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Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description
The local meteorologist has nothing on this highly sensitive professional weather center from Oregon Scientific. Equipped with a temperature/humidity sensor, a wind sensor, a rain gauge, and a solar panel—and with the ability to communicate with six additional remote sensors—the weather center assesses a host of weather conditions to help the user better prepare for the outdoors. The weather center's LCD touch panel screen displays icons and indicators to relay: time of day via the US atomic clock; weather forecast; current moon phase; indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity readings; wind chill, speed, and direction; barometric pressure; rainfall rate; dew point; heat index; and optional UV index. Several weather alert alarms notify of more problematic weather conditions.
The weather center wall-mounts or stands on a tabletop. A 6-volt DC AC adapter powers the base. With five language options (English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Dutch), the weather center also offers 12-hour or military time display, and temperature readings in Celsius or Fahrenheit. The center measures indoor temperatures ranging from 32 to 122 degrees F, and outdoor temperatures from –58 to 158 degrees F. The outdoor sensors transmit data to the base at a 433 MHz frequency from up to 325 feet away. To track weather trends, the center features a data logger function and data can be uploaded to a computer using free PC software and provided 6-foot USB cable. Ten included AA batteries power the sensors and the base; the user benefits from separate low battery indicators for the base and each sensor. For mounting, a host of poles, attachment brackets, and screws accompany the weather center. A limited one-year guarantee covers this item. The weather center base measures 5-9/10 inches long by 7-8/10 inches wide by 1-9/10 inches high.
Product Description
The Oregon Scientific Weather Center gives you all the weather data you'll need from your own back yard! Equipped with a touch-panel interface for quick and convenient information access, the WMR200 captures over 10 weather measurements, from up to 300 feet away. You'll see the precise Atomic time, current indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity, wind speed and direction, wind chill, dew point, heat index, barometric pressure and rainfall data. For additional weather monitoring, the unit can support up to ten remote sensors, including a UV monitor (optional). The integrated wind sensor tower and free PC software with multi-language capability make this the only Weather Center you'll ever need.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
87 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
This one costs a lot, but spend just a little more the first time.,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Oregon Scientific WMR200 Professional Weather Center (Kitchen)
Pro's: Nice looking display unit (at first glance, read further).
Con's: Outdoor sensor quality chintzy, accuracy, customer service, limited history data without hooking up to a computer, set up time, no energy storage for solar, update frequency. I purchased this weather station to replace 3 separate aging weather units to enable all weather data on a single unit. Upon unpacking the 200WMRa I noticed all of the outdoor sensor units feel like they could break just handling them. After setting everything up indoors to test connectivity, I could not get a reading from the outside temp/humidity. The first time I called customer service they had me run through a battery of tests and instead of sending me just the one sensor (none available), I had to pack up the entire unit and send it back. Two weeks later, I again have everything set up indoors as a test; again no outdoor temp or humidity. This time I order a second unit online so that I can have it quicker and the third sensor was bad as well. Second call to customer service "please send back the entire unit...". I waited an hour and called again and luckily got someone on the phone who let me know that they did have a problem with the sensor (now discontinued) and that they could send me the redesigned sensor. This replacement sensor worked fine, but didn't have solar hookup which defeats one of the advantages of this system. A note on the solar power on this system; it doesn't have any means of storage, so any time it's cloudy or at night you are running on batteries. The main console unit looks nice at first glance, but really gives very little data without hooking to a computer via some VERY outdated and glitchy software. The unit's graph is only usable for pressure, rain and wind history. For instance, you cannot see the temp trend for the last few days, only highs or lows from when you first powered up the unit. Accuracy: At one point I had purchased two systems and had them both set up indoors at the same time trying to work the bugs out of the sensors. Every bit of data was different from both units and not by just 1 degree or 1 percent, it was off by as much as 5 degrees/percent in each field. Sure enough if you read the published specifications, it states about that much as far as accuracy. To me, if you are going to spend this much money on knowing whats happening outside, you might as well have REAL DATA to go by. Update frequency: If you hear a really big wind gust outside, you may be standing there a minute or two before seeing how high it actually was. I didn't initially want to spend another hundred on the Davis unit; after my experience thus far I figured I could sell this on ebay and put the extra toward the Davis. BY CONTRAST: The biggest differences on the Davis unit is that all the outdoor sensors are mounted in one reasonably sized very sturdy unit; that utilizes true solar with storage that only resorts to batteries if it hasn't seen light in 3-4 days. The main display is built like a tank in comparison; the graph can be used to watch any data you choose over whatever time period you choose, such as: last 24 hours, 24 days, 24 minutes (rain) or even 24 years. Highs and lows can also be seen for ALL DATA for any time you choose: Daily, hourly, monthly or even yearly. Now you can see at a glance "What was the coldest day last year?" or "What was the highest wind gust last year?", etc. The Davis units update every 2-10 seconds depending on data; basically real time. Published accuracy is 0.6 of a degree!! I went with the Davis ISS (integrated sensors) with the ProVantage 2 console/display. These together cost $360. Save the time & frustration and buy any one of the Davis units the first time, it is money well spent.
