Meteobridge PRO Red – Recurrent Davis RF reception loss, recovery after RF firmware reload. **solved**

[Didi]

Hello,

I am experiencing recurring Davis RF reception failures with my Meteobridge PRO Red.

My setup:
- Meteobridge PRO Red, software version 6.4 (build 15721).
- Meteostick RF firmware version 3.4.
- Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus, using a Davis RF repeater.
- Station 0: Davis RF Vantage.
- Station 1: AirLink.
- Station 2: WeatherLink Cloud.

The Davis console continues receiving outdoor sensor data normally, while Meteobridge station 0 suddenly stops receiving valid RF data.

During these incidents, stations 1 and 2 continue working normally. Meteobridge itself remains operational, including data uploads.

The log shows:

```
station 0 (RF Vantage), restart meteostick (300 secs no valid rf signal)
station 0 (RF Vantage), no signal for 900 seconds, station to be restarted.
disconnect station 0 (RF Vantage): timeout
connect station 0 (RF Vantage) via USB serial.
```

Automatic Meteostick restarts do not appear to restore reception.

On October 13, the outage lasted more than 30 minutes. I reloaded RF firmware 3.4 without rebooting the entire Meteobridge PRO. Reception initially returned partially, then all Davis outdoor sensors started reporting again.

The Meteobridge uptime remained unchanged.

I have a few questions:

1. Is this a known issue with Meteobridge PRO Red or Meteostick firmware 3.4?
2. Could it be related to the software or RF firmware updates?
3. Is there a way to restart or fully reset the RF receiver without reflashing its firmware or rebooting the entire Meteobridge?
4. Would you recommend checking the RF threshold, interference, USB communication, or another setting?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your help.

[admin]

Looking at your documented signal strength I recommend a RF threshold of -70db.

[WS Heinenoord]

This problem is similar to the one I have with my MB Red, see this topic: "MB Pro Red hanging about once amonth" The problem has evolved to hanging after a day or two of operation.
Simply pressing "Save & Apply" on the System tab or restarting makes it run again for a couple of days. Upgrading firmware did not help. Nor putting signal sensitivity at -95 dB, while the Davis equipment comes in around -70 dB for 3 transmitters and one around -90 dB.
It now a long-standing issue, any help will be very appreciated.

[Didi]

After several tests and some research, I may have found a specific configuration that could resolve the issue. So far, it has been running uninterrupted for 185 hours without any problems.

Adjusting the setting to -70 dB was not enough on its own to stop the freezing/lock-ups.

However, I repositioned my Wi-Fi antenna horizontally, as shown in the photo; since then, the freezing has not recurred—even though I don’t actually use Wi-Fi for communication (I have an Ethernet connection).

It seems there must be some interference between the two antennas, likely because they are positioned quite close to each other.

In any case, the RF signal has improved significantly, and—most importantly—there have been no further lock-ups. I will keep you posted if the issue happens again.

meteobridge_antenne.jpg (2.16 MiB) Viewed 111 times

[admin]

Thanks for sharing your research!

[gwhit_s11]

It now a long-standing issue, any help will be very appreciated.

WS Heinenoord, mine did something similar a while back... hung every couple of days and a restart sorted it for a bit. Turned out to be the dodgy old wall wart I'd grabbed from the drawer, so I swapped it for a proper 5V 2A supply and it's been running about four months now. Didnt touch the RF settings at all, so who knows if yours is the same