Portable Weather Station

Reviews

Simple enough. Put in the batteries and place the units where you want them. Within minutes you have your first reading and you don't have to think about it again. I am using this to monitor the temp in my newborn's room, so I have not tested the range, but overall I am very satisfied.

Bought this to replace a failed remote thermometer which had a 30 foot wired outdoor sensor, and bright red LED numeric readout. There are no cheap replacements for a thermometer with LEDs, which can be seen in the dark from across the room, but this unit's LCD readout is large and clear. The remote sensor works fine, no issues with wires, like with my previous unit. Both indoor & outdoor temps on this La Crosse were within 1 degree of my older, calibrated thermometer, so I'm happy with that.

I selected the La Crosse unit based on a good experience with a AAA battery charger that I bought a few months ago. I was replacing a unit from Bean that died after 2 years of good service. The thermometer worked as advertised after a 5 minute unpack and installation. I read some reviews that complained about accuracy/agreement between the indoor and outdoor readings. For an inexpensive unit like this I would expect errors on the order of 1-2 degrees F. That is plenty accurate to decide whether to open the windows or go outside. That is what I wanted it for.

There are two very important things to do when setting up this product. I opened the battery compartments on both the base and the transmitter. LOAD THE BATTERIES INTO THE TRANSMITTER FIRST. Within 30 seconds you have to load the batteries into the base. Unit came right on. I set the time and within minutes the two units synched to within three tenths of a degree. I mounted the base on my wall and installed the transmitter about 30 feet away, under my carport, keeping it away from direct sun and rain. I don't expect this unit to be accurate to the degree, I just want to get an idea of the temperature outdoors. Actually, I primarily bought this thing as a clock, with the temperature readouts as a added benefit.

This thing is pretty cool. I've bought two for myself and two as gifts. All in use for 6 months with no problems. I think the most important thing is to mount the wireless remote in a location out of the wind, rain & sun. I put mine in the carport. I like being able to check the outside temperature, from inside the house, so I know how to dress before heading off to work.

Reviews

Does what is says but don't expect it to be a weather forecaster. We have the remote outside about 20' from the unit and it works fine. Living in the California Bay area, the forecasting is horrible (just like every other pressure-based forecasting clock/temp devices). But the good news is our weather here is pretty predictable so that feature is unnecessary. Supposedly, has capability to read two temp sensors but even the one we have doesn't show up as '1' like the instruction manual states. As other reviewers note, the setup is unnecessarily complex and you do have to follow it -- just read the manual. Temperature reading is not super accurate. We have another unit that we put out front (the Oregon Scientific projector clock) and there's about a 2-3 degree temp difference. So, don't get this one if you need it to be accurate. We use it for relative temp (like if it's above 80, it's hot; below 60 it's cold; etc) and so we are happy with it. Also, the atomic clock doesn't work. We've always had problems in the kitchen with atomic clocks -- likely the signal in there is weak. Once in a while, we move it to the upstairs bedroom for the night to get the clock to sync. Gave it 4 stars since it is great for the price. Didn't really expect it to be perfect for only $20. Like I said, it does the job.

Bought as a gift for a golfer who checks the weather before playing ... a real success! Thanks!

Was looking for a weather station with temperature, barometer and humidity and this fit the bill. Thought the man with various outfits was corny, but it has proven to be relatively accurate and gives you a quick indication of the direction the barometer is heading.

I ordered this despite the reviews complaining of no Customer Service by Lacrosse. I have another product by them and it works fine, so I took the plunge. Unfortunately, there is an issue with the item (surise/set incorrect). I e-mailed them a week ago, and received an auto-responder reply. Nothing else. I e-mailed again. Nothing. Back it goes.

