Setting up a weather station

Ross · Apr 19, 2009

Re: Need info on weather station

If I were starting on such a venture I would contact the local weather underground people and talk to them about twhat they like and don't like from where they are.

catsailor · Apr 19, 2009

Have you investigated existing on-line information? It is not at the marina, of course.

oldsalt70 said:
About 20 of the sail boaters at my marina have decided to try to set up a small weather station on the marina property. The marina is run by the local park district and they have agreed to erect the equipment and provide an internet connection (via one of their existing computers) if the group will purchase the hardware. This will allow us to check wind strength and direction, from home, before the drive to the boat.

There are some local reporting stations in my area and I had planed to use the same hardware as one of them. The target hardware was Oregon Scientific WMR968 – based on discussion with one of the local stations.

I searched for availability and found Amazon.com offers this unit BUT the customer reviews of this hardware gave it very low ratings. The reviews also were critical of the company response to warrantee and technical help. So, I have decided not to recommend this unit. I plan to investigate some of the other reporting stations in the area but thought I would also ask this forum for help.

Now the question –
Do any of you have first hand experience with weather station equipment? What brand and model would you recommend? I need feedback for both what works well and products to avoid. We need a high level of reliability because we (sailors) will not have direct access to this hardware. We will depend on the park district staff to maintain it. Any other thoughts you might like to contribute.

Oldsalt70

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/maps/Chesapeake_Bay.shtml is a good source of info for the Bay.
Marine forecasts are available at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/zone/east/lwxmz.htm

Joe · Apr 19, 2009

my suggestion is to contact a local college that offers meteorology courses and ask one of the instructors or department head to offer your group some advice. You might even get him to include it as an assignment for one of his classes. At least you should bet the equipment recommendations you're looking for.

Ariel · Apr 20, 2009

Here is an individuals web site for a weather station at his home in Rock Hall, MD:

http://www.belcak.com/

There is a page on his site that describes the hardware and software that he uses. This is a very complete web site and includes a web cam. It would be a good model for you.

Dave
s/v Ariel

searomer · Apr 20, 2009

oldsalt70 said:
About 20 of the sail boaters at my marina have decided to try to set up a small weather station on the marina property. The marina is run by the local park district and they have agreed to erect the equipment and provide an internet connection (via one of their existing computers) if the group will purchase the hardware. This will allow us to check wind strength and direction, from home, before the drive to the boat.

There are some local reporting stations in my area and I had planed to use the same hardware as one of them. The target hardware was Oregon Scientific WMR968 – based on discussion with one of the local stations.

I searched for availability and found Amazon.com offers this unit BUT the customer reviews of this hardware gave it very low ratings. The reviews also were critical of the company response to warrantee and technical help. So, I have decided not to recommend this unit. I plan to investigate some of the other reporting stations in the area but thought I would also ask this forum for help.

Now the question –
Do any of you have first hand experience with weather station equipment? What brand and model would you recommend? I need feedback for both what works well and products to avoid. We need a high level of reliability because we (sailors) will not have direct access to this hardware. We will depend on the park district staff to maintain it. Any other thoughts you might like to contribute.

Oldsalt70

I had an Oregon Scientific station that cost about $400. It was so terrible I gave it away. For more details, e-mail me at bill@rmcfam.org

searomer · Apr 20, 2009

Write me at bill@rmcfam.org for details on my disastrous experience with Oregon Scientific.

Bill Cromer

tucker1@gmail.com · Apr 20, 2009

Weather Station

I have used an Oregon Scientific device and I would probably rethink about using their products. I teach science in high school and I have inquired at our local weather station and they use a Davis Vantage Pro 2 station. We now have one at our school and will soon be putting our own weather information on the internet. It is real simple to operate, just attach it to a 2 1/2" pipe. The station is a compact unit that is just one piece to attach. It is wireless and completely power free. It uses a solar panel with a backup battery. The receiver can be plugged into your ethernet/internet and away you go. Davis weather has a free website you can send your particular to so anyone can view it. Hope this helps.

oldsalt70 said:
About 20 of the sail boaters at my marina have decided to try to set up a small weather station on the marina property. The marina is run by the local park district and they have agreed to erect the equipment and provide an internet connection (via one of their existing computers) if the group will purchase the hardware. This will allow us to check wind strength and direction, from home, before the drive to the boat.

There are some local reporting stations in my area and I had planed to use the same hardware as one of them. The target hardware was Oregon Scientific WMR968 – based on discussion with one of the local stations.

I searched for availability and found Amazon.com offers this unit BUT the customer reviews of this hardware gave it very low ratings. The reviews also were critical of the company response to warrantee and technical help. So, I have decided not to recommend this unit. I plan to investigate some of the other reporting stations in the area but thought I would also ask this forum for help.

Now the question –
Do any of you have first hand experience with weather station equipment? What brand and model would you recommend? I need feedback for both what works well and products to avoid. We need a high level of reliability because we (sailors) will not have direct access to this hardware. We will depend on the park district staff to maintain it. Any other thoughts you might like to contribute.

Oldsalt70

windsmaker · Apr 20, 2009

I set up a personnel weather station on Underground weather, It was very easy. I have the Davis vantage pro 2. It took about 2 hours to set up the sensors on the roof. They supplied all but the pole.. it took less that 2 hours to set up the computer installing software, connecting to the wireles and installing the .dll to upload the data to underground wx.
Their (Uwx and Davis) instructions were easy and strait forward. We set the download about every 5 minutes..
http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/index.asp

pvanv · Apr 21, 2009

For our own home system, we have traditional analog instruments from Downeaster. Top quality stuff to be sure -- beautiful gauges, and rock-solid transducers, but not suited for digital data collection. Strictly for our direct observations. Would need a-to-d conversion, and then PC software to complete the feed to the internet. Too much of a kludge for us.

Our local TV weather station works with the weatherbug system, and many local schools have Davis and other digital stuff for the feeds to the system. If you intend to become a private site for weather underground (or weatherbug), and that sounds like the way to go, I would verify what gear those websites recommend, and what the station owners think of it.

richk · Apr 21, 2009

Anyone have experience with wireless connection between the sensors and computer?
Rich in Annapolis

jackhartjr · Apr 21, 2009

Rich, I have had a house model for about 10 years with the wireless...it sits under the porch where it gets damp, pollen crudded and sometimes bird you know what. Has not let me down!
JAck

sailingdog · Apr 21, 2009

Most of these are wireless between the sensors and the base station. The base station usually has a wired serial connection to the computer however.

richk said:
Anyone have experience with wireless connection between the sensors and computer?
Rich in Annapolis

richk · Apr 21, 2009

Jack and Sailing dog...thanks for the responses. Any idea what the range of the wireless devices are? What I'm getting at is, say I put the sensors on the end of a 100' pier and the receiver ashore. Is that too far?

sailingdog · Apr 21, 2009

Get the Davis Vantage Pro2™

From their product page:

Introducing the first weather station in its price range to use frequency hopping spread spectrum radio to transmit and receive data up to 1000' (300 m) line of sight. That's over three football fields in length—and three times farther than competing stations!

richk said:
Jack and Sailing dog...thanks for the responses. Any idea what the range of the wireless devices are? What I'm getting at is, say I put the sensors on the end of a 100' pier and the receiver ashore. Is that too far?

richk · Apr 22, 2009

Sailingdog
Thanks.
Rich

sailingdog · Apr 22, 2009

Just remember it is Line of Sight...

so, if you have a hill or such in the way, it may be a problem.

richk said:
Sailingdog
Thanks.
Rich