Author Topic: Acurite 1515 from Lowes questions  (Read 7739 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Dartman

  • Village Idiot
  • Senior Member
  • **
  • Posts: 54
Acurite 1515 from Lowes questions
« on: April 03, 2012, 06:43:08 PM »
Like it says I got tired of my La Crosse variants around here flaking out and I've been lurking here and elsewhere trying to decide which weather station to get as far as low cost but good units go. Lowes had a good price on the 1515 and it was in stock so I picked it up Sunday.
It picked up the 5-1 right away and has max signal even about 30 feet away and through my whole small house. The one thing that kinda irritates me though is it only reads temp to the nearest whole number and doesn't do tenths of a degree, at least on the display that came with it, same for the wind as far as MPH goes. I do really like the weather ticker feature and the current rain total per event is nifty too. I also like that they include a small fan for the temp sensor hidden inside the 5-1 as most makers charge extra for that feature.
It seems to track temp pretty close to my working wired Lacrosse so far and I'm sure the rain totals will be better as both units have had issues with that function.
Is there a display unit that will show tenths, or will the soon to be released bridges allow it on my PC as I've been spoiled by my cheap units that do show it and it does come in handy if your trying to see if it's exactly at freezing or just really close and like that, same for the wind function but not as big a deal.
Haven't had time to check out all the goodies yet or see how close it tracks to the weather service or other known accurate sources but just having a stable wireless connection that doesn't constantly drop signal has been a nice surprise so far.
If I had a lot of money laying around I'd step up to one of the more pro oriented units and I may still get another just as a backup and double check, thanks for the forum and any info you can provide, Terry/Dartman

Offline Lefty

  • Senior Member
  • **
  • Posts: 76
Re: Acurite 1515 from Lowes questions
« Reply #1 on: April 04, 2012, 08:58:19 AM »
I did exactly as you did (bought my 1515 at Lowes) back in January. I have found the unit to be exceptionally accurate after the 14-day learning period was completed. Temp, humidity, wind, and pressure are all very close to the NWS system ~7 miles from me. Rainfall is still questionable as we've only had one rain event since I got it installed and I haven't had enough opportunities to compare it with other rainfall readings to determine how accurate it is.

Personally, I haven't found the "need" to have the temp and wind speed at anything less than whole numbers, but I'm also not using this for scientific reasons. I'm primarily using it to determine the feels-like temperature so I know what I need to wear when I go running early in the AM (usually before the sun comes up).

Steve
-Steve- Peoria, AZ
Acu-rite 01515. That's it. No web page, no links, just me and my console.

Offline Dartman

  • Village Idiot
  • Senior Member
  • **
  • Posts: 54
Re: Acurite 1515 from Lowes questions
« Reply #2 on: April 04, 2012, 04:41:15 PM »
Thanks for the info, I just LIKE that feature myself as like I said it makes it easier to see how close we are to actual freezing and things like that. I also noticed the pressure is not user adjustable and I guess runs at absolute instead of relative pressure locally but one of my stations will also display ABS instead of relative and it seems to track pretty close.
It's only at day 3 of learning so maybe it will get closer and even out more.
I definitely think I'll want one of the bridges when they finally get released as it looks like from the beta testers sites and pics uploaded that they can display the data at a higher resolution out to tenths like I'd like and that would be fine and also let me keep track of data on the PC here if I want to.
The weather ticker feature is great and having the average and peaks gust right on the display is handy seeing how I work outside on roofs so wind speed data is important to me so I know if I'm going to loose a ladder or something like that.
So far we've had a few rain events here and it reported .39 with the last storm that rolled through, the TV station said we got about .22 in their 24 hour period so probably pretty close seeing how we're not close to any of the stations here, plus I guess you can manually calibrate the rain gauge if it seem way off, we'll see how that goes with more time.
Both of my Lacrosse units aren't even close on rain so can't use them to double check.
I'm still getting used to how it works and all the data it shows and all the goodies so we'll see how it does after it learns and settles in. It's mounted on the peak of my roof with the other  wind sensor for the one still working unit on a short 3/4 pole, glad it turns out it could take a pole mount as the included base thing was too short to clear the peak on the other side where I tried to put it :-(

