Definitely over power budget for solar as designed but doesn’t take too much.
Our PTZ cameras have heaters to keep them ice free rated to -20F and the entire camera runs off a POE++ feed (under 30W total).
The heater could impact temperature but it can be compensated just as you would compensate for solar radiation. Most transducers used for pressure too are temperature sensitive and need compensation. The more accurate ones used indoors usually employ a oven assembly to keep them at a constant temperature.
Ta da! Taller structural galvanized pipe replaced the 8 foot post, for 9 feet above ground and a foot above that darned fence. The anchor system and flange mount makes it easy to swap the poles. Going to need to trim a tree branch at some point, but ok for now. Hope I don’t have to get the step ladder out too often.
I have quite a collection. I started off with a simple remote outdoor temperature sensor La Crosse decades ago. That one finally just bit the dust last year when the sensor gave out and I couldn’t replace it. Soon after getting it I saw one at Costco with the rain sensors, etc. That’s my now ancient Acurite 1536CDI. A friend who also likes weather stations to whom who I gave one as a birthday gift one year returned the favor after my son gave us an Alexa, so, an Alexa enabled Ambient WS-2902A joined the collection. Then the Acurite blew off its mount in a really bad wind storm and I got a replacement La Crosse C84428. That’s the anemometer and rain cup you see next to the Tempest. Of course, since I hate throwing things away, I replaced the broken anemometer assembly on the Acurite and still have it.
The Acurite and Ambient are both on the east side of the property. They are mounted on the fence near an asphalt driveway, so I expect their temps to be a bit higher. They never agree with each other in any measurement, but are close. I’m going to move the Acurite to the front of the property since it is so old and beat up that I’m no longer worried about someone stealing it. Will be interesting to see what the difference is away from the buildings where the wind may be stronger. Both the Acurite and Ambient are mounted lower, at only 6’ since the fence on that side is chain link and no real interference. I can reach them easily to clean rain buckets, change back-up batteries, etc.
I wanted to try the other side of the house, on the west, but my neighbors on that side put up an 8’ fence between us in back, so they don’t have to see our horses. My first mast for the La Crosse was much too light, EMT conduit, although tall enough to clear the fence. It swayed way too much in the wind and I was worried about the sensors coming down. When my husband noticed I was lusting over the no-moving parts Tempest (especially after replacing wind cups on the others a few times), he surprised me for Christmas this year. I added it to the same platform but replaced the pole with a more sturdy 1 5/8" chain link fence post. The longest I could get was 8’, though. I use an anchor system that can hold various diameter posts, so they are easy to swap out and holds the post securely. Mounted in the anchor, that meant the sensors were only at 7’ and did not quite clear the tall vinyl fence. I think my first readings were influenced by that wall, they were a few degrees higher and the wind less at a different heading than the east side sensors. This weekend I traded out the 8’ chain link fence post for a heavier gauge 10’ steel structural pipe. It’s a slightly smaller diameter, but a much heavier walled pipe. I’m pretty happy with it clearing the vinyl wall by a good foot and much sturdier. Now the wind speeds and temps are pretty comparable, but I’ll have to see over time along with the other readings. Since we’re in a long term drought and our rain pretty much ends in March, I’m not sure I’ll have a chance to compare rain between the stations until next year, when I really, really hope we get better rain. Fun new data on lightning with the Tempest. I’ve never had a lightning detector, we just don’t get many thunderstorms in Los Angeles. But last week there was just enough instability that we had a little bit of thunder in the mountains around us, and lo and behold, the Tempest sent me a notification that lightning had been detected 6-9 miles away. That was a fun surprise.
Probably more than you ever wanted to know, but I get a kick out of them.
I was going to mount mine high up on the roof away from vermin, but I have a metal roof and thought that I would get heat reflected. I had it on a short pol in the back yard but ants love that I have given them a highrise building!
Sand in my mast makes no difference to the 20Mph> gusts triggering false rain…
The sand I put in was damp but even if it was dry it would become damp or even wet anyway due to cold bridging or whatever science gives it!
The emphasis was on dry sand. Naturally you would have to seal it from getting wet. Dry sand absorbs the vibrations much better than wet sand.
I’ve posted videos of my stations moving around on both a telescoping fiberglass flag pole and the wooden closet rod, all without detecting fasle rain. Those might be options. There is also a few posts of a rubber mount someone came up with which worked well until the Australian sun degraded the rubber.
It’s astounding how much water sand holds.
I’ve now added DRY! sand to replace the wet and got about 5× as much in the mast.
Watching it pour in was very satisfying.
I wonder if the difference is due to pockets created with the wet sand or if it was all just the water. Probably could test it with a clear tube.
Hopefully the dry sand works to absorb the high frequency vibrations. FWIW, we had some 30mph gusts this weekend and I didn’t see any false rain on the Tempest on the 8’ wooden closet rod pole.
Here is mine on top of my Reolink camera mount that is on a western red cedar post in the ground. Conduit clamps mount the fiberglass pole to the post,
I Used about 3-4 fifths of the bag in my 2inch - 2m mast
It arrived very wet but spread out on some suitable flat surfaces and it dries quickly 1-3 hrs in this low spring sunshine
