PERSONAL WEATHER STATIONS: Queries and Advice

04-01-2021 12:48am

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

How can I confirm my weather station is not over reading?

It does well in sunshine but I am wondering if it is slightly over reading due to an effect from my house. Sometimes at night when I arrive home, my car will be 2c lower than the reading on my Base station.

For ex, today the high was 5.9c which seems slightly too high.

Local stations near me had highs of:
4.8c
4.3c
3.4c

Bare in mind that your Davis weather station will be the standard 6ft off the ground
Your cars outside thermometer is located under the car near the road surface
In summer this means its picking up surface radiation and in winter its taking a reading near a frost covered ground/road
So the car is a guide,its not accurate
Your Davis is for your garden
It will be affected by things near it but to be honest as Oneiric says that's your gardens weather,its as accurate a guide to the temperature as it can be given the professionalism of the equipment you're using

Nqp15hhu · 04-01-2021 12:12pm

Does this look like a rapid jump? Temp is rising 0.1c every minute which seems unrealistic. Especially given that the ice is not melting.

Our forecast high is 4c... so the temp should be stabilising now.

Danno · 04-01-2021 12:59pm

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

Does this look like a rapid jump? Temp is rising 0.1c every minute which seems unrealistic. Especially given that the ice is not melting.

Our forecast high is 4c... so the temp should be stabilising now.

Ground temperatures are quite cold and anywhere on the ground that's sheltered from direct sunlight or not exposed to the wind will hold it's frost and ice for much if not all the day, unless air temperatures get up higher than 4c or 5c.

Frost formed here yesterday evening and persisted throughout the night despite air temperatures holding above 0c for prolonged periods into the small hours of this morning.

04-01-2021 1:16pm

Welcome everyone old and new to the world of weatherstations where you see every decimal point change,(10 of them for every degree) that people without stations never notice
Each one hurts or delights depending on what you want
Meanwhile the rest of the world laughs

Nqp15hhu · 04-01-2021 5:14pm

That’s a bit of an odd temperature chart no?

Gaoth Laidir · 04-01-2021 5:21pm

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

That’s a bit of an odd temperature chart no?

Please, please...

Danno · 04-01-2021 6:02pm

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

That’s a bit of an odd temperature chart no?

Not really. Sunshine/cloudy spell/sunshine?

Nqp15hhu · 05-01-2021 11:47am

Up 1c in the last 10 minutes. This happens every sunny morning at about 11am..

We will probably have a 5.9c high for the 4th consecutive day.

05-01-2021 1:21pm

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

Up 1c in the last 10 minutes. This happens every sunny morning at about 11am..

We will probably have a 5.9c high for the 4th consecutive day.

Its the correct ambient temp though
Your thermometer in that Davis is well shielded
Out of curiosity can you take your console to the most shaded part of the garden,leave it there for 2hrs and take a photo of its 'indoors temp which will be the outdoors for there and compare the two?
Place the console on a chair out there or better still a step ladder so its the same height as the station

Nqp15hhu · 05-01-2021 1:59pm

AuntySnow wrote: »

Its the correct ambient temp though
Your thermometer in that Davis is well shielded
Out of curiosity can you take your console to the most shaded part of the garden,leave it there for 2hrs and take a photo of its 'indoors temp which will be the outdoors for there and compare the two?
Place the console on a chair out there or better still a step ladder so its the same height as the station

I will try that I am worried it will be damaged though.

05-01-2021 2:04pm

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

I will try that I am worried it will be damaged though.

It will be fine as long as its not raining or there's no dogs to knock it down
Just keep an eye on it
I love simple little experiments like this
If there is frost all day in that corner, you'll notice a big difference but its not the ideal spot for a weather station in those circumstances as it wouldn't be reflective of the open atmosphere (which is what determines your precipitation type

Nqp15hhu · 05-01-2021 2:12pm

AuntySnow wrote: »

It will be fine as long as its not raining or there's no dogs to knock it down
Just keep an eye on it
I love simple little experiments like this
If there is frost all day in that corner, you'll notice a big difference but its not the ideal spot for a weather station in those circumstances as it wouldn't be reflective of the open atmosphere (which is what determines your precipitation type

I am not sure my weather station is in the correct place though.

Cw85 · 05-01-2021 2:15pm

I got the Brezzer 5 in 1 Weather station for Christmas. Have it all set up and registered with WeatherUnderground so I can check it from my phone. The monitor that comes with the station shows inside and outside temperature, wind speed and direction, rainfall amount and pressure.

05-01-2021 2:25pm

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

I am not sure my weather station is in the correct place though.

It doesn't matter for this experiment as the 'indoors' temp on the console will be the outdoor of wherever you place the console outside and the outside on the console will still be whatever the weather station is still reading
You can use this method later to check the temp at various points around the garden to compare and to move the station itself if you think you've found a better spot

Nqp15hhu · 05-01-2021 2:59pm

Yes so my weather station says 5.5c. Whilst everywhere else is around 4. I will do your experiment now.

The dew point is also out of kilter.

Nqp15hhu · 05-01-2021 5:09pm

Major alarm bells!

Nqp15hhu · 05-01-2021 5:13pm

Hmm

Nqp15hhu · 05-01-2021 5:31pm

Hmmm is this caused by being too close to the ground? I am just not sure what to believe now? It certainly feels colder than 3.5c.

I just don’t know where to put it.

Gaoth Laidir · 05-01-2021 5:36pm

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

Hmmm is this caused by being too close to the ground? I am just not sure what to believe now? It certainly feels colder than 3.5c.

I just don’t know where to put it.

It needs to be freely suspended in circulating air. If that chair was sitting outside all the time then it could be colder than the air. As mentioned previously, it needs to be at the same height as the other sensor, with its sensor inlet free from obstructions.

Nqp15hhu · 05-01-2021 5:38pm

Gaoth Laidir wrote: »

It needs to be freely suspended in circulating air. If that chair was sitting outside all the time then it could be colder than the air. As mentioned previously, it needs to be at the same height as the other sensor, with its sensor inlet free from obstructions.

I can’t do that with a base station. I may relocate my station but there is no good location as there are buildings either side. That location has buildings near it but it is not near my house.

The building “free” land has trees.

At my current location, the station is about 10 feet from the house and 30 feet from the road. So I am not sure if I should move it and if so where.

The high was supposedly 6.3c today which seems too warm.

05-01-2021 6:08pm

That looks like you had it on the flat almost on the ground
It needs to be 6ft off the ground and sitting up
What you could do alternatively is suspend a bucket from one of the trees you said was at one end of your garden and sit the console into the bucket
Preferably a plastic bucket
If you can borrow a tripod for ease of moving it around the place and suspend the plastic bucket from that all the better

Nqp15hhu · 21-01-2021 12:13am

Thinking of relocating my station tomorrow but there is no good location.. I just want to minimise the influence of heat (large peaks on occasion in midday sun).

There are houses on all sides and there is tarmac to the left of the fence.

The site I am moving it to:

- Tarmac to the left of the fence (as of now).
- About 50 feet from any building (it is 10 feet now).
- Near a washing line.

Just not sure where to put it because there are obstructions wherever I move it.

21-01-2021 12:17am

You could maybe put it in the farmers field behind your house just fence it well
Obviously ask the farmer
Put it to them that you'll provide them with the rain information which will be useful to them
A lot of farmers are interested in soil temps too,its not too expensive to add that to the station

Nqp15hhu · 21-01-2021 1:54pm

Moved my weather station. It’s now 200 feet from the road after being 30 feet from the road.

It is 50 feet from my house and is on the north side.

I hope temperatures will correspond now.

Nqp15hhu · 23-01-2021 3:25pm

Still think my weather station might be slightly over reading, by half a degree or more. This is a slight improvement to what it was saying previously, though I do think the sun still affects it somewhat.

But not as bad as the local station which seems to rise rapidly in any sun.

23-01-2021 3:34pm

Maybe you should look at fitting a sunshield around the sensor, there are several examples made from white plastic plates around the internet that you can make at home.
Essentially a large hole is cut out of the centre of half a dozen plates that are then spaced about 1-2cm apart and another plate that has not had the hole cut mounted on top and the whole assembly placed over the temperature sensor so air can get to the sensor but the sunlight cannot.

thecivvie · 23-01-2021 3:49pm

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

Still think my weather station might be slightly over reading, by half a degree or more. This is a slight improvement to what it was saying previously, though I do think the sun still affects it somewhat.

But not as bad as the local station which seems to rise rapidly in any sun.

I have 3 external temperature sensors outside and never do they match. Close enough, except the one on the ground which is always lower.

