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Re: [TowerTalk] WX Sensor Placement

Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] WX Sensor Placement
From: Gedas <w8bya@mchsi.com>
Date: Sun, 3 Mar 2019 14:17:14 -0500
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Very interesting. Can you take a picture of it pse? I would imagine the distance from the sensor to the hood makes a difference and what the hood is made from. I would imagine white Styrofoam may not be a bad idea for a sun shield. Also any height above ground suggestions etc?

Gedas, W8BYA

Gallery at http://w8bya.com
Light travels faster than sound....
This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

On 3/3/2019 1:54 PM, George Dubovsky wrote:
You pretty much have to avoid the house. As you surmise, even the North side is going to be a heat source or sink. I did not start getting decent readings - ones that compared to Wunderground, etc - until I moved mine to a pagoda (homebrew, made from inverted, stacked dollar-store soup bowls) 75' away from the house.

73,

geo - n4ua

On Sun, Mar 3, 2019 at 1:38 PM Gedas <w8bya@mchsi.com <mailto:w8bya@mchsi.com>> wrote:

    This made me wonder about sensor placement. I have had a number of
    different wx stations and the instructions most provide for the
    placement of the outdoor temperature sensor is to simply mount it
    on the
    north side of the house just under the eaves. This kind of makes
    sense
    as it will be away from direct sunlight but what about the heat
    from the
    house?

    How many do this and does it work for you? Do your temperature
    readings
    match those or come very close to an "official" local temp like at an
    airport.

    Has anyone else noticed just how critical the placement of this
    sensor
    really is? I have 2-3 outside sensors in different locations and they
    all read differently, sometimes as much as a 4F delta. I made sure
    they
    were all calibrated inside the house to read the same then installed
    them outside. Once the sun goes down my readings stabilize and my
    readings are within a degree of the "official" airport temperatures.
    During the day, esp summer time the readings can be all over the
    place.

    I know enough to keep them out of the sun, away from objects that can
    absorb & retain heat, off the ground at least 10' or so, not above
    concrete, etc......and yet I see big differences. So my question is
    where and how do people mount their temperature sensors?

    Also does anyone know where and how the "official" temperature
    sensors
    used by the NWS are mounted in places like airports?

    Gedas, W8BYA

    Gallery at http://w8bya.com
    Light travels faster than sound....
    This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

    On 3/3/2019 1:19 PM, Michael Forinash wrote:
    > I bought a Davis Weather Station for my wife, who is a
    Weatherbird, seven years ago. As I recall, it was a six hundred
    dollar unit. In the past seven years, the only maintenance I have
    performed on it is remove a seed (from my neighbor’s tree) that
    blocks the flow of moisture through its self-emptying range gauge.
    It has a solar panel that recharges the unit’s rechargeable
    batteries. I have yet to change them.
    >
    > The unit is attached to a twelve-foot pole.
    >
    > The installation instructions are a little vague on various
    points, but that’s the only criticism I can make of this package.
    Not a cheap station, but one my wife has been happy with, as the
    base unit sits on a end table by her chair in our living room. She
    checks the base station five or six times a day when she’s not
    monitoring the Weather Channel or the ND DOT online.
    >
    > 73,
    > Mike
    > KB0RIA
    >
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