The WS-1000 Maverick Wireless Weather Station with Atomic Clock is a full-featured wireless weather instrument with an integral atomic alarm clock. In addition to the time, the WS-1000 displays the month, date, and weekday along with indoor and outdoor temperatures and humidity, an animated weather forecast icon, current or historic barometric pressure with 24-hour history bar graph and trend arrow, and rainfall rate or amount history. Outdoor temperature and humidity data and rainfall data are transmitted to the main station from the included thermo-hygro remote sensor and self-emptying rain collector, respectively. We think you'll like the WS-1000's display. The internally textured LCD panel is transparent so that all displayed information seems to float within it. Also, the LCD panel is continuously backlit in blue, and you can adjust the brightness. Although the WS-1000 has many features and functions, its straightforward programming procedures and a quality Owner's Manual make this weather station easy to set up and use. (You'll find the Owner's Manual tucked into a holder on the underside of the cover of the plastic foam packaging.)

The WS-1000 displays the time as hour, minutes, and seconds in the top section of its three-section LCD panel. To the right of the time, the month and date are displayed digitally in that order. Directly below the month and date is a three-letter weekday abbreviation in English. The year (2004 through 2099) is displayed only during manual clock setup, which is optional. A radio tower and waves icon above clock seconds flashes when the WS-1000 is searching for the WWVB 60kHz time-synchronization radio signal from the U.S atomic clock in Colorado and is displayed steadily along with WAVE OK directly below it when the signal is received.

The indoor and outdoor temperatures and relative humidity are displayed in the middle section of the main station's LCD panel. You can select °F or °C as the temperature unit at any time. The outdoor thermo-hygro  remote included with the WS-1000 is semi-metallic silver in color and has its own display for local viewing. You can select either temperature (in °F or °C) or humidity to be displayed, or you can option the remote to scroll between temperature and humidity. Like all outdoor thermo and thermo-hygro remotes, this one is splash resistant but not waterproof. It should be mounted in a location where it is sheltered from direct sunlight and direct rain and snow. The main station refreshes the data from the remote every 3 minutes.

You can display the maximum and minimum indoor and outdoor temperatures and humidity recorded by the WS-1000 since the last temperature and humidity memory reset. This is done by pressing the MAX/MIN button on the main station. Maximum and minimum values are displayed for 5 seconds, after which the display returns to the current values.

The bottom section of the WS-1000's LCD panel shows the forecast and pressure trend, the barometric pressure and its history, and the rainfall amount and its history. The weather forecast is for the next 6 hours, and any one of five animated icons is displayed: Sunny, Partly Cloudy, Cloudy, Rainy (which predicts snow in cold weather), and Stormy. The Stormy icon is displayed only when a sudden and dramatic drop in atmospheric pressure occurs. An up arrow above the word FORECAST to the left of the animated icon indicates rising pressure and predicts improving weather. A down arrow below FORECAST indicates falling pressure and predicts worsening weather. When no arrow is displayed above or below FORECAST, this indicates steady or nearly steady pressure and predicts that the weather will remain unchanged.

To the right of the forecast icon, the current barometric pressure is displayed digitally. You can select mb (millibars), inHg (inches of mercury), mmHg (millimeters of mercury), or hPa (hectopascals) as the pressure unit. You can also press the main station's HISTORY button repeatedly to display the average pressure of the previous day, week, month, and season. These averages are displayed for 5 seconds. Season 1 is January 1 through March 31, Season 2 is April 1 through June 30, Season 3 is July 1 through September 30, and Season 4 is October 1 through December 31. The daily average is updated every day at 12:00 a.m. The weekly average is updated every Sunday at 12:00 a.m. The monthly average is updated on the first day of each month at 12:00 a.m. The season average is updated on the first day of each season at 12:00 a.m.

The barometric pressure bar graph shows pressure changes over the last 24 hours. Specifically, the graph shows the difference between the pressure at the indicated times and the 24-hour pressure average. The maximum difference that can be displayed is +/-6mb.

To the right of the pressure display and graph is the rainfall display. You can view the average rainfall rate in inches or millimeters per hour, and you can also view the rainfall total for the previous day, week, month, and season in inches or millimeters. The totals are displayed by pressing the HISTORY button and are shown for 5 seconds. Updates occur as described above for barometric pressure.

The atomic clock in the WS-1000 displays the time in 12-hour format with AM or PM, or in 24-hour format. The clock is factory-set to automatically change for Daylight Saving Time. If you live in an area that does not observe Daylight Saving Time (Arizona and parts of Indiana), you can simply press the DST ON-OFF button to disable the automatic time changes. As mentioned above, successful reception of the time-synchronization radio signal is indicated by a radio tower and waves icon and WAVE OK below it. After time synchronization occurs, you select your continental U.S. time zone (PST, MST, CST, or DST) by means of the station's TIME ZONE button. PST is the factory-default selection. The DST ON or OFF status and the selected time zone abbreviation are displayed to the right of the reception icon and WAVE OK indication.

The clock has a single daily alarm that can be set with or without the snooze function. When the alarm only is turned on, an alarm icon appears below the colon (:) that separates hour and minutes. When the alarm with snooze is turned on, Zz also appears above the colon. With alarm on and snooze off, the alarm beeps for 1 minute unless you press the SNOOZE/LIGHT bar to turn it off earlier. With alarm and snooze on, the alarm beeps for 1 minute unless you press the SNOOZE/LIGHT bar to turn it off. If you let the alarm sound for 1 minute, it turns off automatically for 5 minutes and then repeats every 5 minutes until you turn it off. If you press the SNOOZE/LIGHT bar while the alarm is sounding, it turns off and sounds again 5 minutes later.

