On perfectly sunny days I’m starting to notice that when I get a rain alert and look at my Tempest, there will be a bird standing on it. These birds with a few seconds of a visit will create a rainfall amount in the graph. I’m hoping this can be adjusted to remove these false bird positives.
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Did you get 0.01 in.?
WeatherFlow runs a program every day between midnight and 8am LDT called “RainCheck.” See Introducing RainCheck for details about this.
Also. . .WeatherFlow supposedly has one of these in development. . .called “Crown-O-Thorns” bird spikes. I’ve signed up to be a Tester for it. . .but haven’t heard back from them.
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somehow the spikes in the picture look too short to me.
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This happened to me yesterday. Beautiful day no chance of rain and bingo! Rain alert. .01 detected. Checked this morning and the rain check feature ran and adjusted! BEAUTIFUL!
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Thanks everyone. Did not understand what Rain Check was…this was my rain graph last night when i wrote my original post. This morning the bars were gone. Magic!!
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I have experienced the same issue. I agree with the person stating that the spikes appear too short. Also, be aware that some birds will use the spikes as supports to aid in nest building!
I have that same crown of thorns for my SKY. the spikes are indeed too short. I removed it in the hope WF comes out with a better solution.
When did you acquire your “Crown-O-Thorns?”
December '18. This is what I ordered. http://www.ecowitt.com/Others/84.html The product is good, but the spikes are too short as mentioned above.
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I used these, https://www.amazon.com/Bird-X-Stainless-Steel-Spikes-Covers/dp/B000Z5E4IE, and pop riveted it to a 4" hose clamp. The hose clamp then fits over the top of my Sky. I’m using this at 2 locations and false rain from birds has stopped.
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Thanks for the updates. I’ll keep these in mind. . .but for now. . . I prefer to wait till WeatherFlow develops one that is specifically tailored to WFSKY and Tempest.
I need this device for mine. I agree that the spikes are on the short side.
The false alerts are annoying. Perhaps having an option to ignore the first X rain drops or the first X seconds of rain before sending an alert would help to eliminate bird events.
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On the spike device in development I would imagine you do not want the spikes casting a shadow on the sensor at lower sun angles. The current height should be sufficient to interfere with most attempted bird landings, unless maybe you are dealing with seagull size. Before installing my Tempest a week ago there was always a bird sitting atop my previous station. Since then I have not seen any birds in the yard. They appear to be afraid of it’s presence at 16 ft above ground level. Maybe it’s the large black on white solar windows that are intimidating. I’m sure they will eventually get used to it. Hope the spiked device will be available soon.
We have a large population of Western Blue Birds. They love to “rain dance” on my Tempest while watching for insects in the meadow. The anti-bird device is in my mailbox about half a mile from the house. I’ll retrieve it tomorrow and see if it helps. I will say though that I have seen birds in Alaska use the bird spikes as foundation supports for nest building!
The one issue I have never had is bird. Plenty of birds in the area but never on the Sensor. I often wonder why.
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Different species have different perching preferences. Blue birds love to perch on high, narrow places that give a good view of the ground, and food, below. Spotted Towhees on the other hand seldom perch above the ground as they like to hop and scratch on the ground to uncover their favorite treats. Birds in your area have their own preferences.