Selecting a Weather Station
See also: Comparison table,
Weather Station Reviews.
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We have a range of weather stations from simple forecasters
to complete weather monitoring packages. All models offer
some basic weather functions:
- Indoor temperature and humidity
- Outdoor temperature and humidity via wireless sensor
- A weather forecast
- Time, automatically set from a radio broadcast (only on La Crosse models)
The weather forecast you'll find on all our La Crosse models provides a
12-24 hour outlook for your local neighbourhood to help plan your day.
The Davis Vantage Pro (
Cabled
and
Wireless
) use a more advanced algorithm
that predicts sky condition (cloudy, rain, clear, etc) and changes in
rainfall, temperature, wind direction and wind speed.
La Crosse weather stations can use the time signal broadcast from
Fort Collins. This signal is based on a very accurate clock. Your
weather station will always show the correct time, changing
automatically for daylight savings. Most stations include a
backlight so weather information is clear, even if the weather is not.
Building on these core features, different models offer:
Learn more about the different models below.
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Top Choices
WS-9118
For people interested in a weather forecast
and outdoor temperature
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WS-3510
For a weather forecast, pressure tracking and downloading
weather data to your PC, the WS-3510 is an ideal choice
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WS-2315
For those wanting to go beyond simple weather
measurements, the WS-2315 tracks rainfall and wind
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By adding more wireless sensors to the
WS-9118
, you can
measure temperature and humidity
in up to 3 remote locations.
With additional sensors, you could monitor a basement
or cellar (high humidity might indicate mould or mildew),
a green house or different areas of your home from a single
convenient location. The
WS-9118
also displays heat-index,
providing a more accurate picture of the outdoor environment
than temperature alone, and
dew point
,
a helpful indication for frost.
The
WS-9118
includes an
alarm clock, with an adjustable snooze,
so you can get a weather forecast when you wake in the morning.
Pressure tendency is displayed along side the weather forecast,
but the actual atmospheric pressure
is not shown on this model.
The
WS-9119
does display
pressure, and includes a graph showing
trends over the last 36 hours.
The
WS-9119
builds on the
WS-9118
model adding atmospheric
pressure to the display.
Atmospheric pressure
is the key to
understanding changing weather patterns, so an important
feature included on the
WS-9119
display is a graph of
pressure over the last 36 hours. As storms approach,
you will see a sudden drop in pressure; when poor weather
passes, the pressure will rise again.
Additional sensors can also be added to the WS-9119 to
measure temperature and humidity in up to 3 remote locations.
Multiple sensors let you monitor different areas of your
home, a green house or a basement from a convenient location.
Since you might not always be watching when the weather changes,
the
WS-9119
features alarms
that will sound a warning when
weather conditions reach values you've set. Setting an alarm
on a greenhouse sensor could warn if temperature threatens
to wilt your plants.
If you want to track the weather, monitor a holiday home or
share your local weather information the
WS-3510
can transmit
the data it collects to your computer. Using included software,
the data can be stored for later review or analysis and it
can be published on your Internet web site.
The
WS-3510
does not measure heat-index like the
WS-9118
and
WS-9119
models,
but it does display a 24/72 hour pressure
history graph for more detailed understanding of weather patterns.
The 24 hour view provides a picture of the most recent changes,
while the 72 hour view gives you a broader picture of changes
over the last 3 days.
The
WS-3510
uses a single wireless sensor for measuring outdoor
humidity and temperature. The
WS-9119
is a better choice if
you want to monitor temperature and humidity in several
remote locations.
The
WS-3510
does
feature alarms for 7 different weather conditions.
Gardner's find this helpful to warn of cold temperatures that can
damage fragile new shoots using an alarm on the outdoor temperature,
for example.
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Nothing says bad weather like a blustery gale or torrential
down poor. Both the
WS-2315
and the
WS-2308
include wireless
wind and rain sensors. These weather stations use the wind
sensor to display the wind's speed and direction. A
tipping bucket rain gauge
monitors rainfall, displayed as the total
for the last 1 and 24 hours, and rainfall since the total was
last reset.
