WXforum.net
Weather Station Hardware => LaCrosse Technologies/Hyundai => Topic started by: GWD on October 30, 2010, 09:52:58 AM
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Was just in a Costco in Woodland, CA, and they had what looked to be a new style LaCrosse wireless weather station for $80. It doesn't show up on the Costco website.
It couldn't be found on the LaCrosse website in my quick look.
Anybody know anything about it?
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Costco gets quite a few 1 off items that never show up on manufactures sites except maybe in support. A few years back I picked up a Black n Decker work mate that is great but never saw it any where else. They are big enough to request specials that no one can sell.
Rick
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Yeah I saw something like that at Costco as well.
It had a wireless USB Dongle to achieve a connection to your PC. To be so cheap and to have one of those, it made me think that to keep a reliable connection or the software quality was not going to be it's strong point.
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If it is the same one my Costco has it is this one:
http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/2812/
I have a 2810 and the only problem I have had in about a year was the doubling of rain, which is a known problem and is supposed to be fixed with the 2812.
I bought a 2812 and will be upgrading soon, and the 2810 will go back to La Crosse to be replaced by a spare 2812.
I think it is interesting that La Crosse lists the price at $279.99, and Costco sells it for $79.99. That is a big discount even for Costco. (But it was the same with the 2810.)
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I went through the 2810 debacle as well. Double the rain and finally the wind gauge and solar panel corroded and died.
The Costco one could very well be the LaCrosse 2812. It looks the same but the markings on the package were not definitive. It is just hard to believe that a $280 unit would be going for $80 - but that was the way with the 2810 as well. Thank goodness for Costco's generous return policy.
I ended up with a Davis VP2 - more expensive but no hiccups. The 2810 was a nice unit for the money so the 2812 should be good also if the bugs have been worked out. It would make a great holiday present.
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The ones at my Costco were clearly marked WS-2812U-IT. (On the back.)
I just hooked the new one up and the rain appears to measure correctly, 0.01" per tip.
My 2810 didn't have any problems with the anemometer getting water inside. Maybe they only had a few with that problem unlike the rain that was double for everyone.
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We bought one a month or two ago (our first forage into weather stations), and so far I've been pretty happy. I'm going to repurpose an old laptop to run HeavyWeather / WUHU to try and achieve 24/7 coverage. Initially it didn't show up on LaCrosse's site, but showed up after a couple of days.
I've been somewhat interested in a Wx station for years, and looked at Davis, but at 5-10x cheaper, we decided to impulse buy the LaCrosse when we saw it at Costco. I didn't have any issues with syncing, and up to now, things have been working pretty well.
I have two physical problems to solve - 1) mount the anemometer higher to get proper wind readings, and find some place where the pine needles won't block the rainfall meter.
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We bought one a month or two ago (our first forage into weather stations), and so far I've been pretty happy. I'm going to repurpose an old laptop to run HeavyWeather / WUHU to try and achieve 24/7 coverage. Initially it didn't show up on LaCrosse's site, but showed up after a couple of days.
I've been somewhat interested in a Wx station for years, and looked at Davis, but at 5-10x cheaper, we decided to impulse buy the LaCrosse when we saw it at Costco. I didn't have any issues with syncing, and up to now, things have been working pretty well.
I have two physical problems to solve - 1) mount the anemometer higher to get proper wind readings, and find some place where the pine needles won't block the rainfall meter.
Not sure of your anemometer location choices but you help the rain gauge by using one of these in the funnel (http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss324/DanS_photo_09/screen.jpg) . Less chance of a pine needle making it's way through.
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What cables are used to hook to a computer?
usb, serial etc.
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What cables are used to hook to a computer?
usb, serial etc.
100% wireless. No cables connecting any parts of the system. A USB dongle/transceiver plugs into the p.c. that the console communicates with. I believe the manual states a distance up to 80 feet for this link.
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What cables are used to hook to a computer?
usb, serial etc.
