If you'd prefer a weather forecast, a pressure trend indication, and audible storm alarms along with basic temperature and humidity information, the Speedtech Instruments Forecastmate gives you all of this and more. This weather station is just under 7 inches tall by 4 inches wide, so it will fit in all but the tightest locations. You can hang the Forecastmate on a wall or place it on a desk, shelf, or table, and get both accurate weather information and the precise time at a glance.

The top line of the Forecastmate's 4-line LCD panel contains a weather forecast icon and a barometric pressure trend arrow. The forecast icon is the largest item displayed, at about 1 inch tall by 2 inches wide except for the Sunny icon, which has no clouds. The second line of the LCD panel shows the channel number of the selected remote sensor/transmitter and the outdoor (or other remote location) temperature reported by that remote unit. The third line shows the indoor temperature and relative humidity. The fourth line shows the time and calendar information. Temperature and humidity digits are over 3/8 inch tall except for tenths of a degree, which are smaller. Hour and minute digits are over 1/2 inch tall, while seconds and calendar information are smaller.

The Forecastmate can display any of 5 different weather forecast icons: Sunny, Partly Cloudy, Cloudy, Rainy, and Stormy. The forecast is for the next 12 to 24 hours and is about 75% accurate. You can maximize the forecast accuracy by telling the station what the current weather condition is--that is, you can select the icon that matches the current condition. This will offset the variation in barometric pressure at different altitudes. The forecast icons are actually kinetic, and this is really cool. As I am looking at the Forecastmate right now, the Partly Cloudy icon is cycling through four different graphic variations. And just wait until you see the Stormy icon. When it appears, you also get a storm alarm. The Storm icon flashes continuously, the backlight comes on for 5 seconds, and a 10-second audible alarm sounds 3 times unless you press a button (any button, actually) to stop it.

The pressure trend arrow to the left of the forecast icon indicates the barometric pressure trend for the past 30 minutes. An up arrow tells you the weather is expected to improve. A horizontal arrow indicates no change is expected. A down arrow tells you the weather is expected to worsen.

The Forecastmate displays the current indoor and outdoor temperatures in your choice of °F or °C and the current indoor relative humidity in percent. The station keeps a record of the minimum and maximum indoor and outdoor temperatures it has recorded since its memory was last reset, and you can view these at the push of a button. You can also set high and low temperature alerts for the main unit (indoor temperature) and for any or all of the remotes in use (Channels 1, 2, and 3). If the temperature goes above the high alert threshold or below the low alert threshold, the station beeps and the high or low temperature alert icon flashes.

As mentioned above, the Forecastmate comes with 1 remote transmitter and can operate with up to 3. Additional remotes are optional and can be ordered separately. For this station, the included remote comes with a detachable probe on a 6-foot wire. With the probe attached, you can monitor the temperature in pools, spas, soil, etc. Also, in very cold temperatures, you can also extend the probe out of a window while keeping the remote indoors. Doing this will ensure the best performance in cold weather because the remote uses AAA batteries, which are not available as lithium cells. (Alkaline batteries lose power in sub-freezing temperatures, while lithium batteries are good to about -40°F/-40°C.) The remote has its own LCD temperature display in °F for local viewing. An included snap-on bracket with fold-out stand allows the remote to be hung on a wall or placed on a flat surface.

By the way, you should be aware that for this station, you insert batteries into the main unit first and then into the remotes in the order you want them to register as Channel 1, Channel 2, and Channel 3. The manufacturer's instructions are clear on this, but since other brands of weather stations require that batteries be installed in a remote first and then the main unit, we figure that we'd better mention it here.

The Forecastmate's highly accurate quartz clock can display the local time, plus hour-offset time for a second time zone, in 12-hour or 24-hour mode. The clock features dual daily alarms with an available 8-minute snooze function. The SNOOZE/LIGHT button also lights the electro-luminescent LCD panel backlight for 5 seconds. Please note that the clock in the Forecastmate is not an atomic (radio-controlled) clock. The calendar can be set for year 2001 to 2050 and for month/date or date/month format. The two-letter weekday abbreviation can be displayed in your choice of 5 languages: English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish.

