Tips on remote mounting transmitter/solar enclosure

[Xipper]

I apologize if I missed some obvious discussion on this, but after searching and reading siting guides and examples I haven't found a way to address my issue. 

I have a wireless Davis VP2, the anemometer is mounted from my chimney using an antenna mount kit and a fiber glass pole...and the solar collector points south and gets as much sun as exists (season dependent in Portland).  This places the anemometer as high as is reasonable, and generally above most abstractions as my ~40' tall roof peak is higher than most houses around me.  The downside of this location is access, I am not sure how I will ever get back up there for any maintenance...thankfully it is just the anemometer and not a rain gauge and I assume maintenance would only be to replace the battery.

My rain gauge and temp/humidity sensor are mounted together on the post of the fence that surrounds my backyard.  This is where the issue sits, currently in order to have it mounted the solar panels face west..including that for the solar FAR (not 24/7 FAR).  I upgraded to the FAR to make up for the siting location, however what I need to do is find a good way of mounting the transmitter enclosure and solar panel pointing a different direction.  It would be great if Davis had made it so that you could mount the enclosure to the 90-degree side of the rain gauge base.

Does anyone have pointers or examples of how to remotely mount the transmitter enclosure?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[elagache]

Dear Xipper and WeatherCat station tinkerers,

.  . .  . what I need to do is find a good way of mounting the transmitter enclosure and solar panel pointing a different direction.  It would be great if Davis had made it so that you could mount the enclosure to the 90-degree side of the rain gauge base.

Unfortunately, you've got something of a problem there.  First, thing to consider is that you could run your ISS on battery power alone.  Without solar power, the station will use a 123 battery about every 4 months.  If you are willing to pay "Herb's battery commission" (buy your batteries in bulk at say Amazon,) that might be the path of least resistance.

If you chose to move the ISS enclosure, keep in mind that you must not under any circumstances increase the length of the cable to the temperature/humidity probe.  I found that out da' hard way!    However, you can extend the cables of any other sensor.  So you could relocate the temperature/humidity probe and the ISS enclosure and keep your rain gauge where it is with an extended cable.  You can buy parts like the base of the rain gauge, so you could simply remount the ISS enclosure on a second base.  A good source for Davis parts is Scaled Instruments:

https://www.scaledinstruments.com/

There is a video that Davis made showing you how to remove and replace your ISS enclosure:

https://youtu.be/sCN3cuqaEEc

That might give you some ideas of what options you have.  I think you might be able to come up with an alternative mounting rid for the ISS enclosure, but it will take some fancy fabrication to do it.

Honestly, if I were in your shoes I would just pay "Herb's battery commission" and get on with it.

Cheers, Edouard

[LesCimes]

I have installed a couple of stations with the solar panel oriented in a less than optimum direction or shielded by nearby trees. It hasn't been a problem. I don't think that orienting the solar panel is a vital parameter; it's nice, I suppose, when it can face south, but not a big deal in my experience.

[elagache]

Dear Xipper, LesCimes and WeatherCat station tinkerers,

I forgot one other potential option you might consider.  It is possible to power a Davis ISS transmitter board using the same Davis AC adapter used for the console.  That requires AC power in the region, but on the other hand you can run extension cables away from where you do have a AC outlet and simply keep your ISS transmitter and temperature/humidity probe near your source of power.

That's now my station is running right now.  The ISS transmitter and temperature/humidity probe are under a deck which is the ultimate solar radiation shield.  My rain gauge, anemometer, and solar radiation sensor are about 30 feet away mounted on the rail of another deck.  I have extended the cables of all the instruments 30 feet away.  Another advantage of this sort of arrangement is that you can use AC power for the fan on the temperature/humidity probe.  Alas, the Davis fan doesn't take the 3+ volts of an AC adapter very well.  My fan died only after a few months and I haven't had time to replace it with the PC case fan I have bought to take over that duty.

Cheers, Edouard

[Xipper]

Thanks for all of the replies.  The station seems to do fine on the amount of sun exposure it gets for the sensors themselves, I should have mentioned my bigger concern is that the solar FARS doesn't get direct sun when the radiation shield itself does...which defeats the purpose of the FARS (which is far overpriced for what it is, Davis tax I guess).  It is just odd that Davis assumes you can place every ISS with the solar collector facing due south...or some other close to ideal orientation.  Why they couldn't have had mounting tabs for the transmitter enclosure on 3 sides of the base doesn't make much sense.  Perhaps I will get some time this weekend to try to come up with a hack work around.

I bought my station from Scaled Instruments, though it was Archer Trading Post at the time

[elagache]

Dear Xipper and WeatherCat station tinkerers,

I should have mentioned my bigger concern is that the solar FARS doesn't get direct sun when the radiation shield itself does...which defeats the purpose of the FARS

Sorry, I had remembered that you mentioned the FARS feature as important, but I got carried away trying to answer the overall question.

(which is far overpriced for what it is, Davis tax I guess).

I agree it was expensive and unfortunately, Davis has changed suppliers for their motors so they don't last as long as they once did.  So the additional price isn't buying you much.  I also bought the daytime FARS kit because I figured I would need the mounting hardware even if I used another fan.  Is there any chance you could power the FARS fan with AC?  That would certainly simplify your life and then you could use a beefy PC case fan that should last years.

Cheers, Edouard 

[Xipper]

Thanks for the suggestion.  Today I decided to pop the ISS transmitter enclosure off and was able to rig it with some zip ties so that it mounts on 90-degrees to the original spot facing due south.  The FARS wasn't operating before I did so, but now it appears the FARS will power at least an hour before sun actually crosses the divide to hit the radiation shield or the surrounding vegetation...so hopefully that makes up for my artificially skewed high temps on sunny days.  It isn't perfect, but it will do the job until I feel like spending more time on that.

I don't have any AC power anywhere close to the ISS, perhaps when I do my landscape lighting and outdoor speakers I can just run some low voltage wire over there and power it from a transformer located elsewhere.  The fan in the FARS does seem very low quality, should be easy enough to rig a PC fan to replace it when it dies...like my home made tap tower circulation fan in my home built kegerator.  This warm weather reminds me I should have another beer and that the tap tower fan died after 2 years of 24x7 operation.   

[elagache]

Dear Xipper and WeatherCat station tinkerers,

Thanks for the suggestion.  Today I decided to pop the ISS transmitter enclosure off and was able to rig it with some zip ties so that it mounts on 90-degrees to the original spot facing due south.  The FARS wasn't operating before I did so, but now it appears the FARS will power at least an hour before sun actually crosses the divide to hit the radiation shield or the surrounding vegetation...so hopefully that makes up for my artificially skewed high temps on sunny days.  It isn't perfect, but it will do the job until I feel like spending more time on that.

Glad you came up with at least a jury-rigged setup to see if rotating the ISS enclosure is doing much good.  Given your location, relying on solar power may not be the best plan.

I don't have any AC power anywhere close to the ISS, perhaps when I do my landscape lighting and outdoor speakers I can just run some low voltage wire over there and power it from a transformer located elsewhere.  The fan in the FARS does seem very low quality, should be easy enough to rig a PC fan to replace it when it dies...like my home made tap tower circulation fan in my home built kegerator.  This warm weather reminds me I should have another beer and that the tap tower fan died after 2 years of 24x7 operation.   

That sounds like a reasonable plan.  The amount of current required by these fans is minimal.  It would be prudent to have a fuse near the transformer just in case something happens to the wire in route, but beyond that you should be able to provide that power over a long distance.  I still haven't taken on my PC case fan modification, but I'm hoping it won't be too difficult to modify the Davis housing for their fan to take a PC fan.

Cheers, Edouard

[xairbusdriver]

I'm no engineer (but I once worked in the third seat of the 727), but my little 12V/1amp PoE injector worked fine on a 100 feet of Cat 5 cable, no discernible voltage drop between a 6' cable and the 100' one: 12.41v either way. Not saying you need Cat x cable, but that fan should draw a lot less current than a string of out door lights!