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Home Weather Stations

PEA_RIDGE

ASST. FIRE CHIEF
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Location
MONTEVALLO, AL
What is a good home weather station? . My old acurite bit the dust and im in the market for a new one
 
I love my Davis Vantage Vue. Had it for 5 years with zero problems.
100% agree with this.
I will say if you do want to go cheaper than davis getting another acurite isn't a bad option. If you are a total nerd like me and want the data all the time the ability of the acurite data to display your current conditions on your phone is pretty solid. I prefer the davis though since it seems more accurate wrt to rainfall and there are much better data logging options.
 
I'll add another vote for the Acurite 5in1. Mine has been operating for more than two years now. I have the console plugged into a Raspberry Pi 2 running WeeWX software to upload the data to several websites(WU, PWS, CWOP), as well as a personal one. I would like to upgrade one day to some Davis equipment, but $$$. According to the automated analysis on CWOP, my station is consistent and relatively accurate.
 
100% agree with this.
I will say if you do want to go cheaper than davis getting another acurite isn't a bad option. If you are a total nerd like me and want the data all the time the ability of the acurite data to display your current conditions on your phone is pretty solid. I prefer the davis though since it seems more accurate wrt to rainfall and there are much better data logging options.
Is one Acurite better than the other that you know of? And do you know anything about the Ambient 5-1 weather station? I have to watch the budget here so Davis is definitely out and I have concerns about the temp sensor on the acurite.... if I'm going to pay 125+ for a new weather station I want to make sure I'm happy with it, hate decisions like this lol
 
Is one Acurite better than the other that you know of? And do you know anything about the Ambient 5-1 weather station? I have to watch the budget here so Davis is definitely out and I have concerns about the temp sensor on the acurite.... if I'm going to pay 125+ for a new weather station I want to make sure I'm happy with it, hate decisions like this lol

I think you'll have a warranty. if it just plain sucks get your money back. If it dies outside warranty, its not extremely hard to learn to solder (or get a friend to) if needed and replace it with something better. I would be more worried about the true guts outside the sensors.
 
Is one Acurite better than the other that you know of? And do you know anything about the Ambient 5-1 weather station? I have to watch the budget here so Davis is definitely out and I have concerns about the temp sensor on the acurite.... if I'm going to pay 125+ for a new weather station I want to make sure I'm happy with it, hate decisions like this lol
The ambient was good for about a year then it started reading too low on the TD and too high on rainfall. The temp sensor on the accurite is fine and most of their models have fans now. I would honestly stand behind any acurite weather station over ambient.
 
The ambient was good for about a year then it started reading too low on the TD and too high on rainfall. The temp sensor on the accurite is fine and most of their models have fans now. I would honestly stand behind any acurite weather station over ambient.
Thanks... acurite looks great has great reviews and honestly it's not that much more than the ambient. Time to hit the buy button

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Specifically, I have the 1035 Acurite 5in1. You can check out the CWOP summary for my site, which includes analysis of the data, at http://weather.gladstonefamily.net/site/E8041. For example, when compared with nearby stations, my station shows an average temperature error of -0.1 deg F and an error standard deviation of 1.7 deg F.

ETA: Looking at longer term (52wk) analysis, the temperature error is a bit higher, but is better than many surrounding stations (which include some more expensive equipment), according to their analysis.
 
in the market for one.. are there any good ones under 100 dollars?
 
Davis is generally considered the best other than the real high end stuff. I had a Davis Vantage Vue for about 8 years (still have it!) but currently running a Davis VP2+. Love my Davis equipment and wouldn't get anything else.
 
Acurite makes some that report temp/humidity and wind, but no rain for about $80. For $130 you can get their current 5-in-1 and also a lightning sensor.

Acurite 3-in-1
Acurite 5-in-1
If I had it to do all over again I'd spend the extra money for a Davis, I bought the AcuRite 5 in 1 and I've had nothing but issues. The biggest issue is it eats batteries like I eat candy corn and trust me I'm a candy corn addict.

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I'm sorry you've had a bad experience. I've considered a Davis but the cost differential is significant and I've been pretty satisfied with my Acurite over the past 3 years. Only one or two battery changes a year.
 
For my Davis Vue, I think I replaced the battery twice in 8 years. So far with the VP2+ which I installed April 2016, no battery changes for that either.
I'm going to send my Vue back to Davis for a refurbish and use it as a portable weather station. :) It was good advertising for Davis... this video of it got 15k views. :)
 
Not sure if I've got a sensor issue or what but I've had it about 10 months, replaced batteries 3x. I've reached out to Accurite with no success
I'm sorry you've had a bad experience. I've considered a Davis but the cost differential is significant and I've been pretty satisfied with my Acurite over the past 3 years. Only one or two battery changes a year.

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I just bought one of these... they look pretty innovative and reports coming in have been very good. This could be the future of weather stations and I'm pretty excited to get mine and try it out... should arrive early next week. The technology behind the wind and rain measurements is pretty cool and the self-calibration using local trusted stations is pretty unique as well. Thoughts?
http://weatherflow.com/smart-home-weather-stations/

SKYsensor-desc-web2018.png
AIRsensor-desc-site.png


I had considered a Davis VP but I didn't like the dated look of the console or issues they have with the capacitor going bad with time which seems to be pretty common. Also to access this from my phone or tablet I'd have to set up additional services through something like WeatherLink and pay extra which was another turnoff.
 
I just bought one of these... they look pretty innovative and reports coming in have been very good. This could be the future of weather stations and I'm pretty excited to get mine and try it out... should arrive early next week. The technology behind the wind and rain measurements is pretty cool and the self-calibration using local trusted stations is pretty unique as well. Thoughts?
http://weatherflow.com/smart-home-weather-stations/

SKYsensor-desc-web2018.png
AIRsensor-desc-site.png


I had considered a Davis VP but I didn't like the dated look of the console or issues they have with the capacitor going bad with time which seems to be pretty common. Also to access this from my phone or tablet I'd have to set up additional services through something like WeatherLink and pay extra which was another turnoff.
Dang that is sweet. I might just get one. I have one the acurite station for our place in Tennessee. But after seeing that I want one. Please update us on how you like it. Thanks for sharing.
 
Dang that is sweet. I might just get one. I have one the acurite station for our place in Tennessee. But after seeing that I want one. Please update us on how you like it. Thanks for sharing.

Will do, it’s scheduled to arrive Tuesday so I’ll get it all set up then! I did a ton of research on all the various options out there and kept coming back to it. My second choice would have been the Ambient Weather WS-2902A which has some awesome features too but is more traditional.
 
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