Not a repair question, but possibly on topic. I'd like to get a weather station for home. I'd like it to be able to download info to the computer and have software as part of the package.
Does anyone have one, or be able to make a recommendation?
Charles
I have one that connects to one of my computers and then also uploads every two minutes to one of my domains. You can see it at
It is a LaCrosse brand and you can find them at
If you have additional questions there is an e-mail link on my weather site.
Don (on the run)
You can buy 3 function weather stations (temp, wind speed, and direction) for as little as $80 at Wallmart (LaCross) or pay up to $1K for the quality stuff from Davis. There's plenty of choices to suit your budget in between.
There's a lotta modular and DIY stuff, too. Check out a one-wire option if your a linux user and handy with a soldering iron.
Why do people have weather stations? I have a "gadget" on my screen that continuously displays local temperature and weather...along with forecasts for the next few days. Numerous websites let me look at all kinds of info. I rarely look at it because I sit near a window. Why should I have my own weather station linked to the web?
I did buy most of a weather station at a garage sale. Every time I set out to install the rain gauge, I looked at the gauge, the ladder, the wiring... Then I looked outside and said, "it's not raining. How much more do I need to know?" I jumped at the chance to sell it for 10 times what it cost me. So, somebody wants a weather station.
Having said that, I do monitor temperature and humidity inside, outside, in the attic, and in the crawl space. But I actually use the information so I can take action to prevent pipes freezing.
I've gone to a lot of trouble to measure and graph electricity and gas consumption. Was interesting data for 15 minutes. But in the end, if I'm cold, I turn up the thermostat. What the graph says is irrelevant. Every month I get a free report the gas and electric companies.
What's the other info good for? It's not like you can turn down the clouds if it's raining too hard.
A nice professional type weather station that will do what you want can be found at
As long as you're using a computer, consider "Weather Bug." It's an application that downloads data from weather stations continuously. A "weather station" may be only a few blocks from your home - my displayed data comes from an elementary school about 1/4 mile away.
Don't cost nothing.
mike wrote in news:ic0e2q$oef$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:
Because I want one. Since I'm paying for it that's the only reason I need.
snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net (Charles Bishop) wrote in news:ctbishop- snipped-for-privacy@global-66-81-250-232.dialup.o1.com:
Another respectable brand.
I have a La Crosse weather station. It works, but I am not really happy with it. Of course before this one I had a Davis station. The Davis was much better. But much more expensive. The next time I may try Oregon Scientific. They are somewhere in the middle in price.
One of the biggest problems I have with the 2 I have had is the software. I haven't gotten any that was really fully satisfactory. The La Crosse I have now has software that is really poor as far as I am concerned. It just sits there and tells you what the current reading is. I bought a second source software package that is better than the Heavy Weather software that came with the station, but it really doesn't do what I would like. It is still a lot better than just the Heavy Weather.
Bill
Bingo!
Another reason, despite there being dozens of other existing stations, none of them are right outside my window and may be far from what I am experiencing at any given moment. I'm quite rural and the closest online station to me is an airport 7 miles away. I've manually measure temps of 15F difference from that airport. I'm also down in a canyon next to a river. Nothing like the airport up on a windsweapt plateau.
Another problems is the fact that some of those online weather networks are all screwed up. On one site I've been to, I enter my zip code and the site gives the correct zip location for myself, but provides readings of a mountain pass located 50 miles away and several thousand feet higher, a pass so remote it's closed most of the Winter. IOW, totally useless.
As with most things, you get what you pay for. Wanting to try the brand, I got a LaCross (Walmart) remote temp sensor. It died in 10 mos and was giving readings as much as 10F off. Basically, junk.
As for a reason, like you say, any one will do. The older I become the more fascinated I become by weather. I used to live in dull hot two season CA. Now I live in high cold CO (8000ft!), where it snows and everything and weather changes by the hour. I'm like a kid in a toy store! ;)
nb
notbob wrote in news:aSREo.25504$xb.10420 @newsfe10.iad:
All those reasons too as well as the idiosyncrasies of anyplace.
Yes. Beats being fascinated by violence, little boys, dope, etc.
Unless you live in an extremely remote area, or a strange micro-climate, there are various networks of amateur, professionals, and government weather reporting sites that can be accessed for free on the web for almost all areas. One of the popular ones is called the weatherbug network. You can also download browser add-ons and other utilities that let you see real time conditions from The Weather Channel, Accuweather, and/or other weather services for almost any zip code in the country.
I've found that the real cheap units sold in the big box stores for $20-$50 are accurate for temperature, but a real joke for humidity. You probably need to purchase professional quality equipment costing much more to get something accurate and reliable. Why pay a lot of $$ for such a device with remote sensing when you can get just as accurate (or more so) condition reports for your immediate area for free?
OP said he lives in a very remote, kinda diffferent place - I think he is near the edge of the earth:-))
I have a LaCrosse too. Works great
If everyone had your attitude there would not be as many free stations for you to look at.
So you are suggesting that no-one with internet access should take advantage of the weather condition resources available on the web because it is bad for the economy?
To follow that logic, none of us should use the web for communications (bad for the Post Office and the phone company), obtain news (bad for the newspaper business), or do any other fee-free activity on-line when there is a more expensive alternative way.
Some cut here and there.
Farmers could use the information for irrigation scheduling. They can use the heating degree day info to judge when a crop is mature. Besides, weather takes up a good portion of the coffee shop talk. A farmer would be embarrassed if he can't tell the group how much rain he got.
I've had a LaCrosse WS-2210 for ten years. It is wireless and requires some fussing when there is an occasional signal loss. If I had to replace it, I'd probably do something else. But if anyone cares about the weather at my house:
-- Doug
You don't say what second source software you have, but you might take a look at:
-- Doug
Mine will do wireless but I hard wired it anyway. It seems more stable.
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