La Crosse Technology Combo11-IT Wireless Temperature Station with Atomic Time & Date Coupled with Wireless Forecast Station and Wireless Remote Sensor
Our Price: $89.99 Availability: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
Atomic clock LCD display with wireless forecast LCD and remote sensorDisplays outdoor temperature and humidity plus barometric tendencyDisplays indoor temperature and humidity and records highs and lowsSelf-setting clock displays atomic time and date and adjusts for DSTBarometric pressure graph; high and low temperature humidity records
Product Description
Combo11-IT Weather Combo Pack features Atomic time and date that updates automatically for Daylight savings time. Inside & Outside temperature and humdity, Records MIN/MAX Temperature & Humdity, barometic pressure graph with tendency arrow
Spotlight Customer Reviews:
Summary:
Good system
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Comment:
I have had trouble with getting a consistent signal from wireless weather stations; this one has worked very well. It uses a different frequency than the typical unit, and has no trouble getting a signal from the transmitter to both receivers.
The second receiver is a nice bonus; I can see indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity (along with accurate time) in two different rooms.
The only thing that is a bit disappointing is the "over sensitivity" of the outdoor temperature sensor. I have it mounted on an outside wall of the (attached but unheated) garage, and it seems to pick up some of the temperature difference between the garage and outside. So it tends to measure 5+ degrees warmer than it should. I tested it inside before installing outside and it was quite accurate, which leads me to conclude it's not as "isolated" from the surface it's mounted on as other sensors I have used. I'll try to come up with a different way to mount the sensor so it is more isolated.
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Summary:
Decent units that work well and have a good wireless range
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Comment:
I purchased two sets of these, one for myself and another for a family member. Installation is very simple, as long as you remember to put the batteries in the remote unit FIRST (which is clearly stated in the instructions). Like most of the other similar models, these display inside/outside temps, and the "main" inside display also has humidity, baro, and trends. Both inside display units have an atomic clock receiver to keep their time set properly, which is a plus.
One of our units came with some bad batteries; I don't know if it was just one bad battery, or more, but it was obvious when we tried to use them -- the display backlight was really dim, and the "low batt" symbol was an even better clue. I just tossed the included cheap batteries and put in some new ones, and everything was peachy. The second unit had batteries that seemed to be good, so I'm using them for now. (I expect that they won't last as long as "good" ones, but I can easily change them when needed.)
I was most impressed with the range of the wireless remote/display units. I live in a steel-frame house, and most such devices simply can't "get past" the first exterior wall; most cellphones don't work in our house at all, and you're going to lose a couple of bars of service once you step inside. But this unit is able to get the signal through, with no problems, even from over 100ft away and through several (steel-framed) walls. That's the biggest pro of this model for me, as I've tried another brand with less success.
I'm planning on buying at least one more set, just so I can put another display in my home office, tied to the original remote. (And as a bonus feature, this model actually lets you tie the main display to two different outside remotes if you want, and toggle between the displays. Not sure why'd you'd want to know if one side of your yard has a different temp than the other side, but... you can if you'd like. So maybe I'll try that.)
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Summary:
Works well, easy setup, awful packaging
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Comment:
Very useful dual weather stations that work off a single wireless remote sensor. Range seems good. I have the sensor outside on the first floor, and the stations on the second and fourth floors receive it well (both stations are within ten feet of the outside wall, and roughly directly above the sensor). Setup was straightforward, as long as you move quickly within the time limits in the instructions.
Biggest headache is the packaging. I reviewed technology gadgets and toys for several years and never ran into more consumer-hostile packaging than what La Crosse uses -- heavy corrugated cardboard and thick plastic that seals tightly to the weather stations. There may be no way to avoid scratching the stations even when carefully cutting through the plastic (I couldn't avoid it).
I suspect the stations and sensors were delighted to be set free.
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Summary:
Nice Product in a Packaging Nightmare!
