Maplin's Weather Station for Newbie

[gary1365]

Hi I'm a student so can't spend a lot on a weather station could anyone recommend this maplins station I mean is it worth buying, would it last any length of time and would it be reliable enough. I don't want to spend £70 if it's going to be junk.

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/silver-usb-wireless-touchscreen-weather-forecaster-n96fy

 

thanks  

[Sainsbo]

I've had mine for a few months now, and it's been working well. It's easy to put together and get up and running, you just need to find somewhere high to put it that isn't sheltered if you are overly worried about your wind speed estimates. Most of the readings it shows correspond quite closely with the other weather stations in the town, bar the outdoor temperature, which always seems a degree or two too high during the day, but that would be my only complaint. I don't know how long they will last, but mine has been up for months and I haven't had to repair anything yet.

It comes with a software so that you can see your history data on your laptop/computer. It's not the best software, but it does the job. If you display the data in a graph, it will show what the conditions were every 30 minutes on that actual moment, and I have yet to figure out if you can change that. It just means I'm unable to see daily high temperatures, unless it occured on the actal 30 minute mark, or I was lucky enough to catch it on the tablet.

If you want something very reliable, then I wouldn't get this, but if you are happy with a reasonably small error margin, but something that isn't perfect, I'd say this isn't a bad buy.

[magic]

I've had one for about 5 years. It's made by FineOffset. The screen on the thermometer isn't great in direct sunlight (you don't have to mount it on the pole or can diy a better screen with plastic dishes, but it doesn't bother me enough to do either and just accept the over reading), the wind vane stability is comical but workable.

The logger time can officially be set from 5mins upwards from the configure page in Easyweather but there is a prog on the internet that will set it to 1min if you really want that. Cumulus (free downlod) works well with it. External unit runs fine off lithium batteries.

If you are buying one get it from a physical shop as any problems they will exchange faulty parts for 12months no fuss. The most commom problem is loss of rainfall reading from the transmitter (I had 2 do that on me).

[ARTDEMOLE]

Had mine for a year now... Needed to purchase an extra rain bucket as mine failed. Inexpensive replacement. use Cumulus ..Temperature in sunshine can soon soar. have  another stand alone sensor in the shade which I can use as a reading plus a thermometer on a wall. Being a pensioner it has served me well and quite happy with it. Different world with a weather station...  

[Mapantz]

You cannot go wrong if you're on a budget, I would recommend it.

[gary1365]

thanks for the info and reviews guys I'm renting a permanent home from next month onwards so once i pick up a summer job before my final year i'm hoping to buy one of these. i didn't want to get one until i was sure i knew where i was living for the next couple of years to save putting it up and down at different houses.

Edited May 22, 2014 by gary1365

[Bobby]

thanks for the info and reviews guys I'm renting a permanent home from next month onwards so once i pick up a summer job before my final year i'm hoping to buy one of these. i didn't want to get one until i was sure i knew where i was living for the next couple of years to save putting it up and down at different houses.

 

It seems to be a well regarded weather station. This might be another option if you are prepared spend a little extra, has very good reviews and seems good value for money.

A bargain on Amazon too as it's around £150-200 on other sites.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ClimeMET-Professional-temperature-measuring-direction/dp/B00EDMLH5I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400846294&sr=8-1&keywords=climemet+cm2000