Easter Weather Gagdet Videos: LaCrosse In Action

I recently obtained some samples of various weather stations from LaCrosse Technology and though I'd take a moment to look "under the hood" at these items, in these video blogs from my home office this Easter Sunday.

THE LACROSSE WA-1340 WEATHER DIRECT® DEVICE:

First and foremost, because they are brand new devices, is the Weather Direct line of Internet-enabled electronic weather stations. Several of you have asked for my thoughts on these devices. This is a new type of weather station that offers forecasts via the Internet and also reads in a temperature sensor that you put outside your house. It then optionally transmits that temperature back to WeatherClub.com, which LaCrosse does in partnership with WeatherNation, a company run by an old buddy of mine from WeatherMatrix Paul Douglas.

All stations in the line offer between a 2-day and 4-day forecast for one of 60,000 locations in the U.S. and Canada. The stations cost between $45 and $150. You can get multiple cities and forecast & severe weather alerts for a subscription fee of $9.95 to $39.95 per year.

The particular device that I tested was their near-the-top-of-the-line "talking" model, the WA-1340U, shown in the video below. The audio option was pretty neat -- not only can you get the current weather forecast read to you (preceded by a custom saying, which of course I set to "The WeatherMatrix Blog Is The Best"), but you can also configure news headlines from a number of sources, for example in the video below you hear Associated Press Science headlines.

Because of the middleman gateway, you must go through a lengthy process (at least 10 steps) involving pressing buttons and watching lights on the gateway, the display, and the website... and if anything goes wrong, you'll probably have to do it again. After you've registered your device and gateway with WeatherDirect, you still have to register again to get your data on WeatherClub.com. When I unplugged mine from the router temporarily then plugged it back in, it was dead. I tried email support (which took several days for us to respond back to each other) and reading various FAQs and manuals on their website, but my issue didn't seem to be listed, and if it was, the instructions to fix it didn't work. Finally after a call to their tech support, I got it back up and running.

PROS:- Offers multi-day forecasts (which you don't usually get from electronic weather stations) - Audio Forecasts - Internet enabled (as opposed to the pager network used by devices I've talked about before) - Battery powered, so truly "wireless" - 915 mhz frequency makes for less reception problems

CONS: - Hard to setup - Even harder to get back online after power or Internet outage - Forecasts are not from AccuWeather.com (unlike the Ambient device I reviewed or the Bushnell line) - No backlight on LCD display - Large and heavy display (unlike the sleeker Ambient device I reviewed) - Middleman gateway adds an unnecessary complication, requires a wired router port

OVERALL: This is all kind of neat but I can't see this device being too useful for a person like me (who has a computer in every room of the house). I can see it being of a lot of use for less computer-literate people, but they'll be lucky to make it through the setup.

I wasn't thrilled with what else they sent me, which was a series of older-model, used items (some smelled like smoke!), but I worked with what I had...

THE LACROSSE WS-2316 WEATHER STATION

Next up is the WS-2316, an older unit in a line of what are historically the least expensive, fully functional (wind/rain/temp) electronic weather stations that you can connect to a computer. Although we sell this for $249 on the AccuMall, which is $30 lower than retail, I've seen it for as little as $140. All the instruments only use two AA batteries (I recommend lithium, especially during winter) transmitting every 30 seconds at 433 mhz. Below is a video of what's in the box and how it hooks together.

I had 3 people test the station and all 3 reported transmission problems due to the fact that the station is low-power (only two AA's for all outside instruments) which can only transmit ever 30 seconds at best, and using 433 mhz which is a weak, old frequency prone to interference. The stated transmission range is 300 feet, but tech support says that each wall cuts out 50 feet. And I couldn't use the weather station at all at AccuWeather HQ because the UV coating on our windows wouldn't let the sensor transmit *3* feet through a window to my desk.

PROS:- One of the lowest priced full-featured stations (depending on where you get it) - Fully-featured (wind, rain, temp/humidity) - Can connect to Internet - Instruments can be hardwired together (so you only have to transmit through the temp sensor)

CONS: - 433 mhz and weak power means you may run into transmission problems, infrequent updates - HeavyWeather Software is hard to use, had very rudimentary output - The software blue-screened one of the test computers repeatedly - Transmitting data to CWOP is even harder (if you're interested, email me)

OVERALL: You get what you pay for. This station is more challenging to setup and keep running than other stations that are twice it's price, and that's not just coming from me but two other guys I had test the station. But remember, I said "twice its price." I didn't test these stations long enough to determine quality or durability, but I've had fatal failures with electronic weather stations from EVERY vendor before 6 months out, so quality control is low industry-wide. Software-wise, you might have to shell out another $100 if you want to do any serious uploading to the internet (unless you want to rely on CWOP, which is what we did).

The AccuMall has a much more competitive price on the newer WS-1510U, the new version of the line, selling it for $159 (retail is the same as the WS-2316, $279.95) which uses 915 mhz instead of 433, and therefore probably has a much better shot at getting the transmissions through windows and walls, triples the range, doubles the battery life, and changes the transmission frequency from 30 to 7 seconds, so you get more data. Without even reviewing it, I would recommend it over the WS-2316, which is simply old technology. Retail stores such as Sams Club sometimes carry this unit as well, so you might be able to pick one up locally. LaCrosse, if you're out there please send me one of these units and I'll hopefully do a more positive review.

MISC. LACROSSE CLOCKS

Here are a couple of miscellaneous gadgets that they sent me, including the WS-8016 Atomic Digital Wall Clock with Outdoor Temp, the snazzy square oak-grain WS-8017which we sell on the AccuMall, and the WS-9610 Wireless Thermometer/Clock which we sell on the AccuMall. The latter unit uses the new 915 mhz transmission for less error-prone transmission up to 330 feet line-of-site.

NOTE: After the video, I realized I had the batteries in the wrong sensor which is why the outside temp wasn't showing on the WS-9610.

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