100% wireless. No cables connecting any parts of the system. A USB dongle/transceiver plugs into the p.c. that the console communicates with. I believe the manual states a distance up to 80 feet for this link.
yes, that seems to be about accurate with mine. Although for the initial pairing process (done once) you need to place the base station within about 5' of the USB dongle on the computer. Once this is done you can move the base station further away. I tested removing/re-installing the batteries on the base station and it did re-sync with the computer without re-pairing. Just know if you place the station out of USB dongle's wireless reach and them move it closer be patient waiting for it to re-sync. It may take 60 seconds or so.
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Not sure of your anemometer location choices but you help the rain gauge by using one of these in the funnel (http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss324/DanS_photo_09/screen.jpg) . Less chance of a pine needle making it's way through.
Thanks for the suggestion, but that won't make any difference to the pine needle issues that I've seen. They'll go right through that. It's mostly small single needles that gets stuck on the tipper through the funnel hole. I was wondering how much inaccuracy I will introduce if I pull a stocking over the top. I guess quite a bit. There's basically nothing that will keep a pine needle from going somewhere when it wants to. Filling the funnel with the type of foam they fill gutters with may also help, but again, how much of the rain will be deflected / absorbed by the "shield".
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A La Crosse tech support person told me about it saying it came out about mid-October and that Costco had an exclusive on it (at least initially) and that the price was $80. I got one (79.99) at a So. Cal. Costco and set it up with no problems (my first weather station/monitoring venture!) and it is working fine. The above comments are correct re: model number, completely wireless, and the link to the LC website. As long as it doesn't break down (and according to La Crosse techs the breakdowns others had with earlier units were operator caused - they have a 5 in 100,000 defect rate), I would definitely recommend it!
To me, the worst points are:
(1) the display is not lighted.
(2) The base receives and displays new data every 13 seconds and displays historical min/max data readings. Though the software's current weather display on the computer also shows the every 13 second data update including historical min/max, the history file (used for graphing/tracking purposes) only saves currently displayed data readings (not including historical min/max readings) every 1 minute (on the minute) at the fastest interval setting (you can set a slower interval if you wish.) Thus, your computer only accumulates 1 reading of the 4 or 5 readings per minute, giving you only a 20% chance of capturing actual min/max readings for your data tracking and graphing purposes! That is, you only "save" the readings that happen to be on the display at the time it performs its save function. So, if you look at your wind gust data (or make a graph) to see what happened during the last hour while you were not watching, you are most likely (80% chance) not going to know what the actual high gust speed was because it saves only 1 out of the 4 or 5 readings each minute.
However, all in all, I am very happy with it for the price (especially the completely wireless sensors and transmission to the display and to the computer!
I hope this info helps!
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"...and according to La Crosse techs the breakdowns others had with earlier units were operator caused.."
Amazing that LaCrosse support would claim that all of the problems with the 2810 were caused by operator error. Double rain, corroded annys - yep operator error.
Guess all of the good folks on this forum don't know what they are doing. ](*,) Its enough to raise the hackles.
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"...and according to La Crosse techs the breakdowns others had with earlier units were operator caused.."
Amazing that LaCrosse support would claim that all of the problems with the 2810 were caused by operator error. Double rain, corroded annys - yep operator error.
Guess all of the good folks on this forum don't know what they are doing. ](*,) Its enough to raise the hackles.
#-o I guess in a way that employee was right. We, the operators, wouldn't have had a problem if we never bought it in the first place! #-o (passin' the buck :roll:)
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Now, now, kids! Play nice! Of course, the rain gauge reading double (that is fixed on the 2812) is not operator error and they do admit to defects, and, everyone here is highly competent compared to most casual purchasers. But, for $80, don't expect the 2812 to be top quality. It's a nice intro product for a first-timer at a very low investment. I'm having fun with it and if it blows up too soon, I'll get my $ back from Costco. If it doesn't blow up, well then I'll just keep on enjoying it! ;)
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Happy to hear the 2812 performs as advertised! When it rains can you watch the console count up in 0.01" increments or is it 0.02"?
Just wondering which way LaCrosse made their "adjustments" since the 2810 days. I believe then the 2810's rain gauge was setup for 0.01" readings while the console was designed to show 0.02" each time causing double rainfall measurements.
