AcuRite 00634A3 Wireless Weather Station with Wind Sensor, Black

AcuRite 00638A2 Wireless Weather Station with Wind Sensor This a gift for my wife, who has wanted one for some time. I learned that you could spend a lot of money for one for a serious weather hobbyist, and probably get complexity that isn't wanted or needed. This little unit is GOOD, for a beginner who might want to move up later, and for someone who just wants to see a solid, basic weather system that gives a good introduction to reading the weather right at home. The receiving unit is well made, easy to read, and has buttons big enough for our arthritic old fingers. The manual is complete and easy to understand. Installation is quick and not complicated. I installed where my wife wanted it, wondering if it might suffer from electrical interference, and saw good steady readings on the meter that agreed with our other indoor/outdoor thermometers. The wind and pressure readings are fine, with the understanding that this old man is not about to place it high enough to escape wind interferences of our houses, or replace batteries when needed. THIS LITTLE INSTRUMENT JUST WORKS.... AND IT WORKS RIGHT! But it's not all pros and no cons: the manual recommends PVC pipe to mount it. That works, but the manual writers forgot Kansas winds! I strapped the pipe to a corner fence post with zip ties, and it sways like a buggy whip in any breeze at all, so I'll get a piece of steel pipe, set the pole into it and a minor problem will be no problem at all.

After looking at several weather stations we settled on this one as the best value. A damaged-box unit available from Amazon Warehouse for even less sealed the deal. The sensor unit was extremely easy for us to install. We drove a 1 1/4" pipe into the ground, and placed a 5ft. length of 3/4 pvc pipe inside it, with the sensor mounted on top. This way, it will be easy to pull the unit down to replace the batteries when the time comes, or to replace the pole with a taller one if we want. The sensor was placed 230 feet (measured with a wheel) from the receiver, and with new alkaline batteries the signal strength is showing four bars. I have good hopes for battery life in the sensor unit. A friend of ours has an older model with a similar sensor, and the lithium batteries he originally installed in it only now need replacement - 8 years later. The units started communicating within seconds of battery installation. The display on the receiver is easy to read, as long as you are looking at a good viewing angle, which is looking slightly down at it. If looking straight at it to slightly upwards it is more difficult to see. We've had another wireless thermometer for several years, and after some time for things to settle they read 2-3 degrees apart, as close as can be expected. The two sensors are about 100 feet apart, and temperatures can easily vary that much over that distance. I have no way of verifying the accuracy of the other measurements, but I have no reason to think they are any farther off than the temperature. Be aware that the readings are not continuous. They are updated every 20-30 seconds or so(I haven't timed it), so when it comes to wind speed it's quite possible to miss a gust. I believe the history graphs, something not seen on all Acurite weather stations, will be very interesting to watch. They are one of the reasons we chose this unit over others. So far, they are working perfectly. All in all, it appears to be an excellent value. But it's still early, only a few hours, and if I have reason to change my mind some time in the future, I will update this review then.

So I barely got this last time and it works really well and I put it on the PVC pipe outside and yeah, I can get real time weather data

This is a handsome unit with a small footprint which won't look ugly or upset the neighbors. It was easy to set up and the vanes are always turning, it even measures wind speed down to 1mph, something the Big Boys don't do. I have mounted it on a 10' pole where it captures all the wind and is not blocked by trees or houses. The signal is very strong and it captured the atomic time immediately. Now why it only gets 4 stars: It mounts on a 3/4" pole, readily available at Home Depot. Despite the admonitions that a metal pole might attract lightning, get one anyway. A plastic pole will whip in the wind, and lightning will hit the highest object, your house not the anemometer. Mounting this illustrates a true design flaw. When this is placed on a 3/4" pole, it needs to be tightend onto the pole by two set screws which tighten the two halfs together. Good luck. The screws are deeply recessed and are so tiny you can barely even see them. I do not exaggerate when I say you will need the smallest jewler's screwdriver on the planet, phillips head, to even make contact. Then you cannot generate enough torque to tighten the screws. This would be a deal breaker if the pole did not penetrate so far into the unit it could not fall off anyway. Were it mounted on a plastic pole the wind would whip it around so much it would fall off. Does the manufacturer ever test their products before rushing them to market??? The final negative is something which is beyond control. During the day the solar radiation gives a temperature about 2-3 degrees above normal. It would be nice if there were a compensation feature which would allow this to be adjusted, but then the nighttime temperature would be off a few degrees. Also, a backlight should have been included. For you desert dwellers, the humidity level reads down to 1%, here in Las Vegas it is in the single degree range 6 months a year. This is rarely spelled out in the summary of products. To conclude, this is a well constructed station with the console extremely easy to read. If you can work around the limitations, you will enjoy it. To conclude, this

This item has been in service for over a year and no problems. I like it for its more streamlined design. I don't need wind direction just speed so it works out great. I use [non-rechargeable] AA lithium batteries and they are still going strong. I highly recommend lithium batteries for these type of outdoor sensors - i have several in service. I'm in a semi-urban location and the sensor is about 50ft from the display - no issues. It is somewhat affected by direct sun showing 2-4deg higher that a shaded sensor. Recommend.

This compact weather station is GREAT! It gives all the information you need! It was easy to install on our outdoor shed. The display is easy to read and very accurate. It gives a lot of information, but not overwhelming. It is a great price for all it does!!

Working as designed, will see how the learning mode works. I installed lithium batteries and the transmitter is about 100 yards away. the panel is right beside my computer monitor, which is on WiFi, and no problems at all. Only reason for four stars is the learning mode, 14 days for good forecast 33 days for the best forecast. With the technology today, I would think it would be perfect out of the box. Note: I ordered it for my deer stand weather station. Will update in about 35 or so days. Update been up and running for 32 or so days, everything is working extremely well. The forecast surprisingly, is really accurate. Wind speed, and temperature have been right on also. What I would like to see is the wind chill/dew point/heat index, be selectable. It is automatic and just does it's thing. Overall for accuracy, quality and ease of use it gets a five star rating from me.

So the batteries lasted a pretty long time in this. At 13 months, the sensor battery indicator on the screen showed low, then eventually -0- and outside readings stopped. So I changed the batteries in the sensor, easy enough. Things worked great. For A DAY. Next day - showed no outside readings and base station couldn't connect to the sensor. So I took all batteries out of both units, replaced them, and all worked great. FOR A DAY. So took batteries out of base unit, replaced them, and screen showed - all 888888 in a bunch of the displays. Great. So 1 month past Factory warranty - kaput. Seems to be common with these Accurite products, have had similar troubles with sensors at home too (this one is on a boat)

Recommended

There is nothing not to like about this product. It works well.

I have had one for a few years and love it. I bought this one as a gift for my son-in-law. He loves it. The forecasting works great. He lives where it gets down to -40 and it still works. Just make sure u use lithium batteries for the outside unit. I gave it 4 stars on easy to read as the display unit is not backlight. However it works so well that I would buy again regardless.

the item condition, Quality and performance are too good.

I like the cordination of the selling teams customer handler and their working. I recommend to purchase from peach implrts only