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Comment:
The product comes wrapped in a heavy molded-plastic insert with a cardboard overlay that contains information about the product. La Crosse has taken great care in making sure that the product inside the wrapper will arrive safely as it is practically hermetically sealed. That being said, THIS PRODUCT IS CONTAINED IN THE ABSOLUTE WORST PACKAGING I'VE EVER ATTEMPTED TO OPEN! Knives & scissors don't work...seriously.
After receiving a small cut on my thumb, breaking 3 fingernails, and then getting sliced across the hand by the hard plastic insert, I finally resorted to TIN SNIPS to get the packaging open. Even with tin snips, it was a real exercise in patience to extract each piece. Had the tin snips not worked, I would have sent the mangled semi-opened product right back to Amazon. I'm not sure what LaCrosse is trying to keep out, but I'm fairly certain it's the customer. Zero (0) stars for the packaging.
Once the bleeding stopped, and the urge to hurt the insidious person that devised the wrapper had passed, I was ready to perform the setup. I laid the parts out, face down, and opened the battery cases on the 2 indoor receivers and the single outdoor sensor included in the kit. Having read other reviews, I inserted the 2 AA Lithium batteries I purchased in the outdoor sensor first. I followed this with the insertion of regular AA & AAA batteries into the 2 indoor receivers within the 3 minute time period recommended in the manual. (The sensor is security coded, hence the need for speed on setting up the batteries in the sensor, then both receivers.) If you fail to do this correctly, the sensor information will not be captured by the indoor receiver units. Then you have to remove the batteries from all three devices and start over again.
Setting up the display was a breeze, no manual required. The display intensity is adjustable and the larger unit can also be backlit for viewing in a darkened room. As others have mentioned, the blinking pressure reading is a bit annoying, but otherwise works well and seems to be fairly accurate. Four (4) stars for the product.
Overall I'd recommend the product, but wrestling with the packaging makes for a miserable experience!
1/3/2010 UPDATE:
I've had this weather station set up for about 3 weeks now and I've noticed a few things:
1. The outdoor sensor falls out of the clip holster when it's slightly windy. We purposely placed it on the leeward side of the fence post to avoid this issue, without success.
2. The forecast pictures are very limited. Only 3 icons are available and they are "sunny", "sunny.cloudy" and "cloudy with rain", although this was not mentioned in their product description.
3. The picture in the forecast area ALWAYS shows "cloudy with rain" any time the barometric pressure falls...whether or not it is actually raining.
I was hoping this system would be smart enough to take into consideration the humidity and temperature as well as the barometric pressure to make this forecast picture much more accurate...like "snow" when the temperature is 32 degrees fahrenheit or below, or "cloudy without rain" when the humidity is around 60%.
For more product specific information, you can view the COMBO11 owners manual by clicking the Product Manual button on the Support page at:[...]
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Summary:
Good looking combo, but the flashing has got to go
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Comment:
Pros:
* Practical information without overload... time, temperature (in/out), and humidity (in/out). Some of the other models show indoor humidity but are strangely missing outdoor humidity!
* Look very nice on the wall... simple, clean, yet still aesthetic. (Although, the larger station would look a bit better if the button labels were on the side instead of the being so highly visible on the front.)
* The new 915 MHz sensor seems to synch up more quickly and reliably than the old 433 MHz sensors.
* Secondary station (display) is a nice little bonus.
I would easily give this product a 5 star rating, except...
Cons:
* The "Pressure History" display flashes! It's quite distracting. This is a perfect example of the all to common phenomenon where an engineer adds a "cool" feature without really thinking about the user experience.
* I've seen a lot of over packaged products before, but this one takes the cake. You practically need a hacksaw to cut through the plastic packaging.
I'm very happy with my purchase, but I do hope La Crosse adds an option to un-flash the "Pressure History" display. I also purchased the WS-8035U-IT-SAL model and run all three weather stations off a single sensor. Works great.
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