I buy things with the expectation they're going to keep working. After one year of marvelous service, the thing crapped out. Month 13: the humidity sensor crapped out Month 14: the wireless transmitter appeared to lose range, then totally died (yes, I followed the instructions for battery replacement on both units) Month 15: indoor thermometer hit the skids, reading 135 degrees, then "OF" So, for one year this thing made me quite happy, even with a little character to briefly entertain my kids each morning. After that year, this thing is a skipping stone. I had no expectations for customer service, assuming any warranty on the device was less than 12 months... But I was pleased to find that I could still get a PDF of the user manual online. To me, that's a credit to Lacrosse. Manufacturing a short-lived product goes to their discredit.

Reviews

I love this weather station....the little man on the front makes it easy for children to see how the weather is without having to go outside.

Weather station came as advertised. I am not sure the "Oscar" figure is as accurate as I expected

I ordered this weather station to replace a similar product from Honeywell that was about 4 years old and which stopped working after I exposed the transmitter to too much water when cleaning the back of my house. The Honeywell would frequently stop working and never seemed all that reliable. The La Crosse unit seems to be an improvement. The transmitter that you place outside has a cover which limits exposure to the elements so that should increase its lifespan. The base unit was easy to set up and I had it up and running in just a few minutes. As is typical with products like this, the instruction book is practically useless. The instructions are clearly written by someone who does not speak English as a first language which makes figuring out what you are supposed to do a challenge but you don't really need to go too deeply into the instruction book to get this up and running. The receiver seems to be pretty accurate but it is not designed to be 100% accurate and if that is what you need, then you probably should not buy any unit like this. The time is kept by radio reception but I have never had a product with this technology that ever worked because the time comes from somewhere in Colorado and signals can easily be distorted or lost the further you get from the source in Colorado. Too early to tell if this unit will receive signals but the time can always be set manually if necessary. Overall, this unit seems to be reasonably priced and has every feature the average homeowner would want or need in a weather forecasting unit. Update: After a week of use, the temperature readings seem accurate but the "sunny" icon is out regardless of the actual outside conditions. It can be cloudy or raining and the sunny icon is still there. Not enough to lower the rating but makes me wonder if it will ever change.

This was a cinch to install. It took a long time to connect to the automatic date/time, which worried me, but otherwise everything is great. We hung it next to our stairs so we can see the temperature before we go out. I'm loving the 15 different outfits and it's been spot on when we've compared it with the weather on the news.

This weather station has proven to be quite accurate. I have two display units being fed by one transmitter, and they are always in agreement with each other as well as with NOAA, Accuweather, [...], and other sources of data. The only drawback is that the displays are hard to read in any but ideal light. There is no built-in illumination, and the low contrast LEDs have led me to move the units around trying to find a place where I could read them from 5-6 feet away. No such luck; I always end up having to pick them up and read them like a book.

Reviews

Nice concept, very poor execution. Good: Large easy to read digits Bad: remote sensor off by 8-12 degrees, for some reason after the clock is set my device loses contact with the remote sensor, requiring reset, so you can either use the clock function or the inaccurate remote temperature sensor.

We bought this for a cabin in the snow. After reading the directions multiple times, we could not turn off the "freeze alert" alarm that would then beep at all hours of the night. The alarm clock is hard to use and it would go off at weird times, too. We have replaced this item with a wind & weather item that has NO ALARMS!

I was looking for a replacment indoor/outdoor to fit in the spot my old one was in. This had the right dimension, but I didn't read closely enough, turns out it doesn't wall mount. My fault there. Anyway, I set it up on a dresser and the 1st thing I notice is that the LCD is so faint it's almost illegible. You have to pick it up and look at it just right to see the display at all. Later that night, around 2AM, I get woken up to a beeping sound. Look all around, and finally realize it's coming from the unit. I dig out the manual, and realize I hadn't shut off the low-temp alarm. Did that and went back to sleep, only to be woken up again an hour or so later. Tried turning it off again, but it keeps going off. Next I thought I'd outsmart it. I set the low temp to 0 degrees (it was only in the 20s), and that worked that night. Next night it starts going off again, even though it's a good 30 degrees above where I set it. The long and short of it is the low-temp alarm doesn't work correctly, and can't be shut off (no matter what the manual says). I've retried it several times over the last few weeks, and it keeps screwing up. I finally just pulled the batteries and it's going in the trash tomorrow. Between the alarm and the bad display, this was a total waste of money. I'd never bought anything by Oregon Sci. before, and don't plan to again. When it's back in stock I'll get the Honeywell, even though it's a bit larger than I wanted.

