Okay,
I've now moved my weather station for the 7,349th time and this time I'm feeling somewhat confident that the new location will work.
The temp sensor is now mounted on the east side of my garage, 5 feet up and over a grassy surface.
There will be no sunlight hitting the sensor except possibly for an hour in the very early morning.
The sensor is in a shaded area from the east, south and west so radiant heating is the only issue I have to worry about.
I'm still somewhat concerned that the interior temperature of the garage will be reflected onto the temp. sensor but if that happens then I'll have to accept the fact that a pole mount is the only logical solution. Of course I could try to insulate the interior of the garage (directly opposite of the temp sensor mounting), but I'm not sure it would be worth the effort if this does turn out to be a problem.
Saturday's forecast is for partly sunny skies so I should at least get an idea of how the new mounting position will work. Sunday's forcast is for clear skies so that will be an even better indicator.
Although today was mostly overcast, the times that the sun did come out gave me the same inflated readings that I've been used to. Not quite as drastic but still 2 - 4 degrees too high.
Anyway, I'm happy with the SR100 in that it did lower my high readings somewhat and no doubt provides better air flow to the sensor. i would recommend this shield to anyone that has need of one.
I really do appreciate the advice I've been given concerning this problem. I'll give another update by early next week once I have reliable data to report.
If all else fails I might try turning the SR100 into a FARS before resorting to the pole method. I've already had to do some "adjustments" with a spiral saw just to get my temp humidity sensor to fit inside.
BTW, for whoever asked.....
The temp/humidity sensor that I'm using is a Zephyr brand (also known as a Watson, Fine Offset, WH1081, etc.).
It's a cheap setup but all in all I'm pretty happy with the results it's given, especially as compared to my dad's Davis VP2.
My readings run pretty much neck in neck with my dad's readings (except the temp) and as he said.....he spent considerably more on his station.
I had initally planned on using this station for a year or so and then upgrading to a Davis.
After having used this one for a month, I've decided that I will probably buy another one of these $120.00 specials simply so that I will have spare parts on hand when something does fail on it.
Okay, now I'm rambling. I have this problem with literarry diareahh, so please excuse me when it happens.
Thanks again for all of your help and I'll be sure to provide an update.
Dave