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The wireless display definitely increases at .01" increments. I am pretty sure the computer display does too but, I didn't really watch. However, I believe so because the total for each category (total rainfall, last hour, last 24 hrs, etc.) agrees to the wireless display. I do note occasional rounding differences for the wind gust speed between the wireless display and the computer (e.g., 1.3 mph per the display vs. 1.4 mph per the computer.)
I installed my unit 11/6/10. Of course, right after I post here to try to help answer a question for someone and say everything's good, for 1 hour last evening and a few periods overnight, the wind sensor failed to transmit to the base (reading "----"). That's the first time that has happened! The temp, rain, and humidity continue to transmit. I looked for bird poop on the solar panel but, can't see it from the ground! I will monitor and perhaps have to revisit my rooftop to look for problems. As I have heard others say: No good deed goes unpunished!
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Happy to hear the 2812 performs as advertised! When it rains can you watch the console count up in 0.01" increments or is it 0.02"?
Just wondering which way LaCrosse made their "adjustments" since the 2810 days. I believe then the 2810's rain gauge was setup for 0.01" readings while the console was designed to show 0.02" each time causing double rainfall measurements.
Here is some information I found when I setup my new 2812:
At first I was a little worried because the first tip wasn't displayed on the console, in last 1h, 24h, or total sections, but it was displayed in Heavy Weather, only in the total, and WUHU, everywhere. Starting with the second tip everything lined up and displayed as expected.
I think I figured out the issue, in that it is a rounding thing in the console. If I switched it to mm instead of inches it displayed 0.2mm. Which translates to 0.00787401575". The console obviously rounds down, where WUHU use normal human rounding and displayed 0.01".
From a brief observation it looks like tips measure 0.2 or 0.3mm each. The manual states 0.1mm resolution, but I suspect that is a typo as it also states 0.01" resolution which would be 0.254mm. (That probably explains the 0.2/0.3mm increments.)
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indeed, my 2812 (Costco for $79) reads 0.01" increments. in one substantial 12 hour rain event last week I seemed to show more rain than anyone around me, but when I went out to check on things, it really WAS pouring freekin' buckets, so I'm reserving my opinion on its accuracy til we've had a few more rainstorms. Today's 0.8" at my station fits in with the dozens around me (a few wild cards reading ridiculously low or high, I'll ignore, the ones on the flats below me got 0.4-.6" and the ones in the valleys behind me got ~ 1.0", with some 1.4's in the hills... this matches my general expectations for our local rain patterns)
note that the rain gauge and aneometer communicate with the thermo-hydro sending unit, and that thermo-hydro sending unit communicates with the base station, the base station in turn communicates with the PC Initial sync is quite picky about the order you do things.
if your PC reboots, it takes a long long time to resync, like 1/2 hour or something, but it eventually does. you can manually resync the display panel -> PC in a half minute.
the wind gauge is far more sensitive and seems to be way more accurate than my old 2310 was. that thing was a joke.
If I get 2 years out of this station for $80, I'm a happy camper.
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...... But, for $80, don't expect the 2812 to be top quality. It's a nice intro product for a first-timer at a very low investment.
...for what its worth.....Lacrosse lists the 2812 under its Professional Weather Station tab. :-)
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I got this Setup a couple weeks ago. I had problems though getting one that fully worked! :-( My first 2 were duds. #-o I first one I couldn't get the Wind speed and direction Unit to connect or the Water Gauge, just the Temp. The Second one I could get the Water Gauge to connect. The 3rd one I got everything worked. I just returned it right back to Costco, no questions asked, and grabbed another to try out. :grin:
It's been working great since then. It's now connected to the Internet sending Weather Data to PWSWeather.com (JBDragon1), Weather Underground (KCAVALLE22), Weatherbug (p09919), AWEKAS (JBDragon), and CWOP (DW6886).
