WeatherRanger Weather Station with WiFi and Internet Publishing plus Setup eBook

This is my third weather station from this range over the last decade, I have loved each one. I started with the cheapest to begin my voyage of discovery into the hobby and enjoyed using it so much that I have moved up a level each time since. Green Frog Scientific are a joy to work with. Yes, over the years I have had issues with various parts, but Green Frog have always been there to help. From same day email responses if I had queries to next day delivery of parts which may have stopped working, they have always been there for me. On this occasion my station was 5 years old, the UV meter had stopped, the rain gauge had become unreliable and the wooden post had started to rot (that’s how long it has been up there). My experiences with my previous stations have been so positive that when it came time to research where to get a replacement there was very little thought required, a proverbial “no brainer”. The new station arrived quickly and, as usual, was extremely robustly packaged. Green Frogs emailed guidance booklet on weather station location and placement still stands the test of time, following the guidance carefully eliminates a great many potential problems. Erection of the new kit (with a new mast) was “even” easier than the previous stations. WiFi connections were established immediately on battery insertion (make sure to get good batteries of the right type, cheap is NOT the right choice). The instruction booklet supplied is thorough, complete and logical, it is NOT in Chinglish. I already had a Wunderground account and was able to replace my old station without issue. It takes a couple of days for it to be accepted, they test that your readings are comparable to other users stations in your area. Note that there are currently some issues at Wunderground, I understand it has been acquired by IBM who are moving it to new hardware. Android seems fine but temporary issues with IOS and PC. The thing I like most is my new display console, it’s LOVELY. Clear, bright (adjustable brightness), well laid out, full of information. Coloured, selectable graphs, coloured image of the moon and weather forecast. I like that the indoor temperature/humidity sensor is separate from the console so that I can locate it where I wish, which may not be where the console is. If, like me you will wish to retain long term, and possibly play with, the data which your station collects you need to have a Micro SD/TF card. This is used to export the data in CSV (comma separated value) format which will load into Microsoft Excel and to download any future software update transfer to the console. The files are tiny so if you have a very small (2 or 4MB), old card lying about, great, if not you can get them a couple of pounds. My greatest wish now is that my new Weather Ranger will be every bit as reliable as my last two stations.

Purchased this to replace a malfunctioning, cheaper weather station. New kit arrived promptly and looks well made - data recording looks accurate. It was easy to install in the garden using existing fittings. The display console looks good and picked up the signals quickly and efficiently. My problems started when I tried to connect the console to the Weather Underground website - it didn't work! One of the key reasons to choose this kit was to have the ability to see my weather data on my phone and tablet. Unfortunately, there is no PC connection and you are dependent on Wi-Fi and Weather Underground. Frog Scientific were very good in responding and quickly sent out a replacement console. Unfortunately, this did not solve the problem. In total, I spent a lot of hours trying to get it to work. It did inexplicably eventually and quite suddenly connect but the whole process was very frustrating and without some computer knowledge, I would have given up long ago. A pity since the Weather Underground website and the mobile app, once all working, are very good. If it had all worked fine first time, I would have given Five Stars with a strong endorsement.

This is a lovely bit of kit. I'm still discovering, (through exploration of the historical data facility), the full potential, but already it has more than fulfilled my expectations. In addition the ability to back up all data with the use of the mini SD port is a joy, and simplicity itself. Of course I can't speak for all, but when exporting the data of my choice, I can then simply import using SD port of my Surface 3 tablet and the data is immediately available on an Excell spreadsheet. No need to import CVS data and re-format as I was expecting. A potential fly in the ointment might be unnervingly high humidity levels recorded within the house, and which contrast with my old humidity monitor by about 10%. However, I insist on my 5 star rating, as I'm more inclined to believe, (living in an extended chalet bungalow), that the readings are indeed unnervingly high!, and my old monitor is in error. At some stage, I shall get independent verification, and if an error is found I'll get back. Set up is a bit fiddly: both the erection of the array and the set up of the monitor, but don't worry, you'll get there very quickly. it's just a case of getting used to the modal nature of the buttons on the monitor - and developing the necessary grip to be able hold two poles, and two brackets together, whilst tightening 8 nuts all at the same time. I exaggerate of course, it's entirely possible with patience, though a mate would be useful. I guess my monitor is about 40-50' and one wall from the array, so absolutely no problems at all with connectivity. Setting up my account with Wunderground was also pretty easy with a couple of attempts, and logging in my tablet, phone or desktop and seeing my own data being updated every few seconds is so impressive. To summarise, all the data you could wish for, available to your monitor, spreadsheet, phone, tablet, desktop, updated every few seconds, with historical back up. It'll do for me

