[TowerTalk] WX Sensor Placement

[George Dubovsky]

Gedas,

Imagine a stack of upside-down, white plastic bowls (about 7" dia, quite
thin due to their dollar store origins), spaced from each other by a
repeating triangle configuration of 1-1/2 inch or so aluminum spacers. The
top 2 bowls are solid, but the bottom 3 bowls have a 2 or 2-1/2 inch
diameter hole up through the center where the Davis temp/humidity module
resides. Air can flow through it, but it's pretty much protected from rain
and sun. Somehow I affixed a pvc pipe fitting on the bottom and it's about
head height out at the edge of the woods. After some sort of wind-blown
debris smashed the top bowl, I added a round aluminum plate to the top on
short spacers.  It's raining here or I'd go out and take a picture.

73,

geo - n4ua

On Sun, Mar 3, 2019 at 2:17 PM Gedas <w8bya at mchsi.com> wrote:

> 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 at mchsi.com
> > <mailto:w8bya at 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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> >
> >
> >
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