Here’s my new beta SKY unit installation. I have a blasted pecan tree to the west. Otherwise, for living in the middle of town, it’s not too bad. It’s up 26’ on a former security light pole.
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Here is mine. All ready for Sky unit install. An inexpensive antenna mount from Amazon, stabilized with a wooden block. PVC mast fits within the aluminum tube. I added a HDPE block between the ridge cap and the upper through bolt after the photo was taken. (to improve stability)
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I intend on using the Home Depot fence top rail as a mounting pole; does it need any special adapters to fit the SKY unit? The fence top rail O.D. sold by Home Depot is 1 3/8", Weatherflow states the unit mounts to 1" O.D. poles. Sorry if this is a silly question, my unit has not arrived yet.
Thanks!
Trent
It fits…barely. I had to un-screw the locking collar and slip it over the mast before putting the rest of the mount on, to get that last smidge of stretch necessary for it to slip over. I don’t remember which end of the mast is pointing up, which I mention because one end has a narrower diameter so that it can slip into the next one when joining them together.
This is the post that they wrote about in their Indiegogo campaign, and is the best kept secret in weather station mounts…
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So, an anticipatory post more than anything. I posted a while back trying to determine where the optimal place to put my Sky will be. I elected to mount a galvanized pole along my fence line, after all. The roof proved to be too steep a challenge for my clumsy self to take on. I got this 15’ galvanized pole and mounted it using a WeatherMount 2 to my fence. I think this gets me to about 18’ in height, which I’m hoping will be adequate enough distance from the trees to give me a clean wind fetch. Here in Louisiana, winds are largely from the south, and that’s the largely open direction you’ll see here in my pictures.
I’ve measured it to be level, though I have doubts that it won’t be pushed around by winds. I’d like to use it alongside my WS-1001 (already mounted). You’ll see attached to the pole the Netatmo mount that I’ll attach the Sky to. What do you folks think? Too flimsy of a solution? Should I instead direct bury a taller pole and put guy wires on it (not my first option)? Will the Sky mounted on the side of the pole be affected by it’s proximity to the pole itself?
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@strumruger The SKY mount is designed to fit a standard “one-inch” nominal pipe (outer diameter = 1.315 inches, or 33.4 mm) as well as a 1.25 inches (32 mm) outer diameter pole. Have heard the Home Depot chainlink fence rail works well, haven’t tried 1st hand. Make sure to eliminate any source of vibration.
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I can confirm this pipe will fit the sky mount. I was able to use this pipe and the flange to attach it to the top of an existing wooden fence post, for now. I may look at getting a longer length of the same pipe later.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Southland-Pipe-1-in-x-3-ft-150-PSI-Black-Iron-Pipe/1000228039
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Mueller-Proline-1-in-dia-Black-Iron-Floor-Flange-Fitting/1000217679
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tell us more about the result of the vibration in the strong wind or if you can provide us with some picture because I have interest on this.
Will do, I just put it up yesterday and strongest wind has been 2 mph. I recorded some what I deem as accurate rain readings overnight.
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serviced all my hardware today so any false rain you know why but here is my SKY 85 feet agl aproxx.
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How are you going to get that down possibly twice a year to change batteries ?
FYI, I have muscled a 20-foot mast down monthly since last fall to change batteries. I’ve been tempted to get a third 10-foot section of the fence rail to see if I can get my new Sky closer to the WMO’s magic 10 meter height, but fear that it would be unwieldy without a second person to help lift it and some guy wires once it is vertical…
Just got my SKY unit today. Here is my mount setup: It’s where I had a cheaper wind speed indicator mounted previously. Unfortunately, the pipe is a 1" Steel Conduit Pipe (10’ long). So I had to make a sleeve to adapt it to the SKY unit. The pipe is about 1.16" Dia. I had a piece of 1-1/4" aluminum conduit, which had an ID that was small enough to just not slip over the 1" conduit. I cut a 3" long piece, and slit it lengthwise with a hacksaw. It fit snug on my mast. But even tightened all the way down, I find I can rotate SKY’s plastic adapter by hand. No wobble though.
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ummm…I was asking kpardue re: their particular installation…
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I hope this is an optical illusion and that the chimney is far enough from the Sky nit, not to influence it. Upstream hot air could change slightly the wind speed and direction ?
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The chimney is about 8’ away, and is about 2’ to one side of the prevailing wind direction. It is on the upstream side though. So yes it could affect thr wind speed slightly.
Here’s my setup for Sky. 10.5’ chain link fence rail(as previously recommended) strapped to a double chimney atop the 2nd story. That’s the best I could do to get above the treeline.
This is where the mounting kit came from: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010OMXZ14/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Get this one if you have a double chimney, as the straps are 18 feet long.
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I have thought about doing the same thing, I just wonder if the pipe will permanently stay in place without loosening up and rotating. Do you have experience with this?
Among my experts, one told me to just tighten the connection as much as possible before installing on the fence post, the other told me to use JB Weld on the threads.
I’m surprised that none of your experts suggested teflon tape, which will add friction to the threads yet come apart when you need to do service…
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I had a Davis VP2 attached in the same location/same mount for 10 years without any loosening or rotating. It did fail eventually but it was from some rusting of the upper strap that snapped during a particularly high wind event(that was goodbye to VP2). On this mount the rail snaps into the mount and then a u-bolt is tightened with lock washers and nuts. I was unable to rotate the pipe/rail after that. In fact I had to reloosen it to adjust the Sky’s north a little