Oregon Scientific

[Dale Dervin]

In December I purchased an Oregon Scientific wireless weather station
as a gift for my mother in use for her greenhouse. I purchased it
online from Charley's Greenhouse Supply. The thing is a total peice
of crap. I don't know if the problem is in the remote sensor or
where, but repeated contacts with their so called technical support
haven't helped a bit. I've been told to "reset" both the sensor and
the base unit and have done so about 150,000 times. The unit is plain
UNRELIABLE and it wasn't cheap.

Now I've received an RMA to send the thing in with a one month turn
around time. Searches on newsgroups tell me I'll be lucky to get it
back.

If you are in the market for a weather station, I'd advise you to
avoid Oregon Scientific products.

Also, through my research, here is information they seemingly don't
want you to know;

Oregon Scientific, Inc.
10950 S.W. 5th Street, Suite #275
Beaverton, OR 97005

1-503-646-9806
1-503-641-8015 FAX
1-800-869-7779

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On 23 Mar 2004 08:41:49 -0800, misc@dataflowtechnologiesinc.com (Dale
Dervin) wrote:

In December I purchased an Oregon Scientific wireless weather station
as a gift for my mother in use for her greenhouse. I purchased it
online from Charley's Greenhouse Supply. The thing is a total peice
of crap. I don't know if the problem is in the remote sensor or
where, but repeated contacts with their so called technical support
haven't helped a bit. I've been told to "reset" both the sensor and
the base unit and have done so about 150,000 times. The unit is plain
UNRELIABLE and it wasn't cheap.

What model?
What was the exact failure mode?
Over what distance were you trying to communicate?
How many solid walls were you trying to penetrate?
Are there any nearby high power transmitters?
Was the alleged problem immediately evident or did it deteriorate?
Does her greenhouse have a condensation problem?
Did you try listening to 433.925 on a scanner?

If you're going to waste time trashing a company, you should supply
specifics, numbers, details, and something better than "total peice of
crap."

For what it's worth, I have a few "Springfield" wireless thermometers.
Methinks it's the same chipset as Oregon Scientific. The transmitter
craps out at about 70% battery charge while the thermometer section
keeps working until the battery finally dies. Range with a new
battery is about 30ft with no obstructions. Just before the
transmitter dies (because of 70% battery charge) the range is down to
10ft. Yeah, they're junk, but cheeep.


--
Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
(831)421-6491 pgr (831)336-2558 home
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS
jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us jeffl@cruzio.com

 

[Fred Bloggs]

Dale Dervin wrote:

In December I purchased an Oregon Scientific wireless weather station
as a gift for my mother in use for her greenhouse. I purchased it
online from Charley's Greenhouse Supply. The thing is a total peice
of crap. I don't know if the problem is in the remote sensor or
where, but repeated contacts with their so called technical support
haven't helped a bit. I've been told to "reset" both the sensor and
the base unit and have done so about 150,000 times. The unit is plain
UNRELIABLE and it wasn't cheap.

Well then that sounds like an opportunity. Break it open, reverse
engineer the design, and make it better. Be sure to come back here and
post the details of the (typical) shoddy design flaw(s)- or would that
be too constructive for you....