Weather Stations

[jcummins]

I'm wanting to get a decent weather station...hopefully < $200. I recall reading about them here...I think....but searches are not finding anything.

The top rated ones are several hundreds to thousands, can't put that kind of money into it.

There seems to be several in the price range of < $200, and I suspect some I wouldn't be pleased with. I'd like one that can give decent rainfall measurements. What's everyone's experience with these.

 

[jcummins]

Something perhaps like this, but have no idea if this brand is reliable.

Amazon.com - AcuRite 01057RM Pro Color Weather Station, Monitor from Anywhere on a Smart Phone, Tablet or Laptop -

 

[Jimbrown]

That line of Acurites is about as good as you are going to gt in that price range. They are easy to setup. I have one almost like that one that has been up for about 1 1/2 years. works well and still has the original batteries in it.

I also have a Davis VP2 a much better and more expensive unit and the Acurite is always very close to the Davis on its readings.
Readings from mine can be seen here.

Javelina Canyon Weather | Personal Weather Station: KAZGLEES2 by Wunderground.com | Weather Underground

The Acurite is an all in one unit so no matter where you put it there will be some compromise between rain and wind and temp.

The other station shown on the mini map is my other station.

 

[Wagtail]

Have you checked the 'Similar Threads' at the bottom of this page?

 

[B7510HSD]

Sorry to say but with weather stations you really do get what you pay for!! food for thought..

 

[jcummins]

Have you checked the 'Similar Threads' at the bottom of this page?

Well....I search for 'weather stations' before posting. Wonder why the search didn't show those, since some kind of search for those?

 

[jcummins]

That line of Acurites is about as good as you are going to gt in that price range. They are easy to setup. I have one almost like that one that has been up for about 1 1/2 years. works well and still has the original batteries in it.

I also have a Davis VP2 a much better and more expensive unit and the Acurite is always very close to the Davis on its readings.
Readings from mine can be seen here.

Javelina Canyon Weather | Personal Weather Station: KAZGLEES2 by Wunderground.com | Weather Underground

The Acurite is an all in one unit so no matter where you put it there will be some compromise between rain and wind and temp.

The other station shown on the mini map is my other station.

What's the point of posting your weather station to weatherunderground? In researching finding that many do this, but don't understand why.

 

[Grateful11]

That line of Acurites is about as good as you are going to gt in that price range. They are easy to setup. I have one almost like that one that has been up for about 1 1/2 years. works well and still has the original batteries in it.

I also have a Davis VP2 a much better and more expensive unit and the Acurite is always very close to the Davis on its readings.
Readings from mine can be seen here.

Javelina Canyon Weather | Personal Weather Station: KAZGLEES2 by Wunderground.com | Weather Underground

The Acurite is an all in one unit so no matter where you put it there will be some compromise between rain and wind and temp.

The other station shown on the mini map is my other station.

That's correct in that price range but that's not saying much. I have 2 of them, one with a color display(actually just a color overlay over a monochrome LCD screen) and the other just LCD with no backlight. The outside unit is the part that gives to most trouble. The ambient temperature fan doesn't last long at all and when it goes there goes the accuracy of the temp. and humidity. The wind cups become brittle and will break off without anything more than the wind moving them and this happens at about a year of age. Then there's the rain measurement device, the least bit of debris in it and it way off.

Then there's customer service. The color I got for a Christmas present, the display would not power up at all. I called the girl just kept saying you can't use heavy duty batteries and i kept telling her I was using fresh tested alkalines. She got plain nasty and I asked to speak to a supervisor and he said a new display would go out that day. This display had already been sent in for them to checkout and they said they found nothing wrong with and replaced it with a new one but the one they sent back had the same MAC Address sticker on it and I had marked it before sending it in. My brother also got the same exact unit as I did for Christmas one year and his was also DOA. If you look at their reviews on their website they seem to be perfect but I firmly believe they delete or never approve any negative reviews.

I would love for the AcuRites to be more reliable and better built because they are reasonable, easy to install and setup and have good wireless range.

My next one will be a Davis. The Davis Instruments 6250 Vantage Vue can be had for a little over $300.

 

[Bengineer]

I have an Ambient Weather WS-1400-IP. ~$150. It measures pretty much everything I want, is wireless, and posts to weather underground. As noted for other all-in-ones, there is a compromise in measuring temp/rain/wind, which ideally would be in different locations. The system requires an internet connection and does not have a local display. The receiver/network end does have a web server that displays current values. It has been fairly reliable over the 10 mos I've owned it.

What's the point of posting your weather station to weatherunderground? In researching finding that many do this, but don't understand why.

I like the idea of contributing to local weather measurements. As long as I'm measuring and logging this info, why not add to the local knowledge? I'm midway between the others around me. We can login to see a nice display of our weather info on an Ipad.

