Update on the WMR100N

Yesterday I was about to call technical support at Oregon Scientific, however reviewing their website (http://au.oregonscientific.com/service/faq.asp?t=1&cid=3) it recommends before contacting them to check their FAQ section, which I did. I found an interesting section that might be of interest related to my intermitant reception.

How can I effectively set up my weather station’s main unit with a sensor?

To get the optimum signal connections, the main unit and the sensors need to be “in line of site” within the specified range. Also the interference by other electronic equipment and weak batteries can cause drop outs or wrong readings.

 I thought: "That is odd, I didn't see that in the manual, I'll check again". Well I did check again and in the literature that came in the box with the installation instructions regarding positioning of the sensors it made no reference to the "line of sight" aspect, though at the end of the manual it says in the "Specifications" section it say in the "RF Transmission"  sub-section the the range is "up to 100 meters (328 feet) with no obstructions with no obstructions"

Being an Electronic Engineer specialist in Telecommunications, this might make sense, however one would normally consider that you would have the necessary sensors outside and the base equipment stations inside, that there would naturally be obstructions and that "line of sight" would be interrupted. Now in my house it is not like I have lead walls. The specified 433 MHz, within the microwave and more specifically UHF range, does have a reasonable amount of penetration power. My house is made of brick, but it is not very thick.

What I might try doing, is getting it as close as I can to Line of Sight and no obstructions, which is putting next to the window, however it doesn't sound right that I should be going that much out of my way for a simple weather station.