Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Pros:
Price less than $100.
Fewer batteries, 5 - AA's
Battery only, no wall wart required
Long Battery Life, ~2 Years
Detailed, illustrated manual
Altitude adjustment for the barometer
Impressive wireless range
* Rain gauge more useful than expected
Cons:
Mixed reviews
No radio receiver for WWV's Atomic Clock
Temp sensor not weather proof
No inside temp reading
No PC Connection
*Painful Max/Min reset procedure
Looking at the product picture, one sees The Weather Channel logo, yet if you go to their store, nothing approaching this product exists. My conclusion is that after six-months at the TWC, they wanted no part of the headaches and shipped their inventory back to Lacrosse for sale on Amazon. So this price disappears with that inventory.
* I no longer believe the above, I've seen this exact model for sale at Wal-Mart.
In researching the triple sensor (temp, wind, rain) market I was primarily interested in temp and wind. Since its always windy in the winter, now I'll know how windy. It rains so seldom that why bother measuring, besides it won't measure snow, and humidity is always so low it's at the fringe of dry sensor measurement. I'm not a weather hobbiest, so PC connection was unimportant, besides being impractical in my solar-electric home. I'll just do the same as the last 10-years, write down the daily min and max in the monthly wall calendar, how crude, pen and paper.
I considered Oregon Scientific, better reviews, more features, but much more expensive and it needed 10 batteries and a wall wart. Also Zephyr and Davis, the first had no reviews or downloadable manual and the latter was out of my price range. I read many positive and negative reviews for the 1611/1612 and I downloaded several manuals. In the end, I decided on the "devil I knew", my $20 La Cross wireless thermometer, 9013, had been reliable for many years. I'll keep it around for its atomic clock.
Like all La Crosse weather instruments, the top line of the display is the time and date, on a weather station? Then the date field is so tight, mine now reads 11209, unlike the time field there are no spaces or delimiters. The single most important reading, the outdoor temp, is buried in the fourth group, duh. Since you can get an atomic clock on $15 units, one has to wonder why its not included on the 1611? Having all that in mind, I was price driven, so the 1611 is it.
A clever feature of the 1611 is one pair of AA's inside the temp sensor powers it and both the rain and wind sensors, all wired together. Now it gets strange, if all these sensors are outside and wirelessly connected to the base station, why is the temp sensor not weather proof? It has to be protected from rain and sun, Duh? So I made a "bird house" to protect the "outdoor" sensor from the weather.
I have the sensors roughly 200-feet from the base, the signal has to pass through a 12" solid wood wall and the base is sitting on a table with a wireless b/g router and a wireless mouse, no problems. I'm impressed.
I've attached two photos, may help to visualize setup. *Added three more pics.
Edit (*)July 10, 2009
After the wind blew over my original mast and smashed the wind sensor into too many pieces to count, I bought a second used unit. I guyed the mast with four steel cables, see pic. I now have two working base stations and a few spare parts.
I have two more complaints about the user interface:
1) Resetting the max/min readings. Press Max/Min to scroll through all the possible values > press Set, then press + for every value you wish to reset. Theirs no master reset.
2) The Beaufort wind speed scale is meaningless unless you live on the ocean and own a boat. I'd much prefer the MPH value be inside the wind rose.
Edit: 2-Year Update, Feb 2011
Reliability and battery life (a least one year) have been excellent, even worked at -26F. The new battery install is no problem, I simply carry both base units outside, remove all batteries, insert the sender then the base batteries . . . done! All my previous comments about the display organization and resetting max/min values is still true, much room for improvement. Overall very satisfied features vs. price.
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La Crosse Technology Weather Channel WS-1611TWC-IT Professional Weather CenterKeep abreast of weather shifts just outside the front door with this professional weather center from The Weather Channel by La Crosse Technology. Complete with wind and rain measurements, the weather center allows users to assess up-to-date outdoor conditions to plan appropriately. The weather center also records up to 200 sets of weather data, minimum and maximum temperatures and humidity, and barometric pressure over a 12-hour period.
The sleek weather center base mounts on a wall or stands alone. On its LCD screen, equipped with eight levels of contrast and a push-button LED backlight for nighttime illumination, the base displays the weather and time information. Users manually set the date and time, and can also engage the buzz alarm for morning wake-up. To assess outdoor conditions, a thermo-hygro sensor communicates with the base at a 915 MHz frequency from up to 330 feet. This sensor measures temperatures from –39.8 to +139 degrees F, and humidity levels from 1 to 99 percent. Based on the sensor's barometric pressure readings, the base unit presents a 12-hour historical bar graph and an air pressure tendency arrow. A graphic icon depicts the forecast. In the event of storms, the weather center features a storm warning alert, and the user can create additional custom alarms. Connected by cables to the thermo-hygro sensor, a rain sensor records rainfall measurements and a wind sensor analyzes wind chill, speed, and direction. A mounting case comes with the thermo-hygro sensor. To ensure proper function, install the thermo-hygro sensor in a protected location out of direct sun or rain. The weather center requires the separate purchase of five AA batteries. Covered by a limited one-year warranty, the weather center base measures 4-3/4 inches wide by 1-1/5 inches deep by 6-9/10 inches tall.
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