Right, the outdoor unit comes with three AA rechargeable batteries.
The setup works like this:
I’m running on a Mac, too. The box came with one of those mini-CDs, but I went to the Ambient Weather site and downloaded their “Mac IP Tool”. This tool will find the ObserverIP box on your network and let you update the firmware. After you’ve done that, you can use Safari to configure the ObserverIP and to view live readings from the outdoor sensor.
I use the awesome tool @Gene created to sync the data from Weather Underground over to PWSweather.com. It doesn’t require that my Mac stay on 24/7.
Yeah, I see that now. Once you’ve setup everything, the weather stations uploads to the Weather Underground and then it’s synced to PWSweather all without a computer. I like that. Any subscription fees involved in this?
Well, all without your computer. If you read about @Gene’s service, it does require that the sync command be run every three minutes, but he recommends a free web service that allows you to set that up happen automatically.
Here (link) is the original introduction, probably way more information (such as source code) then you were looking for.
Here (link) is a more friendly introduction to wufyi.com, a site where I host the above mentioned source code. You can use it for free (without setting up your own web-host).
Cheers,
Gene
P.S. Saw your edit as I was about to post, decided to post anyway. Glad you were able to find the info.
I have the 5-in-1 Accurite and it works like a champ with Gene’s script and my Rachio. However rachio support says it doesn’t report forecast data so the rachio won’t preempt a watering based on forecast. Not sure if this is true or not as my system has never preempted before as I’ve never had a forecast that should cause it to.
To illustrate my knowledge of PWS, can these things really predict? I know they gather data but I have been presuming that Rachio would use the data from the PWS to know what happened and from the official forecasts to predict the weather. I’ve been wrong many times before.
Gene, how well do you like your Accurite? How’s the build quality
Yeah mine shows Forecasting too. I wonder why the Rachio support chick said otherwise. Anyhow, I am curious what the forecasted data has to be for the Rachio to say, “Nope, I’m not watering today”. Is that something that the user can change?
@jangell2 Overall I’m very pleased with Accurite, mainly because I discovered a better calibration procedure for rain sensor, which is the most important data a PWS can provide to Rachio. Other (more professional) stations make it difficult to calibrate their rain sensors, leaving it up to their customers to trust that factory calibration was correct and will remain so. https://support.acurite.com/acurite/topics/better-5-in-1-rain-calibration-procedure?topic-reply-list[settings][filter_by]=all&topic-reply-list[settings][reply_id]=18549737#reply_18494611
Build quality is sufficient for my needs, outdoor sensor is compact and from what I can see, serviceable (worn / damaged parts can be replaced). Overall, due to cost, I can afford to get a new one at least a few more times (if needed) before the cost would match something which is better built.
A PWS, by itself, is not designed to be a good forecaster. By nature a forecast needs to compare data from different locations to detect weather fronts, pressure differences and historical trends. One station will not know how the local data compares to the surroundings and weather forecasting is usually done on a very powerful servers / "super"computers.
How does Rain Skip work?
Rain Skip checks the weather 1 hour before your watering schedule starts. Anytime the rainfall threshold is met using observed + forecasted rainfall (rainfall in the last 24 + future 24 hours), the watering schedule is skipped.
Is the Accurite you have, one of the three stations I’ve listed above? I will be mounting the station either on an external wall. Does Accurite make mounting hardware? Does it matter what side of the house it is mounted on. East, South, etc facing?
I’m full of questions because I’m close to overcoming the WAF.
I was checking out the Acurite for $139 and I noticed the solar panels only run small fans. I think the stations has AA batteries, is that what powers the internet connection?
@jangell2 - the Accurite sensor array communicates to the Observer IP which is powered by AC in the house. The Observer IP device is what sends the weather information to Weather Underground.
The solar panel on the Accurite sensor array is to keep the internal batteries charged up, so the batteries can handle night time and cloudy days.
@DLane is describing Ambient Weather WS-1400-IP, not Acurite (easy mistake to make ).
Acurite uses something similar to Observer IP, they call theirs SmartHub, and not every model comes with one (see my original reply in this thread). This little adapter connects to the wired Ethernet and to the Acurite 5-in-1 sensor, which by itself can’t connect to the internet/wifi.
5-in-1 family of sensors does not come with rechargeable batteries, and @jangell2 is right that solar panels only power the fan to keep temperature closer to ambient. They actually advise against rechargeable batteries, because they are supposedly can’t work well at low temperatures. Personally I think they simply didn’t want to deal with sharper voltage drop when the rechargeable batteries are low on power.
My batteries have worked well so far (haven’t had to replace them yet), but because they are not rechargeable by the sensor, I would advise against installing the sensor high up (somewhere not easily serviceable).
Personally I have mine mounted on a fence, about 6ft off the ground. In order to have an accurate wind and rain measurements, you should try providing as much clearance above the sensor as possible, so do not install it right next to the wall and be careful if installing it on the roof.
My Acurite unit came with 5-in-1, HD display and SmartHub, setup similar to the first version you posted. HD display is rarely used, I mostly use apps on my phone.
Here is a nice deal (link) for the AcuRite weather station I got.
The picture is a little off (shows a regular 5-in-1 sensor, not pro), but description does list a pro version of 5-in-1 sensor, HD display and My AcuRite Remote Monitoring (SmartHub). For $130, it is hard to beat.
You can check Question and Answer section to confirm that the picture is wrong and that it comes with a hub.
If you read about 
From what I see, forecast seems to work without issues.
).