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Weather stations

Tyrone

By Tyrone
in WEATHER / CLIMATE

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Tyrone Grand Master

Tyrone

Posted
Posted

I just want to hear people's thoughts on weather stations. I've been through about 4 in the last 5 years. They never last for me. The best was 21 months before the outdoor sensor went crazy and started showing 38C at midnight. Really disappointed as I paid a few hundred dollars for it.

What are people using and are people happy with the performance? Particularly interested in ones that have lasted at least 5 years.

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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kinzyjr Grand Master

kinzyjr

Posted
Posted

I have an Avantek weather station similar to this one: https://www.amazon.com/X-Sense-Wireless-Outdoor-Temperature-Humidity/dp/B00UYLAJYW/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

While it is not anything state-of-the-art, the temperature readings are consistent and it has lasted since I got it for Christmas more than 5 years ago.

Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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Palmaceae Grand Master

Palmaceae

Posted
Posted

Not sure what to recommend but I will never recommend anything from Accurite. I have had one since 2015 (5 in 1 weather station), and had to replace the main sensor three times plus now they discontinued the Internet hub which allows you to connect to the accurite website and WeatherUndergroud. So that now means I have to buy their new hub just for it to work, totally unacceptable. So now I am looking for a new one such as the Ambient Weather Stations.

Lived in Cape Coral, Miami, Orlando and St. Petersburg Florida.

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tropicbreeze Veteran

tropicbreeze

Posted
Posted

I bought a Davis because they were supposed to be top of the line for amateurs. And they're not cheap (price-wise.). The solar panel was set at too steep an angle and couldn't be adjusted. I had to face it east so at least it got direct sun part of the day. West probably not as good because the of higher chance of storms/could cover. After a couple of years the plastic crazed from the sun, the clear plastic over the solar collector became opaque. While it was working the thermometer, hygrometer and anemometer seemed to be okay. The rainfall measure was variable, I had the old style rain gauge near it for comparison. Light rain measured accurately. Heavy rain, depending on intensity, could be up over 20% wrong. They use a tip bucket method of measuring which can't keep up with anything other than light rain.

My overall impression was that if I had have kept it in its original packing box on a shelf indoors it might have lasted longer.

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Chris Chance Mentor

Chris Chance

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I have the Ambiant Weather WS-2902A and so far it seems accurate.  Probably not the best on the market but for the price and the reviews I read it's solid.  

I got it from Amazon under $200 and broadcasts in Weather Underground which is great. 

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cm05 Experienced

cm05

Posted
Posted

I have an Ambient Weather Station (model WS-2902A). Cheaper than most other stations and so far it’s been quite solid for me 13 months in. This is my first weather station so I have nothing to compare it to other than nearby stations on Weather Underground and the airport nearby, it generally matches well with them.

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Palmaceae Grand Master

Palmaceae

Posted
Posted

Just bought the Ambient Weather WS-2000 station. Has great reviews, so once I get it I will let you know how it works.

Lived in Cape Coral, Miami, Orlando and St. Petersburg Florida.

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Sabal_Louisiana Community Regular

Sabal_Louisiana

Posted
Posted (edited)

I typed the following and then noticed that you are in Australia. This info is applicable to a US/Canada market. Since Davis is international all that I said still applies. Ambient Weather only ships to the US but their products are very similar to Fine Offset and Ecowitt elsewhere. Acu-Rite ships overseas I think. Ecowitt or Davis may be where you should start to look.

In the long run, Davis is probably the best for your money. You can get a no-frills Vantage Pro2 for under $400. For those who just want the basics at reasonable cost, most of your Ambient Weather Products are probably the way to go. You can get a lot for less than $200. I have not been that impressed with Acu-Rite stations in the past. But it looks like they are doing a little better these days. They have an upgraded line known as ATLAS which is trying to compete with Davis's stuff. It's a lot better than what they had before but they still have a ways to go to be anywhere as good as a Davis suite. A typical ATLAS station can be had on Amazon now for only about $180, $80 extra for lightning detection (Read reviews on this before considering the upgraded unit).

Any Personal Weather station is only as good as the customer allows it to be. Proper siting of the station and care/maintenance is a must.

An excellent reference work is "The Weather Observation Handbook" by Stephen Burt, written for a US and UK audience.

Edited by Sabal_Louisiana
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Tyrone Grand Master

Tyrone

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Thanks guys for your thoughts.

My job just last week took me to the local bureau of meteorology site in Albany and I asked the same question of the guy manning it. (It turns out not for too long as all regional sites will be automated completely soon). He recommended the Davis Vantage Pro 2 which he has had for ten years and only just now has the outside temp sensor gone crazy. The trouble is they retail here for over $1000 Australian. Trying to get approval from my wife to spend that sort of money is going to be hard. Also if I buy one from the US online it has to be the wired version as the wireless version doesn't comply with our very strict radio frequency laws (ACMA) and I could be fined for turning the thing on.

My first 3 stations were for around $100 Australian from Holman and most failed roughly around the one year mark. My last one was from Digitech and it cost me $400 Australian and it failed after 21 months. It's out of warranty and you can't get parts for it. So I'm going backwards in the cost per year equation. I'm not sure what to do, as most things on the market are just rubbish. The Holman ones just rusted the battery contacts out.

