Topic: Miniature Model Scientific Weather Station

[Robotguy]

Has anyone else thought about building a tiny model weather station, or am I a special kind of weird? I am seriously considering building a 6-inch(~150mm) tall Campbell Scientific tripod station, preferably functional, solar, and wireless.

[BoDuke]

I haven't thought of it but that's a neat idea.  Given my limited knowledge, I'm not sure it would be possible to make it functional at that small of a scale but it sounds like a cool, challenging project.  Good luck and be sure to share your adventure with us!

[Robotguy]

Step 1: Research

I have quite a few images of the WS on my site at work because it fascinates me for some reason. Maybe it reminds me of the Apollo Moon Lander or something. It's just so scientific looking. But photogrammetry isn't the best way to get measurement, even if it doesn't have to be exact. SO, I headed to the source. It turns out Campbell Scientific have good documentation and the manual for the CM106B tripod includes several critical measurements I needed: https://www.campbellsci.com/cm106b

Step 2: Pick a scale

I looked around a bit and decided 3mm aluminum tubing would make for a decent size, with a scale of around 1:11, total model diameter of ~12"(309mm) and height of ~11"(273mm). I'm using .016"(.4mm) aluminum sheet for the strapping and body plates. It's pretty strong at this size, but thin enough to work with my flush cutters. All of the screws are M1.6

Step 3: Start prototyping

A picture is worth 1000 words. Unfortunately this image also says a lot about the tragic state of my desk...