Reddit mentions of Ivation Long Range Wireless Thermometer - Remote BBQ, Smoker, Grill, Oven, Meat Thermometer - Monitors Food from Up to 300 Feet Away (Large White Magnet)

If you absolutely have to stay under $50 then go with this..

http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-Remote-Smoker-Thermometer-ET-73/dp/B0000DIU49

If you want to spend a little more get this one...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FM8DJHQ?psc=1



I own that first one and i've never had any problems with it. It's the older model (that's why it's cheaper) but the thing has been rock solid for me. You cant go wrong with Maverick. They're commonly recommended for a reason.

Whatever you choose make sure it's a wireless one. I can sit my ass on the couch and watch the game and know exactly what's going on outside. It's great!

I have a different redi chek and the range is huge I think it is like 100m (300ft), way more than I ever need. I have the smoker on the back deck and keep the receiver with me in the basement on the other side of the house and rarely lose signal

This is what I have (I only paid $60 for mine)

But it looks like there is a new version out HERE

1. Dial thermometers suck. You're going to want a real bbq thermometer eventually anyway, so prep for it. Don't put in a dial thermometer, put in a weldless bulkhead instead of your third support bolt for the upper grate. This lets you string your thermometer probes into the side of the smoker directly below the upper grate, which keeps as much of the probe lead out of the smoker as possible (less tangly and less muck on your expensive electronics). I say replace the third bolt because the more things you have sticking into the inside of your smoker, the more difficult it is to quickly put in/remove grates (that was version 1).
   
2. Unless you really need your smokey joe to do high temp grilling in addition to being a smoker base, get the Smokey Joe Gold. Then, get a pair of malleable black iron plugs and screw them in instead of adding one of the dampers. This is mostly just to seal it up - one less potential uncontrollable air ingress.
   
3. Use pressure washers on your other two upper grate support bolts (under the head, on the exterior of the smoker). These will keep the bolts from loosening, which is bad for two reasons: first, they're not stable for your grates (and hot, heavy meat is not a good thing to have fall) and second, ugly smoke goop leaks out onto the sides of the smoker. The fewer holes you poke in the side, the better! You should only need three - two support bolts and the bulkhead.
   
4. Make the charcoal basket they recommend. Just do it.
   
5. Take a length of leftover expanded metal from the charcoal basket and bend the ends down to get a bit more height. This can sit in the bottom of the smoker, arch over the coals/wood, and support your heat diffuser all below the bottom grate. Which gets you a whole extra grate for cooking things like drip beans on. For free, since you made the charcoal basket already, right?
   
6. Not nearly as critical as the above stuff, but you can buy extra hardware to create handles for your top grate, which makes it much, much easier to get that hot grate out to put something on your fancy bottom grate. Like drip beans. Drip beans are delicious.

It looks identical to the one I have except mine says "redi check" instead of ivation. Just went to look at my amazon cart and I bought on jan 8th 2014: "

Maverick ET733 Long Range Wireless Digital Thermometer
Set - Dual Probe - Remote BBQ / Smoker / Grill / Oven / Meat /
Thermometer - Perfect for Thanks


the link now goes to:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FM8DJHQ

which is the exact one you linked to.
ie - it's a Maverick ET733, rebranded.

Yes, I am quite happy with it and remember reading reviews before buying. It's well regarded.

This is the one I have while I try to figure out if I want to build one myself or buy a much nicer one. Plus I'm not sure if I want to stay in this house for a while, so I haven't done jack shit yet, lol.

Got it from Wally World for $130 (I think it's listed for $160 or so on their site, just find a coupon).

Grab some lump charcoal and some wood chunks, for pork I recommend apple or cherry, and you'll need two temp readings, one for the pit and one for the meat.

I bought one off of Amazon. similar to this one But IIRC I got it for ~$25 during their "flash sale" around Christmas time)

For recipes, google is your friend. For temps and all that, google is DEFINITELY your friend. (Or just PM me.)

I usually do my spatchcock chicken direct on the grill. But I do have a raised grate. I made mine by welding up a ring to some legs, but this place has them. You can see in the naked whiz spatchcock recipe he uses fire bricks to raise the grill. Raising the grate makes it easier to do everything and doesn't reduce the heat. I only cook steaks at the lower level when I want a good sear.

Some good first cooks-
Pork butt (shoulder) should be your first smoke. Its hard to screw up.
My Recipe-
-Slather pork butt with yellow mustard
-Rub with your favorite. I use 1 part bad byrons butt rub to 4 parts brown sugar
-Egg at 225-250 platesetter legs up with drip pan
-Butt goes on the grill. Between 1.5 - 2 hours per pound
-Remove when internal temp is 195
-Cool and pull apart for sandwiches

Atomic Buffalo Turds (ABT)
Great party snacks
-Cut the top off 20-25 jalapenos and core them
-Crumble and Cook up some chorizo sausage (should be like ground beef). Optionally use bacon or other sausage
-Mix sausage with 1 bar cream cheese
-Stuff peppers with cream cheese mix
-Wrap each one with a piece of bacon. Use toothpick to secure
-Use your favorite BBQ rub on the outside
-Put on egg, direct 350 until bacon is crispy

When you can get the temp up, crank that baby to 600+ and sear some nice ribeyes.

Go get a Maverick Thermometer and a Thermapen

Better grab them soon. That's the older version. (Nothing wrong with it, just pointing it out).

I just bought the [newer one] (http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-ET-733-Wireless-Smoker-Thermometer/dp/B00FM8DJHQ/ref=pd_sbs_lg_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1457FKKPAPZXSEDTKA99), last week.

Not quite the same but the ET733 is one sale on amazon.ca for $69.99: http://www.amazon.ca/Maverick-Range-Wireless-Smoker-Thermometer/dp/B00FM8DJHQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395533783&sr=8-1&keywords=maverick+et+732