Inspeed Anemometers

[Bart_Comstock]

I had an a Inspeed back in 2007 and it seemed to shed cups almost daily. The owner of the company was god about sending me free cups almost weekly to replace it but I never actually got to use it once since it would destroy its self as soon as I got it in any strong wind gusts or while on the road to the storm.

I see they have slightly changed their design since then and I wanted to know if their anemometers till had problems with falling apart or if they have solved that. If they still are not worth the cash do you have a recommendation for another cheap roof mount that I could get so I don't have to stick my hand out the window with my Kestrel?

 

[Clarence Bennett]

They claim to be better, but I popped two off last December in AR. He replaced them, but I really haven't got enough use out of the new one to really know. I have one of these http://www.fondriest.com/products/rm_young_09101.htm , but don't have the windtracker to get the readings. I actually may list it in the marketplace.

 

[Chris McBee]

I have also gone through about three Inspeed anemometers. I had one lose cups from me simply going 75 on the turnpike; had nothing to do with a storm. Their new models have a brace on them to stabilize it a little more, but I'm not sure that's going to help the cup problem all that much. I have recently purchased the new model (link). I'll give it a whirl in the spring. If it doesn't satisfy, it will be my last hurrah with Inspeed.

http://inspeed.com/anemometers/Stormchaser_Mag_Wind_Sensor.asp

 

[Bart_Comstock]

Most of the cups I lost happened while driving on the highway. I think several problems led to this. The first possible cause is that the point of cup failure may have happened when being passed by or passing a large semi. It may have also been the result of driving against strong surface winds. It also could have been the result of the anemometer simply hitting its resonance point and failing when spinning at speeds that were induced by highway travel. I know the cup that almost always failed was the one on the opposite side of the little magnet in the cups that is there for the sensor.

If it is due to the anemometer starting to shake wildly due to improper base then that would make sense as the thing that finally made me throw in the towel was when the little metal mast its self broke while driving down the highway. Let me know what your test results are on the newer model.

They claim to be better, but I popped two off last December in AR. He replaced them, but I really haven't got enough use out of the new one to really know. I have one of these http://www.fondriest.com/products/rm_young_09101.htm , but don't have the windtracker to get the readings. I actually may list it in the marketplace.

Depending on how much you come down on it I might try to snatch it up.

I just found this anemometer but something tells me it wont work to well at taking accurate wind speed measurements, lol.
http://www.labsafety.com/EXTECH-Cup...5/Glass-Bottles-and-Caps_24536838/?CID=9PP001

 

[Steve Polley]

I also have the Inspeed unit. Not a big fan of it because it just not designed to hold up to the winds at highway speeds. I lost one of the cups this year on June 5 on I-80. When the base came loose from the vehicle, it popped the back side glass hard. I was very lucky it didnt break the window. I have since retired it for this reason. Will be looking at a handheld unit this spring.

 

[Skip Talbot]

I guess I'm lucky? I've run mine for hundreds of miles at highway speed without breaking the cups. This was an original unit too. I did, however, break a cup when it hit my cargo pod. I'd say that was my fault though. I also broke the metal mounting bracket too. I overdrilled the hole to make a larger bolt fit through, and the remaining bracket was too thin and snapped... also my fault. I'm probably going to replace the whole unit next spring as I've got the computer hardware and software to interface with it, and I'd hate to see that go to waste.

 

[D. Hayes]

Nope I've beat the living tar out of mine and I've had it on the truck coming on 2 years and several batteries later. Hit several tree branches and actually snapped my extended mount once. Okay that was a weak weld on my part. The second time I hit a tree branch the square tube bent without breaking and the inspeed held up. I drove through a car wash making a u-turn and actually popped the vane off when I hit the over head arm. I stopped and picked it up and popped it back on.

Only questionable thing in my mind it accuracy and that one time I pulled the reed switch out when remounting it and didn't put it back good so it was flaky for a while.

Here's a photo of it on my truck. I'd like to make it considerably taller to get it out of the trucks airstream. But I really need a better anemometer before I go and do that.

Hard to justify $1000+ for a RM Young when I just do this for Skywarn and the thrill.

 

[john.sibley]

Bart, I got my inspeed last fall and it's lasted all year (13 months actually) on top of the car. It hasn't shed a cup yet and survived two direct tornado impacts and baseball hail. Their quality has improved. The plastic is thicker than the prior molds.

 

[Brett Adair]

Just got a new set of cups for mine today. I guess when I hit a tree....that's what I should expect.

 

[Tyler Allison]

Brett! you broke my inspeed?! That's okay..I broke it too before I gave to you

 

[Bart_Comstock]

John, did you ever notice it slowly get more inaccurate with time?

 

[Dan Robinson]

I had an Inspeed for a couple years when they first came out ~2004, it was the standard (non-mag-mount) version and it worked great. I left it on my truck full-time and probably put 50,000 miles of driving on it. Finally the bearings went bad (not unexpected after that much use) and one day the cups eventually developed a crack and eventually desintegrated one day on the interstate. I really put that thing through some abuse though to get to that point.

I couldn't get it to work right since, despite getting free replacement parts from the manufacturer (a great company to work with by the way). When I installed it on my new car in 2005, it would vibrate loudly and transmit the constant, irritating noise through the sheet metal roof of the car. I had to remove it as it was driving me crazy.

They are great instruments, but I think when one goes bad you're better off getting an entire new unit rather than trying to repair it. They are inexpensive enough to do that. I miss having the wind speed measurement capability and may buy another one someday.

As far as accuracy, it was always +-3mph of the speedometer in calm winds, mounted without any slipstream considerations in mind. Not perfect, but good enough IMO.

 

[Steve Worthington]

Bart
We had ours register over 98mph many times and it`s all still there. It`s never been off the chase car so it`s got a few miles on it now.
The first one we got stopped working after a few weeks but the owner of the CO sent us a new one and we`v had no problems

 

[Brett Adair]

Brett! you broke my inspeed?! That's okay..I broke it too before I gave to you

LOL! Yeah....my problem has been getting the thing calibrated. It wanted to register like 267 mph when I was driving down the road!

 

[Bart_Comstock]

Hrm, I am still not totally convinced... I may just go with a Davis since in the long run the Inspeed would cost the same if I have to keep replacing the unit. Pluss the Davis does a bit more.