Weather Station, WMS801/WBXS Silver Review

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(More customer reviews)HARDWARE
The WMS801 is a one-piece unit that comes with a FM antenna and AC power supply. There are no sensors to place outside of your home to measure temperature, humidity, rainfall, etc. However, since there are no sensors, the unit downloads all of this information from digital FM broadcasts via the MSN Direct network. These digital broadcasts are hidden among radio channels and provide all the local weather info your WMS801 needs, and it updates several times an hour. The information comes from the same MSN weather service that you can access on the web. But in order to get this FM information, you need to first goto the MSN direct webpage and see if there actually is an FM signal in your neighborhood. Most decent sized cities have it (it works in Chicago and Madison, WI). The service is free with the purchase of this unit, but if you are not within the FM range of MSN Direct, then DO NOT purchase this unit.
The unit also comes with a built-in sensor to measure your indoor temperature and humidity, and comes with a clock that sets itself automatically. All of the buttons on the edges of the device are easy to hit and make sense. You access the different features of the WMS801 much like it was a watch. Hit the "mode" button to access the different categories and then hit the "select" button to cycle through the items within that category. Relatively simple.
SCREEN
The screen is a standard LED type with a nice indigo blue background light you can turn on in the dark. It's highly visible and the font sizes are large enough that you can see it from a reasonable distance (about 0-9 feet). The one downside is that you cannot display both the indoor and outdoor temperatures at the same time. It only takes one button press, but still, it would have been nice to see both temps simultaneously.
WEATHER INFO
The WMS801 has everything you need about the outdoor weather: temperature, barometric pressure, rainfall, UV index, humidity, wind speed and direction, wind chill or heat index and chance of rain. Also, it gives you a three day forecast for the next 3 days with the hi and low temps plus the chance of precipitation. Some MSN Direct locations may not offer all of that info, but I can only say that I receive all those data in Chicago and Madison. Finally, the weather station has a scrolling ticker at the top that tells you the visibility, air quality, and warnings. For example, if there is a tornado warning, the bottom of the unit has a light that flashes red while the ticker at the top will say "Tornado Warning in X,Y, and Z counties until 9:55pm."
PROBLEMS
Hardly any to speak of. I do wish it displayed the indoor and outdoor temps simultaneously, but it changes from inside to outside with one button press, so it's not that big of a deal. The only other downside is that there are 2 blue LED lights on the edges of the screen that are always on. I have the unit in my bedroom, and when I goto sleep, the room is dark and those two lights seem incredibly bright. My solution to this dilemma was to place two thin strips of black electrical tape over the lights to block them out. Problem solved.
Overall, as long as you are within a MSN Direct FM broadcast area you can't beat this unit. It's like having the Weather Channel always on in your room. You can wake up, see the forecast for the day and the next three days and plan accordingly...all without turning on your computer or TV. It's highly convienent and I highly recommend it.

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Weather Station w/ MSN Direct SILVER - Oregon Scientific complete regional weather station- Includes MSN direct weather data service- Just plug in and go, no setup required- Displays 3 day regional forecast with graphic icons and chance of precipitation- Display National Weather Service warnings, watches, and alerts- Displays regional weather data without the need for external sensors: current temperature, humidity with trend, wind direction/speed, windchill, dew point, heat and UV index, rain level with 24 hour history, sunrise/sunset times, moon phase, visibility, air quality- Radio-controlled time- Displays day and time- Displays indoor temperature, humidity, and comfort level- 2 Crescendo alarms with 5 melodies or 1 beep sound available (adjustable volume control)- 8 Minute snooze- Powered by AC adapter, included- Uses 4 AA batteries for backup, included- Blue backlit LCD- Silver ORWMS801WBMX

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