Oh! I LOVE it!

I could sit in the warm and cozy, and not need to run out into the dark and cold to check to see if everything is okay.

Where did you get your nifty gadget?

If I buy one, will you answer my pleas on how to install and use it?

I just use an indoor/outdoor thermometer. The outdoor sensor sits in the GH. Cost was under $15.00 Works very well to let me know what's happening in there and can be set to let me know when hi's and low's I program are reached. A very annoying alarm goes off. Got mine at Walmart.

MollyD

I ordered an Oregon Scientific for this purpose. My GH is about 150' from the house. Even with the range extender, it did not work. I could sometimes get a signal if I took the base unit out on the back porch, but it did not work at all with the base unit inside.

I sent it back.

What kind of unit do you have?

Mine has an alarm on it to warn me if temperatures go below the setting in the greenhouse

I have one, that I have had for 4 years or so. Its wireless, and reaches 300 feet. 2 or 3 channels with alarms. Its great.

The range extender on the one I sent back was supposed to ADD 300' to the reach of the original unit. It still didn't work.

If someone can point me to a unit whose signal will go through tempered glass, across 150' of unobstructed yard, and through a kitchen window, I'd be most appreciative.

The brand is Lacrosse Technology and the model number is WS-9029; the dual sensor that came with it is a TX-25U. It's supposed to have a transmission range of 330', but that gets decreased if it has to go through several walls. I've got it on my desk on the end of the house that is closest to the greenhouse: the signal has to come through tempered glass in my greenhouse, travel about 100', and pass through a double pane window to get to my desk. I've had no problem getting a signal, although if I went to the other end of the house with the receiving unit, I suspect that it might drop the signal because of the multiple walls. If you have trouble finding it at a good price, email me and I'll tell you where I ordered it.

The past two years I have been using one from Radio Shack.
First one went bad at 8 months and I had paid for extended warranty so I got another one. This one is still working but I fear it will fail because I never have had much luck with radio shack products. Don't know how good they are but they sell these at wal-mart for less than 20 bucks.
I assumed that everyone had one of these, I can't imagine not having one.

The one I have says 100 ft which for me was plenty. No problem getting the signal anywhere in my house and on either level.
Don't remember the brand. As I said it's a Walmart cheepee.

MollyD

>Posted by stressbaby z6 MO (My Page) on Wed, Dec 6, 06 at 21:27

>If someone can point me to a unit whose signal will go through tempered glass, across 150' of unobstructed yard, and through a kitchen window, I'd be most appreciative.

The absence of physical obstructions suggests that your problem may be RF interference/noise of some sort. My thought is that if you can find a system that operates at a (much) different frequency than the one you tried that DIDN'T work, maybe you can evade the interference (if my hunch is right). Another obvious thing to try is to temporarily turn-off power to everything in the immediate locale (fridge, telephones, etc.) and try it again.

Wireless phones that operate at 900MHz, 2.4GHz, 5.8GHz can wreak havoc on some devices. It could even be a neighbor's interference I suppose--anyway that's most likely what you're dealing with.

Thanks, lasarfan! We have a phone right there that is at 5.8GHz and a router on the computer that is 2.4GHz...all within 10 feet of where I placed the base. I don't recall the frequency of the weather station, it wasn't exactly the same. But do I understand you correctly, that even though the frequencies aren't the same, I could still suffer with interference?

stressbaby - yes, even tho they're all different freq's, they could still be interfering w/ other wireless devices.

Ilsa

2.54 GHz devices are usually spread-spectrum, which is fairly immune to interference, but the channel itself is full of noise from domestic microwaves. Water(fog, water vapour) also attenuates the signal quite quickly.

The system I originally posted about is 912 Mhz, so that could be interfered with by 900 Mhz phones. However, the 900 Mhz standard is an older one, right?

technically they shouldn't interfere if they are in different bands (that's what bands are for), but because frequencies around 900MHz are relatively clear and unattentuated (think foggy for microwaves) I suspect that manufacturers tend to be a little more sloppy. 2.54GHz is completely unforgiving to non-noise immune devices, so manufacturers have to put in some work to make things reliable.

>Posted by stressbaby z6 MO (My Page) on Thu, Dec 7, 06 at 16:00

>But do I understand you correctly, that even though the frequencies aren't the same, I could still suffer with interference?

Well, perhaps diff. freq. devices SHOULDN'T interfere, but you just never know with electrical products made for home use--they are capable of spewing-out all sorts of junk. If it were my gizmo, I'd at least see if turning-off other stuff meant it would work, then maybe turn things on one-by-one to see if you can ID the offensive device.

Stressbaby,
Oregon Scientific makes many different models. Mine is for a greenhouse 150 ft from the monitor. Dsl wireless router, wireless telephones, cell phones, etc, no problems. It operates at 433 mhz. Model JTR168LR
( I assume the "lr" refers to long range.

Would someone who knows about these things please go to the Oregon Scientific website and help me choose which remote sensor would best work for me?

I went to the site to look, and was lost.

100 ft. should be plenty far enough and I could it set up on a window sill that faces my GH, with no radio, TV or telephone in between.

The signal would have to pass through 3 panes of glass, but if angeled just so, it would otherwise have a clear line of sight to the GH.

I know some signals mess up TV reception. We always know if we forgot to turn off the electric fence when we sit down to watch the 6 pm News. Would the fence have the same effect on the sensor?

You can get one at RadioShack with 300 feet.

There are many other devices than can also cause RF interferance. Electric Fences, Electric Fans, Electric Heaters, Of course any wireless devices, but it is the electric motors, transformers, et all that we tend to forget.

I have been trying to track down some wireless interfearance that began about 6 months ago, happens only on Tuesday Nights, from 8PM til about 4 AM... it is driving me nuts

We have an Invisible Fence, too. It sounds as if there may be several sources of interference. Maybe I'll go get the Radio Shack version and play with it a little more.