I have the Raddy RF-L3 Multifunction Radio. It`s an incredible camping or power outage package. The glass solar panel included in the box can be used as is to power the great Sangean PR-D4W AM/FM/NOAA Weather Alert radio. To use it for certain other radios like the CCrane EP PRO the polarity has to be reversed. I bought three of the Raddys because there`s so much value included in the package and the radio itself. You get three LED light bulbs, four 18650 batteries, the nice panel, and a radio that functions as an off grid 18650 charger that can charge single cells or all four since they`re used in parallel. The radio can operate on just one or all four. With them installed it can function as a power bank. There`s a nice bright spotlight and a very bright room light built in, plus the three bulbs on long cords. It can be used as a bluetooth speaker, MP3 player, and has AM, FM, and shortwave radio.
Great review, Mike. I actually just won this little Raddy weathet station from a Radioddity contest. So, It's good to see you go through the setup. I live in a heavily wooded area, and finding an unobstructed spot is challenging. Apparently, the distance between your wifi router, display, and the sensor array has limits. I'm guessing your roof mount, router, and display are fairly close. The instructions indicate that you should change the batteries and clean the rain gauge periodically, so fence mounting may be more convenient. It's always fun to watch you work here in Texas, especially with your buddy Jason. Thanks brother!
I have setup mine, almost 15 months ago. Nothing wrong all works fine until two 2 days ago: only IN-Temp, Time and external sensor worked, all on top screen no writings. I took the main unit outside and checked the batteries, they were dead. Changed into new ones. Cleaned the rain tube and sensor and the solar unit outside with a soft cloth. I put the unit back on the stand outside and checked the screen inside. Same situation, nothing changed, even when i put the screen to off and on again, removed the batteries and put them back. And there it was, all worked except the UV INDEX and sunlight reading, nothing. I don't know what i can do now.
Very cool. My Davis Vantage Vue II has performed well over the years for me, but at some point it will see it's end days. So always on the lookout for something to replace it the day that does happen. Thanks Mike for showing us this unit....cheers Fred
HIGHLY recommend going with an Ambient Weather or Ecowitt if outside the US. My 1400-IP is going on 7 years old and works great. The WS-2902 cannot be beat for under $250-300. Absolutely THE best budget station there is imo. WS-5000 (get heater for anemometer if you get snow) if you want the best from them and accuracy rivaling the Davis Vue. It certainly compares well with my Davis VP2 6153 👍
The bubble level in my opinion should be on the bottom since it's usually mounted in an elevated position which requires the installer to be higher than the weather station in order to utilize the bubble level at all unless you use a drone. It's commonplace for weather station manufacturers to put it on the top so I wonder if they actually install their own products
Thanks for de VID got this station for 3 weeks now and i love it a lot...can compare it with my friend Davis vantage vue and pretty close to it! Only thing a wanna know is, where to buy extra remote sensors WF-100C-P1 can't find anything about it. Again thanks for the review :)
Glad to hear you are liking your station. I don't know where you can get another sensor. I just emailed my contact at Radioddity and will let you know if I hear anything.
Good review, thanks. But to be fair it's exactly the same in every respect as one I got from Amazon but it's branded as Curconsa. It works well and am happy. But there's a few identical versions kicking around
Hi Mike. I would recommend Tempest. Do a review on the Tempest weather station. This is a great video for informational purposes. Thanks Mike and 73. KI5GLT
Yes Yes Yes, absolutely agree! Of course, he was sent this for free to review but all-digital, no moving parts Tempest is the best on the market - even for us HAMmers :) 73 KJ6ER
Hey Mike great video I hope the weather station and give you good service over a long period of time. One of the things I really liked about the WeatherStation is the colored monitor that is very pleasant on the eyes.The WeatherStation I have is the Davis vantage vue and I really have enjoyed the weather station. The downside to my weather station is when I run my amplifier for some reason it gets into my weather station and gives me the wrong wind speed. And that is on HF. Thanks for the review on the weather station and I hope it again when you have a good service. 73 WD5ENH Steve
Thanks for watching Steve. I'm very happy with the station so far. One of the first things I did was key up on VHF/UHF to see if being next to the antenna would do anything to it. So far so good. Nothing has happened on HF either. I'm not on HF very much at all at home though as the noise floor next to the power lines is so bad I wouldn't wish it on the old grouches on 80 meters so I haven't tested that out to the fullest. Overall it's been a great station.
