Ambient Weather Stations

HighClouds

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2023
Messages
135
Anyone have in for/experiences to share on ambient weather stations? Thinking about getting a set up for the 5th wheel and curious what systems folks use or recommend ( or dot recommend). Also
Curious about how you might implement into your rig. We are full time and stay usually 1 to 3 months at a time. Does that make the weather station hobby any more difficult?

Anything you can pass along about the systems used and experiences are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
Anyone have in for/experiences to share on ambient weather stations? Thinking about getting a set up for the 5th wheel and curious what systems folks use or recommend ( or dot recommend). Also
Curious about how you might implement into your rig. We are full time and stay usually 1 to 3 months at a time. Does that make the weather station hobby any more difficult?

Anything you can pass along about the systems used and experiences are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I have one that I bought in early 2022, but it is strictly for home use and I have no plans to change that. My Brother In Law had or has a La Cross brand and I saw his while visiting, which peaked my interest. He's had a lot of issues with his, as I have also with OTHER La Cross brand products so when I went looking for a weather station, I simply ignored the La Cross brand and I've found the Ambient Weather brand to be totally reliable in the almost 30 months that I've had one. I have the WS2902C model.
 
I have one that I bought in early 2022, but it is strictly for home use and I have no plans to change that. My Brother In Law had or has a La Cross brand and I saw his while visiting, which peaked my interest. He's had a lot of issues with his, as I have also with OTHER La Cross brand products so when I went looking for a weather station, I simply ignored the La Cross brand and I've found the Ambient Weather brand to be totally reliable in the almost 30 months that I've had one. I have the WS2902C model.

Thanks! I’ll look into the Ambient model. ����
 
Yes, I would not recommend the LaCrosse weather station, if you're wanting to have a rainfall sensor. I replaced the rainfall module 3 times and finally just gave up. I like the display, and they replaced the rainfall senor all three times at no charge, but it never lasted more than a couple months.
 
Ambient is a pretty reliable brand. The gold standard for PWSs is Davis Instruments - but they have fallen behind on connectivity, etc. I've had Davis Instruments PWSs for 30 years and had very good service from them. Most recently I had a Vantage Vue on a Flagpole Buddy mounted on the rear ladder. The Flagpole Buddy allowed for mounting/dismounting the PWS in a matter of seconds for bugging out or setting up. I had a WiFiLogger2 in the console to upload to Weather Underground and could look at the PWS data from anywhere on my phone or laptop if I wasn't in the rig.

Rob
 
Ambient is a pretty reliable brand. The gold standard for PWSs is Davis Instruments - but they have fallen behind on connectivity, etc. I've had Davis Instruments PWSs for 30 years and had very good service from them. Most recently I had a Vantage Vue on a Flagpole Buddy mounted on the rear ladder. The Flagpole Buddy allowed for mounting/dismounting the PWS in a matter of seconds for bugging out or setting up. I had a WiFiLogger2 in the console to upload to Weather Underground and could look at the PWS data from anywhere on my phone or laptop if I wasn't in the rig.

Rob

My Ambient is also connected via WiFi and I have the app on my phone where I can see the weather at my house from anywhere I have an internet connection on my phone. The app is called AWS and I can't remember if I downloaded it from their website or from the Google Play Store...but it works great. Between the AWS app and my Honeywell app for my home thermostat, I can monitor temperatures inside my house and change from cooing to heating or vice versa, change the temperature as needed from anywhere, as well as turn the system on or off. We lowered the temperature in the house when we were driving back from our recent camping trip and the house was cooled back down when we arrived home.
 
Yes, I would not recommend the LaCrosse weather station, if you're wanting to have a rainfall sensor. I replaced the rainfall module 3 times and finally just gave up. I like the display, and they replaced the rainfall senor all three times at no charge, but it never lasted more than a couple months.

Good to know! Thank you
 
Ambient is a pretty reliable brand. The gold standard for PWSs is Davis Instruments - but they have fallen behind on connectivity, etc. I've had Davis Instruments PWSs for 30 years and had very good service from them. Most recently I had a Vantage Vue on a Flagpole Buddy mounted on the rear ladder. The Flagpole Buddy allowed for mounting/dismounting the PWS in a matter of seconds for bugging out or setting up. I had a WiFiLogger2 in the console to upload to Weather Underground and could look at the PWS data from anywhere on my phone or laptop if I wasn't in the rig.

