AcuRite Notos (3-in-1) Weather Station with Wind, Temperature, and Humidity (00638A3), Black and Metal

AcuRite 00638A2 Wireless Weather Station with Wind SensorThis a gift for my wife, who has wanted one for some time. I learned that you could spend a lot of money for one for a serious weather hobbyist, and probably get complexity that isn't wanted or needed. This little unit is GOOD, for a beginner who might want to move up later, and for someone who just wants to see a solid, basic weather system that gives a good introduction to reading the weather right at home. The receiving unit is well made, easy to read, and has buttons big enough for our arthritic old fingers. The manual is complete and easy to understand. Installation is quick and not complicated. I installed where my wife wanted it, wondering if it might suffer from electrical interference, and saw good steady readings on the meter that agreed with our other indoor/outdoor thermometers. The wind and pressure readings are fine, with the understanding that this old man is not about to place it high enough to escape wind interferences of our houses, or replace batteries when needed.THIS LITTLE INSTRUMENT JUST WORKS.... AND IT WORKS RIGHT! But it's not all pros and no cons: the manual recommends PVC pipe to mount it. That works, but the manual writers forgot Kansas winds! I strapped the pipe to a corner fence post with zip ties, and it sways like a buggy whip in any breeze at all, so I'll get a piece of steel pipe, set the pole into it and a minor problem will be no problem at all.

After looking at several weather stations we settled on this one as the best value. A damaged-box unit available from Amazon Warehouse for even less sealed the deal.The sensor unit was extremely easy for us to install. We drove a 1 1/4" pipe into the ground, and placed a 5ft. length of 3/4 pvc pipe inside it, with the sensor mounted on top. This way, it will be easy to pull the unit down to replace the batteries when the time comes, or to replace the pole with a taller one if we want. The sensor was placed 230 feet (measured with a wheel) from the receiver, and with new alkaline batteries the signal strength is showing four bars.I have good hopes for battery life in the sensor unit. A friend of ours has an older model with a similar sensor, and the lithium batteries he originally installed in it only now need replacement - 8 years later.The units started communicating within seconds of battery installation. The display on the receiver is easy to read, as long as you are looking at a good viewing angle, which is looking slightly down at it. If looking straight at it to slightly upwards it is more difficult to see.We've had another wireless thermometer for several years, and after some time for things to settle they read 2-3 degrees apart, as close as can be expected. The two sensors are about 100 feet apart, and temperatures can easily vary that much over that distance.I have no way of verifying the accuracy of the other measurements, but I have no reason to think they are any farther off than the temperature. Be aware that the readings are not continuous. They are updated every 20-30 seconds or so(I haven't timed it), so when it comes to wind speed it's quite possible to miss a gust.I believe the history graphs, something not seen on all Acurite weather stations, will be very interesting to watch. They are one of the reasons we chose this unit over others. So far, they are working perfectly.All in all, it appears to be an excellent value. But it's still early, only a few hours, and if I have reason to change my mind some time in the future, I will update this review then.

Works great, not problems

This is a handsome unit with a small footprint which won't look ugly or upset the neighbors. It was easy to set up and the vanes are always turning, it even measures wind speed down to 1mph, something the Big Boys don't do. I have mounted it on a 10' pole where it captures all the wind and is not blocked by trees or houses. The signal is very strong and it captured the atomic time immediately. Now why it only gets 4 stars:It mounts on a 3/4" pole, readily available at Home Depot. Despite the admonitions that a metal pole might attract lightning, get one anyway. A plastic pole will whip in the wind, and lightning will hit the highest object, your house not the anemometer. Mounting this illustrates a true design flaw. When this is placed on a 3/4" pole, it needs to be tightend onto the pole by two set screws which tighten the two halfs together. Good luck. The screws are deeply recessed and are so tiny you can barely even see them. I do not exaggerate when I say you will need the smallest jewler's screwdriver on the planet, phillips head, to even make contact. Then you cannot generate enough torque to tighten the screws. This would be a deal breaker if the pole did not penetrate so far into the unit it could not fall off anyway. Were it mounted on a plastic pole the wind would whip it around so much it would fall off. Does the manufacturer ever test their products before rushing them to market???The final negative is something which is beyond control. During the day the solar radiation gives a temperature about 2-3 degrees above normal. It would be nice if there were a compensation feature which would allow this to be adjusted, but then the nighttime temperature would be off a few degrees. Also, a backlight should have been included. For you desert dwellers, the humidity level reads down to 1%, here in Las Vegas it is in the single degree range 6 months a year. This is rarely spelled out in the summary of products.To conclude, this is a well constructed station with the console extremely easy to read. If you can work around the limitations, you will enjoy it.To conclude, this