Anyone here have a home weather station?

I’ve looked several times over the years, but I don’t really want to spend too much!

I’m not fussed about having a home display, but it would be nice for an app/browser based viewer, and to support live upload to https://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/ or weatherlink.com.

I’ve spotted one by Netatmo which has its own map, but once you add on the anemometer its about £230, and £300 if you add the rain gauge. Thats quite a bit more than I want to spend!

I’ve got the basic Netatmo setup – temp and rainfall.
It does just seem to work.

I had various Maplin USB weather stations at the old house, but I couldn’t be bothered with one here, hence the netatmo. I don’t bother with wind speed because unless you are in the middle of nowhere and can mount it quite high, there is always going to be deflection which affects the speed. Obvs if you just want an indication of relative wind over a time period it will work, but I’m not bothered.

What do you want it for? My brother had one, and I suspect like many people it was an interesting novelty for a few months then he lost interest. If I want that sort of very specific, very local information I can got to Wunderground and get 3 other people’s data within 1/2 mile of my house.

There are some very specific applications where I think it would be useful, and of course if you just fancy some citizen science its no bad thing on the other hand – I can tell you the weather outside just now with no cost, and no software/apps etc – I look outside the window. Its hot, its sunny, its dry and there is only the slightest wind.

I’d quite like the wind, as I’m near the top of a big hill just not far from the sea, and the only other nearby stations are right on the clifftop so I think the wind readings would be cool.

But yes, its more of a novelty really hence wondering if there were any cheaper options 🙂

Anyone else read the thread title as Smart Weatherspoons!? 🙂

I really want one so have been looking into it a bit for the last few weeks but

What do you want it for?

I really can’t answer this question which is why I’ve hesitated in spending potentially a few hundreds… It would be cool/interesting though I think!

There’s basically your old-school weather station with an anemometer and bucket rainfall meter, which I’ve discounted because they seem to need more careful placement, as well as maintenance (cleaning the bucket, etc!) and then there’s a couple of new-school options appearing which use haptic rain-sensors and acoustic wind gauges – much more compact, bit more tolerant about position, zero maintenance.

The main one seems to be the Weatherflow Tempest – some reviews suggest the rain sensor especially is not that accurate, but almost everything I’ve read on forums etc from actual owners is really positive! It’s quite expensive also. Then there’s the EcoWitt WittBoy, which seems very similar, but despite it being quite a bit cheaper can’t really find any info/reviews or any feedback from anyone who’s actually got one! It’s expandable with extra sensors though, including more traditional rail/wind ones if you feel they’d be more accurate.

Both of these seem to have great smart integrations, and no physical screen like the old type (just connects directly to phone/tablet etc).

Here’s mine:
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/ISTIRLIN11

A Sainlogic Professional WLAN Weather Station from Amazon.
But it’s a rebranded Fine Offset, so would buy from here as it’s a lot cheaper:
https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/psg04173/weather-station-wifi/dp/IN08375

Sits on a big pole (Labgear Straight Pole Aerial Mast 3m from Screwfix )
Gets it nicely above the hedge for wind recording but is stable enough not to shake (which screws the rainfall reading). I did try using an additional set of poles but it wasn’t stable enough and I was worried the fence post couldn’t take it.
There are houses around it but putting it above the roof line has additional problems so it sits in as an exposed spot as I could find. Note: you will probably need to clean it once a year when a spider moves into the tipping rain bucket). Base station needs to be within range of the weather station and the router. It’s not too fussy – weather station is in back garden, base station at the front of the house etc.
A worthwhile project – i get a lot of fun out of mine.

Oh – I ran a Maplins USB Pro for years on a Raspberry Pi. The current setup is superb – rainfall is spot on, wind direction is consistent. Don’t see the need to spend any more on a Davis setup.

The main one seems to be the Weatherflow Tempest – some reviews suggest the rain sensor especially is not that accurate, but almost everything I’ve read on forums etc from actual owners is really positive!

In use, how would you know if your weather station was accurate? Would it matter?

If there is something local enough and calibrated to compare to, then your own weather station is redundant.

Consistency of measurements are your main marker.

I also use a rainbucket (calibrated beaker) to keep an eye on my rain gauge.

At setup the barometer has to be set

On Weather Underground you get a badge if they rate your station as reliable.
Mute point though as I often lose mine when there’s an inversion as the temperature can vary by 10c within 2 miles.

In use, how would you know if your weather station was accurate? Would it matter?

some reviewers have tried it next to other equipment for comparison, but, no, it probably wouldn’t really matter!

On Weather Underground you get a badge if they rate your station as reliable.

although online badges could be a motivator 🤔 😀

I’ve just noticed that mine has went offline, but its the same as StirlingCrispins and is called ‘ISTRAT50’.

Anyone else read the thread title as Smart Weatherspoons!? 🙂

I did indeed and immediately thought “oxymoron”.

ISTRAT50 is back online and reporting in.