What a difference a day (or two) makes...

[lphilpot (Len Philpot)]

A few days ago we were -11C overnight here in Louisiana. Not Arctic cold, but cold for us nonetheless. Then a few days later, it has turned much warmer and wetter. But the infrastructure is still relatively cold and when combined with the high moisture levels:

This is my garage. I don’t own a large squeegee or I’d be using it. Instead I used a horizontal shop broom to try and remove some of the condensed water from the garage floor. It didn’t work very well, because it just re-condensed after I ‘swept’ it away. On semi-polished concrete, it’s like walking on ice. And just about as hard if / when you fall.

I’m not complaining about rain - We need it. I suspect we’re somewhere between five and six inches of rain for this event. But it would be nice to have better circulation in my garage… Although today (photo was yesterday) it’s drier. Not totally dry, but drier. And it’s still raining off and on. Apparently the concrete has warmed up a bit.

Of course, we just received a home weather station we ordered a week or so back – And the weather is preventing me from installing it!

[martin.scharnke]

Don’t slip and break any bones!
That weather station looks very nice … please let us know how you go with its installation and operation - when you safely get out there.

[lphilpot (Len Philpot)]

My mounting will be simple but hopefully workable. Nothing more complex than a scrap of pressure-treated pine 2x4 lumber, a 2-foot long piece of 1.5 inch ID “schedule 40” PVC pipe (with cap), some steel angle brackets, a few screws, other small wood scraps and paint. I plan on screwing it to the facia board that caps the end of the roof’s soffit. Here it is in an early state, unpainted:

Of course, it’ll be mounted vertically, not horizontally as seen here. The open end to the right is where the weather station will rest. The station has a U-bolt clamp that’ll grip the pipe. The cap on the bottom is there to prevent wasp nests, bird incursion, etc. My biggest challenge may (or may not) be to get the pipe plumb so the station is level. I’ll have to mark true north so it’s aligned as well.

Hopefully once painted and 14 feet off the ground it won’t look too much like plastic pipe! LOL

[Tim (Tim Cuthbertson)]

@lphilpot

But it would be nice to have better circulation in my garage

My thought is to get one of those industrial floor fans that is about four feet in diameter. I have seen them at Costco, but not recently.

[lphilpot (Len Philpot)]

I’ve thought of that, too. But I have no place to store one.

I have a 16" steel box / window fan by Atlas-Aire that my parents bought when they married in 1945. It’ll throw an amazing amount of air. Still running strong, by the way – I’ve only had to replace the power cord and my dad repaired (not replaced) the three-speed power switch when I was a little kid. Nothing else and it’s still good, albeit a tad rusty. I guess it’s true, they don’t make 'em like they used to…

[123sg (Steven)]

@lphilpot

no place to store one.

Maybe you could mount it to the ceiling in a corner of the garage?

[lphilpot (Len Philpot)]

That’s a possibility although it would need to be a much smaller fan. My garage is very small, especially considering it’s for two cars. It’s about 17 feet (~5m) from back to front. There’s no door, which I guess is good since there would be no room to close it anyway.

With two mid-sized (at largest) vehicles in it, there’s about 2 feet (0.6m) between them and a tad less on each side – If you park really carefully. I have a couple of work tables in the back and two steel tool lockers on one side. So it’s very tight.

I have a Honda Accord and my wife has a Honda CR-V. I’m not sure what those models are called outside North America, but they’re not “big” vehicles at all. Back when this house was built (~1979 / '80) the typical US car was even larger.

I have no idea why it was designed so small, but that’s just one of many things about this house that really make me wonder if the designer / architect ever decided to turn his or her brain on…

Don’t get me started on the bone-head characteristics of this house…

[123sg (Steven)]

MMm, right. Yep, space would be at a premium.

@lphilpot

I’m not sure what those models are called outside North America, but they’re not “big” vehicles at all.

We have those here (Australia) too. The Accord isn’t all that common, but lot’s of CR-Vs.