Both models display the current atmospheric pressure
just below
the weather forecast, but they don't include a graph of pressure
like the
WS-3510
and
WS-9119
. Both include alarms to sound an
alert when the weather reaches values you specify or when a storm
is approaching, and can be used as alarm clocks to wake you in the morning.
Both models can be connected to a computer. Using the computer
connection, you can download measurements from the weather station
to your PC for further analysis, publishing on the Internet or for
building your own historical climate record.
The main difference between these two models is the case design
and the maximum range of the wireless sensors. For the
WS-2315
the maximum range is 80 feet (25 meters); for the
WS-2308
, the
maximum range is 330 feet (100 meters).
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Most weather stations tell you what is happening now. But comprehensive
graphing on the Vantage Pro2 puts weather measurements in context.
More than 100 different graphs show things like temperature over the
last 24 hours, or total rainfall over the last 24 days. Trends are easier
to spot on graphs than by tracking numeric values. With graphing
built into the Vantage Pro2, you don't need to upload your
measurements to a computer before reviewing the data.
The Vantage Pro2 is also good for weather forecasting. Most stations use
barometric pressure trends to forecast the sky condition (cloudy, clear, rain, etc).
The Vantage Pro2 builds on this basing its weather forecast on:
- current barometric pressure
- barometric pressure trends
- wind direction
- wind speed
- rainfall
- temperature
- humidity
- latitude
- longitude
- time of year
The forecast shows the predicted sky condition (cloudy, sunny etc), and
predictions for cloud cover, temperature trends, chance of rain, severity
and wind conditions. The Vantage Pro2 includes a comphrensive set of
weather measurements too including:
- Rainfall
- Wind chill
- Wind speed
- Wind direction
- Heat index
- Moon phase
- Sunrise & sunset time
- Indoor & outdoor temperature
- Indoor & outdoor humidity
- Barometric pressure
- Dew point
For most measurements, high and low values are recorded and alarms
are available to alert you to a selected weather value (temperatures
greater than 78 °C, for example).
Additional sensors can be added to the cabled Vantage Pro2 to measure
energy from the sun (solar radiation) and ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
UV radiation is a major contribution to skin cancer. Even more sensors
can be added to the Wireless Vantage Pro2 (see below).
An optional data logger and software can be added to the Vantage
Pro2 for downloading weather data to a computer. Several La Crosse stations
(
WS-2308
,
WS-2315
and
WS-3510
) come with computer
interfaces, but the built in graphing facility on the Vantage Pro2
display will make this unnecessary for many people.
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The Wireless Vantage Pro2 includes all the features of the cabled version (see above). The
wireless model uses 902-928MHz spread spectrum radio signals to communicate
between the outdoor sensors and base station instead of a cable link. Installation
is much easier with the wireless model because there are no cables to run.
Additional sensors are available for the Wireless Vantage Pro2 that are not available
for the cabled version. These include wireless sensors to measure:
- Evapotranspiration (water evaporation, the opposite of rainfall)
- Leaf wetness
- Soil moisture
- Temperature and/ or humidity at additional locations
Like the Cabled Vantage Pro2, the wireless model also includes advanced weather
forecasting, graphing, high and low recording and alarms.
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The WS-7038 caters for people interested in measuring rainfall. It is
very popular with gardeners who like to make sure their plants are
getting a healthy dose of water.
The WS-7038 focuses on measuring rainfall well. It doesn't include other
measurements like the
WS-2308
and
WS-2315
, which both measure
wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity and a weather forecast,
in addition to rainfall.
There are two areas where the WS-7038 really stands out:
- First, the display includes a bargraph showing
rainfall over the last 7 days, weeks or months. This
graph provides historic information right on the
display without having to download data to a computer.
- Second, the WS-7038 includes a rainfall alarm. While
the
WS-2308
and
WS-2315
weather stations
will sound an alarm for a specific amount of rainfall, only
the WS-7038 can alert you when the rain starts falling.
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