Hi all. New here. My wife and I live in a sort of unique weather pocket in northern Colorado at about 8100 feet. I'd really like to be able to monitor things better for our exact location.
My biggest priority is wind speed, and accurate as possible. I have background in small wind power (we are off-grid) and know about going up to find 'clean' wind. Also, in this geographic area, I know we can see gusts in excess of 100mph, so, preferably an anemometer with a range to suit, even when such gusts are rare.
Also, of course, on a budget.
First attempt, I bought an Ambient Weather unit. Cheap, like $60. It didn't work. Didn't transmit to the receiver, so it got sent back.
Still looking, and here's what I have come up with.
Cheap 3-in-1 acurite unit. Pro: price. Con: 99mph max wind speed, question the quality.
Slightly more money, the 5 in 1 acurite guys. Pro: again price, plus rain. Con, same as above.
More money yet, Davis Vantage Vue, which I like, but even the regular 'pro' is at teh top of budget, and the 'pro 2' unit is even moreso. But, looks like a higher quality unit, and a 150mph range for wind speed.
Last option in my mind thus far is to just build a anemometer using a digital bicycle speedometer for data collection. That'd likely be cheapest, and I can get by with our existing rain and temp gauges, and stash money for something better when the cash is available.
Just thought I'd run these options by folks that have experience with these units, and see if anyone has further thoughts on what I've mentioned, or thoughts on other setups that might fit the bill.
Thanks so much!
Matt