I wonder what you’d do if you owned one of those big pickup trucks that seem so common in the US. Actually, they are starting to take off here too!

@lphilpot

Don’t get me started

OK.

[lphilpot (Len Philpot)]

@123sg

I wonder what you’d do if you owned one of those big pickup trucks that seem so common in the US.

I’d park it in the driveway… Actually I’d like to get another truck (I had a Dodge Dakota before the Accord) but I want a mid size, maybe a Chevy Colorado. But all trucks are stupid expensive, even high mileage used ones… Yet another rant-ripe topic LOL

[123sg (Steven)]

@lphilpot

all trucks are stupid expensive, even high mileage used ones…

Same here. Although there aren’t that many older ‘trucks’ around, as they’re only just becoming popular.
We have utes instead! Much the same thing really, just smaller. Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, VW Amarok etc etc. They really hold their value.

Unlike slightly older sedans - I have a 14 year old Ford that was an auction buy (with damage) for around $1200 AUD… even after repairs it’s really good value, and almost a semi-luxury car.
Would really suck if one’s selling - but great if one’s buying.

[lphilpot (Len Philpot)]

@123sg

We have utes instead! Much the same thing really, just smaller.

…and all the ones I’ve seen in photos have high, flat beds with low walls. Not what they tend to put on pickup trucks here, by and large, unless it’s a industrial / working truck. Those usually have flatter beds, often with storage, arc welders, etc.

I did a very quick & dirty scan of carmax.com filtered to (for example) the Chevrolet Colorado, 2WD, 2015-2022 (a mid-size truck). Carmax thought I was in the Shreveport, Louisiana area which is about ~100 miles north of me. That metro area is around 400k population. Where I am is more like 150k. That’s not just city-limit populations, but rather then entire metropolitan areas.

Anyway, prices are the in $20k - $30k range and mostly 40k-ish to 100k mile range for the Colorado. That’s actually better than I was expecting. Full size trucks such as the Ford F-150, Dodge Ram, etc. can get into $35k to $40k really quick, even with 100k+ miles on them. New? $65k, $75k and up. Nuts. And then if you move up a size tier (e.g., Ford F-250, Chevy 2500, etc.) is goes further north (or south, as the case may be).

[123sg (Steven)]

@lphilpot

all the ones I’ve seen in photos have high, flat beds with low walls.

The humble trayback. Very popular with farmers, tradies and anyone with more utlitarian needs. But the molded, styled ‘tub’ is more popular with the average citizen, often fitted with a canopy over the top.
Like this… (random pic)

In fact… I’d say it might close to 50/50 between those and the traybacks.
The traybacks are often sold as a ‘cab chassis’, that is, nothing on the back, then the buyer has a tray fabricated locally to suit their needs, although you can usually buy them as factory too. Certainly Toyota does.
https://www.toyota.com.au/accessories/guides/tray-or-tub

To much info… sorrry!

[lphilpot (Len Philpot)]

@123sg

To much info… sorrry!

Nah, this is what I had before the Honda, a 1999 Dodge Dakota with a SnugTop fiberglass camper shell.

At the Kisatchie Star Party in 2005, all setup for camping.

At a local lake (i.e., mosquito factory) for a night of observing in 2009. I’ve since sold that scope (a 14.5 inch “Telekit”) and replaced it with a lighter 12 inch scope. It’s sitting on an “equatorial platform” that allows it to track the night sky as the earth rotates.

The scope broke down into smaller more manageable parts, the heaviest being the “mirror box” at about 65 pounds. The black area in the middle is hollow space - Eight tubular aluminum “truss rods” covered in Lycra / Spandex cloth. I usually kept the mirror box and “rocker box” together, attached these handles and rolled it up into the truck with ramps.

My motivation for wanting a truck again is partly for astronomy, but also for photography / camping (with a 6 foot bed) and just general daily / homeowner use. But the full size pickups are just too large.

