Yachting_Monthly_2016-01

GEAR TEST

JANUARY 2016 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com 69

Knowing the weather makes a sailor’s life easier, so why not buy a weather

station? Duncan Kent tests eight models

WEATHER
STATIO N S

W

hat sailor wouldn’t like a better understanding of
stations on the market, suitable for installation either on a boat the weather? There are many weather
or at home, offering useful local data to supplement and help us interpret the offi cial marine forecasts we rely on. Some are
pretty basic, others measure wind speed and direction and rainfall. Some have a USB port to transfer data to a computer for analysis.
What to look forAll eight units on test have a barometer. The basic models have
a base station and a wireless, battery-powered temperature and humidity sensor. But for

those with wind and rain sensors as well, the word wireless is somewhat blurred. Some are

entirely wirelessly linked, each sensor having its own power and transmitter. Others link by cables to a central transmitter,

which is also the temperature and humidity transducer.designed for boats, but I‘ve These units are not specifi cally

installed similar ones on each of my last three boats, with no problems – you just have to be sensible about how you mount

things. Most of the sensors are waterproof; there’s no 12Vdc input but the batteries last at least a year, often closer to two. A fully

marine-spec weather station with comparable features would cost more than £1,000.

How we tested themFirst, we set up all of the units together. Some of the basic sets just have a single

temperature/humidity sensor, which only needed pairing up with the base station – pretty simple provided you remember to

boot up the sensor before the display. complex units needed to be assembled onto a pole, plugged together (unless The multiple sensors of the more

wholly wireless) and powered up. It’s not diffi cult if you carefully follow the instructions. Most stations came with all the mountings required, other than a tall

pole to get them clear of obstructions.programmed the base units with local data, altitude offset, alarm thresholds With the sensors sorted, we

and preferred units, then ran them alongside each other, noting any anomalies, and compared them with observational data from a nearby

professional weather station.

A weather station at the chart table gives useful data

to supplement the Shipping Forecast

If you set up a weather station at home, it needs to be high up to measure wind speed/direction

PHOTO: GRAHAM-SNOOK.COM

PHOTO: DUNCAN KENT