Curious if you've ever had any interaction/testing with a WeatherFlow Tempest, got one on my Christmas list but I could be persuaded... Also wonder if when you TX on your 2/70 radio and blast that WX wireless device with RF from that proximity if you get any connection issues between it and the base station?
I don't have any experience with the Weatherflow, no. One of the first things I did was TX on 70cm to see if it would kill the WX device and it didn't phase it. I was also concerned that it might interact with my DMR hotspot as they are both on the 433 MHz freq and so far so good. No problems at all. I'm quite pleased.
question do i need rechargable batteries in on my weather station outdoors i have regulars doyble aa battries in my weather station what do you recommend
Very informative video. Well worth $189.heres my question. Do u have to Empty the rain gauge? My unit a lacrosss has a remote rain gauge so u dont have to climb up on the roof to empty it. But this one gives so much more info
@@hamradiotube That's as far as my kite flying and aviation knowledge takes me. You're on your own for the sun scales. Thanks for the great videos. de W8SEG
I enjoyed the video as I am looking for a weather station for the QTH. Is the Raddy able to upload data to the CWS? I think it would be great to be able to see all the weather data from the aprs.fi map
I have recently acquired an identical model sold under a different brand name. Very happy with it except for the relative pressure reading. The absolute pressure reading is correct but the relative pressure reading is clearly incorrect since the station height lies well above sea level implying that relative pressure should always be higher than absolute pressure but in my case it is c 4hPa lower. Any body aware of any fixes ?
In the manual, does it give a good explanation as to where you should place the unit? That is one of the biggest issues with the "global warming" kick is that there are tons of people (even so called professionals) setting up weather stations in bad locations (at the end of runways, next to air conditioners, besides parking lots, etc) that will all artificially increase the temperature readings. Same with wind direction and speed (if, for example, you place it near ground level in between two houses, you can get low or high wind speed and false direction, as the houses will slow or even increase wind speed due to a venturi effect.
@@hamradiotube That's cool, I wasn't looking to go down that rabbit hole, just wondering. I ordered one after watching your video. I like the fact that it can tie into Weather Underground. I was looking to add a weather system to my QTH so this was timely. Thanks for the discount code. I'll go online and dig up a document on optimal sensor placement for the most accurate readings. 73
@@W9HJBill Radioddity emailed me last night after the video premiered and wanted me to link the weather station to the new Raddy website. The coupon doesn't seem to work there. Try it with the $15 off coupon from Radioddity. Hopefully it will work there.
Mike this. Have the some one. Been thinking about the Needle porning device, It would be nice to have some kind of different colors so you look up air outside and switch which way the wind is blowing Ben is blowing remain the house it's kind of hard to say, And how accurate really is it. On the news it's blowing out of the South and here at the house I get nothing. Maybe I should move it to peak of the house. Oh still trying to do POTA. 73 KQ4CD
What do the people on the news know? They just guess. The peak of the house would be a prime location. You could put some colored tape on the direction thing.
I had a similar weather station, made by LaCrosse Technology. It worked very well, but longevity was an issue. I think that's an issue with most of these sort of monitoring devices that include a TON of functionality, but are built to a low price point. Thanks for the overview, Mike! 73, KO4AZY edit: Random question. Did you turn that pen yourself?
My other station is a Lacrosse. It's nice but I think i like this one better. I still have the Lacrosse and it has survived at least one MI winter and a Texas summer. We shall see how long the Raddy lasts. I think it'll be ok. As far as the pen, good catch. No I did not. Scott from Ham Radio For Non Techies: th-cam.com/users/HAMRadioForNonTechies makes them and gave that to me. Thanks for watching and 73
I bought one. Really nice. Cannot hook it up to WIFI to save my life. It shows up on my list on my iPad. But refuses to connect. Thew Manual says it will show in WLAN in settings. There IS NO WLAN in settings. It says WIFI where the manual shows WLAN. Tried about a dozen times. I open The WeatherHome network under WIFI..and it either says unable to join, or opens and says “No internet Connection”. This SHOULD not be that Difficult. I am Definitely NOT inexperienced. But this SUCKS. Everything else looks fine. Guess i I’ll fool with it again tomorrow and then send it back. TOO bad it’s that complicated. I’ve been shopping for a new weather station for years. I guess my mistake.