So I can get a Home Weather report at anytime right from my IPhone 4. There's a App called iAEKAS, that gets my Weather Data right from AWEKAS and shows it right there on the front Page of the App without doing a thing. Kind of cool. \:D/
How long one of these cheap $80 things hold up, I don't know! :!: To mount it, I got a Antenna mounting Kit from Radio Shack. It's a couple brackets that hold a Pole and screw up onto a side of a building. Was like $25. Then I got a 10' long 1 Inch Conduit Pipe for the Pole. I cut it down to about 8 feet long. Using a Level on the Pole, I mounted the 2 Brackets on the side of my 8x8 Wood Shed about 3 feet apart or so. Making sure the Pole was level left/right by how the Lower bracket was mounted under the upper bracket, and leveled Forward back by adding a couple Washers behind the lower bracket to Level that direction so it's straight up! If I had to go the other way I would add washers behind the upper mount. You don't want your pole leaning that your mounting to!!! It's up in the Air about 15 feet now! It's a 1" pole, not going to bend, and the mount is quite solid.
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Sorry for resurrecting this old thread, but I'm looking for a clarification. Is it true that if my station (2813 bought at Costco) dies, I can box it up and take it back to Costco for a replacement? Is there a time limit?
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Sorry for resurrecting this old thread, but I'm looking for a clarification. Is it true that if my station (2813 bought at Costco) dies, I can box it up and take it back to Costco for a replacement? Is there a time limit?
I see 3 months on this but maybe best to call to be sure? http://www.costco.com/service/featurepageleftnav.aspx?productno=11204333
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If it is the same one my Costco has it is this one:
http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/2812/
I have a 2810 and the only problem I have had in about a year was the doubling of rain, which is a known problem and is supposed to be fixed with the 2812.
I bought a 2812 and will be upgrading soon, and the 2810 will go back to La Crosse to be replaced by a spare 2812.
I think it is interesting that La Crosse lists the price at $279.99, and Costco sells it for $79.99. That is a big discount even for Costco. (But it was the same with the 2810.)
Do you think this would be a good C-mas gift for a green-thumb who wouldn't want to do ANY messing with software, etc?
I see they use HeavyWeather software. Would something like Cumulus work? How about CWOP and WU uploads?
•Storage of 1750 sets of weather records with user selectable recording interval from 1 minute to 24 hours
Does that work out ok? He doesn't leave his PC on all the time.
Just getting ideas...
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Do you think this would be a good C-mas gift for a green-thumb who wouldn't want to do ANY messing with software, etc?
I see they use HeavyWeather software. Would something like Cumulus work? How about CWOP and WU uploads?
•Storage of 1750 sets of weather records with user selectable recording interval from 1 minute to 24 hours
Does that work out ok? He doesn't leave his PC on all the time.
Just getting ideas...
I use WUHU for my CWOP and WU uploads, but I leave my desktop computer on 24/7.
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While at Costco today I looked for the 2812, but found none. On a chance I checked at another nearby Costco with no luck, but the gal at Member Services looked it up for me when I told her it was not on the website but I know some people have found it at selected stores.
She said that most warehouses have quantities on order with an expected delivery of October 3. (That gives me a couple of weeks to fight the impulse and check out the competing systems.) It is still not on the website, but here are the details...
LaCrosse WS-2813-U
Costco item # 517770
$79.99
The only difference I see between the documents for the 2812 and 2813 is that the quicksetup-guide for the 2813 says to go to lacrossetechnology.com/2813 to download the proper version of the software. There does not seem to be any other difference between the pages, and the "2813" header-title says "2812" and contains a link to the same 2812 installation instruction document.
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Hope LaCrosse gets all of the bugs worked out this time around.
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If it is the same one my Costco has it is this one:
http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/2812/
I have a 2810 and the only problem I have had in about a year was the doubling of rain, which is a known problem and is supposed to be fixed with the 2812.
I bought a 2812 and will be upgrading soon, and the 2810 will go back to La Crosse to be replaced by a spare 2812.
I think it is interesting that La Crosse lists the price at $279.99, and Costco sells it for $79.99. That is a big discount even for Costco. (But it was the same with the 2810.)
