Im after some advice if possible. I really wanted to get a weather station set up at my home (in Mindarie) so that i could look on a App and see what the conditions are at home. IE 900 m inland from my local. Were i work i'm in a valley and it often resembles nothing like the real world and too often i get caught out by incorrect web pages..
So my family bought me a version that can be used to update me via Weather underground online and via the App. The good news for everyone who doesn't know, you actually dont even need to spend the $400 on one as you can just log on and use someone else who bought first and asked questions later, (like me).
But my question is in regards to the placement of the station, i understand there will be interference from house roofs, trees that type of stuff. But was just looking for any suggestions from people who have done the same. Currently i have mounted it on my TV arial, thats about level with the high point of my roof, but should i just get it higher, and if so how much higher, or is it still going to get the same level of interference?
Anything from sw to nw seems to have no real difference from say Ocean Reef on SB, but anything with East seems to be about 3 to 5 knots out, i guess from the roof..
Im also keen to hear from anyone else who has done something similar and is down the track some, do you still use it or is it too hard..?
Thanks in advance..
Your valley is the real world. So is your roof top. You can put an anemometer up there if you want to know the wind at that location on your rooftop. If your neighbour puts up an identical anemometer on his rooftop you'll get different readings. If you put them on 10 metre poles on the roof they might agree a bit better.
I spent a lot of time in a job I once had trying to measure wind in less than met-approved locations. You can use a 10 metre tower at an airfield, in the suburbs with all those obstacles you'd need more like 30 metres for readings to be consistent in strength for all wind directions of the mesoscale weather system in your vicinity. (If that's what you want to do?)
At home, Rainfall probably OK, Temperature, you'll need a Stevenson screen. Wind - forget it.
www.bom.gov.au/climate/cdo/about/observation_specification_2013.pdf
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoscale_meteorology
I think Ian is pretty much on to it there, I have a anemometer mounted about 1 m above my ridge line on a 2 storey house 150m from the beach, it works OK, but I often think, is it really that light a breeze with all those white caps?
For what it's worth I have recently changed from the Davis weather station to a NetAtmo weather station, it is, as far as I know, the only home weather station that uses an ultrasonic anemometer (no moving parts).
I've given up on auto rain gauges, the spiders love to tie up the tipping spoon on me so they don't work anymore.
Thanks guys, that answers some questions..I may try get it a little higher, but will take the info with a grain of salt i get..
It was only $400 so i guess i shouldn't expect miracle's..
Got a big fancy front door with self closing sysem
when it blows opens its 25 knts, its accurate as f..k
cost$2500 so not the cheapest
^^^^ my car aerial broke
I stuck another one in the hole and crimped it with sidecutters to keep it in.
It rotates 90deg in a crosswind that is 5m weather. Nice.
Been doing exactly that for two seasons now.
Hey jb I have a cheap cheap weather station ( got it a scitech "for the kids")
it was 50 bucks or so and is actually quite accurate. It's down too low so what I have discovered is I always add 5 knots no matter what way the wind is and it is pretty close to coastal conditions.
When you look at the tallest trees from where you live they are always moving more right up,,, but it doesn't represent the ground wind speed paticularly if houses and buildings are near deflecting winds upward/sideways.
I reckon they should have a station halfway to rotto so you know if it's worth fishing or the winds near in etc etc it would also be more accurate prior to doing the dash north for a surf.
coastal winds can be very different for a few hours than what is happening 3 mike out
(I'm about 7k inland but up a hill)
There used to be a tall pot plant on the balcony of an apartment I could see from my desk at work. If it started to rock by 12pm, that was my signal to leave for the bay.
I would have thought you would be bettor off using an online BOM (or other) live reading and working out any local differences.
For example I use one from a local airport and another from a lighthouse. I know that if the wind is a certain direction it's pretty much the same at spot x but if it's more southerly I can add 5 knots or more due to tree cover etc. Because they are live you can always check them on your phone when you are at the beach viewing the conditions and work out what the difference is/ grow your confidence in the readings
I live at 66 meters above sea level, and only about 300 meters from the coast.
I often see my trees blowing like crazy, so I'll look at the ocean and see no whitecaps, almost glassy.
I also see whitecaps on the ocean when my trees are almost completely still. 66 meters in elevation change can make a huge difference in wind velocity, so I don't pay as much attention to my trees as I did when I first moved into this house.
My sailing spot is only ten minutes away, up the coast, I've learned to not pretend to know exactly what it's going to be like until I get there.
My best weather station, a phone call from somebody who is already at the spot.
If anything, be sure the pole you put the outdoor sensors on is secure against vibration by heavy wind not merely solid as a rock to strong breeze !
Other points, if the sensor system on the masthead uses AA batteries , you can get 3000 maH rechargeable to use , that should recharge from the solar cell but may need cleaning and changing once every 2 months. (receiver generally last a month on 3000maH AA)
What putting it out of the way of trees and chimney e.t.c. is because obstructions will interfere with the wind reading and direction.
(note: use a spirit level to be sure the pole is upright perfectly or the wind meter will not spin correctly and neither the wind direction sit at the correct point or swing to position).
Also do not let shadow fall over the solar cell from trees or anything more than an hour a day at most !
www.flickr.com/photos/nicephotog/34116292470/
