Buying Belfort Digiwx AWOS SHIT from Debra S. Alascio?
Mark IV
Ron Lee from Meadow Lake Airport wrote in Pike's Peak Flyer:
January 2009
The SuperUnicom was shut down in early August 2008 due to harmful
interference on the 122.7 MHz fre-quency A grant was submitted and
approved to get an AWOS III P/T using FAA funds. Our portion of
thecost is around $4,000 although incidentals may drive it higher...
but far below the $25,000 previously budgetedfor an AWOS. One MLAA
Board member is attempting to force a system that is not fully
certified down our throats using the flawed rationale that it is
cheaper that the fully certified systems offered by All Weather Inc
and Vaisala. A major down side to the Belfort system is that pilots
will not be able to access METAR data through FlightService, ADDS, on
their on-board weather systems, etc. We will very likely be unable to
acquire a three letter airport ID and maintenance will cost much more
over its lifetime than with either of the fully certified systems.
Plus in its current implementation, there is no obvious upgrade path
to getting present weather and lightning information available in an
AWOS III P/T system. It is crucial to the safety of this airport and
our usefulness as a destination airport within the National Airspace
System that we get a state of the art AWOS. With the FAA grant, it is
amazingly affordable. But it is essential that local pilots become
informed on this matter and contact all Board members to express their
view. My opinion... based upon extensive research on behalf of MLAA
members... is that we need a fully certified AWOS. The minimum
configuration is AWOS III, with AWOS III P/T highly desirable
(objective). It needs to be the number one priority acquisition with a
target installation not later than Spring 2009. It must not be
sacrificed to pay interest on the land acquisition.
His full report is located he
http://home.pcisys.net/~ronlee/Meado...onAnalysis.doc
If you're considering a Digiwx AWOS... READ THIS ANALYSIS FIRST!
Following up on the post regarding the UN-APPROVED, UN-CERTIFIED and
UN-OFFICIAL weather data sprewed by Belfort Digiwx AWOS, one also
needs to note that they only sold 2 units during all of 2009.
Buy anything except Belfort Instrument Digiwx AWOS from Bruce R.
Robinson and company.
These Belfort Digiwx AWOS Chinese made wind sensors are about the
worst products available in the weather instrumentation marketplace
worldwide.This is yet another reason why Belfort Instruments did not
get the following Digiwx AWOS weather sensors (ie. wind speed, wind
direction, temperature, dewpoint, relative humidity, density
altitude, present weather, precipitation, lightning, ceilometer (aka
condensation altitude)) FAA Approved, nor FAA Ceritified and why the
information SPEWED from a Belfort Digiwx AWOS is NOT OFFICIAL FAA
WEATHER INFORMATION (like you'd find in a FAA METAR report). Belfort
formats their UN-APPROVED, UN-CERTIFIED and UN-OFFICIAL weather data
to make it look like an official avaition METAR when it's NOT! And
that's why you won't find a single FAA COMMISSIONED Belfort Digiwx
AWOS anywhere in the world!
Belfort Instrument Company (aka Gamma Scientific, UDT Instruments,
Advanced Retro and Road Vista is owned by:
Bruce R. Robinson
Ellen H. Robinson
60 Paako Drive
Sandia Park, NM 87047
brobinson (at) utilipoint.com
http://www.utilipoint.com/team/robinson.asp