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Acu-Rite Atlas PWS


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Does anyone have the new(?) Acu-Rite Atlas personal weather station, and if so, can you tell me about it. If you like it. If you'd recommend it. Etc...

https://www.acurite.com/atlas-weather-station.html

I'm in need of a new station, and while I'd love to have a Davis Pro, I can't afford the hefty price tag. Davis does have an "all in one" similar to the Acu-Rite models, but they only use a radiation panel to insulate the temperature sensor from the sun, while Acu-Rite uses a fan aspirated temp sensor. Not sure which is better, but my old Acu-Rite with the fan was pretty accurate during the mid-day hours with the sun beating on it.

The other thing I like about the Acu-Rite set up is that you can buy an extension and raise the anemometer 30 ft into the air to get a more accurate reading of wind speed. All this runs for about the same price as a Davis all in one.

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I'm new here, been reading the site for years before finally joining. :)

My biggest issue with these wireless stations is the lack of refresh rate.  Understandably, due to the limits of battery capacity, this is necessary.  I wish there was a wired version which being powered (POE or Power Over Ethernet) is a good idea and allows up to 100 meters of cable between nodes, etc.

Of course this pushes into the realm of a professional product costing many times more than the home or hobbyist station.  I'm OK with that.

In the early 1980s, I had a shack with a wall of Heathkit instruments.  I loved that system!  A close strike on a tower took out the wind sensors (vane and cups) but this was in 1985 and Heath was still in business and I was able to get replacement parts and was back and running in a few days.  The bearings on those sensors were of extremely low friction (the sensor boom used on the ID-1890, ID-4000, and ID-5000 family) and was great for reading even the lightest breeze.

Of course today there's ultrasonic (but again) the cost is prohibitive for most.

Speaking of cost, my ID-4000 cost $399 back in 1982 (Kit) and the 5000 came out was $599.  Bargain compared to today if you can locate one in perfect shape!

I do miss seeing the display which was essentially like watching a speedometer while driving showing gusts in real time.

My wife got me an Accurite for Christmas and I did manage to get it set up a few weeks ago.  It seems to work (the rain gauge I'd say is the most convenient part) and the wind speeds just don't seem to reflect real winds and/or gusts.  I've been watching weather for nearly five decades and as a mariner in the past I'm pretty good with Beaufort estimating.  Of course we have trees and the location isn't optimal.  For gusts I just don't believe the recordings are accurate due to the very slow update rate.  It does not appear the device samples internally faster with a memory and reports the gust on the transmission to the base.  The lightning sensor is hilarious.  I was mounting it under the canopy of a large spruce tree and it started beeping because it was detecting the EMI from the DeWalt cordless screw gun I used to lash it to the trunk!  Not sure how it will work when we do get activity in the spring as a few weeks ago there were strikes <12 miles away and it was silent.

I did pull the trigger on an autonomous unit that is solar powered with a GPRS radio.  That one's going on a free standing tower at 10m in the pasture here.  The ultrasonic anemometer polls at 30Hz so I don't think instantaneous gust capture will be a problem.

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