digital thermometers.... arghhh
Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 3:29 pm
I really like the concept of wireless outdoor thermometers, but have long struggled with getting good usable outdoor readings. I have had trouble for years with outdoor sensor placement to avoid the morning sun or afternoon sun temperature distortion. I thought I had it sorted by locating the remote sensor in a shaded corner of my carport that didn't see either morning or afternoon sun, but the corner was too sheltered from the weather and apparently was warmer than the true outdoors. Obvious when it a records an above freezing overnight low in the mid 30s, but there is obvious frost on the grass. Moving it out of the carport got it reading several degrees colder, but revisited morning/afternoon sunlight issues.
I had a old earlier version remote outdoor thermometer that I retired after the sensor got dropped by a wind storm... Long story short it still works so I fired up dueling outdoor thermometers. This should give me two outdoor temps to select and ignore the relatively obvious sunlight influence, BUT.... Sitting them side by side in my kitchen they don't even agree on the indoor temperature that should be the easy part. I had a third indoor temp/humidity meter, so taking a 2 out of three vote the old outdoor base station is reading 3' warm indoors. To add insult to injury, it stops receiving the outdoor sensor due to RF interference between it and the newer base station. It can maintain receiver lock when sitting about 5' away. For now the old thermometer is reading the 2' higher outside too. I don't think the error is in the base station since when I first powered it up on the same channel as the new one, it read the exact same outdoor temp, now switched to the different channel I read high both indoors and outside.
They now sell three sensor base stations to utilize all three RF channels of remote sensors. For only $30 I'll take my chances with that, not that I need 3 remote temperatures. They will surely have the RF interference issue sorted. My current fancy outdoor thermometer includes a weather forecasting algorithm built in that has pretty graphics but literally has not been correct once in the several years I've been using it. It is almost an opposite indicator. Right now it says rain and cloudy, but weather is actually clear and sunny (exact opposite).
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On a related topic, concerned about the Chinese trying to kill me with Covid and a recent house call from my local plumber/helper with only partial mask discipline while working, I started taking my own temperature to look for a fever. I dug out a cheap digital thermometer that was probably 10YO. The battery was so weak it didn't beep but it still delivered temperature readings. Last week while food shopping I picked up a brand new (cheap $4) digital thermometer. Pretty much the same design, and surprisingly it returned the exact same temperature readings within 0.1' F. My body temperature after multiple days checking runs consistently a couple degrees low, 96-97F, if the thermometer is wrong the two are at at least extremely consistent from two different (?) manufacturers, or at least two different production runs, years apart.
Maybe I should check and see if they design weather thermometers.
JR
I had a old earlier version remote outdoor thermometer that I retired after the sensor got dropped by a wind storm... Long story short it still works so I fired up dueling outdoor thermometers. This should give me two outdoor temps to select and ignore the relatively obvious sunlight influence, BUT.... Sitting them side by side in my kitchen they don't even agree on the indoor temperature that should be the easy part. I had a third indoor temp/humidity meter, so taking a 2 out of three vote the old outdoor base station is reading 3' warm indoors. To add insult to injury, it stops receiving the outdoor sensor due to RF interference between it and the newer base station. It can maintain receiver lock when sitting about 5' away. For now the old thermometer is reading the 2' higher outside too. I don't think the error is in the base station since when I first powered it up on the same channel as the new one, it read the exact same outdoor temp, now switched to the different channel I read high both indoors and outside.
They now sell three sensor base stations to utilize all three RF channels of remote sensors. For only $30 I'll take my chances with that, not that I need 3 remote temperatures. They will surely have the RF interference issue sorted. My current fancy outdoor thermometer includes a weather forecasting algorithm built in that has pretty graphics but literally has not been correct once in the several years I've been using it. It is almost an opposite indicator. Right now it says rain and cloudy, but weather is actually clear and sunny (exact opposite).
====
On a related topic, concerned about the Chinese trying to kill me with Covid and a recent house call from my local plumber/helper with only partial mask discipline while working, I started taking my own temperature to look for a fever. I dug out a cheap digital thermometer that was probably 10YO. The battery was so weak it didn't beep but it still delivered temperature readings. Last week while food shopping I picked up a brand new (cheap $4) digital thermometer. Pretty much the same design, and surprisingly it returned the exact same temperature readings within 0.1' F. My body temperature after multiple days checking runs consistently a couple degrees low, 96-97F, if the thermometer is wrong the two are at at least extremely consistent from two different (?) manufacturers, or at least two different production runs, years apart.
Maybe I should check and see if they design weather thermometers.
JR