Ambient Weather WS-1201-IP Observer Solar Powered Wireless Internet Remote Monitoring Weather Station w/Solar Radiation & UV - Compatible w/Alexa & Google Assistant

I purchased this weather station as a replacement for a lower end model that died on me a few months earlier. I spent quite a bit of time researching the various brands and models of home weather stations and ultimately settled on the Ambient Weather 1200-IP. There are numerous weather stations on the market ranging in price from well under 100 dollars upwards of a couple of grand. My budget was around 300 dollars and this model was in scope.My decision criteria was based on a few important facets. First was reliability of data and accuracy of the sensors. My previous weather station would have temperature readings that were wildly different from neighboring stations in my area. The biggest deviation was regarding the day time temps and especially during the hot Texas Summers. This was due in part to inadequate solar shielding and a lack of any solar radiation shield on that device. Now I have been running this model since July of 2015 and the data that is being measured is in line with the majority of other personal weather stations around my house. Another important feature for me is the ability to hold a wireless signal. My other station would routinely drop signal between the outside sensor and the main control receiver. With the ambient, I have not lost signal once. While on that topic, I have not had to replace the batteries yet either in the outside sensor unit. They are going on 7 months as of the writing of this review. Finally, I wanted to make sure the system would work with Weather Underground. I transmit my data to their Personal Weather Station network as do many other folks.The package I bought included the network bridge and so my configuration is as follows: The sensing unit is placed in my backyard using an eight foot 3/4" diameter galvanized steel pole which I picked up at a big box hardware store. Best practices recommend that you mount any weather station at least 20-30 feet above the ground for the most accurate readings, but I live in an HOA. This slightly reduces the accuracy of wind speed readings due to the anemometer being lower than recommended, but it is what it is.I also like the freedom of being able to service the sensor unit (clean out dust, spider webs, replace batteries etc.) without having to climb a ladder. The indoor receiver is in my home office on the other side of the house. This is in turn connected to the aforementioned network bridge, which in tun is connected directly to my network router via a cat 5 cable. The 1200 series uses a separate indoor sensor unit that measures the indoor temperature as well as humidity and barometric pressure. One thing to note is that the indoor unit is used to measure the barometric pressure for both your indoor and outdoor readings. There is not barometer on the outside unit. The manual states that the pressure gradient of an inside dwelling is almost identical to the outside pressure. I cannot substantiate this for sure, but my readings are inline with other stations in the area for which I know have an outside barometer.The actual setup of the indoor and outdoor sensors and receiver console (the unit where you can see your readings real time) is fairly simple to setup. Put the batteries in the two sensing units first. Let them initialize first for maybe a minute or two and then power up the receiver console. You should start getting readings immediately. I would recommend researching the best placement of the outside unit. Weatherunderground has some good resources on their weather station wiki. At this point you are technically up and running. Setting up the network bridge was a little bit more complex but not too bad. You will need to download their IP tool to your desktop so that you can add the bridge to your home network. The bridge has a MAC address/physical address that the IP tool finds. If you don't plan on transmitting your data to a weather service, than this is a moot point.The only ding that I give this station is that the receiver console is AC power only. There is no option to use batteries. We have extremely reliable power in our neighborhood which has stayed on through even the worst storms, but I would imagine that the time you really want the power to be on and to record weather data is during a storm. With that said, I may invest in a cheap auxiliary backup power unit.All in all, I feel I made the right decision researching and ultimately purchasing this weather station. It is not the cheapest model on the market, but it is far from some that cost an arm and a leg. My old low end station lasted about five years before going into the trash so I hope to at least get that lifespan with this one.

I had an older Ambient Weather station that finally died after more than 5 years of use. That one was challenging to manage, but I had gotten used to it, so seeing how this worked was delightful. Everything just works together, there's very little "set up" beyond mounting and plugging in.The actual station has a rechargeable solar battery so the only maintenance is the occasional wiping down of the solar cover and water collector. It is easy to mount, although if you're like me and go for a custom mount you may need to invest in some conduit.It needs to be mounted high, I used my roof, and from experience have found that once you get above six feet the heat coming off the roof doesn't really affect the reading noticeably. You just want to be certain it's unobstructed which can be difficult depending upon your surroundings.Inside the house there are three other components:1. Interior temperature and humidity sensor: This is about the size of a deck of cards and should be wall-mounted. It's the internal sensor and has a small display so it actually has visual function. I'd recommend placing it on a wall away from where windows will cast light and away from any artificial air movement (fans or AC). You want it exposed to natural airflow and not trapped in a stifling room. Near a doorway to a hall - I think - is adequate.2. Display - The display plugs in and receives readings from both the outside and inside sensors. It keeps a history (the history remains in memory even after power loss), and settings can allow for calibration and charting of data. The display itself is chock full of useful information.3. The Internet Connector - This receives data from the outside sensor and is used to connect to Weather Underground so your station becomes part of their network. I had a little trouble with this - I tried to upgrade the software and it lost power. The flash memory was corrupted, making it useless. I reach out out to the manufacturer and in two weeks had it back, fully upgraded. So their customer service was great, too.Overall, for weather buffs out there, it's great fun to have a weather station to see weather changes and local data. Having a connection to Weather Underground also allows you to see how your local readings are compared with other stations. For example, I'm in a bit of a coastal valley. Winds off the water blow well overhead and in the winter a bubble of air can remain closer to ground making it 10 degrees warmer than just a half mile away, so sometimes weather readings from just a few blocks away don't reflect my local conditions.

So far, so good. The outside unit is all plastic, so there's no telling how long it's going to last, but in the process of installing it on a tall pole, the wind blew it over and it slid into the side of my house. It cracked a little ring inside the unit where the pole fits, but I determined it was just fine the way it was. Everything works great, and the console is bright and clear. The only thing that would improve it would be to have the console dual powered, so you could move it around the house and not lose the history graph. It only has an A/C power adapter, so if you unplug it, you lose the history. The sensor does start talking to the console right away, though, so it's not too big a deal. As far as accuracy goes, I have two other outside digital thermometers and the 1200IP seems to be very accurate. I never lose the signal from the sensor, and the little internet bridge works fine. One thing that happened was within a few days of installing it, we had a severe ice storm that froze everything up, including the rain gauge. It didn't report ANY precip for almost a week since it took that long for the weather itself to warm up. This was no fault of the weather station, but just keep that in mind. Setup was a little involved for Internet access, but I got it to work after a little trial and error. So overall, I think it's a fine weather station. I'd give it 4 and 1/2 stars.

Haven't had it that long but it seems to be working as described.