03 Jan 2018 Update as promised. After the problems detailed below, during Nov I tried to contact Greenfrog to enable a return. This proved very difficult no response to a web form and only an answer phone at their office, messages left and no response. I consequently contacted Amazon and they were extremely helpful. Quick efficient return and refund. I am so pleased that I purchased through Amazon... excellent customer care. Consequently I am reluctant to purchase another of these, looking at other reviews it appears there may be a problem with sensors after a while. ... Perhaps a tip for other owners... keep your peeled eyes on the unit after 8 months of ownership and within the warranty period... sensors appear to have a reputation of failure. Review downgraded to one star as in my opinion the sensor array is not fit for purpose, failing after 8 months of use. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11 Nov 2017 After a good 10 months of work I have experienced a suspected failure of the Array where the outdoor temperature and humidity permanently record 60 deg C and 99%. Have tried new batteries and restarting the console no change. Have now contacted Greenfrog through their website contact form. I will post outcome. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was really pleased when I found this weather station and would definitely recommend it. I had been looking for a station that could broadcast data to Weather Underground without a PC and also display information locally on a display console, but couldn't justify the £ for other brands. This really fits the bill and seems well thought out. Excellent service from Amazon/ GreenFrog. Everything arrived on time and well packaged. I also purchased a 6ft aerial pole and bracket for the outdoor sensor array. The station is very easy to configure and set up... took me appx 2 hours start to finish. Most time spent outside putting up the bracket and aerial pole, making sure everything plumb. I found the supplied brackets with the station (to attach the short pole supplied to the aerial pole) a bit of a fiddle working on my own and could of done with another pair of hands. That said I managed to get both poles aligned together. I placed batteries in the outdoor sensor first (3xAA) and then put it up outside. Then placed batteries in the indoor sensor (2xAAA). Then powered up the console and it synced to everything within 30 secs. Everything registering spot on. Next step was navigating the settings and inputting the long/lat position. I found this using google maps. The menu navigation is ok takes a bit of getting used to like when you select a field and want to move into the 'sub menu' press the + key not the return otherwise you go back to the start! You soon get used to it :) Weather underground was easy to set up... get a login and password from Weather Underground. Put these in the station and then commence connecting to your wifi.... connected no problem and was broadcasting immediately.... within an hour WU had approved the feed and my stations details were now on the web without a connection required to a PC... yeay! The station has been operating now for a few days in all weathers... unable to comment on durability... may post back on this over time. Overall so far excellent... I have given 4 stars as I felt that when spending £230 on a station the batteries should of been included so it can be running out of the box. I hope this helps others looking for a station. Happy Weather Watching!

OK, Lets get the positives out the way first, this is an excellent product, its well built all round, I like the colour readout display unit and the sensors and outdoor unit work very well, overhaul I would recommend this weather station , OK now for the negatives it is advertised as easy setup and it connects to the Weather Underground system, Yes this is all very true, although as a reviewer, I am glad to say I am an Electronics and Computer engineer, the manual that comes with the unit gives you all the basic information to get it working, so far so good, but it gives you very little information about connecting it to Weather underground or anything else, for that matter, so from here on on you are on your own, The first hurdle is setting up your Weather Underground account because where it askes you to enter the device your using (this item is not listed), here you have to use a devise with IP Connection, I used Ambient Weather WS-900 IP (Wireless), this worked for me, on completing Underground account setup you are given a device ID code and KEY, write these down, now on your Aercus Colour display unit click the spanner setup key and enter those credentials in the relevant boxes at the bottom right of the screen where it asks for them, good luck.

