What's That Spinny Thing on the RV Roof?

[Ray]

See full blog post – http://www.loveyourrv.com/installed-la-crosse-weather-station-wind-speed-rv/

In this video, I give you a look at the spinny thing on the fifth wheels roof. It’s my RVs weather station the La Crosse model CA87092.

I received it from my wife Anne for my birthday back in September. She picked it up on sale at Canadian Tire for $69.95.

Link to La Crosse website with info, specs and owners manual – https://www.lacrossetechnology.com/ca87092
Link to a Lacrosse Weather Station on Amazon.com (Disclaimer: Affiliate Link) http://amzn.to/2DxXWbT

Things I Don’t Like

This La Crosse weather station is packed with features and fair value for the money I paid, however, there are a few things I don’t like.

Display Viewing Angle – Unless you are pretty well eye level with the display it is challenging to read. Making low or high mounting impossible.

Accuracy – I’ve read several online reviews stating the windspeed accuracy isn’t great. I’ve personally found the future forecast feature is so inaccurate as to be useless.

Outside Sensor Build Quality – You get what you pay for, and the outside sensor construction shows it. It’s cheap plastic and doesn’t give me much confidence it will endure a long time.

Missing Barometric Pressure – I would have expected this to be included.

I think the La Crosse weather station has been a decent enough introductory system for me. I have enjoyed having it on the rig, but I hunger for something a little more sophisticated now. If you have any recommendations on a system that doesn’t break the bank, say in the $100 range, let me know.

[Donny]

I saw your review last night on this thing and you didn’t sound too enthused there Ray.  Even the wife chimed in and said “it doesn’t sound like Ray cares for that thing too much”.

I always found those things kinda cool and always wondered how accurate they are.  I would bet they have to be indispensable when you’re boondocking (if working properly).  The display look really cool though.

I actually would like to get one of these for the house, so I am curious as well what folks are using and how reliable they are.

[Ray]

It’s pretty good for what I paid, 50% off sale so about $56 US. If I paid full price I don’t think it would be worth it. So, my review reflects that. The unit appears to be an old model, likely why it was on sale.

The wind sensor is pretty cheap, looks like it will be easily damaged or wear out. I’ve seen some online reviews that stated the accuracy is lacking, although it seems decent enough for our usage.

If paying full price I think I would have preferred this one from AcuRite – http://amzn.to/2FKclCw  Has a ton more features.

Now that I’m sort of hooked on the weather gadget thing I’ll likely be pining after a more sophisticated setup.

Here is a couple that have been recommended:

https://www.ambientweather.com/amws1000wifi.html

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/weatherflow-smart-weather-stations#/

[Jeff]

HI Ray looks nice.
On your power I would hook
It up with a usb plug.

 

• This reply was modified 5 years, 8 months ago by Jeff.

[Ray]

[quote quote=49959]HI Ray looks nice. On your power I would hook It up with a usb plug.[/quote]
There is a 12DC volt supply line behind the tank monitor panel. I’ll likely use a dc to dc converter like this – http://amzn.to/2DhkCjJ It has built-in protections and is regulated, helpful since often my 12-volt system can reach as high as 15 volts when the solar controller is charging the batteries. I can hide it behind the tank monitor panel in the wall.

[Author]

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