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Weather Station Hardware => Davis Instruments Weather Stations => Topic started by: WBDubya on March 13, 2018, 06:53:36 PM
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I recently increased the mounting height of my Vantage Vue due to the anemometer getting partally blocked from a nearby tree. My house is on 1/10th of an acre which limits my placement options. The height of the galvanized pole (anchored by concrete) is now 14 feet AGL. I’m noticing some vibration from the wind and wonder if the tipping bucket will over report rainfall amounts. I found some older threads from 2015 in the forum which is raising the concern. Any ideas?
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I recently increased the mounting height of my Vantage Vue due to the anemometer getting partally blocked from a nearby tree. My house is on 1/10th of an acre which limits my placement options. The height of the galvanized pole (anchored by concrete) is now 14 feet AGL. I’m noticing some vibration from the wind and wonder if the tipping bucket will over report rainfall amounts. I found some older threads from 2015 in the forum which is raising the concern. Any ideas?
Are you actually getting false rain counts, or is this just a "worry bead"? Is it a vibration, or more of a "sway"?
If you are getting false counts, you could add guy lines.
Greg H.
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It's more pole sway that I'm dealing with when the winds get above 15 mph. It hasn't rained since I raised the height of the pole so I'm not sure if false counts are going to be a problem or not. I may drill through the pipe in two or three spots where the two poles meet and install bolts and nuts to secure the sections together to see if that makes a difference. I have limited space so I'd rather not use guy wire (see attached picture), attaching to the utility pole that's leaning is not an option.
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Here's a picture of the area before I raised the station.
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so I'm not sure if false counts are going to be a problem or not.
Actually, if it is not raining and you are getting "rain" indication, that is the best indication of getting false counts. When it is actually raining, it is difficult to determine if some counts are in error. So you just need a windy day without rain.
Greg H.
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Thanks Greg! It's been windy with no rain and I have not been getting any "rain counts" so maybe I'm good to go.
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Thanks Greg! It's been windy with no rain and I have not been getting any "rain counts" so maybe I'm good to go.
Not to "rain on your parade", but you'd really need some strong, gusty winds to cause an empty spoon to tip. The problem is when water starts to fill the spoon and then wind will cause it to tip prematurely causing false high readings. Only way you'll really know is to have a manual gauge to compare with, or at least a tipper that is secure.
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Is that is a contiguous 14-foot pole or did you "connect" two poles (original & new) together?
If it's two poles, you might consider attaching guy-wires to the point where the two poles are connected together...that way you don't have to go all the way to the top to connect your guy-wires.
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I inserted a 10’ 1-1/2” pole inside a 1-3/4”. I have considered drilling holes and using bolts with lockwashers and nuts to secure together.
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I inserted a 10’ 1-1/2” pole inside a 1-3/4”. I have considered drilling holes and using bolts with lockwashers and nuts to secure together.
Drill a third hole and attach two guy-wire washer-loops under head and nut sides and under head or nut for third guy-wire washer-loop, or maybe use something like this:
(https://pimages.solidsignal.com/EZ-43-A_zoom.jpg)
How "tight" is their fit now without being bolted together?
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That’s an intersting contraption! Where in the world would one find something like that? The top pole twists easily inside the main, it’s not a tight fit.
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That’s an intersting contraption! Where in the world would one find something like that? The top pole twists easily inside the main, it’s not a tight fit.
Found here: https://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=ez-43-a (https://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=ez-43-a)
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Thanks for posting the link. In your opinion do you think two of these clamps and a 1" pole would work better? I prefer to not have guy wires since I'm extremely limited on space.
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Thanks for posting the link. In your opinion do you think two of these clamps and a 1" pole would work better? I prefer to not have guy wires since I'm extremely limited on space.
1" poles tend to be too flimsy. Recommend 1.25" (32mm) as a minimum and the heavier the gauge the better.
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Thanks for posting the link. In your opinion do you think two of these clamps and a 1" pole would work better? I prefer to not have guy wires since I'm extremely limited on space.
1" poles tend to be too flimsy. Recommend 1.25" (32mm) as a minimum and the heavier the gauge the better.
Which is why I used thicker-walled galvanized water pipe instead of thinner gauged electrical conduit tubing.
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The Vue ISS is in no way accurate if there is wind during a rainstorm even if you have slight vibrations/sway . Depending on the wind speed, I may only record 50% of the actual rainfall.