To go along with RC, I also have a few other hobbies that I dabble around with from time to time. Since I do have an interest in the weather, I figured I would start a forum about it and see if any others have the same interest or have any questions.

I am far from an expert but have had my own personal weather station for about 5 years. I recently updated to a new station, the Oregon Scientific WMR968. This a wireless system with sensors for indoor and outdoor temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, rainfall, wind speed and direction all displayed on a nice indoor display.

I am also using Virtual Weather Station by Ambient Weather to record this data every couple of minutes and to upload the data to my weather web page every 20 minutes.

Below are some links that might interest you

My main weather page - http://www.hobbytalk.com/weather

Info from my weather station (updated every 20 min.) - http://www.hobbytalk.com/weather/wx.htm

Oregon Scientific WMR968 Weather Station - http://www2.oregonscientific.com/catalog/product.asp?cid=2&scid=4&pid=83

Ambient Weather - http://www.ambientweather.com

So I guess if you have any questions, fire away. I'm no expert but maybe I can help answer your questions or point you in the right direction.

Great hobby !!!

cool stuff how long have you had a weather station how big is it

I've had one for about 4 years now. I previously had a lower end unit.... worked well but I upgrade to a better unit once the "rain bucket" stopped working. Seems each brand/model and pros and cons with them.

The old unit I had the sensors were all tied together with a 20' cable so placement was limited and the wind speed only updated once every 90 seconds. The wireless transmitting was somewhat limited to a max. of 100' but in reality was about 50'

The new unit has seperate sensors and transmitters with a range of 300' plus the wind readings are taken every 14 seconds. There is a "consumer" system for sale that takes wind readings every 3 seconds but I couldn't justify the extra $300 for just that (although there are other features that it has).

The indoor console that has the digital display is about the size of a paperback book. It hooks to my laptop that run a software program that gets info from the console and then uploads that info to the web site automatically every 20 minutes.

I like your setup I wish I could afford to have one like it lol...it's very detailed and informative thanks for putti it up. I'm an inactive ham radio op but I think the weather is an interesting hoby.
Keep up the good work:)

John

hi hank my name is beau
I own a wrm968 i have 3 questons
1 did you take the sensor that is i the jar aport or did you just pace it in the jar
2 what is the model numbe of the sensor in the jar
3 did you do any wing to the rain gauge other then the funnel thanks beau

I just stuck it in the jar. Some others have used the remote sensor so the whole thing doesn't have to be in the jar. Not sure of the model number but the OS web site should have the proper #. Just added the funnel. The console rain display is off now but I do all of my data collection with WD and I can correct for the larger funnel in it.

does your sencer have a display on it
thanks

hey hank, down here in central al, some of the members of the group im with (skywarn) has weather stations on top of their vehicals when bad weather is near, all it consist of is a barometer, rain gauge, wind speed indicator, temp, and some other doodads.....works great, we use ham radio of course for transmitting back and forth to the nws.......

Hello! Just recently acquired a Springfield Precisetemp base and remote. Am not into the weather thing (or at least I thought I wasn't!) but find myself always checking it out when I go by where it is hanging! This is becoming very addicting, in a good sort of way!
Anyway my newbie question is: Can I put the remote in a in-closed box (think birdhouse but not a birdhouse) and get accurate readings? It says that the remote is weather proof but not water proof so have not set it out in the open. I'm not so much concerned with all this little station can do right now, just really want to know the temp. Could this be put in a box that has slats in it for air flow and then mount the remote above the slats under the roof to keep water out of it? The whole thing would be attatched to a tower about fifteen feet above the ground. Sorry for the long read but was curious. Don't want to rune it cause I think its kind of neat! :thumbsup:

Well before I star searching the web for one of these things. What would you experts recommend for a newbie looking to have a weather station of his own?


:eek: rr

I would suggest the Oregon Scientific WMR968. It is fairly accurate and durable, plus fairly inexpensive. Cost is about $190.00
http://www.provantage.com/oregon-scientific-wmr968~7OREG013.htm
Easy to setup since it is wireless. It's what I use. The data logging/Internet software is about $80.00 additional.

If money is not an object then I'd go with a Davis Vantage Pro2. About $900.00 bucks by the time you get done.
http://www.provantage.com/davis-instruments-6162c~7DAVS044.htm

Hank,

Thanks! rr

Hi Hank

Jeff here...fairly new and reading thru the posts. I too am a major Weather fan (been so since 2nd grade and I'm 44 now)

Are you a member of your local Skywarn group? The Nat'l Weather Svc offers free classes (basic and advanced) for Weather watchers. Once completed, you can be a volunteer spotter for them. They will call you occasionally for local info and encourge you too contact them (Them being the closest NWS office in your area) with severe storm info.

They have called me a couple of times asking for area specific info. I have not had to call them yet though.

The link for Skywarn is www.skywarn.org

I have a short story to share about my father. Back in the days of WW2 my dad enlisted in the army. He was a carpenter/cabinet maker and when they asked him what he could do, they told him they had more than enough wood workers. "Is there anything else you know something about??" Years earlier, my grandmother had gotten a free book with grocery store receipts, and ended up with the WXYZ encyclopedia as her freebie. My dad learned a little bit about the weather in that book, and he told the enlistment officer this. Thanks to this little bit of knowledge, dad was stationed in Calcutta and Bombay, India for his entire service forecasting the weather for our guys fighting the war. I often wonder if that free encylopedia didn't happen, would I even be here?? :rolleyes:

Thank you Hank for HT! :wave:

I think this is enough .....
I do agree with you. Those are the most effective way

Thanks for the post.
Hi guys, Im a newbie. Nice to join this forum.

Why did we just get two feet of snow. Mass/ N.H. LOL

Hey Hank, cool tread! :thumbsup: I've always been a weather buff. Right now, I just have an 8 year old cheap-o weather station with In/out temp., RH and wind speed and I don't think it's very accurate. When you see the trees bending over sideways and a puppy fly by your window you tend to think it was a bit more then a 14 mph wind gust. :confused: I also picked up a separate (cheap-o) wireless rain gauge last year at Lowes on clearance for $12 that I like well enough. But, I'm thinking of upgrading to this http://us.oregonscientific.com/cat-Weather-sub-Classic-Weather-Stations-prod-Pro-Wireless-Weather-Station.html and would like your opinion on it, seeing as you've had a couple WX stations. BTW, I saw the pic of the one you had that was hit by lightning.......YIKES! Also, how would I find the best placement in my yard for the individual components? :wave: