Hi Al,

I was wondering if the weather station is working properly lately? I am comparing with the aberdify one and lately seems to be a bit of too much discrepancy with the force of the nature one one showing less wind in all directions? Just checking.

Many thanks

Michele

I have a feeling that BT managed to do something to it while they were up the pole recently.... I need to get up there to check it for myself but may have to splash out on another new anemometer - even though the one that's there is fairly new. The gust speed seem accurate but the average windspeed seems a little low as it seems to be sticking now and then.

It is a little weird though as it seems fine much of the time but then drops to zero every so often. Just compared now and the readings are as follows:

Aberdyfi: E 13 Kt Max Gust 28 Kt @ 02:05 - 10 min Av. 15.6Kt
Ynyslas: E 16.9Kt Max Gust 31.4Kt ENE @ 4:40am - 10 min Av.13.7Kt

As you can see, actual windspeed and max windspeed are about right, (it would be slightly windier at Ynyslas in an Easterly thanks the the funneling effect of the estuary) but the occasional drops to zero at Ynyslas bring the 10 min average windspeed down below what it should be. I'll try to go up the pole next week to investigate and will probably then have to spend yet more money to fix it. Maybe it's time for a completely new ISS and Anemometer?

Al.

Thanks for looking into it Alan! I remember you did some work recently and also replaced the anemometer! Hope all gets sorted without too much expenses!

Cheers

quote:

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Originally posted by justal
I have a feeling that BT managed to do something to it while they were up the pole recently.... I need to get up there to check it for myself but may have to splash out on another new anemometer - even though the one that's there is fairly new. The gust speed seem accurate but the average windspeed seems a little low as it seems to be sticking now and then.

It is a little weird though as it seems fine much of the time but then drops to zero every so often. Just compared now and the readings are as follows:

Aberdyfi: E 13 Kt Max Gust 28 Kt @ 02:05 - 10 min Av. 15.6Kt
Ynyslas: E 16.9Kt Max Gust 31.4Kt ENE @ 4:40am - 10 min Av.13.7Kt

As you can see, actual windspeed and max windspeed are about right, (it would be slightly windier at Ynyslas in an Easterly thanks the the funneling effect of the estuary) but the occasional drops to zero at Ynyslas bring the 10 min average windspeed down below what it should be. I'll try to go up the pole next week to investigate and will probably then have to spend yet more money to fix it. Maybe it's time for a completely new ISS and Anemometer?

Al.

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I've just been up the pole to check out the anemometer. I couldn't see anything obviously wrong with it and the wind cups seem to be spinning well without any obvious sticking points and resistance. I've cleaned and lubed it anyway and will see if that improves things. The wind has dropped since being up there but things do seem to be a little better - It's currently reading 2 knots on the console which is promising as it didn't seem to be spinning properly at slow speeds before.

The anemometer itself is only a couple of years old and another replacement will cost around £180. If that's necessary then I'll order one. However, the rest of the sensor suite is now over ten years old so maybe it's time to replace it all. The sensor suite and anemometer package (without the console) is around £500 so maybe it's time to save up for a new one. I just need to check a few things out first and make sure that the latest version is still compatible with the console, but if todays climb up the pole hasn't improved things, this will be my next plan.



Al.

Hi Everyone,
Looks as though the weather station is playing up again... The temperature sensor seems to have had an exciting morning today so it's time to splash some cash and replace some components yet again.

I've just ordered a complete new wireless sensor suite - The latest model with digital temperature sensor, digital humidity sensor, new anemometer, new radiation shield, rain gauge and new rain collection bucket design and a new solar panel and wireless transmitter. I managed to get it for £429 in the end and hopefully it'll arrive before Christmas.

Once it does and we have a nice calm, dry day I'll get my climbing gear on and scale the pole to install it. There may be a few teething problems while I get it all set up but with brand new sensors all round hopefully it'll be reading correctly again soon and all will stay that way for a while.

The current failing ISS is over 10 years old now and has of course been exposed to the best that Ynyslas weather can throw at it so I guess it's done fairly well. Not that much of what's left is original equipment as most of it has been replaced once or twice over those 10 years.

