There's a new shape in your future! Vantage Pro2's rain collector has gone from its nice, solid, tapered barrel shape, to a wasp-waisted, aerodynamic silhouette!
Our engineers looked at what happens when a high wind gust whips the rain sideways toward the collector.
With the classic shape, the wind hits the collector, and then flows up and over. This turbulence causes the flow to accelerate over the top, and can whip some of the precipitation right past the mouth of the cone. The error is usually small, depending on the speed of the gust and the rain rate, and lasts only as long as the gust.
But since we are always looking for the best of accuracy, even in the worst of conditions, we did a little remake of the shape. The new shape, besides looking totally awesome, allows the wind to go around the rain collector, reducing the turbulence that can create an error.
While they were at it, the design team added a notching system inside the cone that allows the debris screen to lock in. No more blown out debris screens!
The new rain cone is called AeroCone, and is currently shipping from Weather Spares. It is backward compatible with all Vantage Pro2s, so if you live where wind gusts are common and would like to reduce this wind-driven rain error, you can just switch out the new cone for the old with an AeroCone Replacement Kit.
However, if you currently have a rain collector heater, you won't want to order the new cone. The rain collector heater is compatible only with the classic style cone. (What about future AeroCone owners who want a rain collector heater, you ask? Never fear. They'll be able to get a classic shape cone with the heater. )