The closest I get from Davis Instruments to a family discount is a follow on Twitter. 
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L7,
Coming in this Tuesday 11AUG20. Will definitely come in handy! Meadowlarks, Mockingbirds, Robins and Cardinals frequent my back yard weather bureau…lol…
73, L7…
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07AUG20 Early Evening Thunderstorm Event Daily Rainfall / Storm total:
Ambient Weather WS-2000 Osprey = 0.74 inches
WeatherFlow Tempest = 0.52 inches
Davis Vantage Pro 2 Plus = 0.71 inches
NWS COOP 8-inch Gauge (official) = 0.79 inches
CoCoRaHS 4-inch Guage = 0.78 inches
I sometimes get different readings between the 4-inch and 8-inch manual gauges. The electronic tipping bucket gauges on the WS-2000 Osprey and Davis Vantage Pro 2 Plus, do not keep up with HEAVY rainfall defined by the NWS as a rate of +0.30 inch/hour. Obviously, with the installation of my new WeatherFlow Tempest on 07AUG20, prior to this event, my comparison research of it’s Haptic Rain Sensor has commenced. I will register my co-located manual gauges with WeatherFlow Support.
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Thanks! Do you have the new tipping spoon for the Davis or do you have their traditional tippers?
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Was not aware of the new spoon? Traditional tippers are currently deployed. I will look into ordering the new spoon shortly.
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KJ,
I really like the Array! My question, "Would you receive a splattering/ricochet rain droplets effect on the CoCoRaHS Stratus Gauge? I concur that your new installation will provide you with better wind data than previous roof installation.
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@csraweather Thanks. It should be ok since being mounted 16 inches on the corner from the main 6x6 beam. I sent CoCoRaHS message about this design with a diagram and they thought it would be ok since it wasn’t mounted directly under one of the top wings. Mainly asked to keep a close eye on the reading just be sure.
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Why spend the money if your VP2 is accurate ? I’m sticking with the tippers on the jan’2009 VP2 since they almost always are an exact match for the CoCoRaHAS 4" gauge for the kind of rain we get here.
I did add the new rain cone and spikes mainly because I thought it looked better and I got a good sale price. The old black cone was getting a bit greyish after 11+ years in the sun. No measurable effect on rain sensor accuracy that I have seen.
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Cool! I have two Stratus Gauges side-by-side located by the NWS COOP Cotton Region Shelter. I use the second gauge for storm total rainfall (liquid) and core sampling (frozen) Snow Water Equivalent determinations. Well, let’s say I am ready for snow. We haven’t had snow since Feb, 2018!
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And finally installed at its permanent location on a 10-ft pole from a fence top rail. Notched the bottom end to keep it from rotating to keep North aimed at North, whalah! Someday it will have a permanent data link.
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Interesting comparison, vinceskahan! I have yet to record exact match readings between any of my tipping buckets and the 4-inch gauge! Thank You for your comments! I also purchased the new rain cone / bird spikes for my 2014 VP2Plus as well. I have observed that the logo on the new rain cone design, fades quickly due to UV versus the old rain cone logo. I have a spare new rain cone with bird spikes ready for deployment.
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There are some battery hints in this thread I’ve been browsing for battery info, it might be useful:
https://community.tempest.earth/t/tempest-charging-questions/6522
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I got that same complaint from my wife lol
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The tipping spoon is a big improvement over the traditional tippers. You should be within +/-.03” with the CoCoRAHS gauge with the spoon
The big weakness of the Davis system is their humidity sensor. It has wet bias issues in the mid ranges.
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Nice! Never had that fortune with the Davis traditional tippers. But I do love their new tipping spoon.
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Thanks for the link! I will “give it a go”.
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Just ordered the spoon. Will install later this week. Stay tuned for continued rainfall comparison data.
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Anytime! Will be looking forward to the comparisons.
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A small shower early this afternoon to test out the new weather array and location.
(Light Rain)
Tempest Field Test Unit - 0.02"
Tempest Production Unit - 0.02"
Ambient Weather Osprey - 0.02"
CoCoRaHS Stratus Gauge - 0.02"
Can’t get any better than that for the first test. Looking forward to results with moderate, heavy, and extreme rainfall.
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How does Wind compare? As well as UV index…