T- 2 weeks give or take until this project comes to rest. I had to completely overhaul the system power due to the permanent addition of the R. M. Young 43408 FARS. So now instead of two 55 Ah SLA packs, I am going to be running three 100 Ah LiFePO4 batteries in parallel for a total capacity of 300 Ah. With an estimated current draw of around 0.745 A, and a usable battery capacity of 80%, this gives the station over 300 hours of run time. This falls well within the 288-336 hrs Campbell Scientific recommends for stations between 30° to 50° Lat North.

Power setup is as follows: Newpowa 180 watt solar panel (same dimensions as their 120 watt panel as such fits on their smaller mount), Victron energy MPPT 75V 15A charge controller, and 3 DC House 100 Ah LiFePO4 batteries. While these were on the cheaper end with from what reviews said lacking temperature cutoff, I did not feel there would be an issue with this given the station has such little amp draw requirements. Our climate also does not typically reach temperatures below -20°C for extended periods of time. These batteries are also nearly 20 lbs lighter and significantly smaller, allowing all to fit within the aluminum cabinet I acquired for this purpose. The legs for the tripod the station assembles on actually angle to the 31° required for the year round "optimal solar angle" which is extremely convenient.

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The pyranometer mount has also been completed and will most likely stay together even after the station gets lofted to the next county over.

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Both polyester fiberglass enclosures have been mounted to one side with cable consolidation through conduit. The data logger and applicable DIN rail mounted equipment will reside in the right enclosure while the weather sensitive instruments in the left. The furthest most left conduit opening will be for cable/tubing entrance that will either route to the instruments or through the conduit to the logging equipment.

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Given the significant weight imbalance, the pyranometer will mount much closer to the center allowing the anemometer to reach further out away from the turbulence shadow of the tripod mast. The anemometer and pressure port are collocated so this benefits twofold.

Shooting for first half of May this thing is done. Fingers crossed...


Cheers

Had best results when setting up the bird spikes like this;
https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=45464.msg461715#msg461715

In the Northeast US, I've seen a couple of different birds that frequent the WH40, despite rain spikes. I found that "bird scare tape" -- available from your favorite internet store, or likely your local hardware/feed store for a few dollars -- to have worked really well. I hang a foot (30 cm) of the tape from the bird spikes, using paper clips, and they flutter in the least breeze. The holographic print catches any sunlight and produce intermittent motion and random flashes of light, which seems to work.

I have three old Vantage Pro 2 consoles and new 6313 console in the same area and they do not seem effected by this change.  I checked the diagnostics for the old consoles and it is about the same now compared to before the changes.

maybe try some ultrasound devices - quite a few models have proven very efficient against birds "decorating" balconies etc.