[wxqc] Pros and Cons On OSI WMR-968

[Isaac Kishk (CW6261)]

I've had the OSI wmr-968 for over a year now.  My various complaints
range from idiotic support to insanely stupid engineering.

- The rain bucket doesn't "clear" its last reading for 2 hours after.
so you could have a rainfall rate of .16in/hr for 2 hrs, while it was
only a 5min shower. RMA'd... turns out that the way it was designed.
- the solar panel on my anemometer stopped working, which caused it to
run on batteries.  I attempted to remove the panel to drain it and
reseal it, but it was manufactured in such a way that removal is
impossible w/out destroying.  The leads from the solar panels are
hotglued on the opposite side of the plastic housing you unscrew.  so
unscrewing it and slowly pulling it apart pulled the wires. RMA woulda
taken 6 months. whatever, i attached my own panel.
- the solar panel on my rain bucket decided to just stop working out
of the blue. RMA'd.. works fine now.
- my thermohydrometer started reading 10-15oC extremes out of the
blue.  turns out it had rust in it from condensation.  RMA'd, bought
anotehr one in the interim.
- the main base unit makes a loud "television" type barely audible
tone when the backlight is on.  Bought a second one for my office,
same problem.
- you cant disable the loud beeps on the base unit (unless you cut the
leads to the speaker).

When dealing with support, they are happy to help, you just have to
play CSR roulette to find someone who knows what "anemometer" is.
Once you find them, they will gladly do your RMA.  When you ask for an
ETA, that's another story.  The products are almost ALWAYS
backordered.  they use some outfit in china to mass produce them in
spurts.  instead of stocking a warehouse, they only order enough to
"cover" the backorders and RMAs.  I ended up ebaying a
hydrothermometer because they had a 4 month wait on a  new one.
crazy.

I'm the type that doesn't mind an occasional glitch, but I wish I
spent the extra money for a real system, not some radio shack "good
enough" system.  feel free to email me directly if you need more
details on my setup or any of the situations I described.

On 6/11/07, Rory <amsoiltek at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi gang, I'm looking to put up a station and have been comparing both the
> ProVantage and the OSI units.
> Anyone have any feedback on the WMR-968 I know it's a lot less than the
> Davis gear and I know you get what you pay for.
>
> Thanks for your input.
>
>
> Rory
>
>
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