I used to do that too when I lived in MI. If there was snow on the ground it was cold. Now that I'm in TX, I want to know how hot it is without going outside lol!
Thank you! Just helped my grandpa set his up with this video ☺
Best reviews I've seen. No one has yet to post a negative review, so decides to purchase it.
I have the Raddy RF-L3 Multifunction Radio. It`s an incredible camping or power outage package. The glass solar panel included in the box can be used as is to power the great Sangean PR-D4W AM/FM/NOAA Weather Alert radio. To use it for certain other radios like the CCrane EP PRO the polarity has to be reversed. I bought three of the Raddys because there`s so much value included in the package and the radio itself. You get three LED light bulbs, four 18650 batteries, the nice panel, and a radio that functions as an off grid 18650 charger that can charge single cells or all four since they`re used in parallel. The radio can operate on just one or all four. With them installed it can function as a power bank. There`s a nice bright spotlight and a very bright room light built in, plus the three bulbs on long cords. It can be used as a bluetooth speaker, MP3 player, and has AM, FM, and shortwave radio.
That sounds like a pretty awesome radio. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I may have to hit them up and see if they will send me one to review.
Great review, Mike. I actually just won this little Raddy weathet station from a Radioddity contest. So, It's good to see you go through the setup. I live in a heavily wooded area, and finding an unobstructed spot is challenging. Apparently, the distance between your wifi router, display, and the sensor array has limits. I'm guessing your roof mount, router, and display are fairly close. The instructions indicate that you should change the batteries and clean the rain gauge periodically, so fence mounting may be more convenient.
It's always fun to watch you work here in Texas, especially with your buddy Jason. Thanks brother!
Thanks Mike and I always enjoy seeing what shirt you are going to wear.
Thank you Marty. I do need to get some more shirts though.
I have setup mine, almost 15 months ago. Nothing wrong all works fine until two 2 days ago: only IN-Temp, Time and external sensor worked, all on top screen no writings. I took the main unit outside and checked the batteries, they were dead. Changed into new ones. Cleaned the rain tube and sensor and the solar unit outside with a soft cloth. I put the unit back on the stand outside and checked the screen inside. Same situation, nothing changed, even when i put the screen to off and on again, removed the batteries and put them back. And there it was, all worked except the UV INDEX and sunlight reading, nothing. I don't know what i can do now.
Just got to love gadgets.... I have one from an old UK store called Maplins, several years old now. I keep looking at these WiFi connected versions.
We always need more gadgets! The wifi is nice because it allows you to connect to the station even when you're not home.
@@hamradiotube Too true.... the list is long..... at least antenna making can be cheap!!
Very cool. My Davis Vantage Vue II has performed well over the years for me, but at some point it will see it's end days. So always on the lookout for something to replace it the day that does happen. Thanks Mike for showing us this unit....cheers Fred
My pleasure Fred. I think your station probably has quite a while to go. Looks like a nice one.
HIGHLY recommend going with an Ambient Weather or Ecowitt if outside the US. My 1400-IP is going on 7 years old and works great. The WS-2902 cannot be beat for under $250-300. Absolutely THE best budget station there is imo. WS-5000 (get heater for anemometer if you get snow) if you want the best from them and accuracy rivaling the Davis Vue. It certainly compares well with my Davis VP2 6153 👍
The bubble level in my opinion should be on the bottom since it's usually mounted in an elevated position which requires the installer to be higher than the weather station in order to utilize the bubble level at all unless you use a drone. It's commonplace for weather station manufacturers to put it on the top so I wonder if they actually install their own products
That would make more sense now wouldn't it? Maybe they just think people are going to put it on a fence and be done with it?
Thanks for de VID got this station for 3 weeks now and i love it a lot...can compare it with my friend Davis vantage vue and pretty close to it!
Only thing a wanna know is, where to buy extra remote sensors WF-100C-P1 can't find anything about it.
Again thanks for the review :)
Glad to hear you are liking your station. I don't know where you can get another sensor. I just emailed my contact at Radioddity and will let you know if I hear anything.
