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 Weather Station, WMS801/WBXS Silver By: Oregon Scientific Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 9 More Information Great weather station but those blue LEDs are so bright!  On: 2008-01-28I purchased this weather station for my son-in-law as a Christmas present based on a lot of research on wireless weather stations. This one was as good as the reviews said it was, but my son-in-law had to turn the station toward the wall as the blue LEDs on the "wings" were so bright it made it diffcult to sleep. Why didnt the manufacturer incorporate an on/off switch for these LEDs in an otherwise near perfect product? Nice Product But Needs A Little Tuning  On: 2008-01-04Purchased this unit for my wife a year ago and she really likes it, but wishes it showed todays forecast. You need to remember what it said yesterday about what is supposed to happen today. We just purchased the Brookstone weather station and have noticed the following: Brookstone is much smaller and does not need an electrical outlet - it runs off of two AA batteries. It does show todays weather forecast. The Brookstone display is smaller so you need to be a little closer to read it. Great concept if it only worked in my house  On: 2007-12-28I received this as a Christmas gift (2007) while in Dallas. I put some batteries into the unit, and it literally found the MSN signal immediately and started working as advertised. I took it home with me to Seminole, FL, a suburb of St. Petersburg anticipating no problem in that the local MSN station is located in Tampa - about 20 miles away. I have a two story house, and I tried and tried in every nook and cranny of my house to received a signal but was unable to do so. As one other reviewer mentioned, make sure it will work in the planned location of use prior to purchasing this unit. I would opine for the cost, one is probably better off simply purchasing a unit with outdoor sensors for temperature, wind, etc. Having said that, if the unit worked in my house, I would probably give it 3 stars. One of the failings of this unit is the specific geographic locations MSN transmits from. For example, if it did work in my house, I would be getting Tampa outside temperatures and winds which are sometimes rather different from my specific locale. Doesn't work in our town.  On: 2007-12-01Sounded like a great idea to have MSN pick up the weather signal so we could see a 3-5 day forecast of the weather...however, the device would not work in our area no matter where we located it in the house. A Different Approach To A Weather Station On: 2007-07-03The main feature of this weather station is that it enables you to watch the weather without anything being hooked up outside. It is an MSN direct station so once you plug it in and if your area is able to receive the signal, you are done. The only thing you have to adjust is how you want to view the weather records on the station. It also has a flashing red light for weather warnings which works well. It is good that you do not need to worry about outside sensors which is the main selling point of this weather station. However, at closer inspection, all is not well in weather land. The service with MSN direct is only promised through the year 2010. Then what? I have no idea. You may have to pay a monthly fee for it if the station still works by that time. There is no backlight that can stay on all of the time so you have to press the front to see it lit up and it then only stays on for about 20 seconds and it doesnt matter if it is on batteries or AC. They should have the option for a light staying on all of the time. While you can view all weather readings including temperature, humidity, wind direction and speed, rain amounts, dew points, wind chills, 4 day weather forcasts and barometric pressure, these readings all take place at the place where the information is being fed from so in that case this is not a replacement for a weather station in your backyard since the readings it gives are different then they most likely would be at your place of residence. I have also found the the barometer only gives readings that do not seem to be that precise for whatever reason so this does not replace a home barometer by any stretch of the imagination. This can also be used as an alarm clock with atomic time adjustment, but as mentioned above, you can not seem to keep the light on for very long and you can not adjust the volume of the alarm so this really does not replace a bedside clock. Still, if you do not want to play with weather sensors and outdoor instruments or have limited space and do not care to use it after the year 2010 as previously stated then this weather station might be the one you are looking to buy. It does what it sets out to do and that is telling you about the weather. Like having your own personal WeatherChannel  On: 2007-05-31The Oregon Scientific WMS801 weather station is perfect if you want all-weather info, all of the time--without the need for 5 different sensors outside. HARDWARE The WMS801 is a one-piece unit that comes with a FM antenna and AC power supply. There are no sensors to place outside of your home to measure temperature, humidity, rainfall, etc. However, since there are no sensors, the unit downloads all of this information from digital FM broadcasts via the MSN Direct network. These digital broadcasts are hidden among radio channels and provide all the local weather info your WMS801 needs, and it updates several times an hour. The information comes from the same MSN weather service that you can access on the web. But in order to get this FM information, you need to first goto the MSN direct webpage and see if there actually is an FM signal in your neighborhood. Most decent sized cities have it (it works in Chicago and Madison, WI). The service is free with the purchase of this unit, but if you are not within the FM range of MSN Direct, then DO NOT purchase this unit. The unit also comes with a built-in sensor to measure your indoor temperature and humidity, and comes with a clock that sets itself automatically. All of the buttons on the edges of the device are easy to hit and make sense. You access the different features of the WMS801 much like it was a watch. Hit the "mode" button to access the different categories and then hit the "select" button to cycle through the items within that category. Relatively