I think if I was to spend the big bucks I'd want the ability to replace sensors, a minimum of 2 years warranty and the ability to at least see 5-6 years without having to  replace anything.

On the other side of the scale I asked the guy at BOM what the cost of their weather station was and it was $100000!!!!

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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mdsonofthesouth Mentor

mdsonofthesouth

Posted
Posted

I just threw away mine that I had for maybe 13 months. Came with 4 sensors with the main one and I lost one about 5 months in and another started reading like -60F about 9 months in and finally about 3 weeks ago the last ones bit the dust. This is my 3rd sub $100 station and to be honest I'm not getting another.

  • Upvote 1

LOWS 16/17 12F, 17/18 3F, 18/19 7F, 19/20 20F

Palms growing in my garden: Trachycarpus Fortunei, Chamaerops Humilis, Chamaerops Humilis var. Cerifera, Rhapidophyllum Hystrix, Sabal Palmetto 

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  • 3 weeks later...
sipalms Experienced

sipalms

Posted
Posted

We had our first ground frost where I live this morning. Official low overnight only 0.5C but frost on the windshield in the morning. 

So I need to get a weather station sooner rather than later to see how my palms get on this winter.

@Tyrone, how did you get on? I'm after a full weather station, with manual data download available as well as WiFi. Sounds like there's a bunch of junky ones out there so need to avoid those.

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Tyrone Grand Master

Tyrone

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Sipalms the situation remains unresolved. I've still got the bunky outdoor sensor sitting in the garden and I've put the indoor sensor which still works fine just under the back patio out of direct sun. Sometimes the two sensors agree more or less and sometimes the outdoor sensor goes berserk so I can see where the two lines on the graph agree and where one goes crazy. Not accurate at all.

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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Tyrone Grand Master

Tyrone

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First frost of the year this morning. After 4 days of miserable weather where we never saw the sun the clouds cleared and the blankets came off the night air. Frost on exposed open areas of lawn and the car. Probably a 2C minimum but a very moist one due to the rain and drizzle we've had the last few days.

I need to get a new weather station. Was speaking to a guy who has a wired Davis unit that hasn't faulted at all in 8 years. Not cheap though. I think that's the way I'll eventually go. Fed up with cheap junk.

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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Palmaceae Grand Master

Palmaceae

Posted
Posted

I really like my new Ambient Weather WS-2000 station, too bad the Australian frequency laws do not allow this one. This one is very well built and 100 times better than Accurite.

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Lived in Cape Coral, Miami, Orlando and St. Petersburg Florida.

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NorCalKing Proficient

NorCalKing

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Palmaceae said:

I really like my new Ambient Weather WS-2000 station, too bad the Australian frequency laws do not allow this one. This one is very well built and 100 times better than Accurite.

I have that station, (ambient) and it's very solid!

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greysrigging Veteran

greysrigging

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Tyrone said:

First frost of the year this morning. After 4 days of miserable weather where we never saw the sun the clouds cleared and the blankets came off the night air. Frost on exposed open areas of lawn and the car. Probably a 2C minimum but a very moist one due to the rain and drizzle we've had the last few days.

I need to get a new weather station. Was speaking to a guy who has a wired Davis unit that hasn't faulted at all in 8 years. Not cheap though. I think that's the way I'll eventually go. Fed up with cheap junk.

Have a lurk ( and a look ) on the Australian Weatherzone Forums. Most of the gurus there swear by the Davis units. Many of the large construction sites I worked on in the Pilbara also ran Davis. We never had a problem with them. Expensive ? oh yes indeed, but I think with home weather stations you get what you pay for.......

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enigma99 Mentor

enigma99

Posted
Posted

I bought the WS-2902A about a month ago. So far it’s been good!

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  • 10 months later...
OC2Texaspalmlvr Grand Master

OC2Texaspalmlvr

Posted
Posted
On 5/5/2019 at 12:12 AM, enigma99 said:

I bought the WS-2902A about a month ago. So far it’s been good!

 

On 4/9/2019 at 9:28 PM, Chris Chance said:

I have the Ambiant Weather WS-2902A and so far it seems accurate.  Probably not the best on the market but for the price and the reviews I read it's solid.  

I got it from Amazon under $200 and broadcasts in Weather Underground which is great. 

About to pull the trigger on one of these , yall still happy with them ? Do you wish you had gotten the 2000 version or is that way more then what a  non weather enthusiast needs? 

T J 

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Chris Chance Mentor

Chris Chance

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

 

About to pull the trigger on one of these , yall still happy with them ? Do you wish you had gotten the 2000 version or is that way more then what a  non weather enthusiast needs? 

Mine still works great! I know there's nicer stations out there but I think for the price it's perfect .

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OC2Texaspalmlvr Grand Master

OC2Texaspalmlvr

Posted
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4 hours ago, Chris Chance said:

Mine still works great! I know there's nicer stations out there but I think for the price it's perfect .

Thanks for getting back to me , I started reading some Amazon reviews and was starting to second guess them =/ 

T J 

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