Alright my dad and I wanna hook up a weather station on our car its a Ford Explorer and Looking for something at a good price any suggestions?
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Car mounted weather station?
- Thread starter Jordan Manderfield
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John Diel
EF5
I use a Davis Weather Monitor II. Since I'm out most of the time all year, mine is permannetly mounted on the back camper shell of my truck. I don't have the external Temp/humidity sensor yet, but everything else works out pretty well.
There are only a couple of companies that make specialized mobile weather units, so more than likley, you will have to come up with a way to mount the station on your own. Davis has their Pro Vantage station which is pretty much a self contained unit. Again, mounting it will be the issue. Same goes for the Oregon Scientific equipment. Made for stationary use so mounting it will be the issue.
Go back and do a search on "mobile mesonet". There are some very good discussions on mounting weather equipment.
You might also check out www.weatherlabweather.com for a couple of ideas on mobile weather units. I know the guy that puts these together and he's got it down pretty good.
Could something like this be mounted on some kind of homemade rack. I am asking about this one because I know a store who carriers them locally so I don't deal with shipping.
John Diel
EF5
I don't see why you couldn't. There are a couple of folks on here that use the OSI equipment. They could give you some ideas on how to mount the sensors.
You'll just have to make sure it's secure when you mount it. Otherwise, it'll go flying off into the nearest wheat field. I don't think Magnets work real well for mobile applications. I just wouldn't trust them. I've had my antennas come off way to many times and they are some pretty strong magnets.
Also think about how you are going to power this? Is it battery powered? Solar powered? How reliable is the solar device? Are the sensors wireless? If so, the possibility of RF Interference comes into play.
Just some things to look at.
David Drummond
Member
I use a Radio Shack AKA OSI wx station. It has help up though baseball hail and tornadic encounters so far! I used to have an Explorer too. At first I had the anemometer mounted on the passenger side, rear of the luggage rack. Just drilled a hole in the side of the rear crossbar big enough for the anemometer tube to slip through and put a couple of black wire ties on the inside part to snug it up. Held up pretty well. Mounted the temp/dp sensor on the opposite side.
It did have problems with the temp/dp readings not liking the highway speed winds flowing by it, and with radiational effects from the vehicle metal and went later on with a mobile mesonet style setup.
There is the old Explorer's page, maybe that will give you some ideas:
http://wx5tvs.com/chasevehicles/pastvehicl...es/explorer.htm
[Broken External Image]:http://wx5tvs.com/chasevehicles/pastvehicles/explorerpics/chasetruck1.jpg
David Drummond
Member
oh, if you go with the solar powered, I would find a way to shield those solar collectors. I can see an ice golfball taking those out and I don't think they are cheap to replace.
David Drummond
Member
Here's a pick of the same setup on my last Windstar van. It's closer up so you can see the setup. I will be doing away with the mobile mesonet style drainpipe setup for the new van I just got. I have a totally new idea for a fold down setup!
[Broken External Image]:http://wx5tvs.com/chasevehicles/pastvehicles/vanpics/van/van11.jpg
Tim Stoecklein
EF5
We wanna have some kind of mount that we can fold down and set up once we get in place. So would you mind sharing your idea? Also about the solar panels, could you cover them with some kind of clear plastic or would that screw up the power?John Diel
EF5
I saw somewhere (sorry, I don't remember where) that someone had covered the solar panels (or maybe it was a sensor of some sort) with 1/4 inch plexiglass.
Looks like the model you are after is a perfectly viable solution, so I'd say go for it! I'm sure you could come up with some type of mount that would clamp to the luggage racks. I know there are folks that have tried PVC Pipe for the mounting, but I believe most have strayed away from it.
I would go with Aluminum and use wing nuts for the foldable parts. I would bet the whole array could be fit into a folding package that would fit in the back of the explorer.
David Drummond
Member
I was going to recommend plexiglass as well. That stuff is cheap at Lowe's. I would make it so you could easily remove/replace it, in case hail cracked the plexiglass.
The new design I have is in my head right now. It won't be removed from the top, just the ability to "fold it down" if you will when your not chasing since my chase vehicle is also my daily driver.Chris Sokol
EF5
Another thought (depending on your skill level) is to remove the solar panels from the unit, make extension wires, and mount the solar collectors on your dash. Any hail that bust through your windshield will almost certainly destroy the wx station, so this should work fine.
As for the anemometer...if you use one on a vehicle, there are 2 things that you can count on: You will break cups, and you will eventually have to replace it. I have managed about 2 1/2 years average per unit, and Davis has a program where you send them your old one and some cash, and they will send you a refurbished one.Tom Burgess
ok here is what we did,but this is not for the fam car.
[A extedna pole from lows up to 18 ft high. we use the wired o/s .
In it third year no problems works great. It uses 12 v dc which we wired to the vech. battery
[Broken External Image]:http://www.wvann.net/wxtech/2_15_05/25.jpgSimilar threads