Do you think this would be a good C-mas gift for a green-thumb who wouldn't want to do ANY messing with software, etc?
I see they use HeavyWeather software. Would something like Cumulus work? How about CWOP and WU uploads?
•Storage of 1750 sets of weather records with user selectable recording interval from 1 minute to 24 hours
Does that work out ok? He doesn't leave his PC on all the time.
Just getting ideas...
According to SandaySoft/Cumulus, the LaCrosse ws-28xx series stations are not supported and will not run correctly with Cumulus software. It supports the WS-23xx series only. As member Abumaia mentioned, WUHU works great with the WS-28xx series stations (HeavyWeather needed to run with it) and I've been using it this way as well.
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The Costco here in Wellington , FL has the WS‐2813U‐IT for $79.
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What is "WUHU"? I am wanting to use my weather station for reporting thru APRS and interfacing with my Asterisk phone system, but the LaCrosse software seems like garbage to me, and I can't see any other way of getting the live data for use elsewhere. I saw someone posted something about "WUHU" and it got me interested.
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WUHU is Weather Underground Heavyweather Uploader. It's a separate program used to upload your weather data to different sites, not just Weather Underground.
http://home.comcast.net/~wuhu_software/ to download the software.
http://www.lissproductions.org/wuhu_manual self-explanatory I think ;)
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What is "WUHU"? I am wanting to use my weather station for reporting thru APRS and interfacing with my Asterisk phone system, but the LaCrosse software seems like garbage to me, and I can't see any other way of getting the live data for use elsewhere. I saw someone posted something about "WUHU" and it got me interested.
From the website (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/wuhu_software_group/):
The Weather Underground HeavyWeather Uploader (WUHU) group is primarily intended for users of the Personal Weather Stations (PWS) who wish to upload their weather data to weather servers (Weather Underground, CWOP, AWEKAS, Hamweather) via the Internet.
Supported Station Types:
Direct Serial Suport: La Crosse WS-2300s, WS-3600s, OS WMR-968/918, WMR100, WMR200, Peet Bros 2100, 800, 100, Campbell CR1000, Davis VP, VP2, Vue, WM II, WW III. Optional Inspeed Vortex support for all station types.
Indirect Support: La Crosse WS-2300, WS-2810, WS-3600 (Heavyweather Beta 2.0 or Heavyweather Pro), Honeywell TE923, VWS (including Non-Internet versions, all station types, using CSV output), WV32 limited support (see author's newer version for CWOP support). Indirect Support for WS-2300s -- You must download Beta 2.0 from the HW site. Beta 2.0 is actually newer than the 2.1 version shipped on CD.
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the weather display software also works with the 2810 type station, in directly, via the currdat.lst file, updated by the heavyweather/easy weather software that comes with the station, similar way that WUHU does
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the weather display software also works with the 2810 type station, in directly, via the currdat.lst file, updated by the heavyweather/easy weather software that comes with the station, similar way that WUHU does
Something I always wondered, I see you grouped Heavyweather and Easy Weather software together and I've noticed the similar appearance between the two in advertisements. Are they actually the same programs just renamed to be distributed with LaCrosse and Fine Offset brand stations? Are they interchangable?
Regards,
Dan
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ops, I get them a bit mixed up
yeah, easy weather is for the WH1081/Fine offset type station
its just that they are such similar programs....even the program icon looks similar...
ps, Dan, are you affected by the post moonsonal rain flooding that Thailand is getting?
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ops, I get them a bit mixed up
yeah, easy weather is for the WH1081/Fine offset type station
its just that they are such similar programs....even the program icon looks similar...
ps, Dan, are you affected by the post moonsonal rain flooding that Thailand is getting?
No, not directly affected. Shipments that normally are supplied from Bangkok (household products, gasoline, etc.) have slowed a lot due to their flooding though. We're dry up here.