Al.

Sounds good

I trust you also ordered plenty of good steady SW wind to calibrate the new station!

Of course... And some stonking NE's too

Although it doesn't look as though these will arrive until Christmas Eve.

Al.

Today it says it is 19.9C! If only

Don't worry, the new weather station is now here. I'll try to get up the pole today to install it and set it up.

I'll also go back through the data and clear out any errors.

Fingers crossed I can get it all up and running this week.

Al.

Typical... No wind or rain for ages and now that I need a calm, dry day to get up the pole to install the new anemometer and ISS the forecast seems to me wet and windy.

Oh well, at least I might get chance to get out for a sail.

Al.

quote:

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Originally posted by justal
Typical... No wind or rain for ages and now that I need a calm, dry day to get up the pole to install the new anemometer and ISS the forecast seems to me wet and windy.

Oh well, at least I might get chance to get out for a sail.

Al.

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Yep.. I'm not back at work until Jan 4th so I'm sure there'll be a break in the wind and rain before then which will allow me to install the new weather station... It;s the whole integrated Sensor suite and an anemometer that I've bought this time.

Not that there was anything left of the original one really as over the years the temperature sensor had been replaced, the humidity sensor had been replaced and upgraded a couple of time, the anemometer had been replaced. I'd put a new SIM board in the ISS and the rain gauge had had a new reed switch. The new one has all of that upgraded and brand new along with a new radiation shield, a new solar panel and a new rain bucket. Lots of work to set it all up but it'll be worth it.

Al.

Weather looking good for the rest of the week so fingers crossed I'll have time to get up the pole and install the new station.

The electricity supply to Ynyslas has been a bit dodgy over Christmas though. The power went out for a brief time on Christmas Eve, then kept cutting out on Christmas Day and was off for much of the morning on Boxing Day - Needless to say when this happens the computer that processes the data from the weather station and uploads it to the website goes off and the website stops updating. Thankfully the weather station itself and the data-logger have battery backups so data is still recorded and stored even when our electricity is off.

Can't complain about the wind over the past few days though - I've been out windsurfing everyday.

Phew... I've just spent all afternoon risking my life installing £600 worth of sensitive electrical equipment on the top of telegraph pole.

As far as I can tell, everything seems to be working now. There's a brand new Sensor Suite containing a temperature and humidity sensor within a radiation shield, a rain gauge and rain bucket, a brand new anemometer and brand new Solar Panels, SIM board and wireless transmitter.

It all seems to be communicating to the indoor console and datalogger and that in turn seems to be communicating with my PC that uploads the data to the Borth & Ynyslas Weather Station Web Pages.

The wind data is once again accurate as should everything else be. There's only a light breeze out there at the moment, in fact you can barely feel it but the anemometer is spinning freely and measuring around 1.9 knots.

Fingers crossed it'll be a while before I need to go up there again.

Al.

Brilliant

Now we need storm Conor to materialise so we can check it out!

It doesn't help that the electricity keeps cutting out. First it was a fault on the line somewhere - now the fuse box has tripped.

No sign of Storm Connor yet Alastair. I've been trying to restore my old surf ski though and think it is now water-tight so will try it out tomorrow. Wind was perfect yesterday though - and the sun was shining.

Al.

Not much sign of wind forecast for a while let alone the next named storm. Though the new station is showing that a chilly Ivor is blowing so it looks to be working

Electricity is down again at Ynyslas this morning - The weather station is still recording data but the PC that uploads it's data to the web (and the Broadband Hub) doesn't have a battery backup so isn't working.... The weather station pages won't be updating until the power comes back on.

Al.

Back up and running with electricity again.... I wonder how long we'll stay powered up for this time.

Apparently they are coming out to do some work in the area on Feb 1st so hopefully that'll be the end of the powercuts for a while.

Al.

The electricity will be off in Ynyslas today so the weather station PC will be off and won't be able to upload to the Internet.... At least we have warming this time!

Al.

Electricity is back on. Weather Station is updating again... No data was lost as the weather station itself and the data logger has a battery backup.

Al.