I have numerous stations and temp indicators about the property here and at a couple friends who suffer me their places to monitor.
Today, as an example, I ran across the amateur's nightmare again... Is my temperature sensor calibrated?
I have mercury thermometers like the old Taylor U shaped tube with the magnet to reset the max and minumum. One might think that when both the scales are adjusted to read the same that all would be well. Dunno.
I have Davis, which everyone says are pretty good from the factory, and argue over aspirated vs. none.
I have a few mercury thermometer Taylor Sling pychrometers, and with two thermometers that sort of read the same, that's reassuring, but it is still not a standard.
Today the problem came up as I'm finishing getting all the parts together and running barometer tracking and such before putting the unit out.
For those who're not familiar, the Texas Wx Instruments WRL-25 has a remote 'pagoda' that is basically a radiation shield with the temp/humidity sensor inside. It also comes with an indoor temp sensor, a little something like a thermistor on the end of a two foot flexible cord. My simplistic way of thinking is to stick the flexible cord tip up inside the pagoda to about where the sensor should be, and let things run a few days. Sometimes the temps close, but usually 3/4 to 1.4 degrees apart.
Each readout (in tenths) can be tweaked individually in the console.
Problem... which one, if either, is closest to the 'right' temperature? I have a larger temp unit that won't slip up inside the pagoda to add another number to the mix. I have a single mercury thermometer which being glass and long and inflexible, has the same problem. I've taken an IR meter and measured temps off the surface of the pagoda, but of course that gives once again the surface temperature, even in my work area in the basement where the sunshine doesn't hit.
I could immerse the flexible 'indoor' probe in the ice bath trick for awhile, see if I can get it close to 32, and then stuff it back in the pagoda for a day or two to see if I can make the outside sensor track, too.
Or, if someone knows of a handy-dandy pretty darn accurate ( from say 32 up to 100 F) portable hand held system with a little probe that also could go up in close proximity with the other sensors, I could try using that, not only for this project, but everything else.
I was at the drug store and looked at little oral and rectal battery powered thermometers, but they are limited to a few degrees around what us humans usually maintain.
I looked at the kitchen supply store for a kitchen thermometer which also includes room temperature ranges in addition to cooked meet temps, but wouldn't you know,they all allow adjustment, so what is a good standard?
I'm not doing research, but would like to report to the local nets when I did hit freezing or was a couple degrees above at the location of the sensors.
Any thoughts?
Dale