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Easy Installation & Connection - PC connection not evaluated yet.,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Oregon Scientific WMR200 Professional Weather Center (Kitchen)
I purchased the WMR200A to replace my La Crosse Professional wireless weather station. The La Crosse had worked well, but the sensors use solar cells to keep the internal batteries charged. Unfortunately after about 5 years of satisfactory service, the sensors' batteries began dying. Since the batteries are SOLDERED into each sensor's motherboard, they cannot be easily replaced. The rain gauge went first. Unable to find someone to replace the battery, I actually purchased another one - but it sent signals exactly once and died. When the temp/hum sensor quit sending, I decided to find a battery operated wireless system and after reading a lot of user reviews, selected the WMR200.
THE GOOD: 1. Setup - the instructions are fairly good and the order is easy to follow. It took only 90 minutes. Following the suggestions of a reviewer of another product, I first activated all the sensors on my kitchen table. Initially, the outside temperature/humidity sensor did not link to the base station. The trouble-shooting instruction said to replace the batteries - I did and the sensor linked immediately. 2. Sensor Installation - Very easy. I particularly like the alternate location of the temp/hum sensor - this allows it to be placed in a shady location so it will show air temperature without solar heating. The temp/hum sensor is on a post of a north-facing porch (on the house where it would pick up some heat) and the other sensors are in the open at the end of 100' dock. 3. Base Station Battery Back-up - I thought this was only a nice touch, but it allows me to move the base station without losing my settings. 4. Base Station Location- I have been able to move the base station to several location inside the house with no loss of sensor signals. We'll see how sensitive the location may be when the batteries weaken - especially the temp/hum sensor since it isn't plugged into the solar unit. 5. Base Station Lighting - I really like touching the screen causes the display to light up. 6. Base Station Auto-Clock - nice touch. THE BAD: 1. Installing batteries in the rain gauge sensor - there are too many screws. FIRST two screws holding the base to the cover have to be removed. Fine but once the base is set and leveled, those screws will be easily lost. THEN there are eight (8)! more screws for the battery compartment - and the unit is still attached to the base! FINALLY, the instructions did not mention the 8 screws - where the batteries go is obvious, but how to open the case is not. All this means the only intelligent way to replace the rain gauge batteries will be to remove the sensor from its location and take it inside. I STRONGLY recommend using NEW batteries (not the supplied ones) because they are so hard to change. 2. The sensor poles - these are heavy plastic. How long will they last in a hot, sunny, UV-intense location. And I can sense some minor fluttering of the top even in light winds, despite being firmly screwed to a piling in three places for about 2/3 the pole's length. 3. Instructions - Much is lacking, especially for those new to weather stations or who are mechanically challenged. a. Did not mention the 8 screws for the rain gauge battery compartment. b. Did not mention that placing the temp/hum sensor in direct sunlight will make the sensed temperature be too high. The design of the system encourages placement of the temp/hum sensor with the other sensors so the solar panel can be connected. c. The instructions to point the wind vane to North does not clearly show that the bent stem of the wind vane `aluminum pole' is what needs to be pointed North. d. Setting the date/time manually is less than straightforward, as is explanation of setting/resetting date/time for accumulated rain, 4. Data Logger- when the data logger is full, it apparently does not overwrite earlier values (need to evaluate after use). 5. Computer Connection - no CD, just a note saying that you need to download the latest PC weather program. It's 50MB and the download is VERY slow. There only information on the PC program comes from downloading the users guides and other info from the same site. No mention of passing data to services like Weather Underground. 6. Base Station Backlight - Stays on too short a time. It's about 5 seconds, not enough time to check out more than a single reading. Should be able to set the ON time or give at least 30 seconds. INITIAL ASSESSMENT - Setup went well and quickly. All sensors linked in. Physical installation was easy. Readings are consistent with other sensors. Like the display. Wait and see about battery life. Would recommend for a mid-price range station but jury is out about PC connection. Will update in Nov, 2009.
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great package for the price...,
By Jay Citizen "JCitizen" (Mid America) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Oregon Scientific WMR200 Professional Weather Center (Kitchen)
A little careful pre-planing and reading these reviews can help avoid many of the disasters that probably happen with something so economical but so sophisticated. I picked the WMR200 because it seemed the more modern of all the brands out there that was present early Aug 2009. I has a really cool touch screen display,and back-lighting/lit buttons, and I also liked the fact that it came with a consolidated mast design.