The Aercus WeatherRanger is an entry level wifi enabled automated weather station and monitor. Current price is £249 so it appears to have increased by £20 over last 2 years. It arrived within the said time. It is well worth reading through the instruction booklet in order to set it up correctly, but provided one follows the instructions, it should all just work. I have the outside sensor station about 40 metres away and despite three 60 cm thick stone walls in the way, the radio signal is fine. Do sign up to Wunderground. Although I could see my data straight away on the public pages, it took a few days from Wunderground to recognise my account for some reason but now it's fine. Wunderground stores all the data so you can look back at it and its graphic displays are very good. You can see you own station changing on the website within a few seconds of your own monitor changing. The iPhone app for wunderground is OK, but for a better graphic display of the day's data on your iPhone, download the PWS Monitor app from the apple app store. It's free (some banner ads but no more than that). Follow the instructions and you can see what your monitor is displaying from anywhere on the internet. One minor issue is that the software only allows you to send your data to Wunderground and I know lots of people are members of the Met Office's WOW (Weather Observer Website). One way around this is to download the UnderTheWX v2.1.1 app from the apple app store and this will forward the data from Wunderground to WOW. Overall, so far it seems to be working well. I've had it only 10 days though so far so it is early days. I have had to reset the external sensor once and I don't know why it stopped communicating with the monitor but it's been OK since then. Greenfrog Scientific's software (the company that sells this product) for the iMac unfortunately doesn't appear to work. It is downloaded from it's website as an .rar file. It doesn't mention that one needs an extractor programme such as "The Unarchiver" to extract it and even when it does, because Apple hasn't certified the company's software, it won't let you use the app on the iMac. Despite some of the issues, now that it is all set up how I like it, I am very pleased with the product, hence the five stars Addendum 12/3/19. Having had this PWS 3 months, I have got used to the foibles of this PWS. The sensors occasionally lose connection with the monitor. Surprisingly, it tends to be the internal one more than the external one. It requires the monitor to be turned off and on again. Secondly, for some bizarre reason, last month, it suddenly recorded 80 mm of rain falling in 5 mins on an otherwise uneventful day. Clearly this was an error and I wanted to delete the erroneous data. I emailed GreenFrog scientific about how to delete the data as there is nothing in the instructions but they never got back to me. For those reasons, I have demoted my review to 4 stars Addendum 23/08/20 Still working OK. Haven't had to replace the batteries in the external sensor yet since purchase nearly 2 years ago. Internal sensor very occasionally drops out but a monitor reset brings it back. One thing to note that if there is a power cut, then all the data during the power cut is lost. The sensors don't have a cache for their data

Purchased in April 2017, it was very easy to set up and connect to the internet via Wunderground. I have been recording the weather for 5 or 6 years now using a min/max thermometer, two plastic rain gauges, a barometer, and readings from my solar panels! This was bought by the community council, to automate the recordings that are published on the Village web-site, and monthly newsletter. And it worked fine for 3 months. We had a power cut a month ago that lasted 5 hours, and all readings were lost during this period. A couple of weeks ago, I had a misreading of temperatures, recording 0 deg C over two hours, before returning to normal. A few days ago the temperature dropped from 12 deg C overnight to a reading of 6 deg C, 5.5 deg C and then back to 11.5 degs. Yesterday ALL readings from the outside unit stopped. I tried to contact the suppliers, Greenfield Scientific, without success. And then Amazon who couldn't have been more helpful. The package is currently being returned, and I'm trying to decide on a replacement system. I have noticed that there are several seemingly identical units available from different suppliers, at widely varying costs too.. I think this is a standard unit produced in China, and sold under a range of makes in the UK. Prices can range from £229 to near £350!..

Worked great for 15 months, Weather Underground gold star station for accuracy then suddenly external sensor unit died and no amount of installing new batteries, resetting, re connecting to console could coax it back into life. Like many other reviews problem started with a sudden and inaccurate plunge in temperature reading overnight to minus 12.9degs. Shortly after sender unit failed completely, not really fit for purpose seemingly. Greenfrog did agree to replace the unit however.