A review of a Weather
Station is hardly PDA related but it may be worth taking a read of this
if you are currently relying on PDA software weather managers for your
days out and planning when to take the kids on that special trip. They
often look good but fail in the actual forecasting of weather part
which is not good is it?
In the box you get a very
comprehensive manual (which is required for people like me:)), all of
the batteries you need, the main unit and a remote Thermo-Hygro Sensor-
not sure what that means but it sounds rather good...
As you can see above the
main unit is a basic grey design but it's also surprisingly lounge
friendly and looks even better in a kitchen or study. It's the type of
product that will have friends asking "What's that?" and you can smugly
advise them "Oh, that's just my Long Range Wireless Weather Station
with In-Out Thermo Hygrometer." Actualy you may want to skip that
description and just show them what it does.
In use
Setting the units up is
very easy and once the batteries are inserted everything starts working
immediately. The tricky part is working out what all of the presented
data means. In short it is a barometer which shows the current
barometic pressure reading and it can read indoor and outdoor
temperatures. You get 1 remote sensor in the box but it can take a
total of three for super accurate recording.
The standard display also
shows the current temperature and the time as well so you can throw
away that old fashioned clock your cousin gave you at the wedding (well
that's what I've done). An alarm clock function is included so this
could become a bedroom accessory instead- a snooze button is included
which also turns the backlight on and off. Signals are received from
the remote sensor every40 seconds so you can be sure of accuracy at all
times which is reassuring.
Don't think that this
product just shows what is happening now- it also displays the
temperature and humidity trend i.e. rising, steady and falling. On top
of that it detects atmospheric pressure changes and based on data
collected will predict the weather for up the next 24 hours. In the
manual it states that this is normlly 70%-75% accurate. Comfort levels
are also included showing if it is wet, dry or just right but to be
fair you could probably judge that for yourself.
The remote unit works up
to 100 metres away from the main unit so you can place one in your
shed, one in the conservatory and even one in your car if you like. The
dimensions are small which is useful as you won't particularly want
sensors sitting in obvious places as it looks like a medical device to
me. To keep the units powered you will need 4 AA batteries for the main
unit and 2 AAA batteries for each sensor- I have't had the device for
long enough to judge how good the battery life is but because the main
display is monochrome and the backlight is times to go off
automatically I suspect it will be pretty good.
Conclusion
It's quite difficult for
me to review a product like this because my understaning of humidity
and the weather in general is poor but even if you think of this as a
glorified alarm clock it is well worth the current price at Clove (who
have it on special offer). All in all I have become attached to it and
have been using it as my daily alarm clock and find myself checking the
readings a few times each day- we British are known for being obsessed
with the weather anyway:) I think Oregon Scientific themselves sum up
this device better than I ever could-
OK so here’s the science
bit…this weather station has an extended reception range from
the remote temperature / humidity sensors. To you and me, this means if
you have a BIG house, BIG garden OR just big on style then you need one
of these.
