I have to admit that I have never owned a weather station, but after playing with one that we received as a gift this year, we got hooked on its uncanny ability to predict the alternating rainy and sunny days of January, that we have had here in Northern California. There are several major players in the weather station business; Oregon Scientific and La Crosse Technology. Their weather stations have a similar core feature-set, which includes indoor temperature, remote temperature from up to three different locations (most come with one remote sensor, additional sensors must be purchased separately), weather prediction for the next 12 to 24 hours (based on barometric pressure), and a clock that synchronizes itself to the NIST atomic clock in Fort Collins, Colorado. Not close to Fort Collins? Don’t worry. Provided you are somewhere on the continent between the equator and the Arctic Circle, you can probably receive the NIST signal.
As happy as we are with the Oregon Scientific weather station in our home, when we went looking for a unit to put in the RV, we ended-up with the model WS-9075U from La Crosse Technology. This unit had several features that separated it from others, not the least of which was that it was a good match to our RV’s interior décor! We also liked the front-mounted function keys, which make it much easier to switch the outdoor temperature display between sensors (more on this later) and the ocean tide display, since we do a lot of camping at the beach. Another important feature for us, and one that is too often overlooked when purchasing camping products was that both the main control panel and the remote temperature sensors use the same AA-size batteries. I try to only use electronics in the RV that can be powered by AA-size batteries, because it simplifies my inventory and they can be found almost anywhere.
One of my criteria for purchasing a “gadget” is that it has to solve a specific problem. Admittedly, we have never let the weather affect a great weekend of camping, but we have always wondered exactly when the refrigerator gets cold enough to stock it with food for a trip, and how well it is performing while we are camping. According to the USDA, refrigerators should maintain a temperature of 40°F or below and foods held at temperatures above 40°F for more than two hours should not be consumed. To monitor the temperature in our refrigerator, we purchased a second sensor for our weather station and stuck it just inside the door. Along with the time, temperature and weather forecast, the weather station now displays the temperature inside our refrigerator, or by simply pressing a button, it can display the outdoor temperature from another sensor mounted in an outside compartment. The weather station will also display the maximum temperature and the time that temperature occurred, so if power goes out, or we run out of propane, we can easily determine if the temperature inside the refrigerator has risen above 40°F for more than two hours. Form and function; now that is a pretty good gadget!
