive using the Directories box. The station name is the filename on the PC where the data will be stored when it is downloaded from the Davis logger. Click [OK].
   
   
5. Click [Yes] when asked to run through the Walkthrough setup.
   
   
6. Click [OK] to specify the accessories. Set the rain collector option to .2 mm and uncheck the Outside Humidity box (the Davis model we are using only has humidity measured in the Davis console itself. If you have the Davis inside your house, you will be measuring the humidity there not outside. Leave other boxes unchecked. Click [OK].
   
   
7. Click [OK] to Choose Units. Set these to SI units for the four measured variables (°C, hPa [or mb], m/s, mm). Click [OK].
   
   
8. Click [OK] to choose the serial port used. You can perform a test to see what is connected to the currently selected port. You should be able to find one that is connected to the Davis. When you have the correct one selected you should see the message ‘The serial port is connected to the Monitor II’. When you’ve got this, then leave everything else as it is and click [OK].
   
   
9. Next, you need to set the barometer. The Davis barometers have a baseline value that is not well calibrated. Click [OK] to set the barometer to the mean sea level pressure value for this region. You can get this information from the NWS online www.wrh.noaa.gov/sew/observations.php. Enter the value and click [OK].
   
   
10. Click [OK] to set the rain calibration number and click [OK] again.
    
    
11. Click [OK] to set the total rain. Set this to zero. Click [OK].
    
    
12. Click [OK] to set the time/date on the weather station. Ensure that you set this accurately. You can use this time to set the PC time, but I don’t think you need to do this. Click [OK].
    
    
13. Click [Yes] to clear the archive memory.
    
    
14. Click [OK] to set the archive interval. Set this to 30 minutes (the default). If you set this to a much higher sampling rate then you could run out of memory. Click [OK].
    
    
15. Skip the setting of alarms.
    
    
16. Skip the auto clear section.
    
    
17. You probably don’t want to set automatic downloading because I assume that the Davis will not be permanently connected to the PC, but feel free to experiment with this if you like.
    
    

This concludes the setting up. The Davis will now continue to log at the 30 minute interval and store the data in its logger memory regardless of whether the computer is connected. To download the data, just connect the Davis to the PC and choose File > Download. This will transfer all the new data from the Davis logger to the PC. The data is stored in the file you specified when you set up (step 4 above). You should aim to download frequently (at least once per week if possible) to ensure that you are not missing data.