Nerd Alert - Anyone have recommendations for a weather station?

[iamwiz82]

I'm currently looking at the Ambient Weather WS-2080 Wireless Home Weather Station and it seems pretty cool. Anyone have know of something better in the price point?

 

[MixMasterTang]

I bought something very similar from Costco for my dad / Christmas 2011. I believe I only paid $60-$75 but it's one of those things they might never carry again.

 

[SearchMaster]

With all the weather apps I don't see the point but I guess there are weather nerds out there. I have a remote thermometer so I can see what temperature it is outside (we're often +-5 degrees from the weather sites) but it was like $8.

 

[Mixolydian]

Davis' Vantage series. By far the best consumer weather stations on the market. They are more expensive, sure, but they are definitely worth the price. The accuracy and precision is unmatched.

If you are new to weather stations, check out the VantageVue:
http://www.vantagevue.com/
http://www.scientificsales.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=6250&e=Y

I have a Vantage Pro2, myself.

 

[Mixolydian]

Davis' Vantage series. By far the best consumer weather stations on the market. They are more expensive, sure, but they are definitely worth the price. The accuracy and precision is unmatched.

If you are new to weather stations, check out the VantageVue:
http://www.vantagevue.com/
http://www.scientificsales.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=6250&e=Y

I have a Vantage Pro2, myself.

I should add - before I bought the VP2 I had one of those cheaper wx stations like they sell at Costco. Total piece of garbage.

 

[Sluggo]

I'm currently looking at the Ambient Weather WS-2080 Wireless Home Weather Station and it seems pretty cool. Anyone have know of something better in the price point?

I have that one and like it.

Original batteries lasted 2+ years
I have mine about 100 feet from the house, and the base receives it just fine.
Hail storm beat it to death, but got replacement parts easily.
My only real complaint is that it only displays kind of an "averageish" wind speed, and you have to hook it up to a computer for max wind gusts. Possibly a setting to change that, but it never bothered me enough to read the instructions.

 

[MovingTarget]

I was looking at that one the OP posted earlier due to the price point. Are you hoping to integrate this with, say, wunderground.com or something? They had a lot of links to various stations, including that one.

http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/setup.asp?MR=1

 

[dud]

I've been wanting a quality weather station for 20 years, until I was able to find most everything I need online. The most useful tool that I've found is not provided by one of these personal stations ... weather radar. I can pretty much tell what is going to happen in my county by following the radar images.

Damn, the prices of those stations sure have come down over the years ...

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I went with a Vantage Vue and never looked back.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I've been wanting a quality weather station for 20 years, until I was able to find most everything I need online. The most useful tool that I've found is not provided by one of these personal stations ... weather radar. I can pretty much tell what is going to happen in my county by following the radar images.

Damn, the prices of those stations sure have come down over the years ...

I've found that location matters. Where I live there is a significant difference in conditions within a few miles. Unless that weather station on the internet is in my backyard it's not very helpful. In other regions, that may not matter much.

 

[mmntech]

With all the weather apps I don't see the point but I guess there are weather nerds out there. I have a remote thermometer so I can see what temperature it is outside (we're often +-5 degrees from the weather sites) but it was like $8.

Weather geeks certainly are a dedicated lot, and a bit crazy.

 

[iamwiz82]

I've found that location matters. Where I live there is a significant difference in conditions within a few miles. Unless that weather station on the internet is in my backyard it's not very helpful. In other regions, that may not matter much.

That is my thought as well, yeah I can look at wunderground or whereever easily enough but it's not always the same as it is at my home. I enjoy vegetable gardening and knowing how much rain I got in the last week is quite useful, things like that.

 

[iamwiz82]

Davis' Vantage series. By far the best consumer weather stations on the market. They are more expensive, sure, but they are definitely worth the price. The accuracy and precision is unmatched.

If you are new to weather stations, check out the VantageVue:
http://www.vantagevue.com/
http://www.scientificsales.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=6250&e=Y

I have a Vantage Pro2, myself.

We use the Davis hardware at work for tracking wind information. Good stuff but more than I wanted to spend.

 

[Mixolydian]

That is my thought as well, yeah I can look at wunderground or whereever easily enough but it's not always the same as it is at my home. I enjoy vegetable gardening and knowing how much rain I got in the last week is quite useful, things like that.

It's very cool to see the weather conditions right at your own home. Plus with software, you can view graphs and charts of the data over time. very fun stuff.

 

[BoomerD]

Silly geeks...

http://www.postthisinc.com/weatherstone.html

 

[John Connor]

I just rely on other peoples weather stations. www.wunderground.com

http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/

 

[bradley]

For me, instead The Weather Underground, WeatherBug weather stations are more plentiful and closer to my location. www.weatherbug.com Plus, I don't support radicals.

 

[John Connor]

Support radicals?

 

[bunker]

Support radicals?

The Weather Underground

 

[John Connor]

LOL! I knew who that was....

 

[soulcougher73]

I dont get it. Who cares about the weather THAT much? It is what it is and cannot be changed so just enjoy whatever nature throws at you. Plus we have apps and TV stations for this sort of thing.

 

[Vdubchaos]

I dont get it. Who cares about the weather THAT much? It is what it is and cannot be changed so just enjoy whatever nature throws at you. Plus we have apps and TV stations for this sort of thing.

Agreed

Why would anyone want this/buy this.

 

[Mixolydian]

I dont get it. Who cares about the weather THAT much? It is what it is and cannot be changed so just enjoy whatever nature throws at you. Plus we have apps and TV stations for this sort of thing.

I don't get it. Why would anyone want to build their own computer? Who cares THAT much? Plus we have stores where you can buy computers off the shelf.

See, that logic can be applied to just about anything.

 

[IronWing]

Bumping this thread as I was looking at the Davis Vantage Vue station. Has anyone here bought the IP software? If so, can you read your weather data from anywhere? Do you need a static IP to make it work?

 

[OutHouse]

I tried two of the ones from costco and both of them did not work out of the box. I picked up a Acurite weather station from Lowes and its been great. someday ill buy the 80 dollar attachment to upload data to weatherunderground and view the logs anywhere.

I took these pics just for this thread.