GEAR TEST
Some of the cheaper weather stations are as good, if not better than the ‘Pro’ models, although you’d probably need to mount the sensors in a protective box within 25-30m or
so of the base station. All but the Technoline WS6750 and the touchscreen Oregon Scientifi c WMR89 had clear screens that can be read in daylight. The Technoline’s screen
is very angle-specifi c, but does at least have a big backlight button on the top, although it’s a faint blue light that doesn’t complement the black numerals. The WMR89 has very low
contrast whichever angle you look from, but at least the green backlight comes on for 10 seconds when you touch the screen.Some of these units are easy to read and
operate, while others require the handbook for a step-by-step guide to button-pressing. If I’ve got to press a key fi ve times to get to some data, as with Maplin’s N96GY, then it needs
more buttons.times, but they only seem to come with the basic models, for some reason, although a few I like to have sun and moon rise and set
of the semi-pro units at least offer a crude moonphase icon.as overall winner, if it had only had wind We would have picked Maplin’s N25FR
direction as well as speed. At less than £50, it’s a bargain. But which is best? Well, it’s a personal choice between the Oregon Scientifi c
WMR86 and the Ytora TPW899, although the latter doesn’t offer wind speed in knots, which is annoying. Maplin’s touchscreen N96GY also
comes high on the list and is top value if you really want PC data logging, but its LCD is pretty dim and the contrast is not adjustable.74 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com JANUARY 2016Features and specifi cations of all the weather stations on testConclusionsSome of the cheaper weather stations are
Which weather stations do we recommend? Barometric pressure
at what speed it is rising or falling, and by how much. things: what the air pressure is, A barometer tells you three
millibars (mb) or hectopascals about the weather to come. From that, we can deduce a lot Air pressure is measured in
identical, like centigrade and Celsius. (hPa) – the two are actually ‘Relative’ barometric pressure is adjusted for altitude, ‘absolute’ is
and dew pointRelative humidity the actual pressure on the sensor.
condensing out (forming fog at sea level and clouds at height). The more moisture it can hold without The warmer a body of air, the
moisture is known as the dew point. In a body of air that is cooling, the relative humidity (the amount of point at which it can hold no more
place when there is a gentle breeze that temperature) is rising. moisture a body of air can contain at Cooling of the air will generally take
close to the water surface. The water, if it is colder than the air, acts on the air to cool it. If you can monitor relative humidity and temperature, you can, to
an extent, forecast fog. When the dew point meets the water temperature, advection fog – the commonest type over the sea – occurs.
Heat/comfort IndexThis is a fi gure derived from temperature and humidity readings.
Essentially, it is a ‘comfort’ reading. High humidity and low temperature isn’t too bad, nor is low humidity and high temperature, but high humidity
and high temperature combined are not comfortable. forecasting, but it goes some way to It isn’t really important for weather
explaining why we sometimes feel uncomfortable on warm, moist days.
Useful weather facts
Does everything a sailor could want... except measure wind speed. And it’s cheapA very useful tool for the cruising sailor and it’s easy to set up, tooMAKEBenchmark Pro Station 19.0knSPEEDWIND DIRECTIONWIND WSW TEMPERATURE12.7°C HUMIDITY80% BAROMETER 1023Maplin AO1QXTechnoline WS6750Maplin N25FR 13.4knn/an/a n/an/an/a 13.2°C13.8°C13.9°C 86%83%78% (^102310211025)
Maplin N96GYTechnoline WS-1600ITOregon Scientifi c WMR86 17.3kn18.2kn15.6kn WSWSWW 12.9°C12.4°C13.4°C 84%79%81% 102010231022
Oregon Scientifi c WMR89Ytora TPW899 18.5kn17.1kn WSWSW 12.4°C13.7°C 79%82%^10211024
Seven-day comparison of readingsWe ran all the units alongside each other for seven days and compared the readings with one another, and with observations from the nearest professional weather station
MAKEMaplin N25FRMaplin AO1QX 3 AA/2 AAABATTERIES5 AA WIND SPEEDNY WIND DIRECTIONNN DEW POINTNY UV INDEXNN HISTORY12h12h RAINNY SUNYN MOONYN PC LOGGINGNN
Technoline WS6750Technoline WS-1600ITMaplin N96GY 2 AA/2 AAA5 AA5 AA NYY NYY NNN NNN 12h12h12h YYN NNY YNN NYN
Oregon Scientifi c WMR86Oregon Scientifi c WMR89Ytora TPW899 6 AA5 AA9 AA YYY YYY NNY YNY 24h24h12h YYY NNN YYY NNY
Maplin N25FR
Best on Test
Best Budget Buy
Oregon Scientifi c WMR86 and dew point‘Relative’ barometric pressure is Relative humidity adjusted for altitude, ‘absolute’ is the actual pressure on the sensor.
condensing out (forming fog at
that temperature) is rising.
Scientifi c WMR86
PHOTOS: DUNCAN KENT