Sensor Range and Signal Loss

Sensor Range and Signal Loss

Posted by Monax Test and Weather on 16th Mar 2022

Most weather stations quote a maximum range of around 100 meters (line of sight) between a sensor a console/base station -  Davis Instruments devices are stronger and send up to 300m. In real life conditions, we have walls, trees, rooves and other obstructions and this can reduce the range a signal can be reliably received. We usually suggest a real world range of about a third of maximum range.

The following is a table of reception loss vs. the transmission medium. Each “wall” or obstruction decreases the transmission range by the factor shown below.

Medium RF Signal Strength Reduction
Glass (untreated) 5-15%
Plastics 10-15%
Wood 10-40%
Brick 10-40%
Concrete 40-80%
Metal 90-100%

Normally, you can adjust positions of sensors an receivers to optimise sour signal strength - something a simple as moving a console near to a window or nearer to line of sight.