The 1-Wire Weather Station - The Simplest Cable Connection

The 1-Wire Weather Station Makes Cable Connection Easy

The 1-Wire Weather Station is best of Texas Weather Instrument's range for home use. Let's find out why.

Texas Weather Instruments produce a robust suite of cable weather stations predominantly designed for agricultural use, although of course they can be adapted for home and many other situations where accurate weather information is needed.

TWI weather stations are best compared to other relatively expensive weather stations from Rainwise, Capricorn (from Columbia Weather Systems), and WeatherHawk.

Most of these produce both cable and include wireless systems, but all of Texas Weather Instrument's range are cable connected.

They are designed for easy linking to a computer, or for data storage using a range of data loggers, and many can handle extra sensors including leaf wetness, solar radiation, and even lightning.

With one exception, the Texas Weather Instruments package is not designed with the home weather enthusiast in mind. The sensor/display/logger packages are quite expensive - ranging upwards from $1200 to $1700 or $1900 depending on memory in the data logging part of the receiver. Installation could be a worry to the technically or electronically challenged, like me, although no doubt concentration and reference to the comprehensive manual would solve most problems.

But the prospect of linking anything up to six cables could be daunting for some, and a simple installation would appeal to most home weather enthusiasts. After all, once your weather station is delivered, you probably want to see it in operation pretty quickly.

However there is one model that greatly simplifies connection between sensors and receiver. It is called the 1-Wire Weather Station, because the cables from the sensors are linked into a single cable, with a single connection to the receiver. This simplifies installation and maintenance considerably, and the unit is quite well priced at $699, including Weather View 32 Software.

Not bad, but like many weather monitoring devices designed for agriculture or hazard monitoring, the basic 1-Wire Weather Station package does not include a barometer. This can be added at a cost of $229, bringing the total to $928.00. (All prices are those recommended by the manufacture* - you can expect significant discounts from retailers, particularly those on the internet).

This would still leave you without indoor temperature and humidity, which are nice to know but not essential. Perhaps a low cost monitor from Oregon or La Crosse would be a good option here.

Like many of the commercial and agricultural weather stations, 1-Wire offers a basic package with many options to suite particular client needs. This makes it difficult to compare prices, but Ambient Weather offers a good deal. Like other top end manufacturers, 1-Wire comes pre-assembled. This may cause short delivery delays.

So for a fair bit under $1000, the 1-Wire Weather Station will provide you with a well tested sturdy cable weather station from a company with a long and strong record in the field. But I'd be very inclined to check out some much cheaper options from Davis, La Crosse or Oregon before making a final decision.

Here's where to go for more information on Home Weather Stations , and how to set them up.

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