Good review, thanks. But to be fair it's exactly the same in every respect as one I got from Amazon but it's branded as Curconsa. It works well and am happy. But there's a few identical versions kicking around
Hi Mike. I would recommend Tempest. Do a review on the Tempest weather station. This is a great video for informational purposes. Thanks Mike and 73. KI5GLT
Yes Yes Yes, absolutely agree! Of course, he was sent this for free to review but all-digital, no moving parts Tempest is the best on the market - even for us HAMmers :) 73 KJ6ER
I've not heard of Tempest but if this one fails and I need another one, I will look into that. Thanks for the tip. 73
Hey Mike great video I hope the weather station and give you good service over a long period of time. One of the things I really liked about the WeatherStation is the colored monitor that is very pleasant on the eyes.The WeatherStation I have is the Davis vantage vue and I really have enjoyed the weather station. The downside to my weather station is when I run my amplifier for some reason it gets into my weather station and gives me the wrong wind speed. And that is on HF. Thanks for the review on the weather station and I hope it again when you have a good service.
73
WD5ENH
Steve
Thanks for watching Steve. I'm very happy with the station so far. One of the first things I did was key up on VHF/UHF to see if being next to the antenna would do anything to it. So far so good. Nothing has happened on HF either. I'm not on HF very much at all at home though as the noise floor next to the power lines is so bad I wouldn't wish it on the old grouches on 80 meters so I haven't tested that out to the fullest. Overall it's been a great station.
Nice weather station!
I'm really happy with it.
lithium last super long time very cool Mike
I know. I need to get some.
I almost got one but decided to get a acu rite with lightning
Very nice review, thanks!
Thanks for watching!
I am so happy with me Davis Vantage Pro II HWS. If this thing blows up I buy anoher new HWS from Davis again.
If it blows up I hope you record it so we can see it!!
@@hamradiotube I will, just for you in slow motion 😂😂😂💯🎸👍🙋♂️
avez-vous eu un problème avec la sonde UV et solaire ? car moi ca ne s'affiche plus a l'écran!
Curious if you've ever had any interaction/testing with a WeatherFlow Tempest, got one on my Christmas list but I could be persuaded...
Also wonder if when you TX on your 2/70 radio and blast that WX wireless device with RF from that proximity if you get any connection issues between it and the base station?
I don't have any experience with the Weatherflow, no. One of the first things I did was TX on 70cm to see if it would kill the WX device and it didn't phase it. I was also concerned that it might interact with my DMR hotspot as they are both on the 433 MHz freq and so far so good. No problems at all. I'm quite pleased.
Ciao, è possibile regolare la pressione atmosferica manualmente? Grazie.
question do i need rechargable batteries in on my weather station outdoors i have regulars doyble aa battries in my weather station what do you recommend
Can’t get these shipped to America
Very informative video. Well worth $189.heres my question. Do u have to Empty the rain gauge? My unit a lacrosss has a remote rain gauge so u dont have to climb up on the roof to empty it. But this one gives so much more info
Nope, it just falls out the bottom.
Bft - Beaufort scale
in/Hg - inches of mercury
Mm/Hg - millimeters of mercury
hPa - hectopascal
Aha! Thank you good sir.
@@hamradiotube That's as far as my kite flying and aviation knowledge takes me. You're on your own for the sun scales.
Thanks for the great videos.
de W8SEG
I enjoyed the video as I am looking for a weather station for the QTH. Is the Raddy able to upload data to the CWS? I think it would be great to be able to see all the weather data from the aprs.fi map
I don't know what that is. It uploads to the weather service I show in the video.
How do these compare to acurites that have lightning sensors etc
I have recently acquired an identical model sold under a different brand name. Very happy with it except for the relative pressure reading. The absolute pressure reading is correct but the relative pressure reading is clearly incorrect since the station height lies well above sea level implying that relative pressure should always be higher than absolute pressure but in my case it is c 4hPa lower. Any body aware of any fixes ?
So what is the trick to getting it to sync with wifi?
How do I clear the rain gauge reading
In the manual, does it give a good explanation as to where you should place the unit? That is one of the biggest issues with the "global warming" kick is that there are tons of people (even so called professionals) setting up weather stations in bad locations (at the end of runways, next to air conditioners, besides parking lots, etc) that will all artificially increase the temperature readings. Same with wind direction and speed (if, for example, you place it near ground level in between two houses, you can get low or high wind speed and false direction, as the houses will slow or even increase wind speed due to a venturi effect.
