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Thread: Home Weather Station

  1. #1
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    Home Weather Station

    Anyone have any experience/suggestions when it comes to a home weather station? I have a digital inside/outside temp gauge but sure would like something that shows wind speed, direction, wind chill, humidity, etc. Appreciate any suggestions as to what to look for or avoid. Thanks!
    Steve

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  2. #2
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    We have an older LaCrosse weather station, but it isn't completely satisfactory. It has a rain gauge that only works part of the time and then loses signal even though it is only 10 feet from the receiver. The rain gauge is pretty accurate when it works. It loses accumulated data every time you have to restart it. The "ranges" between transmitter and receiver most quote are overly optimistic. Things like aluminum siding and walls significantly reduce the separation distance. Regular AA batteries only last 3-4 months, but the lithium cells generally will last close to a year. Mounting the anemometer is tricky to get it away from building affects. I mounted mine on a 4 foot pole (it should have been 6 feet) above the highest point of our out building and it still sees wind shadow from the building depending upon the wind direction.

    I have considered replacing ours with this one . I don't know if it is any better than what I have, but you can plug it in, with optional accessories, so there are no batteries to replace.
    Lee Schierer
    USNA '71
    Go Navy!

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  3. #3
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    My name is Malcolm, and I am a weather geek. Allow me to corrupt you and drain your wallet. :-)

    Seriously- get ready for sticker shock, but if you want a quality weather station, look at Davis Instruments and Oregon Scientific. They are quality, and offer the ability to build components piece by piece if you can't afford all at once. They have remote and multiple station options, data mapping, and plenty of price points.

    I also urge you to buy "Modern Marine Weather" by David Burch. This is geared towards offshore sailing, but is the best weather book I have read to date, and I have taken college level weather courses. He explains everything in easy to understand terms yet keeps you in the technical dialogue.
    image.jpg

    IF the cost is too much, get a good manual barometer, thermometer, and hygrometer. Weems and Plath have some high quality entry level options. Beware- these things can get expensive as well, but a decent one is all you need unless you're offshore sailing. Make sure the barometer reads in millibars because that's what weather charts will use. Most barometers will have inches of mercury as well. I personally prefer millibars to be the outer dial, as that's where you will be looking at minute changes and comparing to the isobars on the weather maps.
    A great example, although this one is pricey, of the dial I am referring to:
    image.jpeg

  4. #4
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    Santa brought me a LaCross weather station last December. I have no previous experience with these but have been happy with the LaCross. It's a lot of fun to see what's going on real time. I can also view all of the information on my iPhone or iPad from anywhere. All of the components are WiFi based and work fine. The wind gage is ~ 40' from the base station. I haven't needed to replace any batteries..yet.
    Last edited by Bruce Page; 08-05-2018 at 1:08 PM. Reason: Over estimated distance..
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  5. #5
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    We have an Ambient Weather WS-0900-IP. It's a way to be able to monitor the weather in the back yard from anywhere in the world. The sensors are kinda flimsy which is probably an issue with any of the less than maybe $200+ stations. We had a LaCrosse station previously and like Lee found the rain gauge about useless. We did need to do a warranty exchange for the outdoor unit - wind speed & direction & rain. We're on Weather Underground's Wundermap so Ambient Weather could see that wind was working but rain was not. It's advisable to use Lithium batteries rather than Alkaline, Lithium works at lower temperatures. A pair of batteries should last about a year.

  6. #6
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    I had a LaCross and in the winter the temp would read 5 to 6 degrees off according to my calibrated cooler test thermometer along with three others. I called them and they told me that that was within their specs. I really didn't like their customer service when you read their specs it says within 2 degrees + or - but they add them together so 4 degrees is what they were telling me and they started pulling temps from around my area but all were 10 miles or more away

  7. #7
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    Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I am totally ignorant when it comes to weather stations and you have given me a lot to research and check out. Appreciate it!
    Steve

    “You never know what you got til it's gone!”
    Please don’t let that happen!
    Become a financial Contributor today!

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Schierer View Post
    I have considered replacing ours with this one.
    Lee, the biggest problem I have is with outside sensors losing their ability to communicate with the inside units. AcuRite is the worst offender for this, in my experience. ..My 2˘ .. others' experience may be different.

  9. #9
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    Another weather nerd/data junky.

    another vote for Davis Instruments. At a very good entry level, I would recommend the Vantage Vue.

  10. #10
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    And now for something completely different... though on topic. More for a complete record for the weather junkies, than OP, I suspect. Raspberry Pi, (an educational computing effort,) has a weather station project:

    Build your own Weather Station

    It is based on a project kit they created for schools. The project would allow the adventurous to build, and customize, their own weather station.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Todd Mason-Darnell View Post
    Another weather nerd/data junky.

    another vote for Davis Instruments. At a very good entry level, I would recommend the Vantage Vue.
    +1. I have a Vantage Vue and it is good.

    I used to have the AcuRight Lee mentioned; it was inaccurate from the day I got it and progressed to useless. But it is well priced!

  12. #12
    I had a Davis system back in the 90's. Hard wired, and worked great.
    Side note: One day I came home from a trip and no electric in the house.
    Main breaker was tripped and many other breakers., after resetting, only some stuff worked. Called electric Co, they came out quick, and found one leg of my main wiring out, and soon had it fixed., but told me it was probably lighting strike. As we walked around the house, we found parts of the wind vane, with what looked like worm holes in it. Actually it was lighting strike. found a lot of damage to other things, metal soffits arced to rain gutters, all telephone equipment failed, etc. So it not only worked as weather station, lighting rod too.
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  13. #13
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    I have Accurite temperature sensors that operate over wifi and they work great. I haven't had problems others mention. Now I don't have a weather station but if I wanted one I would buy theirs.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wade Lippman View Post
    I used to have the AcuRight Lee mentioned; it was inaccurate from the day I got it and progressed to useless.
    I have a LaCrosse thermometer in a different room from the LaCrosse weather station and it reads temperatures about 3 degrees lower than the newer weather station and appears to be the more accurate of the two based on a lab grade glass tube thermometer.
    Lee Schierer
    USNA '71
    Go Navy!

    My advice, comments and suggestions are free, but it costs money to run the site. If you found something of value here please give a little something back by becoming a contributor! Please Contribute

  15. #15
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    Wireless weather stations

    It make a difference what's between the transmitter & receiver. The Ambient weather unit we have has 2 transmitters, indoor and outdoor. Both talk to little base station plugged into a router. We have very reliable connectivity but the only thing between the transmitters and receiver is a glass patio door and some framing/drywall. I'm certain that if there were metal siding or thick masonry it'd be a different and sadder story.

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