Author Topic: My VP2 station  (Read 1223 times)

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Offline KathyLauren

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My VP2 station
« on: October 18, 2021, 07:57:25 AM »
This is my new Vantage Pro 2 station (right), installed a few weeks ago.  It replaces a collection of 1-Wire instruments that gradually died one by one.  The mast is 14 feet tall.  The junction box at the bottom of the mast used to house connections and interface modules for the old 1-Wire wind instrument.  It now only houses a temperature sensor, which is not terribly useful, but which does make for some interesting monitoring.

The dome is my astrophotography observatory.  It houses an 8" telescope, and is fully automated for remote operation.

We live in heavy forest, and the trees make the location less than ideal for both weather monitoring or astrophotography.  The only clearing of any size is the septic system drain field, which is where the weather station and observatory are located.  The trees, of course, block the wind.  I estimate that the average wind out in the open would be about double what I measure.  It varies with direction.  My trees are taller to the east, so my wind speeds under-read most in that direction.

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Offline miraculon

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Re: My VP2 station
« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2021, 08:12:20 AM »
It looks like you did the best you could given the situation.

I also started with 1-Wire back around 1998 or so. I used "One Wire Weather" by Simon Melhuish to acquire the data from the 1-Wire sensors. It was cost-effective and worked well for years. My basic anemometer/wind set was sold by Dallas Semiconductor (later Maxim) to promote the sensors. I also had the rain gauge.

I have been running Davis VP2 for about 10 years now, with the addition of various sensors and a 2nd rain gauge.

Greg H.





Blitzortung Stations #706 and #1682
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CWOP: CW4114 and KE8DAF-13
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Amateur Radio Callsign: KE8DAF

Offline rpegg

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Re: My VP2 station
« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2022, 06:00:06 PM »
Yes, the trees create real problems both for your observatory and for the weather station.   Had the same issue with a weather station sited high above my garage.   Even though it was on top of a mountain knoll, the sensor was closely surrounded by very tall oak and pine trees.   Over 2 years the highest wind ever recorded by my station was 30mph even though the forecast was often for 65mph gusts.   This month I moved the station to a large clearing on the next ridge.   The very next day I recorded 35mph winds, which was forecast, while only 15mph at the house.

I had just cleared a very large area of encroaching trees around my 10ft dome observatory to improve the night sky horizons.   Then I realized it was also a good site to relocate the weather station.    We have at least two of the same hobbies.