Customer Reviews

La Crosse Technology FX5000 Discovery Channel Wireless Weather Station with Heat Index 433 MHz Wireless Outdoor Transmitter

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Overall, I have to say that this isn't a bad unit. It does have some issues though.

It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be. I've owned weather stations in the past and assumed this would be a similar size. It's 9 inches tall and 5 inches wide. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it took me by surprise.

The unit seems to be fairly accurate. It agrees with thermometers that I already have and trust.

I'm skeptical of the 330 foot range the outside probe is supposed to have. I have the inside unit on the desk of my home office. It's in the basement, but there is a window not 5 feet from the unit, and the temperature probe is less than 30 feet away from the unit. The manual says an outside wall or window can absorb up to 30 feet, but even allowing for that, 60 feet still puts me well within the advertised 330 foot range. However, the outside temp blanks out numerous times during the day. Both the transmitter and receiver have fresh batteries, the transmitter being lithium due to the winter temps outside. (Temps are well within the operating range supported by the unit) I'd say there is no outside temperature reading probably 10% of the time. An inconvenience, but I can deal with it.

It seems extremely reluctant to receive signals from Colorado to set itself by the atomic clock. It won't receive sitting on my desk, but if I place it in the windowsill, it will pick up the signal. This seems like pretty touchy reception for a somewhat pricey unit. I have a watch that picks up the radio signal every night just after midnight regardless of where I happen to be. How they could pack a better receiver in a watch than this large unit is beyond me. This appears to be a common complaint. It seems to me that if they can't seem to get reliable indoor reception, you'd think they'd have the outdoor probe receive the signal, then send it inside when the main unit polls the transmitter for temperature and humidity. Again, not a big deal as I already have a watch and several clocks throughout the house that pick up the signal from Colorado without any trouble, so the accuracy of the clock isn't a priority.

The animated moon phases leave something to be desired. The "animation" are simply stars that blink, and LCD bars that change daily.

I can't really see the point of the weather forecast icons. There are only three. A sun with animated heat rays radiating from it, a sun partly covered with clouds, and clouds with animated rain. Sounds pretty self explanatory doesn't it? Sunny, cloudy, and rainy... Wrong! All the sun icon means is that the weather is likely to improve. (Based on the barometric pressure recorded over time) The cloudy icon means that the weather is going to stay the same. And lastly, the rain icon merely means that the weather is going to worsen. Not a very intuitive system based on the icons. It does also have arrows that point out the current trend of the barometer. I'd actually rather just see the arrows to forecast the trend than the misleading icons. I mean, is it really that difficult for the unit to figure out that if the barometer is going down and the temperatures are near freezing that it's a good chance there'll be snow and show me some snowflakes or something? Or instead of a sun icon which intuitively means sunny and warm, show me a snowman or something that implies cold since it's only 18 degrees outside? It just seems silly to look out the window and see piles of snow, look at the temperature and see 18 degrees, yet the forecast icon shows me a sun with animated heat rays radiating from it...

I think as far as forecasting icons go, I'd prefer the unit that has the little guy that wears a winter coat, holds an umbrella, etc... A total of 31 forecast icons. But I didn't really get it for the forecast icons.

But like I said, overall not a bad unit. Just thought I'd give people my take on it's quirks. I'd have been disappointed in it if I'd have paid the $99 shown on the price tag on the box, but for paying only half that, what the unit does tell me helps balance out the quirks.

The WS-9033TDC Wireless Weather Station has the features that most consumer will want and look at several times per day. The forecast icon is very accurate. The heat index and dew point are especially important in the winter here in the Midwest. The display is large enough to see from several feet away. This is a great value for the features!

I did a lot of reseach on many different models, from simiple to very complicated, and I picked this one for a few reasons. At first I really wanted something with wind speed, but after looking into them, I decided it wasn't worth the mounting effort. I mostly wanted indoor/outdoor temp and humidity all displayed at once, along with the atomic clock and backlit screen. This thing has 'em all, great price and works great. I actaull take it between the bedroom and family room all the time. Going to have to buy another one! Highly recommended.

We purchased this weather station over 3 years ago and it's still going strong. I love all the features particularly the inside and outside humidity as some units don't include. We recently moved and had no trouble re-installing the unit. We've used it in several different locations trying to decide the most convenient and it has transmitted effectively in all locations. Highly recommend!

After our original weather station was dropped and broke, it was reassuring to get this new version that is smaller and displays more information in an easier to read format.

I have no complaints about this unit. I find it accurate and easy to read. I'm considering purchasing another one as a gift.

I saw this on Amazon shopping one day, I bought one for myself. I was so impressed, I bought one for my grandchildren. It is very educational. I can't stop looking at the one I have.

This product arrived on time and in good condition. It is very easy to set up and the readings are very accurate.

My husband and I love this weather station! It works great, atomic clock reset itself for daylight savings time just fine. Yes, it is LARGE. Yes, you need to read the instructions to get it set up. We put the sensor on the back side (facing towards the house) of one of the pillars on our front porch, up high where you don't really notice it. I do wish the "forecast" feature displayed more than just an improving or worsening trend in the weather-- but to get that, I would've had to spend more money and I wasn't willing to do that. (I paid half the retail price for this weather station.) It arrived in less than a week, and even with reading the instructions it wasn't time consuming or difficult to get it set up. Overall, we're very pleased.

Works as advertised for me. Even its weather prediction is fairly accurate in my area. The humidity levels are handy to know. My only disappointment is that it does not have a readout of the barometric pressure (nothing ever said that it did). You also have to wonder a bit about a temperature display that reads to the nearest tenth of a degree when the accuracy is only guaranteed to within two degrees.