Author Topic: Atlas Accuracy in the Phoenix Metro?  (Read 439 times)

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Offline wase4711

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Atlas Accuracy in the Phoenix Metro?
« on: September 27, 2018, 08:32:21 PM »
So, we moved from Illinois to Arizona about a year ago, and, I have had several real weather station while in Chicago-land; always easy for me to find a decent place to mount them, and usually got accurate readings, especially from the Davis Stuff. Have held off buying anything in Arizona aside from a couple small console types,but just sprung for the Atlas yesterday, and its coming tomorrow.
My concern is that the mind numbing heat/sun that we get out here will make it tough for any weather station to provide accurate readings, especially when mounted out in the open, so I was wondering if any of you folks live in a desert environment, and how these stations report their numbers, while sitting out in the hot 120-140 degree sun during the afternoons in the summer..Even today, Sept 26th, its 103 here, so, I guess I will find out tomorrow when my Atlas shows up..
thanks for your input!

Offline CW2274

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Re: Atlas Accuracy in the Phoenix Metro?
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2018, 10:26:21 PM »
My concern is that the mind numbing heat/sun that we get out here will make it tough for any weather station to provide accurate readings, especially when mounted out in the open, so I was wondering if any of you folks live in a desert environment, and how these stations report their numbers, while sitting out in the hot 120-140 degree sun during the afternoons in the summer..Even today, Sept 26th, its 103 here, so, I guess I will find out tomorrow when my Atlas shows up..
thanks for your input!
I'm in Tucson. I'll assume your 120-140F remark meant literally how hot the surface of a particular object could be with our isolation.
I own a Davis VP2 with the 24hr shield, which I now use an aftermarket case fan for better aspiration, something I feel is necessary in our climate and have been using for 11 years. If you can't put your wx station in direct sunlight because it's not accurate, then for me, it's not worth having. I know mine's good sunup to sundown, exposed fully, let us know how your Atlas does.

Offline wase4711

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Re: Atlas Accuracy in the Phoenix Metro?
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2018, 10:44:51 PM »
thanks, yes, I was referring to how hot things get in my yard when the sun is beating down on them..hopefully, we never see actual temps like that!
I agree that if you cant put the station where you want it, out here, its not worth having...considering there are only 2 seasons out here, (hot and hotter!)I'm hoping that the included shielding and built in fan will help; I'll post here once its installed and delivered tomorrow..
I'm also excited that its actually supposed to rain next week, so hopefully I can get a decent test of the rain gauge as well!

Offline wase4711

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Re: Atlas Accuracy in the Phoenix Metro?
« Reply #3 on: September 28, 2018, 08:30:12 PM »
how long should I allow for the pressure to be accurate on the Atlas? I remember on their cheaper weather devices, they say there is a 14 day learning curve for that..should I assume its the same for the Atlas? Everything else, aside from the ridiculous lightning strikes, seems pretty close after only 5 hours..

Offline nincehelser

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Re: Atlas Accuracy in the Phoenix Metro?
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2018, 09:45:47 PM »
how long should I allow for the pressure to be accurate on the Atlas? I remember on their cheaper weather devices, they say there is a 14 day learning curve for that..should I assume its the same for the Atlas? Everything else, aside from the ridiculous lightning strikes, seems pretty close after only 5 hours..

The Atlas itself doesn't have a baro senso.

You have a baro sensor in the display.  It seems to use the "learning period" and thus should take a couple weeks to be reasonable accurate.  This baro data isn't sent anywhere outside of the display.

The Access also has its own baro sensor.  This is the one used to transmit data to the internet.  It does not use the "learning period", but either transmits station or "adjusted" (aka "altimeter") depending on how you set it up.

Offline wase4711

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Re: Atlas Accuracy in the Phoenix Metro?
« Reply #5 on: September 28, 2018, 09:59:21 PM »
thanks; thats why my inside display shows a much higher number than the outside number..how would you recommend setting up the Access for pressure?  I set it up with station pressure not adjusted, so maybe I'll just leave it that way for a couple of weeks and see what it reads..
Aside from the ridiculous lightning strike count, it seems pretty accurate so far, based on other devices and the actual weather report  from the phoenix area. I was concerned about how it would handle being out in the hot daytime sun here, but it read 106 today, and it actually was 105, so not bad for right out of the box...I should have left the tape on the rain bucket bracket until I got it up on the pole today, so I actually show .02 inches of rain!
We are getting the remnants of a hurricane here next week, so I'll see how accurate the rain gauge actually is then!

thanks for being so helpful!