"Bruce Messer" wrote in message
...

The cups could be used to generate a small current to power some
rechargeable batteries that powered the comms.

I think that would need to be quite a careful/clever design to ensure that
using the power generated didn't impact the accuracy of the speed
measurement. Using a small/cheap solar panel is probably still a simpler
solution.


I think it won't be long before someone hooks up a Raspberry Pi to some
sensors to accomplish a lot of what the VP2 can do

Oh yes, it's been done many times already, but using either third-party
sensors (like the Davis sensors but typically something cheaper and more
basic like Vortex or FOS) but so far these end up as 'hobby' projects
because the work is driven largely by coders who don't really appreciate the
importance of decent sensors and of sensor exposure to measurement accuracy.
And in the long run they suffer because the sensors used are just not of
good enough quality or eg the radiation shields fall well short of what a
Davis shield can deliver (not that a Davis shield is perfect but it does set
something of a benchmark for what's possible in a more affordable design).

But the real killer for Pi-based systems, at least to my way of thinking, is
that they always end up as wired systems (for use in a serious AWS if used
as the sensor interface) and hence typically with some real practical
constraints on sensor exposure. (And also bearing in mind that using Davis
sales in the UK as a reference, wireless systems outsell wired by about
maybe 20:1, so user preference is clearly on the side of wireless.)

The more general answer though is simply the word 'competition'. We've long
been waiting for the day when there would be serious price or performance
competition against Davis but so far it just hasn't happened. No doubt
things will change one day and when they do then Davis will need to respond.
But 2015 doesn't look like the year so far.

Of course, there's a lot of development interest and activity going on in
the background and everyone commercially involved in the field can see which
way new designs are likely to evolve. But TBH looking at the Davis sensors
is probably not the right target - the sensors are arguably reasonable value
for the features they deliver. Where there is a lot more immediate scope for
alternatives is on the console/logger side of things. Look at what you can
already do with a MeteoStick plugged in to a RPi or a MeteoBridge (but still
receiving data from Davis sensors outside).

JGD