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Console/Datalogger
Compatibility
The reseller note sent July 10th of 2012 detailed
the changes to consoles and dataloggers that created an incompatibility
between new consoles and old dataloggers.
Essentially, a new console must use a new datalogger. The
easiest way to determine compatibility with brand new product is to
observe whether the packaging has a green dot sticker on it. A new, “green
dot” console must use a new, “green dot” datalogger. Downgrading firmware
in the console will not change anything. Newer consoles must use a newer
datalogger. Old consoles can use any datalogger.
If you don’t have access to packaging and its associated green
dot the best way to determine compatibility is to use the manufacturing
code. The table from the July Reseller Note is missing some detail with
respect to console manufacturing codes. Below is a more complete table
detailing console manufacturing codes more thoroughly.
If any of your customers need to have a console replaced with a
newer, green dot, console (or they bought a new console) you must be aware
of whether they have a datalogger and what revision it is. The customer may
need a later version datalogger in order to continue using WeatherLink. In
the Davis Service Center in California we cover this swap under warranty or,
if out of warranty, we cover it under our standard repair fee.
Manufacturing Code Changes
We
recently changed the scheme of the manufacturing code on both the Pro2 and
Vue.
The encoded date in the manufacturing code is exactly the same.
No changes were made to the date encoding. The date encoding is still as
follows:
xxYYMMDDzzz – Where YY is the year, MM is the month
and DD is the day of manufacture.
The letter(s) at the beginning of the manufacturing code is what
recently changed. In the past this was a single revision letter that only
changed when major changes occurred. Today we are using two letters to keep
track of every change no matter how small or minor. For example if we
change anemometer bearing vendors, or LCD driver chips change. This will
help us monitor returns to see if any particular version has a higher rate
of return and assist in finding emerging problems sooner. Most of the
changes are minor and do not impact sales, service, repair or use of the
product.
If there is ever a change that creates incompatibilities or
issues related its use and serviceability in the field I will let you know
via this forum.
The two version changes that are relevant to this forum are
1.
Vantage Vue has gone through major hardware changes that cause
incompatibilities with field replaceable parts. See Tech Note: Vantage
Vue 1.1 - An Outstanding Product Just Got Better sent on 10/25/12 for
complete details. To summarize, Vue rev A through F were the original Vue,
rev G had the pogo pin connectors eliminated and rev Mx (with x being a sub
alpha character) is the newest Vue with the major hardware changes denoted
in the aforementioned Tech Note.
2.
Vantage Pro2 has had less change. Rev A was the earlier model Pro2
before the “green dot” compatibility issue detailed above. Rev B, and after
our manufacturing code change, rev Ax (with x being a sub alpha character)
denote that it is the new, “green dot” console that must be used with a
later model (green dot) model datalogger.
Console Firmware Changes
Revision 3.0 incorporates the following changes:
1.
Added leading zero on temperature values between -1.0 and 1.0 ( was
.1’C, now 0.1’C)
2.
Humidity will not show 0%. Will now stop at 1%
3.
Hourly ET values will always be positive and cannot go negative.
4.
Wind speed term in ET formula will not go negative if average wind
speed is over 12 mph.
5.
Temp/Hum Index calculation improved.
ISS Firmware
Sticker
We added the ISS firmware version to the outside packaging in
the event we have trouble with the firmware and need to inform resellers to
pull all systems with ISS firmware version x.x.x. There have been no ISS
firmware changes that impact use or repair of the system other than those
already denoted by the manufacturing code.
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