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I purchased this unit about a week ago at our local Costco. I am not pleased with the fact the you have to manually resync the unit and pc if you reboot the pc. Say what? Here is supports reply in this thread
http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=16669.0
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FWIW: I have the Lacrosse WS-2813U that I picked up from Costco a year ago. I have it successfully working with Cumulus software via WUHU via Heavy Weather Pro WS 2800 1.5.4. I documented how I got this working here: http://sandaysoft.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=53741#p53741 . Not a perfect setup but it does work and for the most part I've been happy with it.
With the WS-2813U, after a reboot (or a stop and restart of Heavy Weather) it sometimes will reconnect to the station, but not always. Recently it seems that if I do a reboot and leave the computer alone for about 10 minutes it will reconnect on its own (but again, that isn't a given). Due to this, I've turned off automatic Windows Updates, so I can control when the PC will reboot. I'm considering rebuilding an old P4 box I have here to basically be my dedicated weather station computer, and to do the webcam uploads. If I had extra money I'd probably pick up a small PC used for Home Media Centers for this just so it would be smaller out of the way.
I did see the new C86234 that Costco now has, and was intrigued by the ability to use a smartphone with it. I'm curious if that is a specific feature of this unit, or just some extra software and registration that has to be done.
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I did see the new C86234 that Costco now has, and was intrigued by the ability to use a smartphone with it. I'm curious if that is a specific feature of this unit, or just some extra software and registration that has to be done.
The iPhone software is flagged as "Coming Soon!" at their web site
http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/c86234/
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The iPhone software is flagged as "Coming Soon!" at their web site
http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/c86234/
Ok, I hadn't seen that page. But I did find this one:
http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/alerts/pws/software/
That actually has the Alert software to download. But when I tried to install it, it seems to want some info coming from a site where you have registered your station.... I was hoping maybe it was some paper that came with the new station with how to register or something. I'll keep poking ;)
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The iPhone software is flagged as "Coming Soon!" at their web site
http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/c86234/
Ok, I hadn't seen that page. But I did find this one:
http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/alerts/pws/software/
That actually has the Alert software to download. But when I tried to install it, it seems to want some info coming from a site where you have registered your station.... I was hoping maybe it was some paper that came with the new station with how to register or something. I'll keep poking ;)
They want an Activation key, which you have to buy here (if you didn't get one included with your weather station):
http://store.lacrossetechnology.com/la-crosse-alerts/service-plans
in order to use the alert service from here:
https://www.lacrossealerts.com
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Hi all, I just got registered so can post. I'm looking for a TX-20 Wind Sensor replacement unit for my WS-2308 station. I know it's old, but I can't find a wind sensor on the web anywhere! Great Big Outlet is out of stock. Is my station really that ancient?? It's given me many years of good service! With the storms coming in from the pacific, I'd like to be able to record these high winds!
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Cheers,
Jim Schwilling
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Hi all, I just got registered so can post. I'm looking for a TX-20 Wind Sensor replacement unit for my WS-2308 station. I know it's old, but I can't find a wind sensor on the web anywhere! Great Big Outlet is out of stock. Is my station really that ancient?? It's given me many years of good service! With the storms coming in from the pacific, I'd like to be able to record these high winds!
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Cheers,
Jim Schwilling
Jim, welcome to the forum!
I would think that you may get more responses by starting your own topic with good topic description.
stay and have fun!
J
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Thanks for the tip Jeff...I'll learn my way around here soon!
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Cheers,
Jim Schwilling
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Hi all, I just got registered so can post. I'm looking for a TX-20 Wind Sensor replacement unit for my WS-2308 station. I know it's old, but I can't find a wind sensor on the web anywhere! Great Big Outlet is out of stock. Is my station really that ancient?? It's given me many years of good service! With the storms coming in from the pacific, I'd like to be able to record these high winds!
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Cheers,
Jim Schwilling
Welcome and enjoy your stay! :)
I haven't seen a TX-20 in a while. You may be out of luck, unless someone here has one laying around not used. I have one but it's in service for my WS 2315.
Good luck! :)
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Hello Jim and welcome! You may want to contact these folks (http://www.modernoutpost.com/shop/67-replacement-sensors?p=3) to see if they can help. I see they have available the original turbine type designed for the 23xx series stations.