 

[downsizingnow48]

Weather Underground is extremely accurate on the north coast between Mendocino and Ft. Bragg. For instance onset of rain is usually accurate to the hour. Temperatures are dead on. They incorporate local info like this into their models and progressively fine tune the forecast, based on the local info and how actual weather has deviated from predictions in the past.

 

[s219]

What's the point of posting your weather station to weatherunderground? In researching finding that many do this, but don't understand why.

So they can use your data and other people can see your station's data. No real benefit to you.

 

[KWentling]

I second the Davis VantageVue. I have had one for about 7 years or so and got one for my Dad also about 5 years ago. All I've done to them is replace a couple of batteries. I have seen them for about 250.
Shop around.

 

[davesl708]

The AcuRite 02032CRM Pro Weather Station with PC Connect Weather Ticker, Rain and Wind is a good fit for home use.
Under $140.00 on Amazon.

As mentioned there are some trade-offs with the basic models.

 

[jcummins]

The AcuRite 02032CRM Pro Weather Station with PC Connect Weather Ticker, Rain and Wind is a good fit for home use.
Under $140.00 on Amazon.

As mentioned there are some trade-offs with the basic models.

These Acurites are tempting....but I see sooooo many say after a couple of years they have problems. Also several posts in reviews in several places of people who have had these, and moved on to a Davis. Without doubt the Davis Pro 2 is a benchmark station from my research. But at $500+ by the time your are done, just to much money. The Davis VantageVue at $300 by the time you factor in shipping, next best and would be the unit I'd buy...IF I buy one. I do not like the console of the Davis units, they look dated in their presentation. That was pointed in in a couple of different reviews I read.

So...I may do nothing. Got a big round thermometer on the patio, and a Rural King rain gauge that I can't use in the winter because it will freeze and crack, but at a couple of bucks, well...got so many places I need to put my retirement dollars.

 

[Grateful11]

These Acurites are tempting....but I see sooooo many say after a couple of years they have problems. Also several posts in reviews in several places of people who have had these, and moved on to a Davis. Without doubt the Davis Pro 2 is a benchmark station from my research. But at $500+ by the time your are done, just to much money. The Davis VantageVue at $300 by the time you factor in shipping, next best and would be the unit I'd buy...IF I buy one. I do not like the console of the Davis units, they look dated in their presentation. That was pointed in in a couple of different reviews I read.

So...I may do nothing. Got a big round thermometer on the patio, and a Rural King rain gauge that I can't use in the winter because it will freeze and crack, but at a couple of bucks, well...got so many places I need to put my retirement dollars.

There's 3 regular rain gauges here on the 85 acres and I trust them over my electronic ones every time. I do like the electronic for recording the low temp. for the day and you can get one that will do that for $20-30. The wind speed accuracy of the AcuRites is laughable at best, it only updates every 6-10 seconds, it easily misses most wind gusts.

 

[Ford850]

I've had several brands over the years, and have a couple Acurites now. I've learned that no matter how much I was spending, they all had weak points and failed in some way after a couple years. Several times it was batteries leaking and destroying parts of them. The Acurites I have now are 2 years old. If I have to replace them I will likely go back to another one. I feel like I get th emost bang for my buck with them. Also, the technology is changing fast enough, I don't want to spend a lot to get one to last 10 years. I would rather upgrade a couple times during that span and enjoy the new enhancements.
Tip - Change all your batteries annually, whether you thing they need it or not.

 

[txdon]

I have an Accurite. Spider webs disabled the rain gauge and the circulating fan. It would show 112˚ when it was only 100˚. I got the webs off the tipper in the rain gauge but it now shows twice as much as my official cocorahs rain gauge. I need to find out how to adjust it. The wind and humidity seem to be OK, but as mentioned the update timing may miss a gust. When the sun does not shine it shows the right temp.
The color display is nice but there is no way to dim it or turn it off so it has to be unplugged at night and run on it's own battery then the backup light goes off. It's bright enough to light up a room if left plugged in.

 

[newbury]

<snip>
So...I may do nothing. Got a big round thermometer on the patio, and a Rural King rain gauge that I can't use in the winter because it will freeze and crack, but at a couple of bucks, well...got so many places I need to put my retirement dollars.

What do you NEED to know about the weather?
Is it for personal satisfaction or a cash crop?

I went through the same "want to get a weather station" a few years ago but with sites like http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge2/RFC_Precip/ reporting, a simple rain gauge, thermometers, and all the weatherundergound stations reporting I figured it wasn't worth several hundred dollars to get more accurate data. I've found that several well placed thermometers and the rain gauge left my wallet a lot thicker.

 

[Scooby074]

Vantage Pro 2.

 

[5030]

The best rain gage is the plastic tube ones for 2 bucks at Wallyworld. Never fail.....