Accurate Time and Weather Information at a Glance – All in an Attractive Package
Written: Jan 17 '07 (Updated Jan 18 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Accurate time and date; clearly legible indoor/outdoor temperature and relative humidity; attractive styling
Cons: May be difficult for apartment or condo dwellers to find a place for the transmitter
The Bottom Line: The LaCrosse Weather Station is a handy little device that makes a great gift for you or anyone you know. It provides continuous, accurate weather info, time, and date.
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| akpalau's Full Review: digital weather station |
The LaCrosse Technology Digital Weather Station (Model WS-7078SUF) is a great little affordable, attractive piece of weather-related technology. The receiver (shown on the picture) has a stylish black-and-burnished silver finish and presents a relatively small profile (7.5” tall by 4.5” wide) that is pleasantly unobtrusive while still providing sufficiently large readout information to be useful. It provides inside and outside temperature and relative humidity, weather tendency (estimated from 12-hour changes in barometric temperature), and atomic time and date. It is battery-operated and can be mounted on the wall or on an included stand. The outside transmitter is separate and is a small, white, cylindrical device about 4 inches tall that is mounted out of doors at a place representative of outside conditions yet sheltered from direct precipitation. If you live in an apartment, this requirement may present a challenge; if you’re in a house, you’re likely to have a reasonable place to put it.
We’ve had our Weather Station for almost a year now, and we liked it so well we decided to make that a themed gift for everyone in our family. Hopefully they think it is as cool to know the time, temperature, and humidity as we do. We are not weather-obsessed fogeys, but we do really appreciate knowing what conditions are like before we escort kids to the bus stops, haul out the lawn mower, take a stroll through the neighborhood, or whatever. To be sure, as Yankees transplanted into the steamy southeast, we have come to appreciate relative humidity in a whole new way, but we have never been ones to sit in front of the Weather Channel. In fact, having this handy device makes sure we don’t really have to spend much time referring to TV or internet weather.
Here are some attributes we really like:
Weather Info – Well, of course. That’s why we got it. But that’s what we really like, too. We enjoy knowing the temperature and humidity, and I’ve become a bit of a weather scientist tracking the changes in the two parameters throughout the days in each season. Ok – that’s geeky, but it’s fun. And knowing the information helps you to be better prepared for whatever outdoor activities you have coming up. The weather tendency information can be useful, too, although we don’t rely on it. It basically tells you whether high pressure or low pressure is moving through and suggests that it might be rainy or sunny or whatever. It’s not as accurate as weather forecasts on the news, certainly, but it gives you a rough idea of what to expect.
Accurate Clock – The receiver receives a time signal nightly from a transmitter somewhere in Florida. Strictly speaking, the clock in the Weather Station is not atomic (and we can all be glad of that, I’m sure); and I’m not sure the transmitting clock in Florida is atomic either. But regardless, it IS accurate, and because the system is battery operated, you don’t lose the time when the power goes out. So that’s very nice. It’s the one reliably accurate clock in the house.
Styling – Hey, it’s kind of pretty for a scientific instrument. The finish is nice, and it feels sturdy. It’s big enough to see it without being so large as to make a “fashion” statement. It’s also small enough that it is easy to find a place to put it.
Efficient and Expandable – It’s easy on batteries. We’re on the same batteries we put in at setup… that’s almost a year. The transmitter has two channels, so if you’re of a mind, and we haven’t been, you can get an additional transmitter and the receiver will report its information too on a channel separate from your other transmitter. I guess that can be helpful if you have microclimates in your yard? Or maybe you might want to put a transmitter in some section of the house (the transmitters are not particularly attractive, though). Still, it is a possible attribute.
A few minor drawbacks include:
Demands for Transmitter Placement – The transmitter must be mounted on an outside structure, sheltered from direct precipitation. In addition, it needs to be placed somewhere that is representative of true weather conditions. It can be tricky to find a spot that meets all these requirements, particularly if you are in an apartment or condominium. We have ours mounted just under the roof overhang, which is great except on summer afternoons when the roof heats up so much that it distorts the temperature (we know this because we have another indoor/outdoor thermometer with more sheltered positioning). We may move the transmitter at some point, but we’ve been able to adjust for the inaccuracy on summer afternoons; for the most part we’re interested in the weather info in the mornings, and afternoons are of little consequence.
Modestly tricky setup – the “programming” is really quite simple. It actually programs itself provided you follow one important step: you must insert a battery in the transmitter first, and then put a battery into the receiver. If you do that, the rest takes care of itself. If you don’t, you will stand around scratching your head for a while trying to figure out why the transmitter isn’t working. The instructions are pretty clear on this if you read them. Uh...IF you read them.
All in all, we’re pleased with our little LaCrosse Weather Station and so are my parents and in-laws. It’s easy to use and relatively easy to install, and the information is definitely useful for people who want or need to be outdoors. And for those opting to stay inside, it’s fun to watch the readout from time to time to justify the choice (… 98 degrees and 85 % humidity. MY it must be unpleasant out there. Shore am glad I'm in here with my Mint Julep).
If handy weather-related gadgets are of interest to you, you may also be interested in my review of the Midland WR-300 Weather Radio.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
akpalau
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Reviews written: 14
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About Me:
Stay-at-home Mom and part-time Environmental Engineer
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