All pushbuttons and other controls on the WS-1000 are located on the top and sides of the base for easy access. We think that this weather forecast station is quite good-looking, and we really like the neon blue color and adjustable brightness of the display backlight.

The WS-1000 main station is designed for free-standing use on a table, shelf, or desk in your home or office or on a nightstand at home. The thermo-hygro remote has an integral fold-out table stand for free-standing use and a separate wall-mounting bracket. Depending on the mounting location, you can secure the bracket with screws or two-sided tape (both are included). The rain collector (which is black in color) is a free-standing unit. It must be located on an absolutely horizontal surface, and it can be secured with the included screws and washers if desired.

The WS-1000 main station is powered from an included ac adapter. The main station also uses four AAA batteries for backup in case of ac power failure. When the main station is operating on batteries, the continuous backlight is disabled, but time and temperature information remain displayed and the backlight goes on when for 3 seconds when you press the SNOOZE/LIGHT bar. The remote temperature sensor and the rain collector are each powered by two AA batteries. All batteries are included, and those for the rain collector are preinstalled. By the way, when you replace the batteries in the rain collector, you'll need a precision screwdriver to remove six screws that secure the battery compartment cover. We found that a 000 Phillips screwdriver works well for this.

With handsome styling, lots of useful features, and a really cool display, the Maverick WS-1000 Weather Station makes a great gift. And don't forget to get one for yourself! This product comes with a manufacturer's limited 1-year warranty.

Features:

• Clock sets automatically to WWVB (60 kHz) radio signal from U.S. atomic clock in Colorado. Manual setting is also possible.
• Radio tower and waves icon with WAVE OK below indicates WWVB signal reception.
• Hour, minutes, seconds, month, date, and weekday are continuously displayed.
• Time format is user-selectable for 12-hour with AM or PM, or 24-hour.
• Single daily alarm beeps for 1 minute and can be set with or without 5-minute snooze function active.
• Indoor and outdoor temperatures in °F or °C and relative humidity in % are simultaneously displayed on main station.
• Outdoor temperature in °F or °C or outdoor humidity in % can be displayed on remote sensor/transmitter, or display can be optioned to alternate (scroll) between temperature and humidity.
• Indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity memory allows minimum and maximum values recorded since last memory reset to be displayed at any time.
• One of five animated weather forecast icons is displayed: Sunny, Partly Cloudy, Cloudy, Rainy, or Stormy.
• Weather forecast is for 6 hours.
• Current barometric pressure is displayed digitally in mb, inHg, mmHg, or hPa.
• Average pressure for previous day, week, month, and season can also be displayed digitally.
• Pressure bar graph shows deviations from average pressure for the last 24 hours.
• Rainfall rate in inches or millimeters per hour is shown digitally.
• Rainfall totals for previous day, week, month, and season can also be displayed digitally.
• One of five animated weather forecast icons is displayed: Sunny, Partly Cloudy, Cloudy, Rainy, or Stormy.
• Weather forecast is for 6 hours.
• A barometric pressure trend arrow is displayed next to the forecast icon.
• 433 MHz radio-frequency transmission of data from thermo-hygro remote and rain collector to main station.
• Maximum transmission range of thermo-hygro remote and rain collector is 100 feet (30 meters).
• Main station's transparent LCD panel is continuously backlit in neon blue color, and brightness is adjustable.
• Main station is free-standing. Remote can be free-standing or, with included bracket installed, wall-mounted.
• AC adapter and all required batteries are included. Batteries are preinstalled in rain collector.

Specifications:

Temperature:

• Indoor and outdoor measuring range: -2.2°F to +158°F (-19°C to +70°C)

• Indoor resolution: 1°F / 0.5°C

• Outdoor resolution (main station and remote sensor): 0.2°F / 0.1°C

Relative Humidity:

• Indoor measuring range: 20% to 95%

• Outdoor measuring range: 10% to 95%

• Indoor and outdoor resolution (main station and remote sensor): 1%

Rain Gauge:

• Measuring range: 0.02 inch/hour to 10 inches/hour (rates less than 0.02 inch/hour show 0.00 inch/hour)

• Resolution: 0.01 inch/hour

Barometric Pressure:

• Measuring range: 23.48 inHg to 31.01 inHg (795 mb to 1050 mb)

• Resolution: 0.03 inHg (1mb)

Power and Physical:

• Power requirements: Main station is powered from included ac adapter (120Vac 60Hz input, 7.5Vdc 300mA output, center positive plug). Main station also requires four AAA (1.5 V) batteries for ac power-failure backup. Thermo-hygro remote and rain collector each require two AA (1.5V) batteries. All eight batteries are included, and those for the rain collector are preinstalled.
• Main station dimensions:
  • 4-7/8 inches (124 mm) high
  • 7-7/8 inches (200 mm) wide
  • 4 inches (102 mm) deep at base
• Remote thermo-hygro sensor dimensions (without wall-mounting bracket):
  • 3-7/8 inches (98 mm) high
  • 2-3/4 inches (70 mm) in diameter (maximum at base)
  • 1 inch (25 mm) deep
• Rain collector dimensions:
  • 5-3/8 inches (137 mm) high
  • 4-3/4 inches (121 mm) in diameter at base
  • The four mounting legs on the base each extend out an additional 1/2 inch (13 mm), so overall diameter is 5-3/4 inches (146 mm).