PCE Instruments PCE-FWS 20 Weather Station, for Meteorological Monitoring, Features Touch Screen, Measures with 5 Sensors, Along with a Mast for Easy Installation

I have a friend in Norway that has almost the identical station. He has had his for 5 years now and it still works perfectlly. I am still working to master all the "features", but I am getting there. This device DOES work perfectly with the SandySoft Cumulus program (free) and when coupled with the SteelSeries Gauges, you can build one AWESOME weather website page. My one on only interaction with PCE was truly a wonderful experience. I thought there was something wrong with the calibration on my temperature sensor. But it turned out to be the sensors I was comparing it to were wrong. And you can't possibly go wrong for the price.UPDATE: I am still sticking with my 5 star rating, but I have had some issues recently. It took me a while to figure out why I was losing connection between my computer and my PCE Console... and I am now pretty sure it is a water/moisture problem. When we experienced VERY heavy rains (which isn't all that unusual for Florida), the console would lose sensor contact and my computer software would freeze up on me. I had to reset everything, but then it worked fine again. I thought initially that the problem was a signal strength problem... so I moved the console closer to the sensors. Same problem a few days later so I moved it again... same problem. Finally I have it directly below the weather station and when it disconnected the next time I decided the water WAS the problem, but it was not signal strength. I am now pretty sure water was getting into one or more of the RJ-11 connectors and causing a transmission problem. As soon as things dried out, all was well. I have now coated ALL of the RJ-11 connectors with dielectric grease to prevent water intrusion. Unfortunately, we haven't had any gully washer rain storms lately to check out my work. But that won't last.

Works quite nicely. I was a little skeptical about the solar aspect, but that has not been an issue here in CO. This replaces a different Ambient Weather station that failed after several years. This station works with the previous station's remote monitor as well, that works out nicely. Shipping was a little slow, not the easiest station to assemble.

Great product for the price. It is on a boat dock about 100 feet from the house and works fine. The temperature seems to read high as the sun beats on it, can be several degrees off. But a good unit for the money. Someday I may care enough to get one of those $1,000 units, but for now this is fine.

LATEST UPDATE: After one month (and the problems noted below), the wind direction & speed went blank or to zero, then the next day, both of those and the outdoor temp and humidity readings all went to dashes on the display. I think I have figured out the problem: the supplied rechargeable transmitter batteries are either defective or a very poor choice. They are "rechargeable alkalines," which if you Google are universally criticized for various shortcomings. I think what has been happening is that the batteries run down and the solar panel is unable to recharge them if we have a day or two of very little sun. There is a low battery warning on the display (near the outdoor humidity) for the transmitter, but 1) it is never mentioned in the manual and 2) only displays after the clock has cycled through midnight. I just happened to spot it today by pure luck.Today I put two NiMh rechargeables in the transmitter and rebooted everything. It has been working perfectly for about three hours. Time will tell whether the solar charger will work properly with NiMh batteries.PREVIOUS UPDATE: I took the PWS down off the roof and started from scratch. Last night we had about 1.25" of rain and the wind speed and direction indicators survived and kept working. I took the opportunity to take the rain gauge and temp/humidity/transmitter units off the mount and put them on the side of the house. More cable would be nice, but I wonder if the transmitter can handle a long wire run. Everything is working much better now, but time will tell if the water intrusion problem recurs. So I'll go back up to 3 stars and keep my fingers crossed.EDIT: After our first big rainstorm, the wind speed and directions sensors went blank and have stayed that way. The manual and PCE web site contain zero warranty information, but I have emailed PCE, hoping for some help. In the meantime, after many hours in sunny weather, the data started flowing again, pretty much confirming my suspicion that the waterproofing on the anemometer and wind vane are very badly designed and not up to the task (nope, see above). Who ever heard of a weather station that can't be out in the weather?Here is the review I wrote before it broke:Got this as a Xmas gift and like it. It has its limitations, but performs well within them.First, if you are considering getting a PWS, think long and hard about mounting. No matter how fancy a PWS you buy, unless you can mount it properly it will not give accurate readings. I downrated the PCE-FWS 20 a few stars because its design means you cannot mount the rain and temp/humidity sensors separately (I have since moved them). Putting them all on the roof means the temp will read high when the sun is shining and unless you have a very steady mount, the rain gauge will "rattle" and affect its accuracy. But this type of rain gauge is not known for precision anyway.For me, wind speed and direction were most important and this unit measures both quite well, as long as you mount it above and way from things which can block or re-direct the wind.As another reviewer noted, the instructions are vague -- downright contradictory and wrong in some places -- but careful "de-coding" of the translated verbiage is not impossible. You will find it a lot easier to deal with settings and data if you connect to a computer (PCE, please, please create a Mac version of the software). The instructions for using the various monitor console functions are where the manual is at its worst and it doesn't help that the contrast of the LCD screen is very soft, even at its highest setting, making it hard to read in all but very bright light.If I sound like I hate this PWS, I don't; it's only because I'm frustrated that a good unit has several really annoying flaws which could be easily fixed by better design. Luckily, they are not hard to work around and for the price this is a good way to keep detailed weather data.If you are looking for software or accessories that work with this PWS, it appears to be a re-labeleld Fine Offset WH1080 (or 1081?). I could not find any software that lists a PCE unit as compatible, but most will talk to a WH1080.

Great weather station! I have 2 of these units -one down by my horse corral (-300 ft) and the other up on my ridge behind the house. It is in the kitchen and is one of the most looked at screens by the family. Works great in foul weather to tell you what's going on in the Colorado high country! We even put a solar powered dock light (blinking red -also sold at Amazon) on these units so we can locate them from the house.

Temperature​ readings are way off in the sun but work great as long as no sunlight is shining on it, in other words, if you do not feel like modifying the housing or making a solar shield, I would not buy this at all!

This positive review is based on my excellent customer service from PCE Instruments. I received this unit with defective batteries: they immediately replaced them. Then, after a month of use, the temperature/humidity/transmitter module died. They agreed to replace it as well.I suspect I just received a generally faulty unit. Hopefully, others are better manufactured than mine!One criticism: the combined solar panel / gill, which slides on top of the temperature sensor, causes the unit (so far) to read about 4-5 deg F high in sunny weather. The issue is certainly the gill, which doesn't do a good job of transferring solar heating away from the unit. Since commercial Gills can cost more than the entire weather station, I guess I got what I paid for.