I made Stevenson shelters out of old marine ply and one is an instrument box from my yacht with a screen over it and lots of holes drilled

23-01-2021 4:59pm

For reference, here's where my Davis vantage Pro 2 is located,in full sunshine at all times and I'd be very confident it's daytime temp in that sun is accurate, photo taken now
4.4c currently
The unit is 6 feet above the ground
The anemometer is 30ft off the ground

https://twitter.com/Arklowweather/status/1353008548251381760?s=19

Nqp15hhu · 29-01-2021 9:37am

Would an American Weatherlink Live work here?

29-01-2021 10:42am

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

Would an American Weatherlink Live work here?

Yes
They're all the same,just ask Davis webchat if the radio channels are the same,I think they are
Its set up via blue tooth app so no issues there
For guarantee reasons, you really are better off getting it in the UK though

They're €236 on amazon

Nqp15hhu · 29-01-2021 10:50am

No, they have different frequencies. So presumably I can't use one then?
https://www.davisinstruments.com/product_documents/weather/spec_sheets/6100_WL-Live_Spec_Sheet.pdf

Tyrone212 · 29-01-2021 10:55am

AuntySnow wrote: »

For reference, here's where my Davis vantage Pro 2 is located,in full sunshine at all times and I'd be very confident it's daytime temp in that sun is accurate, photo taken now
4.4c currently
The unit is 6 feet above the ground
The anemometer is 30ft off the ground

https://twitter.com/Arklowweather/status/1353008548251381760?s=19

Some job. What's the highest gust you've recorded?

29-01-2021 10:57am

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

No, they have different frequencies. So presumably I can't use one then?
https://www.davisinstruments.com/product_documents/weather/spec_sheets/6100_WL-Live_Spec_Sheet.pdf

You are out of luck so on that
If you have a vat registered business that can buy it,that's 20% that can be claimed back assuming it's a business legitimate expense eg a farm or horticulture enterprise

29-01-2021 11:00am

Tyrone212 wrote: »

Some job. What's the highest gust you've recorded?

On that mast,just 111kmh ,its only up with 2 years
Storm ophelia blew down the last timber one,it was gusting 127 just prior but doubtless would have been higher

Tyrone212 · 29-01-2021 11:03am

AuntySnow wrote: »

On that mast,just 111kmh ,its only up with 2 years
Storm ophelia blew down the last timber one,it was gusting 127 just prior but doubtless would have been higher

Its been a quiet Winter on the storm front. Looks good. I'll look in to getting one of them in future.

Nqp15hhu · 30-01-2021 1:36pm

AuntySnow how did you separate your wind vane? I am having trouble placing it elsewhere due to the cable.

I would love to have it up on my roof separate to the main weather station.

Comhrá · 31-01-2021 10:54am

Slightly off topic, but where can I buy a decent quality wet bulb thermometer in Ireland?

I'd rather avoid buying from the UK presently with Brexit etc.

Nqp15hhu · 06-02-2021 2:10pm

I finally got my weather station online: https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/ILIMAV3?cm_ven=localwx_pwsdash

However, it only uploads every 5 minutes (anyone know how to get it to upload onto Weather Wunderground live?).

06-02-2021 2:39pm

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

I finally got my weather station online: https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/ILIMAV3?cm_ven=localwx_pwsdash

However, it only uploads every 5 minutes (anyone know how to get it to upload onto Weather Wunderground live?).

Yes you sign up for weather underground live I think
I did it a while ago but can't remember how (as I use weatherlink now)
It'll push it to their app for you

06-02-2021 2:41pm

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

AuntySnow how did you separate your wind vane? I am having trouble placing it elsewhere due to the cable.

I would love to have it up on my roof separate to the main weather station.

The wind vain on the vp2 is on a 30m phone cable
It plugs into the transmitter unit at the station

Nqp15hhu · 06-02-2021 3:12pm

AuntySnow wrote: »

The wind vain on the vp2 is on a 30m phone cable
It plugs into the transmitter unit at the station

Do you know how to setup Cumulus to pull the data from WeatherLink Live? I have researched this and can find very little advice.

There is supposed to be a place to put Api2 in and I do not see it.

06-02-2021 4:22pm

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

Do you know how to setup Cumulus to pull the data from WeatherLink Live? I have researched this and can find very little advice.

There is supposed to be a place to put Api2 in and I do not see it.

