weather station recommendations?

[Ken45101]

How high for the thermometer? Well it depends on what you want to read. Seriously, ours is 6' above our second floor balcony. It will read higher than something close to ground level. We live on a ridge top. On still evenings, the valley below is often 5-8 degrees cooler than it is up at the house. Only at breezy times are the temperatures consistent.

FWIW, our Davis Vantage Pro II is mounted with the wind sensor on the top of a 20' mast. The rest of the station is at 6' above the balcony.

 

[crazyal]

I got a LaCrosse pro something. It's worked fine for a number of years now, 5 or 6 maybe, but I'm not sure if I would call it the best you can get. I found that the wind gauge is somewhat worthless with all the trees I have it keeps the wind too high up to get an accurate reading. If you're not looking to spend too much money then I would suggest looking into their pro line.

 

[Rayster]

I use some of the products I bought from "forestry suppliers".

 

[texasjohn]

Thanks to all for ideas, sites, recommendations.
I ordered the Ambient 2080 with two consoles for monitoring two locations and backup in case one console goes bad. I'll build my own temperature shield. Deciding factors included low price, complete connectivity to PC and web publishing, Ambient has reputation for excellent service. Seems they sell lots of units with few issues. Issues I found included Ambient working quickly to resolution. Separate sensors allow individual replacement if one fails.

Many fans of Davis here and am sure they are a great unit, but but in the end I decided the above points were sufficient to go with Ambient. I may regret choice, we'll see. Will let you know how it goes.

Anxiously awaiting arrival now and mounting before the tornados hit!

 

[Redbug]

Weather Underground has a lot of people that log their weather data on line.
Personal Weather Stations | Weather Underground

You can also see what kind of equipment they are using. Select your state, (right hand side menu). Click on each station and you can see their location, data, etc.
Weather Stations | Weather Underground

 

[texasjohn]

Ambient 2080 arrived promptly with two consoles as ordered. Glad I got two, one for house, one for shop, can review where I am. Temporary set up was simple. Components of plastic but look like they will last several years. Glad I got the 2080, allows placing temp sensor independently. I have constructed an additional sun shade for it. Easy to do with about a 2 ft piece of 4" pvc pipe. Placed it in center of pipe with standoffs so good air flow all around. Have temporarily mounted it. Am planning on setting up PC so it will continuously report to Weather Underground...still to do. Am enjoying it.