The following is a review of this Weather Station hardware by WeatherMatrix Founder Jesse Ferrell, who uses and reviews multiple Electronic Weather Stations as a hobby. The key for the ratings is shown below.

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The following is a review of a Rainwise WS-2000 (the newer, 418mhz version of their original WS-2000 station). It was obtained in Spring 2000 and has been reviewed since then. It observations are available on the WeatherMatrix site and the installation, on top of a shack outside HQ, can be seen on WeatherMatrix WeatherCam #2.

P R I C E :

This station sells for $990... there is a lower priced station called the WT-2000 which sells for $595. This station was reviewed with Tripod and Computer Interface, which pushed the price up to $1324.

F E A T U R E S :

This is a full featured station which includes Pressure & Humidity as well as Temperature, Rain and Wind which are typically standard with Electronic Weather Stations. Also calculated are Dewpoint, Rainfall and Wind Chill.

I N S T A L L A T I O N :

This was hands down the easiest station that I have ever installed and setup. It came fully assembled and required only mounting of the tripod and adjusting of the solar panels. Inside, two wireless receivers plug into the console, and into the computer. One of the greatest things about this station is that the wireless receiver is seperate from the console, therefore the computer that receives the data can be in a different room than the console.

R E S O L U T I O N :

The resolution is average. Temperature is measured every whole degree; pressure every 0.01", wind every 1mph. Polling times are 2 seconds for wind (good), 1 minute for temperature, and 10 minutes for barometer (below average).

A C C U R A C Y :

According to WeatherMatrix Member Ed Edelman's Electronic Weather Stations Accuracy Table, the Accuracy of this station is good for the stations reviewed. The temperature sensor is +/- 1 degrees, which was in the higher end of the accuracies reviewed, and the humidity sensor was +/- 2%, which was the best of the accuracies reviewed.

R E L I A B I L I T Y :

This station failed to respond wirelessly for about a month, approximately 3 months after installation. We were sent a new circuit board as a replacement but the problem solved itself. Other than that, we have had no problems with the station. Rainwise says that this is a rare condition affecting a very small percentage of the stations.

S U P P O R T :

They have three full time technicians for customer service and humans answer their phones. If you register the weather station you receive an automatic call from one of their technicians. When we reported the problem it was immediately diagnosed and a replacement part was sent.

DISCLAIMER: WeatherMatrix IS responsible for advertising for Rainwise Inc.