I figured that by going with the best dealer, it could head off some of the problems other viewers had, and I think I was right. Ambient Weather has chat service, and even 800 phone support: this seems to be a new thing as I couldn't find it before, but their 800 phone support menu has changed. For someone who has computer and gizmo interest this was a piece of cake to set up; just a few hangups. The rain gauge came in inop. It is a good idea to set everything up on the kitchen table so everything is definitely in range of each other to confirm interoperability. Even the rain gauge reported the water test we performed accurately, but later became totally inoperative. The base station wouldn't even count it as a device on the console. We sent it in for RMA, and another is coming. I checked to make sure replacement parts would be available, but the folks over there panicked at first and said it would be months to get them from the factory. However this was in error. I like the setup so well I order a whole other older station just so the signals wouldn't get crossed and so I could get a rain gauge with solar charging. The newer one went together real well, but don't waste time with any of the mounting schemes except the EZ-30-12 pole mount. That one worked very well despite the salesman's trepidation. It looks really good on the telephone pole and is solid as a rock. Do not get the rain gauge shelf for this model line as it is so frail I feel it is responsible for knocking out the rain gauge from rattling in the wind; it was so flimsy that it couldn't even hold the rain gauge steady, and level! You'd be better off with a wooden board. We did use the SRS100 sun shade however, as I had learned in research you have to put these things out in the open to get accurate measurements and the instruments shield that is sold with it is more for shady yards than serious science. We mounted it with the all-in-one mast with rubber bands and zip-ties to hold the temp/hygrometers in place under the shade. It all looks very professional, and my buddy's back yard looks like a government installation now! I will post pictures later. I tried everything in the book at my long history as a gadget tech to solve the inop condition of the rain gauge but after talking to Ambient Weather, it was obviously not going to work. So hopefully the new one will be fine. Don't forget it does not have solar charging, so battery replacement will be in force. I've used Oregon wireless outdoor sensors for years and they are very tough, and don't plow through batteries very often. In fact, for the first time, I just changed the batteries in a temp sender I bought back in 2003!! (Update 9/22/09): RMA was successful on the rain gauge and the new one is working fine! The data between it and the one on the WMR968 match perfectly, a big thanks to Ambient Weather on that one! Now here is the really cool part(to me); with the Virtual Station(internet capable version) you can send station information to a web page at Weather Underground and view your stats at any time off the internet anywhere, they automatically assign you a station number for your area. Be prepared to have your GPS coordinates and elevation from sea level for this. Even cooler, I found a 'gadget' at that site that dislays wind direction/speed, temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity, all from your own personal weather station!! I put this and the main Windows Weather Underground gadget on my desktop sidebar to complete a real time watch of all the weather data I would need except precipitation(which I can get from my web-page link). It even has better radar!! With all this info, who needs WeatherBug? HA! I am very happy with this arrangement, and will report on the WMR968 solar assisted weather station, that I purchased with this, to complement it. I did this originally because I wanted a functional rain gauge now, but I'm glad we have two consoles. One for the living room and the other for the computer. You will like the convenience of the USB connection for this console. I have checked the accuracy with other NOAA stations in my area and I don't know what people are talking about on the accuracy of these cheaper instruments; they concur with MUCH more expensive devices used by the weather service in my area. The only difference in data is the fact that the NOAA devices are mounted in areas that are known to be cooler and out of the wind. But most of them that are out in the open completely agree with my data, off BOTH stations. I have no reasonable cons to this system as of this time; I did get confused about which software was what, as we got the CDs mixed up upon shipment. But make sure you enter the paid version key into the virtual weather station software, if you want to use internet connectivity. I'm hoping I can find a way, of getting the console to run in the background as a service, but for now I just minimize it to the task-bar and it doesn't conflict with anything we do on the computer PC in anyway. Uses almost no bandwidth or resources. BTW - You can turn off you PC and the WMR200 will cache your data and add it to the internet after turning you PC back on! No previous model did this. I hope I have covered all possibilities, but I will revisit this review and add more data later. Thanks for your patience, and hope you have good experience no matter which brand or model you pick here at Amazon! (Update 9/22/09): We now seem to be getting high battery usage on the anemometer, and you guessed it, Oregon Scientific is giving me the same run around everyone else is reporting. I plan to contact them, and simply order the part, as it isn't worth the hassle of trying to get an RMA or warranty, I can always place a complaint with the Better Business Bureau later. The only product out there as modern as this one, may be the Davis Vantage Vue(wireless): Davis Vantage Vue Professional Weather Station, Model #6250 You may like the fact that Davis brags that their product is US made, and this might be considered - what with the total unreliability of Chinese(foreign) made instruments now days. But - you'd end up spending a lot of money by the time you buy their data logger program. So even with replacement parts costs, the Oregon Scientific is still way cheaper to operate. I still prefer this design over the La Crosse series; probably the only serious next contender. (update) Sorry for taking so long to report that the battery problem was solved! Oregon Scientific sent a WHOLE NEW STATION KIT! I couldn't believe it when it arrived! We haven't had one problem on it(WMR 200), or the older model since! Now I have a second viewing console!! Needless to say, I am absolutely gob smacked and relieved that this company has seen fit to fix the problem this way. Today's date is 11/8/2010 and still running strong!
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