Rob

Thanks for that insight. I’ll check out the Davis line. Not looking for prograde, just something useful and accurate. Thanks!
 
Yes, I would not recommend the LaCrosse weather station, if you're wanting to have a rainfall sensor. I replaced the rainfall module 3 times and finally just gave up. I like the display, and they replaced the rainfall senor all three times at no charge, but it never lasted more than a couple months.

I appreciate that info. Looking at Davis or Ambient systems. ��
 
My Ambient is also connected via WiFi and I have the app on my phone where I can see the weather at my house from anywhere I have an internet connection on my phone. The app is called AWS and I can't remember if I downloaded it from their website or from the Google Play Store...but it works great. Between the AWS app and my Honeywell app for my home thermostat, I can monitor temperatures inside my house and change from cooing to heating or vice versa, change the temperature as needed from anywhere, as well as turn the system on or off. We lowered the temperature in the house when we were driving back from our recent camping trip and the house was cooled back down when we arrived home.

Thanks. Connectivity- Can be a wonderful thing! ��
 
Another vote for the Ambient. Only had it a month but so far so good. Of course I would have liked the Davis but $$$$$.
 
I have owned three different brands of weather stations... Davis (Vantage Vue), LaCrosse, and AcuRite.

The LaCrosse was pretty bad. AcuRite is cheap, but somewhat limited and not as accurate as the Davis. My Davis is quite old (i.e., >11 years) and still works OK, except for a glitch every so often. It displays a Low Battery error; the fix is to remove the ISS battery and cover the solar sensor for a day or so, allowing a full discharge of power. Then, reinstall the battery and it's back to normal. I was told the newer ISS does not do this. When I acquired the Davis, it was cheap at a hamfest flea market. If it dies, it owes me nothing.

If and when it is time for replacement, I will likely buy the Ambient Weather system. Friends who own them have no complaints about them.
 
I know nothing about these weather systems but now I’m curious…. Do you guys use these to monitor the situation that’s on top of you now or can you use these to predict incoming heavy weather? And if yes to the latter, is this more reliable/accurate than a weather radio? Or would these systems buy you more time if you need to evacuate? Or get out of the way of a hailstorm? Again, just curious- Thanks!
 
Anyone have in for/experiences to share on ambient weather stations? Thinking about getting a set up for the 5th wheel and curious what systems folks use or recommend ( or dot recommend). Also
Curious about how you might implement into your rig. We are full time and stay usually 1 to 3 months at a time. Does that make the weather station hobby any more difficult?

Anything you can pass along about the systems used and experiences are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I bought one of their most expensive model with several sensors to detect lightening, water leaks, in addition to the regular stuff. Spent almost $500 dollars on it and it lasted just a few weeks out of the year warranty! Contacted the company to see if I could get just the screen portion, which was what went out and could not even get a response! So, I will never buy another Ambient Weather product!!! I have owned several other brands of weather stations through the years but never had one that lasted that short a period!
 
I had much better service out of my LaCrosse station than I did Ambient Weather! My LaCrosse lasted for about 7 years, Ambient weather Just made it out of warranty before it failed! No response from company!
 
I use the Ambient Weather Station model 2902-C, mounting the outside weather array on our rear ladder (stays mounted even when traveling). The station connects to my WiFi in our trailer and utilizes an app on our cell phone to monitor all things weather. We mainly use it to monitor inside temps for our dogs so we can adjust via our WiFi capable Micro Air thermostat. It has been a reliable unit so far (3+ years) and works well. I believe I paid $160 for the entire setup.
 
I know nothing about these weather systems but now I’m curious…. Do you guys use these to monitor the situation that’s on top of you now or can you use these to predict incoming heavy weather? And if yes to the latter, is this more reliable/accurate than a weather radio? Or would these systems buy you more time if you need to evacuate? Or get out of the way of a hailstorm? Again, just curious- Thanks!

Some of us use them for both, and to varying extent.

When connected to the Internet, they can be handy for checking the weather conditions "back home" (or wherever the system is set up). My Vantage Vue is not connected to the Internet, so I just use it while at home. As for use as a forecasting tool, they can all be handy to some extent, but all require some thought. Using only the cloud/rain icon is often misleading. For example, if I see the barometric pressure is markedly dropping and/or the wind direction changes to much other than SW/W/NW, such is usually in indication of imminent precipitation. The various data collected by these stations can be useful, as can the additional sensors for lightning, soil moisture, etc.
 

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