I was lucky to be involved in the beta-testing process for the Acurite Atlas 8. I've been a Forecaster for the National Weather Service for 29 years and have worked with lots of instrumentation. After testing a beta version, I now have the production version. Here are my initial impressions of the Acurite Atlas Elite 8.
The temperature data is far superior to the 5-in-1. There are now three panels of solar powered aspiration, the fan starts much earlier and runs later in the day eliminating the spikes in data commonly seen in the 5-in-1 and the temperature is almost always within 1-2 degrees of our local ASOS about 5 miles away. I was concerned that the amount of black plastic on the unit would cause overheating, but now that we are into late Spring, and FINALLY warm, I see the Atlas regularly 3 or 4 degrees cooler than the 5-in-1 on a sunny day. The units are side-by-side in my yard.
Wind sampling is pretty similar to the 5-in-1. Without a professional level ASOS, you will never completely capture all of the wind gusts, but there doesn't seem to be alot of difference in the systems with regards to wind. The precipitation, in most part, seems to be underdone compared to the 5-in-1 or my Cocorahs gauge. Only once in very heavy rain, have I seen the Atlas be overdone in comparison with the others.
While the touch-screen indoor unit is very attractive, there are a few things I don't like about it. Rain totals are given by event, week, month and year. I would still prefer a "since midnight" 24 hour total. Some of the menus are a little clunky to navigate, but I have gotten used to the unit.
Overall, I would give the Atlas high ratings, if for nothing else but the far superior temperature readings. The wind and precipitation data, while not perfect, are sufficient for this type of weather station. The UV and lightning data is also nice to have.
I've never been a big fan of the MyAcurite website and I rarely use it, but it is nice that this system reports to Weather Underground RapidFire. It would be nice to see options added to send the data to CWOP and to use it in the website templates. Michael Walsh has indicated a reluctance to support the Atlas with the VISReader software. I know one person has developed AcuParse, but it is Linux based and seems quite difficult to set up. I'm not sure if Kevin Key will support the new Atlas through the Acurite Access or not. It would be nice if some software guru could develop a nice interface that would allow upload to Weather underground, CWOP and would also support local webpages through tags.
All in all, the Atlas is a very nice station.
Regards,
Chris