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Re: [TowerTalk] WX Sensor Placement

To: Gedas <w8bya@mchsi.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] WX Sensor Placement
From: George Dubovsky <n4ua.va@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 3 Mar 2019 13:54:06 -0500
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
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> 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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