We had some initial difficulty getting the sensor unit to talk to the main unit but eventually they connected. In the end we hung the sensor unit from the eave in a small wicker bird house pointing through a deck slider to the main unit about 10 feet away inside. A lithium battery was necessary below 40 deg F. Now it is working fine, with the lowest temperature so far being 18 deg F. We are pleased with it after two months of use.

I ordered this because it had all the features I needed at the right price. I received the merchandise quickly and installed the batteries. The main unit picked up the sensor just fine - UNTIL - if you set the clock or date, the signal is lost!! I repeated this experiment 3 times - at distances of 1", 10", and 10' - EVERY time the unit lost the sensors signal. The seller took care of me, but I do NOT recommend this product to anyone unless you like to buy Junk.

Reviews

I bought one of these about a year ago. I live near Denver. I am real happy with it and would recommend it to anyone. There are days when the local temperature it displays may be a bit off of the true outside temperature where I live. The problem is that temperatures and weather in the Denver region may vary by ten degress and inches of snow or rain on any single day depending on whether it is at the airport, on the plains, or close to the foothills. All of those regions are considered part of Denver. Generally, in Denver reported weather reflects the airport. So, if you expect those realistic differences and use it to obtain apporximate temperatures and obtain and predict relative weather - such as whether Monday will be a day when it is cold and wet and Tuesday is a good day to play golf, you will be happy with this instrument. It is also helpful for checking weather in other cities where say relatives live or where you may often travel. It is a good and useful instrument for what it does. I am thinking about buying more as Christmas gifts.

This was great while it worked! We had it for about a year, and all of a sudden it stopped getting updates. Looking at reviews here, I fear it may never get an update again. Update: Dec. 4 2009 It's ALIVE!! It started working again this week! I called ambient, and confirmed there were plenty of transmitters in my area. They said they'd send someone over; That was 2 weeks ago. Now, all of a sudden it's updating. I was begining to have weather update withdrawal 5 stars.

I was an early adopter for this and it was neat. But the weather forecasts were often incorrect (when compared to local news or online services) and battery life is awful. I think it would go 1 or 2 weeks on 2 AAA batteries and then die. I'll end up spending in batteries what I paid for the device every year.

This piece of junk - it does not work in Tennessee or Rhode Island. In the city or outside the city. Or in the airplane. I tried when flying and it still just displays garbage. Is it only valid in Canada or the moon? I just threw away $20 on it at the Brookstone store and the receipt is long gone. doh

When it works -- we love it. However, it consistently eats batteries (we had to replace every 3 weeks) and it finally died after using for only one year. I was very disappointed in this product and would not recommend it.

Reviews

This cost about $10 to purchase. They don't make them any more and someone was selling out their remaining stock. The sending unit worked for about a year and then quit working. No way to get parts, no way to get it fixed. I have a working receiving unit that you can have for free!

This was one of the easiest pieces of electronics I have ever hooked up. Never even had to open the manual, just looked at the buttons. The setup between the main unit and remote was easy, although I did look at the manual for this after doing it incorrectly on my own. All in all, well constructed and easy to use.

I found one of these for ten bucks so I tried it. Let's see ... Setting the time takes an advanced degree, even with the radio controlled clock feature. The 24 hour forecast is useless. The moon phase business is ambiguous. And it broke after three months. I returned it and when they gave me my money back I got the impression I wasn't the only person who brought theirs back.