Offline Skywatch

  • !!Warning!! I'm a Skywarn certified storm spotter and insane like one!
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1844
  • Hakuna Matata (Timon and Pumba)
Re: Acurite 1515 from Lowes questions
« Reply #3 on: April 08, 2012, 03:08:26 PM »
Glad I found this. After my Lacrosse WS1910U-IT died I'm thinking of going with the Acu-rite unit as well. Seems solid compaired to the Lacrosse. Never had a Lacrosse unit last more than 2 years and the WS1910U-IT is the longest lived Lacrosse unit I've had. I'm done with Lacrosse.
I live in an apartment and for the moment am not a home weather watcher.

I am a storm chaser.

Offline Dartman

  • Village Idiot
  • Senior Member
  • **
  • Posts: 54
Re: Acurite 1515 from Lowes questions
« Reply #4 on: April 08, 2012, 04:49:38 PM »
I think after doing more research I need the PC enabled ones with USB ports so I can get the resolution I'd like but so far it's still rock stable and is slowly learning the weather and relative pressure here.
Pretty sure the web bridge is still not displaying in tenths if wanted but the PC connect version can when on the box here. Doesn't look like anyone locally sell those versions though so guess I'll hang onto this guy and wait for a deal on the upgraded display units, at least that will give me a few displays as well seeing how they all work with the 5-1.

Offline Rhino

  • Senior Contributor
  • ****
  • Posts: 246
Re: Acurite 1515 from Lowes questions
« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2012, 09:47:12 AM »
Glad to hear you guys are happy with your AcuRite weather stations- that is the ultimate goal for us, providing an excellent product at an excellent value for weather enthusiasts and families.

Regarding the whole numbers- we decided long ago to display whole numbers, as all weather equipment and measuring devices in our price ranges (and quite a bit above our price ranges in fact) are accurate to +/- 1 or 2 degrees, so we found the tenths to be largely unnecessary after talking to LOTS of customers about this issue. The way these LCD's work, we always need to match individual segment counts to an appropriate hardware driver, a bit of a balance between how many LCD segments we want and the final price. It's a crucial part of the development of these products- and we always want to provide the best balance of information at a good value. So for the 5n1 display consoles, you essentially get things like the weather ticker and more rain information as well as the weather select area- instead of the tenths.

The web bridge handles the raw data from all of our sensors, and behind the scenes is dealing with measurements with tenths. Currently the Acu-Link website and mobile app do not display the tenths information, but an option to do so is in the works right now.

Have fun with your weather station- and make sure and check out our website for new product announcements and availability of the Acu-Link Internet Bridge. Thanks!

Offline Dartman

  • Village Idiot
  • Senior Member
  • **
  • Posts: 54
Re: Acurite 1515 from Lowes questions
« Reply #6 on: April 12, 2012, 05:28:17 PM »
Well, I figured the sensors could do it seeing how it appears the PC connect program can do tenths but you decided to do whole numbers as most folks don't really care about the tenths anyways and like you said it saves money on the displays.
I really do like the weather ticker, it shows all kinds of info I'd have to poke around for with my other units and the rain info is really useful too. I'll keep mine and like said either get a 1525 or wait for the upgraded bridge that has the higher res and I'm getting used to using this one anyways, just spoiled by the extra tenth display on the cheap units, which maybe helps them seem to overcome not being near as accurate on everything, plus actually having the wireless stay connected at all times is awesome \:D/
Guess I need to go to your site and register my unit, I've already singed up for all the E-mail updates and beta stuff and appreciate you actually listening and responding to users questions and wants.

 

anything