Where should I Site my Wx Station

[Commodore]

It's down to just two weeks until I finally place my order for my weather station. I am now fairly certain that I will get the Davis 6153 Wireless Pro2 with 24-hour fan and the Davis 6555 WeatherLink with IP data logger. I will run WC on a dedicated Mac mini. Is it better to run Mac OS Server or just Mac OS?

My big remaining decisions are on the compromises that I need to make in siting the ISS. My HOA's rules prevent me from putting anything on a pole that is higher than 6 feet from the ground or on the rooftop of my two-story house. That leaves me with two good options:

1)  mount the ISS on a second floor balcony railing that is approximately 5 feet away from the back of my house, which will put some distance between my pool and lawn and the sensors but seriously compromise my wind data because my house would block all winds from the south. The prevailing winds are from the north here but we do get some winds from the south. It is very windy here with gusts of 30-40 MPH many days per year. Thus strong north winds bounce off of my house. This would compromise my wind data even when the winds are not from the south.

2)  mount the ISS on a Davis tripod mount or other pole-like structure that is in my backyard. Even though there would be some compromise of wind data due to the anemometer being only 5 feet off of the ground and the house still blocking some if the wind from the south, I would get much more accurate wind data. However, my RH and temperature would be compromised due to closer proximity to my pool and to my lawn's turf grass.

Is my obsession about these things just one more sign that I am "losing it?"  :-)

[embayweather]

Not losing it, doing the most important thing you can with weather stations. Carefully consider all your placement options before committing yourself. Most importantly consider what you want most from the readings, temperature and derivatives or wind and derivatives. That will help you decide between the two places. For my ha'perthworth I would say stay as far away from the building as possible. Only in that way can you get the most from your readings. When measurements originally began many years ago they were often done inside of a room with the window left open, it was soon discovered the effect the building had on the results. If you are bothered about the effect of the pool on your readings , well drain the pool, weather comes first!!!!!!! Just joking.

It does seem you are stuck between a rock and a hard place with those draconian rules, and it not an enviable position to be in. If you are careful though you may be able to factor out the effect of the pool if you can compare your results to another local, preferably professional weather station. It would soon give you an idea as to the amount of effect the pool and its environs affect your result. You could also take a more pragmatic view inasmuch as the pool and all the other things at your house are the things that affect 'your' weather. If you have no hankering to put your data on line etc but are just interested in your own very local weather then site as best you can for the wind and the temperatures will follow.

Best wishes

Mike

[JosBaz]

I would recommend moving it around for a few days and check at what location you get the best readings (compare with a Wx station(s) in the area).
Chances are your wind-speed readings will be off whatever you do (they are for me - forested area) so I would definitely go for the backyard, >10ft away from the house, where there is good air circulation.

I'm using a Mac Mini with standard Mac OS and it runs fine (it also functions as a Plex Media Server).

Good luck.

Jos

[Commodore]

Thanks for the good advice, Mike and Jos! I was already leaning toward putting the ISS in the backyard. Your posts have me thinking that I will at least start there.

Jos, I like your idea of moving it around for a while. I don't have much comparative data because the closest personal station is about 5 miles away, and there can be several degrees difference in temperature and a big difference in winds. The closest professional stations are over 10 miles away - with even bigger variations.

Mike, you wouldn't believe how much I would like to remove that pool. I pay a fortune for electricity and maintenance, and the only swimmers are my dogs. I just don't want to spend the $12-15,000 it would cost to remove it.

Mark

[embayweather]

Fill it with soil and plant some bog garden plants - job done. Or turn it into a huge fish pond, grow your own carp!!

Keep playing around as Jos says, and you will find what right for you.

Good luck

Mike

[Blicj11]

I had similar issues. I ended up placing mine where the wind readings are compromised. It was the lesser of all the evils.

You definitely do not need the Server software. The Cat runs great on OS X.

You will love the Davis hardware. I also went with the IP datalogger and once I figured out what IP address it was using, it works great. FYI, if you have trouble with the IP address in installation, contact me. The WeatherCat instructions did not work for me, but I found another way, using OS X that did the trick. After I found the IP address, I changed it to use a different IP address that I reserved for it.

[Commodore]

Thanks! I'll send you a note if I run into any trouble.