Try the 30 day free trial of weather display
Its brilliant and has youtube tutorials on every aspect of connectivity
It accepts data directly over WiFi from your weatherlink device and pushes it anywhere you want,they're all on it
The subscription is once off lifetime, 10 or 12 pounds Iirc
Its now 58 new Zealand dollars I see or about £31
Best money you'll spend
I have it 17 years
Its maker Brian Hamilton is based in New Zealand and always answers emails with any tech queries
But you can free trial it for a month to see if you like it
It will build a literally plug in and play website for you if you have cloud space
https://www.weather-display.com/index.php

Nqp15hhu · 06-02-2021 4:28pm

AuntySnow wrote: »

Try the 30 day free trial of weather display
Its brilliant and has youtube tutorials on every aspect of connectivity
It accepts data directly over WiFi from your weatherlink device and pushes it anywhere you want,they're all on it
The subscription is once off lifetime, 10 or 12 pounds Iirc
Its now 58 new Zealand dollars I see or about £31
Best money you'll spend
I have it 17 years
Its maker Brian Hamilton is based in New Zealand and always answers emails with any tech queries
But you can free trial it for a month to see if you like it
It will build a literally plug in and play website for you if you have cloud space
https://www.weather-display.com/index.php

Does that upload my data to wunderground live? That is what I am aiming to do!

06-02-2021 4:28pm

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

Do you know how to setup Cumulus to pull the data from WeatherLink Live? I have researched this and can find very little advice.

There is supposed to be a place to put Api2 in and I do not see it.

I prefer Weewx
https://weewx.com/
https://github.com/michael-slx/weewx-weatherlink-live

mickger844posts · 06-02-2021 5:08pm

AuntySnow wrote: »

Try the 30 day free trial of weather display
Its brilliant and has youtube tutorials on every aspect of connectivity
It accepts data directly over WiFi from your weatherlink device and pushes it anywhere you want,they're all on it
The subscription is once off lifetime, 10 or 12 pounds Iirc
Its now 58 new Zealand dollars I see or about £31
Best money you'll spend
I have it 17 years
Its maker Brian Hamilton is based in New Zealand and always answers emails with any tech queries
But you can free trial it for a month to see if you like it
It will build a literally plug in and play website for you if you have cloud space
https://www.weather-display.com/index.php

Agree 100%. Its light years ahead of Cumulus in the way of features but starting out Cumulus was great to get up and running.
On another note love that mast that you have your anemometer on.
I know Met Eireann use similar but was wondering does it move much in high winds especially seeing it doesn't have any guy wires attached?

Danno · 06-02-2021 5:31pm

I use Cumulus 1.94 and it uploads to WUnderground Live, my own website, UKMO-WOW and a few others. Met Eireann WOW gets my data via the UK WOW.

06-02-2021 7:21pm

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

Does that upload my data to wunderground live? That is what I am aiming to do!

Yes it does and twitter

KAGY · 07-02-2021 7:07pm

Danno wrote: »

I use Cumulus 1.94 and it uploads to WUnderground Live, my own website, UKMO-WOW and a few others. Met Eireann WOW gets my data via the UK WOW.

I was going to suggest wow, I dropped wunderground when they were taken over by IBM(?) and they stopped giving a free subscriptions to the mobile app. Petty, I know ðŸ™„ ðŸ˜Œ

And if you like having full control and aren't adverse to a bit of code I'd recommend weewx too

Nqp15hhu · 08-02-2021 2:47pm

I am still sort of concerned slightly about my Davis station and the temp readings.

If we compare my station with this one:https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/ILIMAVAD8
My station:https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/ILIMAV3

You can see my temperature fluctuates a lot, with respect to the sun/cloud variation! This station is only about 7 miles away so we are under the same cloud/sun regiment. Whereas the other station has very little variation from 2c. Do you think this is abnormal or something I should keep an eye on?

It does seem that my station does record accurate temperatures when we are under cloud.

08-02-2021 5:31pm

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

I am still sort of concerned slightly about my Davis station and the temp readings.

If we compare my station with this one:https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/ILIMAVAD8
My station:https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/ILIMAV3

You can see my temperature fluctuates a lot, with respect to the sun/cloud variation! This station is only about 7 miles away so we are under the same cloud/sun regiment. Whereas the other station has very little variation from 2c. Do you think this is abnormal or something I should keep an eye on?

It does seem that my station does record accurate temperatures when we are under cloud.

Without knowing the surroundings of the station you are comparing with, its impossible to know
Attached are the 3 Davis stations nearest me
Beechfield is the closest at about 8 miles
They are all within 25 miles
All always much different in temp

PERSONAL WEATHER STATIONS: Queries and Advice

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