Author Topic: Atlas 7-1 weather station  (Read 1494 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Bigstone

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1
Atlas 7-1 weather station
« on: March 31, 2022, 12:11:44 PM »
Im a new member, glad I found this site. I purchased a Atlas 7-1 weather station In April of 2021. Worked fine until it got cold, around Zero. When it got cold the display would somehow lose signal and the wind and temp would stay the same. If I unplugged the display there would be dashes where the numbers would be. If i took the weather station off the roof and brought it next to the display or if i took the plugged in display up to the roof it would work again. After awhile this winter it just refused to work. I contacted Acurite. They sent out a new weather station on warranty. I installed it and it has work for a couple of weeks.  This am I noticed that they wind and temp were not correct. It was only 25 or so degrees yesterday. I chatted with a service rep just gave me the same song and dance about bringing the station inside next to  display, I didnt ice on roof. Did a hard reset on display now it working again. The rep said I could have interference with a wifi router was too close. The router is in a different room, but I sometimes sit for a long time with my laptop or cell phone on wifi right next to display. Do you guys think it could be the problem? Iam using reccomended lithium batteries in a remote battery pack. Any suggestion.

Offline radioman61

  • Senior Member
  • **
  • Posts: 93
Re: Atlas 7-1 weather station
« Reply #1 on: March 31, 2022, 01:29:03 PM »
What kind of batteries are in the Atlas and how old are they?  Alkaline batteries lose a significant amount of energy in the cold.  Lithium batteries hold up better.

Offline worachj

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 475
  • Twin Cities, Minnesota
Re: Atlas 7-1 weather station
« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2022, 02:38:26 PM »
Iam using reccomended lithium batteries in a remote battery pack. Any suggestion.

It could be the battery pack. Take a look at this thread.
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=38461.msg395581#msg395581



AcuRite Atlas
KMNSAINT173

Offline DrewShock

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 13
Re: Atlas 7-1 weather station
« Reply #3 on: April 19, 2022, 09:48:47 PM »
I don't have the direct to wifi display but do use Access connected to my router and view the data online. With the Access I have had connection issues even though my Atlas is only 60 ft. away on the roof. I had the same trouble with my 5 in 1. From my experience if there are multiple roof and wall layers to go through anything over 50 ft. seems to give the connection trouble. My Access does better with sensors that are less than 10 feet off the ground and struggles with those on the roof and over 50 ft. away.

Keeping the Display or the Access 3 ft. away from other electronics like monitors, computers, TVs, routers, modems and the like does help. It may be tough to do if you are in a small room with many devices. Just get it as far away as you can.

Opening up my 5 in 1, I attached a 2 ft. wire from the end of the internal antenna and routed it down through one of the rain sensor drain openings and pointed it toward the Access. That helped a lot with missed data.

Instead of doing the same with the Atlas I decided to try putting a longer antenna on the Access receiver. I wasn't sure how to open it without breaking it so I contacted Acurite for that information. They informed me it was proprietary information and could not give out those instructions. What are they doing, running a top secret mission here? Anyway I tried to open it carefully with no luck. I dropped it by accident and it popped right open. I added a 2 ft. wire to the internal antenna and have it attached to the wall. I have had very few skipped data points from any of my sensors since then except when the Access decides to quick reporting for a while. Not sure why that happens but lucky that is pretty rare now.
« Last Edit: April 19, 2022, 09:51:08 PM by DrewShock »

Offline worachj

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 475
  • Twin Cities, Minnesota
Re: Atlas 7-1 weather station
« Reply #4 on: April 20, 2022, 11:20:02 AM »
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=35220.msg360554#msg360554

Link to George's tear down photos of the antenna in the Atlas.


AcuRite Atlas
KMNSAINT173

Offline DoctorKnow

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1979
Re: Atlas 7-1 weather station
« Reply #5 on: May 04, 2022, 06:56:07 PM »
I went ahead and took the two screws out of the bottom of my access and popped it open. I added an antenna wire to the coil antenna and ran it through the top of the cover for the access. Now I have a more solid signal. Thanks to Drewshock for the idea.
I wish acurite would give an API option for data like Ambient weather does.

Offline DrewShock

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 13
Re: Atlas 7-1 weather station
« Reply #6 on: May 05, 2022, 06:16:05 AM »
DoctorKnow, cool,  nice that was able to help you get a better signal. It worked great for mine. I have had very few missed data points. It's easy to tell if a point was missed by looking at the lightening graph page on MyAcurite.com since there is a tick for each five minute interval. Many times I have no misses and when I do it's usually just one or two a day. Haven't noticed even two in a row since adding the extra antenna. I use to have better signal with the old hubs (when I got them positioned just right) then with the Access, until the antenna extension.