simple. SCREEN The screen is a standard LED type with a nice indigo blue background light you can turn on in the dark. Its highly visible and the font sizes are large enough that you can see it from a reasonable distance (about 0-9 feet). The one downside is that you cannot display both the indoor and outdoor temperatures at the same time. It only takes one button press, but still, it would have been nice to see both temps simultaneously. WEATHER INFO The WMS801 has everything you need about the outdoor weather: temperature, barometric pressure, rainfall, UV index, humidity, wind speed and direction, wind chill or heat index and chance of rain. Also, it gives you a three day forecast for the next 3 days with the hi and low temps plus the chance of precipitation. Some MSN Direct locations may not offer all of that info, but I can only say that I receive all those data in Chicago and Madison. Finally, the weather station has a scrolling ticker at the top that tells you the visibility, air quality, and warnings. For example, if there is a tornado warning, the bottom of the unit has a light that flashes red while the ticker at the top will say "Tornado Warning in X,Y, and Z counties until 9:55pm." PROBLEMS Hardly any to speak of. I do wish it displayed the indoor and outdoor temps simultaneously, but it changes from inside to outside with one button press, so its not that big of a deal. The only other downside is that there are 2 blue LED lights on the edges of the screen that are always on. I have the unit in my bedroom, and when I goto sleep, the room is dark and those two lights seem incredibly bright. My solution to this dilemma was to place two thin strips of black electrical tape over the lights to block them out. Problem solved. Overall, as long as you are within a MSN Direct FM broadcast area you cant beat this unit. Its like having the Weather Channel always on in your room. You can wake up, see the forecast for the day and the next three days and plan accordingly...all without turning on your computer or TV. Its highly convienent and I highly recommend it. Like having your own personal WeatherChannel On: 2007-05-30The Oregon Scientific WMS801 weather station is perfect if you want all-weather info, all of the time--without the need for 5 different sensors outside. HARDWARE The WMS801 is a one-piece unit that comes with a FM antenna and AC power supply. There are no sensors to place outside of your home to measure temperature, humidity, rainfall, etc. However, since there are no sensors, the unit downloads all of this information from digital FM broadcasts via the MSN Direct network. These digital broadcasts are hidden among radio channels and provide all the local weather info your WMS801 needs, and it updates several times an hour. The information comes from the same MSN weather service that you can access on the web. But in order to get this FM information, you need to first goto the MSN direct webpage and see if there actually is an FM signal in your neighborhood. Most decent sized cities have it (it works in Chicago and Madison, WI). The service is free with the purchase of this unit, but if you are not within the FM range of MSN Direct, then DO NOT purchase this unit. The unit also comes with a built-in sensor to measure your indoor temperature and humidity, and comes with a clock that sets itself automatically. All of the buttons on the edges of the device are easy to hit and make sense. You access the different features of the WMS801 much like it was a watch. Hit the "mode" button to access the different categories and then hit the "select" button to cycle through the items within that category. Relatively simple. SCREEN The screen is a standard LED type with a nice indigo blue background light you can turn on in the dark. Its highly visible and the font sizes are large enough that you can see it from a reasonable distance (about 0-9 feet). The one downside is that you cannot display both the indoor and outdoor temperatures at the same time. It only takes one button press, but still, it would have been nice to see both temps simultaneously. WEATHER INFO The WMS801 has everything you need about the outdoor weather: temperature, barometric pressure, rainfall, UV index, humidity, wind speed and direction, wind chill or heat index and chance of rain. Also, it gives you a three day forecast for the next 3 days with the hi and low temps plus the chance of precipitation. Some MSN Direct locations may not offer all of that info, but I can only say that I receive all those data in Chicago and Madison. Finally, the weather station has a scrolling ticker at the top that tells you the visibility, air quality, and warnings. For example, if there is a tornado warning, the bottom of the unit has a light that flashes red while the ticker at the top will say "Tornado Warning in X,Y, and Z counties until 9:55pm." PROBLEMS Hardly any to speak of. I do wish it displayed the indoor and outdoor temps simultaneously, but it changes from inside to outside with one button press, so its not that big of a deal. The only other downside is that there are 2 blue LED lights on the edges of the screen that are always on. I have the unit in my bedroom, and when I goto sleep, the room is dark and those two lights seem incredibly bright. My solution to this dilemma was to place two thin strips of black electrical tape over the lights to block them out. Problem solved. Overall, as long as you are within a MSN Direct FM broadcast area you cant beat this unit. Its like having the Weather Channel always on in your room. You can wake up, see the forecast for the day and the next three days and plan accordingly...all without turning on your computer or TV. Its highly convienent and I highly recommend it. Excellent product On: 2007-03-11Gave this as a gift for my wife at Christmas. Virtually no set up, it works out of the box. My wife LOVES it. She checks it all the time. Real accurate weather data. Easy weather On: 2007-01-22I had a weather station with remote sensors that went out occasionally (usually when very cold). This is the perfect solution. Im not a weather geek so this unit gives me way more information than I need but its nice to have it available. The radio signal is very reliable and because it is AC powered no batteries to replace. The kids love being able to see what the weather is going to be like for themselves. They also find it easy to read. Great product. |