Lest I get sucked down that rabbit hole, I'm just going to say no.
@@hamradiotube That's cool, I wasn't looking to go down that rabbit hole, just wondering. I ordered one after watching your video. I like the fact that it can tie into Weather Underground. I was looking to add a weather system to my QTH so this was timely. Thanks for the discount code. I'll go online and dig up a document on optimal sensor placement for the most accurate readings. 73
@@W9HJBill Radioddity emailed me last night after the video premiered and wanted me to link the weather station to the new Raddy website. The coupon doesn't seem to work there. Try it with the $15 off coupon from Radioddity. Hopefully it will work there.
@@hamradiotube Odd, it worked for me just fine.
@@W9HJBill oh ok good. I tried it and it didn’t work for me last night.
Mike this. Have the some one. Been thinking about the Needle porning device, It would be nice to have some kind of different colors so you look up air outside and switch which way the wind is blowing Ben is blowing remain the house it's kind of hard to say, And how accurate really is it.
On the news it's blowing out of the South and here at the house I get nothing. Maybe I should move it to peak of the house. Oh still trying to do POTA.
73 KQ4CD
What do the people on the news know? They just guess. The peak of the house would be a prime location. You could put some colored tape on the direction thing.
@@hamradiotube how reliable is the level. I do live in the country and alot of trees and point it South for more sun. I pointed my North and South.
Where can you get these ?
Cool box!
Hey Chris, how's it going? It's been working great for me so far.
Wish it had a lightning detector
Now can we run it through an APRS radio?
prob not easily.
Is the Wifi support only for time sync or can you push data to APRS, CWOP, etc.?
It's just for sync.
@@hamradiotube thank - 73
It looks like this one can't be connected to an APRS station.
How's it working after over a year of use, now?
Still working great.
I had a similar weather station, made by LaCrosse Technology. It worked very well, but longevity was an issue. I think that's an issue with most of these sort of monitoring devices that include a TON of functionality, but are built to a low price point.
Thanks for the overview, Mike! 73, KO4AZY
edit: Random question. Did you turn that pen yourself?
My other station is a Lacrosse. It's nice but I think i like this one better. I still have the Lacrosse and it has survived at least one MI winter and a Texas summer. We shall see how long the Raddy lasts. I think it'll be ok. As far as the pen, good catch. No I did not. Scott from Ham Radio For Non Techies: th-cam.com/users/HAMRadioForNonTechies makes them and gave that to me. Thanks for watching and 73
There are so many idk which to get
How close are you to those lines? This video is making me nervous!
Lol, not close enough to hurt me, but close enough to kill any chance of having a low noise floor on HF.
Great review Mike! On my wish list now. Thank you 👍- KE8QPI
Thanks for watching!
I wish it had lightning strikes
I bought one. Really nice. Cannot hook it up to WIFI to save my life. It shows up on my list on my iPad. But refuses to connect. Thew Manual says it will show in WLAN in settings. There IS NO WLAN in settings. It says WIFI where the manual shows WLAN. Tried about a dozen times. I open The WeatherHome network under WIFI..and it either says unable to join, or opens and says “No internet Connection”. This SHOULD not be that Difficult. I am Definitely NOT inexperienced. But this SUCKS. Everything else looks fine. Guess i
I’ll fool with it again tomorrow and then send it back. TOO bad it’s that complicated. I’ve been shopping for a new weather station for years. I guess my mistake.
mmhg is millimeters of mercury
73 de PY1PC
🔝😀🔝
WOW nice weather station. Your videos are always very informative. Dr KN4CBS
Thank you very much!
Nice review ! 73 NM5SP
thank you
I just look outside……
I used to do that too when I lived in MI. If there was snow on the ground it was cold. Now that I'm in TX, I want to know how hot it is without going outside lol!
I just use a rock on a string.
Ah yes, the old tried and true method haha! I used to just use a rock. If it was wet, it was raining. If it was dry, it wasn't raining.
awesome video very helpful just purchased my raddy wf-100c your video helped me out thank you 73''s KE6CZH
Excellent.
Why?
Try Bud Dry.
Itdcorsck