The "I just bought..." thread.

[Stopsignhank]

Please provide a review after using it for a few months. I’m in the market for a weather station.

You asked me to review the Davis Vantage Pro 2 weather station that I got. I found that I really do like it. I wanted something that would tell me the temperature, wind speed and rainfall amount at my house and not just some generic measurement that you get for your town. Between the phone app and the console I can easily see what I want to see. The app on the phone has a measurement of the speed of the wind now, wind speed average per hour and the highest gust each hour for the past 24 hours. Since I live in So Cal I cannot tell you how the rain gauge works. When I researched weather stations the weather geeks indicated that the Davis weather stations seemed to be pretty accurate and at the price point that I was comfortable with.

The install was fairly straight forward. It is solar powered and south is the best direction for solar panels to point. They state that the wind thingy has to be mounted pointed north. However the correction for this is simply to pull up the compass on your phone, find the direction your thingy is pointed and enter the degree number into the app.

I don't like some aspects of their business model. You can access some information on the website and share the information with weatherunderground. However if you want some information stored, then you have to pay a monthly fee for that. I found that I don't really need anything more than what I get with the basic account so I don't need to pay for any additional services.

Well I went on too long.

 

[Muadib]

You asked me to review the Davis Vantage Pro 2 weather station that I got. I found that I really do like it. I wanted something that would tell me the temperature, wind speed and rainfall amount at my house and not just some generic measurement that you get for your town. Between the phone app and the console I can easily see what I want to see. The app on the phone has a measurement of the speed of the wind now, wind speed average per hour and the highest gust each hour for the past 24 hours. Since I live in So Cal I cannot tell you how the rain gauge works. When I researched weather stations the weather geeks indicated that the Davis weather stations seemed to be pretty accurate and at the price point that I was comfortable with.

The install was fairly straight forward. It is solar powered and south is the best direction for solar panels to point. They state that the wind thingy has to be mounted pointed north. However the correction for this is simply to pull up the compass on your phone, find the direction your thingy is pointed and enter the degree number into the app.

I don't like some aspects of their business model. You can access some information on the website and share the information with weatherunderground. However if you want some information stored, then you have to pay a monthly fee for that. I found that I don't really need anything more than what I get with the basic account so I don't need to pay for any additional services.

Well I went on too long.

Did you get the corded or wireless model?

 

[Stopsignhank]

Did you get the corded or wireless model?

Wireless. I put it on the gazebo (this picture was taken before so you can’t see it). There is a display console that you need to buy for $300 so that you can access it via WiFi. I guess that is another part of the business plan I do not like. I think the weather station talks to the console over radio waves and then the console connects to the WiFi. But not too sure about that.

 

[Chaotic42]

That's a heck of a view.

In theory the last things I need to start actually building my workshop tables will be here today. The big snow storm really messed up package deliveries. Those guys are earning every dollar this week.

 

[Jon-T]

What brand? Pics?

Ore-Ida the real tater tots

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Gotta clear out that inventory! lol

 

[IronWing]

I bought new tires for the FJ. They're round and black and they got little lines on them.

 

[repoman0]

This was an important detail to me for the new rooms I had built — bought these 1930s glass+brass door knobs and fixtures on eBay to match what’s in the rest of the house. I had to fill the 2 1/8” bore and it was generally a huge pain to get it to work but I’m happy with it.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Pixel 9 + dBrand Ghost case. Google had some promos on the Pixel 9 ($150 off + another $100 for YT Premium subscribers). With my trade-in, it came out to $320 for the phone. Now was the time to move on it before the value for my Pixel 7 trade-in diminishes completely.

 

[Indus]

 

[lxskllr]

This was an important detail to me for the new rooms I had built — bought these 1930s glass+brass door knobs and fixtures on eBay to match what’s in the rest of the house. I had to fill the 2 1/8” bore and it was generally a huge pain to get it to work but I’m happy with it.

View attachment 115054

That's fantastic! I love classic hardware.

 

[KLin]

Bought a cheapo lightbox for taking pics of trading cards.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075KK471M

 

[sdifox]

View attachment 115055

They haven't updated it? I got that in 2009 I think. Still have them.

 

[repoman0]

That's fantastic! I love classic hardware.

Thanks! I never thought too much about it until you pointed them out in an unrelated pic a while back actually.

 

[Indus]

They haven't updated it? I got that in 2009 I think. Still have them.

Sometimes you just have to get a classic. The newer ones aren't all they're meant to be. Maybe it's just me but they sound much better than the new bluetooth earpods or even old wired apple ear pods.

You can really tell if a earplug is good or not on a track like this..

Heck I still use the Andrew Jones BS-22 speakers from early 2010's. They're fantastic for only 4" speakers.