A removable table stand allows the Speedtech Forecastmate to be used as a freestanding unit or mounted on a wall. With its convenient size, handsome styling, and generous feature complement, the Forecastmate is perfect for home and office applications alike.

• Integral quartz clock is manually set and has dual daily alarms with 8-minute snooze function.
  Note: The Forecastmate's specifications in the instruction manual state that the clock is radio-controlled with quartz backup, but this is incorrect. The clock is a conventional quartz digital clock, not an "atomic" clock.
• Time display can be set for local time plus hour-offset time for a second time zone.
• Time is user-selectable for 12-hour or 24-hour mode with numeric hour, minute, and seconds.
• Calendar display is selectable for month/date or date/month format.
• Weekday abbreviation can be displayed in any of 5 languages: English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish. 
• Station simultaneously displays weather forecast, pressure trend, outdoor/remote temperature for a selected channel, indoor temperature, and time/month/date/weekday.
• Time is displayed in bold digits over 1/2 inch tall, and temperatures and indoor humidity are displayed in bold digits over 3/8 inch tall (except for tenths of a degree and calendar information, which are smaller).
• Main station's large 4-line LCD panel has a 5-second auto-off electro-luminescent backlight for night viewing.
• Both a kinetic forecast icon (Sunny, Partly Cloudy, Cloudy, Rainy, or Stormy) and a pressure trend arrow are displayed at the top of the LCD panel.
• Audible storm warning is given when Stormy icon is displayed.
• Temperature indications on main station are selectable for either °F or °C.
• Main unit can receive and display temperatures from up to three remote transmitters.
• With multiple remotes in use, station's auto-scroll feature can be activated to display the temperature from each remote in Channel 1-2-3 order. 
• Station records minimum and maximum temperatures (indoor and for all remotes in use) it has measured since its last reset. These can be displayed at the push of a button.
• High and low audible temperature alerts can be set for main station (indoor temperature) and for all remotes in use.
• One remote temperature transmitter is included; additional transmitters are optional and sold separately.
• Remote has its own LCD display (°F) for local viewing and a detachable probe for use in pools, spas, soil, etc., or in extreme cold temperatures.
• Station is powered by two AA (1.5V) alkaline batteries (not included), with average life of about 1 year.
• Remote transmitter is powered by two AAA (1.5V) alkaline batteries (not included, with average life of about 6 months.
• Low-battery indications are provided for main unit and remote(s) in use
• Both main unit and remote can be wall mounted or placed on a flat surface.

Specifications:

• Displayed indoor temperature range:
  +32° to +122°F (0° to +50°C)
• Recommended remote sensor operating temperature range:
  • For sensor with LCD display (the included model):
    32° to 122°F (0° to +50°C)
  • For sensor without LCD display:
    -4° to 122°F (-20° to +50°C)
  • For detachable outdoor probe:
    -58° to +158°F (-50° to +70°C)
• Temperature resolution:
  • Main station: 0.1°F/0.1°C
  • Remote sensor: 0.1°F
• Temperature accuracy: +/-2°F (+/-1°C)
• Temperature checking intervals:
  Indoor: every 10 seconds
  Outdoor: every 30 seconds
• Displayed indoor relative humidity range: 20 to 99% RH
• Humidity accuracy: +/-5%
• Transmission interval from remote sensor: every 10 seconds
• Transmission frequency: 433.92 MHz
• Transmission range: 100 feet (30 meters) maximum in open space with no interference.
  Note: The specifications on the station's package say 80 feet (24 meters), but the specifications in the instruction manual say 30 meters. We are going with the figure in the instruction manual.
• Station dimensions:
  3.875 inches (98.4 mm) wide
  6.75 inches (171.5 mm) high (with or without stand)
  1.25 inches (39.7 mm) deep without stand
  3.5 inches (88.9 mm) deep with stand
• Remote sensor dimensions:
  2.31 inches (58.7 mm) wide
  3.44 inches (87.4 mm) high
  0.56 inch (14.2 mm) deep without mounting bracket/stand
  0.93 inch (23.6 mm) deep with bracket in place and stand not extended
  2.5 inches (63.5 mm) deep with bracket in place and stand extended