Chaney Instruments Acu-Rite 75077 Wireless Weather Forecaster
List Price: $53.99 Our Price: $50.47 You Save: $3.52 (6.5%) Availability: | Usually ships in 24 hours (as of 12:56 AM CT - detail) |
Atomix clock(hour/minutes)Calendar (mm/dd/yy and day)Transmission range 100 feetDaily high/low indoor and outdoor temperaturesWeather forecaster
Product Description
Wireless indoor/outdoor self-calibrating weather forecaster with a 14 day learning mode and 14 different weather conditions. Includes daily highs and lows and minimum and maximum memory.
Spotlight Customer Reviews:
Summary:
Nice, while it last
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Comment:
I have had this unit for Five Months months now. I am looking at the display right now... the indoor temp is 158F. The display is very faded, now the display is not working.
I really liked this unit when it worked. I paid 30 something dollars for it at Lowes. The display has been having problems for the last month, sometimes it was working, sometimes it wasn't. I have had to replace the batteries once in the indoor unit. It did what it said it would do, but only for four months.... five if you don't count the display.
The display is now back on... the indoor temperature is negative 40F. Pretty darn cold. Perhaps the indoor sensor is on mars and the sun just went down. One thing I am sure about is that my opinion of this product just went down as well. I guess I got what I paid for ~ $6/month. Next time I will get another brand known for quality.
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Summary:
easy to use - easy to operate
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Comment:
I picked up this unit from my local lowes hardware store for $32. It was a price drop from $40. I'm a regular amazon shopper but just goes to show you that Amazon isn't always the cheapest so you should always do your research beforehand
The display is nice and big - easy to read. I've only had it for two days. So far, it is functioning great.
I will post update in a few days of its performance. So far so good.
Update: The unit is functioning very well. I 'almost' returned it, thinking it was defective. After the initial setup, I noticed my temps were waaaaay off when comparing with other units. I have two other temp monitoring units in the house. The temps with this unit were up to 10 whopping degrees off. I left the unit running for a few hours then came back to it and voila - for some reason, the temps have stabilized. It is now only one degree off from the other devices - which is certainly acceptable.
I will now mount this unit on the wall as a permanent installation
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Summary:
Acu-Rite 75077: Why This Weather Station & Atomic Wall Clock Wins Hands Down
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Comment:
As a weather-watching nut, I have come to own a number of forecast stations over the years, including the venerated but seemingly over-hyped Davis Vantage Pro2, two LaCrosse models and a cordless phone/weather forecaster manufactured by Uniden. All of them have their strengths, but most of them under deliver in the forecasting department. For a much more competitive price, and a much easier ability to read at a distance ---- making this model useful as a wall clock and calendar ---- the Acu-Rite 75077 blows them away. It's not that it offers a lot of weather station features. It doesn't measure rain or wind. It doesn't offer a software download option, and it doesn't graph or store weather trends. It doesn't even measure indoor or outdoor humidity. But it does well at what it is designed to do: featuring a jumbo-sized display of the time, date, indoor and outdoor temperature, including the day's high and low temps -- all of which it has more or less reliably done around the clock for approximately two years now.
How does this home weather station hold its own in comparison to those costing significantly more? Because this particular model, contrary to others I have seen, including other types manufactured by Acu-Rite, takes a full two weeks to calibrate itself. While in learning mode, the date and time functions work, but for the 12-24 barometric forecast. Patience is a worthwhile tradeoff, however, in exchange for improved forecasting accuracy. The result is that the barometer readings only trigger a change in the prediction icon when the weather actually shifts. This is in sharp contrast to most units in this price range that are far too changeable, often thrown off simply by normal barometric shifts associated with the rising or setting sun. On the flip side, the pricey Davis Weather Instruments model I own will flash changes of forecast only briefly before reverting to a perpetual Partly Cloudy forecasting icon here in sunny SoCal -- which means they are far too easy to miss. Not so, the Acu-Rite 75077. This unit consistently predicts weather 12-24 hours in advance that is in synch 8 out of 10 times with local weather reports, and it keeps displaying the icon long enough to appreciate what type of whether is anticipated. In addition, it offers a wide variety of forecast icons. A cloudy or partly sunny icon can also include graphics representing rain showers or high clouds. It can add in a designation regarding snow/ice, or as is more typical in my climate, animated sprinkles (flashing slash marks indicating scattered showers). A few weeks ago an unfamiliar one popped up, which apparently referred to an unusually heavy fog that rolled in a day later. The only downside to all these icons is that the documentation that came with the unit is so sparse that interpreting what all the incremental changes in the graphics mean can be tricky at first. On the up side, you don't really need a lot of documentation to get this set up and running. The AA batteries go in the sensor first and immediately thereafter you load the batteries into the main unit. Moreover, the batteries seem to last forever -- in the moderate climate where I reside, anyhow.
Now for the negatives: Like certain LaCrosse units that seem to be prone to outages, the Acu-Rite is prone to losing sensor contact from time to time. No worries. Within an hour or so contact is reestablished. Another problem: Although the atomic clock worked in the location where it was set, it can take a couple of days to "catch" the atomic clock radio signal on subsequent DST shifts (depending on atmospheric/weather conditions). I have seen LaCrosse atomic clocks struggle to synchronize in a similar fashion, and in some cases no amount of reorienting near a window facing Colorado, which is where the radio signal originates, works. Because I have had much experience with atomic clocks, however, I have come to conclude that this is just one of the hassles associated with owning them. They do eventually catch, but sometimes it takes days or temporary relocation of the unit to do so successfully. Rather than do that, it is often easier to manually set the clock to what appears to be the correct time and then let it correct any minor inaccuracies on its own once the atomic signal reception improves. (TIP: I recommend letting the unit self-set the clock at least once after purchase to confirm that the atomic clock circuitry is working while the manufacturer warranty still applies.)
Bottom line? This is a fantastic value. Most weather station buyers aren't about to drop a hundred or more dollars on the so-called professional units, designated as such essentially because they collect rain and wind data. For those who are not interested in measuring those values -- or going to the hassle of connecting those added sensors up outdoors -- this weather station will serve just about anyone's needs and do it better than units costing significantly more. I hope that the Acu-Rite company continues to offer the Acu-Rite 75077, and to produce more models containing their patented 14-day intelligent learning technology.
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Summary:
Works very well, and good price too! Love it!
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Comment:
Actually, I picked this unit up new at Lowe's for forty bills. It works very well, and is very easy to set up and use. I own four weather stations (i'm a gadget nut), and this one was the easiest to use by far. The LCD display panel is nice and big, so consequently the sizeable numbers are easy on the eyesight. Accuracy is on par with one of my more expensive, 'higher end' LaCrosse Technology weather units, which is reassuring. For accuracy, my remote outdoor sensor unit is placed on an outdoor bedroom window sill between the screen and window on a shady side of the house. This way, there is enough outdoor air circulating around the sensor unit to help insure accuracy. Also, I really like the fact that the unit also constantly displays minimum and maximum temperatures for the day right next to the current indoor and outdoor temps. The packaging and instruction manual were also top-notch. Nice graphics on the box, and no twist ties to undo, or blister packs to rip open. Just unscrew the 2 plastic holders on the back of the box, and tear aside the cardboard surrounding the unit encased in easy to remove plastic. Ingenious, and convenient for the consumer- more companies should package like 'Acu-Rite'! I highly recommend this weather unit, and feel it is one of the best 'bang per buck' units available for the price I got it for.
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