 

[IronWing]

This was an important detail to me for the new rooms I had built — bought these 1930s glass+brass door knobs and fixtures on eBay to match what’s in the rest of the house. I had to fill the 2 1/8” bore and it was generally a huge pain to get it to work but I’m happy with it.

View attachment 115054

I've posted these before but here are the knobs we installed in our 1960s vintage tract house.



There is (was) a company making retrofit kits to install old knobs in modern doors so we didn't have to mess with the doors too much. The bronze is 1880s vintage, the glass from 1880s - 1910s (hard to date), and the millefiori knob is ~1960-70s.

For the front door, we replaced the original builder grade crap with a ten pane door from ~1920. It was one half of a french door set and we had it custom cut to fit the opening. It is so much nicer.

 

[Stiff Clamp]

Just now . . .. some hand tools . . . a stubby ratchet, 2 wrenches ( 1 stubby ), a 12pc set of smaller sockets.

- Powerbuilt Stubby Ratchet, Mini 1/4 Inch Ratchet Wrench, Reversible 72 Tooth

- Sunex 991710MA 10mm Full Polish V-Groove Combination Wrench


- SUNEX TOOLS 1822, 1/4 Inch Drive Magnetic Impact Socket Set, 12-Piece, Metric, 5mm-15mm, Cr-Mo Alloy Steel, Radius Corner Design

- Teng Tools 10mm Metric Stubby Combination Wrench

 

[MrSquished]

Loving the Aeropress. Looking forward to getting a slightly bolder blend, between medium and dark, as the Aeropress makes a smooooth fucking cuppa.

 

[bbhaag]

I've posted these before but here are the knobs we installed in our 1960s vintage tract house.
View attachment 115060
View attachment 115061
View attachment 115062
There is (was) a company making retrofit kits to install old knobs in modern doors so we didn't have to mess with the doors too much. The bronze is 1880s vintage, the glass from 1880s - 1910s (hard to date), and the millefiori knob is ~1960-70s.

For the front door, we replaced the original builder grade crap with a ten pane door from ~1920. It was one half of a french door set and we had it custom cut to fit the opening. It is so much nicer.

I really like those they are very pretty. I'm a sucker for items that are usually considered just functional but are also ascetically pleasing.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Battery organizer. My batteries are just all over the place with no logic or reason, and I don't know which ones are charged and which ones are not. Time to change that. I bought two. One to store batteries that are charged and one to store ones that need to be charged. I am weirdly excited about this.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08CC6R2Q7?smid=AWK7361U17LFZ&psc=1

 

[conspireagainst]

Loving the Aeropress. Looking forward to getting a slightly bolder blend, between medium and dark, as the Aeropress makes a smooooth fucking cuppa.

I received one for Xmas and have used it several times. The first time, going by the included instructions, wasn't impressive. I watched a couple of videos and settled on the inverted method, which seems to be much better. However, I don't necessarily find it to be any tastier than just using my automatic drip machine (which has a near-perfect water heating temperature of 190F so that may be why).

Do you have any tips for me? I want to like it, as I think it's a very neat gadget and so many people rave about it but it's less convenient than the auto-drip and produces nearly identical results so far...

 

[MrSquished]

I received one for Xmas and have used it several times. The first time, going by the included instructions, wasn't impressive. I watched a couple of videos and settled on the inverted method, which seems to be much better. However, I don't necessarily find it to be any tastier than just using my automatic drip machine (which has a near-perfect water heating temperature of 190F so that may be why).

Do you have any tips for me? I want to like it, as I think it's a very neat gadget and so many people rave about it but it's less convenient than the auto-drip and produces nearly identical results so far...

I don't have the counterspace to have a nice drip machine hanging out there all the time, so the aeropress is perfect for me. I mean I could make room but I like the setup I have now. I was using a french press before, also minimal in space taken up.

I know there are a lot of youtube rabbit holes to go down with the aeropress, but I haven't yet.

But for me the XL is perfect, super fast and super easy to clean, and takes up little space. I have big 20 oz coffee mugs so one XL filled to the number 8 on the aeropress is perfect for one big cup of coffee.

 

[bbhaag]

Battery organizer. My batteries are just all over the place with no logic or reason, and I don't know which ones are charged and which ones are not. Time to change that. I bought two. One to store batteries that are charged and one to store ones that need to be charged. I am weirdly excited about this.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08CC6R2Q7?smid=AWK7361U17LFZ&psc=1

View attachment 115098

That does look oddly satisfying. I also have batteries all over the house located in places like bedroom closets, in the kitchen junk drawer, bedroom nightstands, the family room, ect....they are just everywhere. When you get it let us know how well it works.

 

[lxskllr]

I like the onboard tester. I can never put my hands on a multimeter when I want to check a battery.

 

[Indus]

@sdifox btw I forgot to say thank you.

Now I have ear pods and no headache vs before when I had a headset and a headache!