…wow - Have we (I, actually) veered from the topic? Good thing it’s the Lounge!!

[lphilpot (Len Philpot)]

@martin.scharnke

That weather station looks very nice … please let us know how you go with its installation and operation - when you safely get out there.

My (preferred) Plan A was to mount the weather station on the highest ridge-end (“gable”) of my house but that’s too far above my tallest ladder… and I’m not buying another extension ladder just to mount and maintain this device. Plus, I have difficulty feeling stable when working near or over my head while on a tall wobbly ladder.

Plan B was to mount it instead on the slightly lower ridge-end over the garage. Not quite as good, but still a decent location. However, that’s still too high for maintenance when the additional height of the mount is considered.

Drat!

So, Plan C it was. I mounted it on a small storage building right off my patio. It’s still a decent location, albeit slightly below the level of the main roof. That might affect wind data a little bit, but everything else will be good. I decided I’d rather forfeit a little wind accuracy than my arms, legs or head in an accident.

After finally deciphering how it works, the only minor glitch I’ve found is an apparent intermittent connection between the power adapter plug and the jack on the back of the console. It I rotate the plug outward at a 90 degree angle, it runs on power. If it rotate it down into a little recessed “well” to get it out of the way, it loses connection and runs on battery. I’ve already opened a support case to get a new console. Of course, I’ll then have to rejoin the network, re-flash the firmware… oh well. Whether or not I’ll have to redo anything on the three weather networks I’ve joined, who knows.

Pictures or it didn’t happen… I know. Cell phone shot courtesy of my Google Pixel 4a. The mount is brown because the house is (or was) brown. Of course now it doesn’t match the storage building, but it all needs repainting anyway.

[martin.scharnke]

Thanks for sharing, Len.
How are you going with getting data? It sends automatically to an online site(s), right? Do you have an option to maintain a local database?

[lphilpot (Len Philpot)]

One of the things I wanted (ideally) in a weather station was the ability to keep and export historical data. But that appears to be a higher-end feature, mostly. However, this one could probably be coerced into doing that, albeit indirectly.

The sensor array in the photo connects wirelessly to the console (LCD panel), which in turn connects to my network via WiFi. The console advertises an SSID for five minutes after power-up, which allows time to connect, configure, etc. Presumably the sensors use the console’s network.

The console also can connect to a few PWS services such as Ambient Weather Network (their own), WeatherUnderground, PWSweather or IFTTT, as well as Alexa and Google Home. I’m currently connected to Ambient Weather, WeatherUnderground and PWSweather. Plus there’s an app for Android and iOS.

(On a related note, if I get a replacement console that means a new MAC. Whether I’ll have to redo these services or not is unknown.)

As far as I know there’s no real database. The console has auto-reset options for daily, monthly and (IIRC) even annually for some stats. So that means it stores them, but that’s just in firmware.

So how can I save long-term data?

AFAICT I’d have to either use whatever historical capabilities the PWS services provide (if they do) or use the custom server capability in the console. If I were to configure an optional server address, it will send data to it in either WeatherUnderground or <some other, I forget> format. Per the docs, the default port is 80 so it might be nothing more than basic unencrypted HTML. Then again, that would depend on what’s listening, on what port, I guess.

This unit was about $200 and while that’s certainly not the end of the world (to a bunch of GAS-happy photographers at least! ) I really couldn’t justify spending a lot more just to get basically the same weather data I can already get for free off the Internet.

[paperdigits (Mica)]

@lphilpot

So how can I save long-term data?

I’d explore the Home Assistant integration or the API. For long term storage, something like influxdb, which is a time series database (one of many).

[paperdigits (Mica)]

Oh well… https://ambientweather.com/faqs/question/view/id/1857/

All you have to do is listen on that port and parse the incoming data.

[lphilpot (Len Philpot)]

@paperdigits

All you have to do is listen on that port and parse the incoming data.

Hmmm… It’s been almost 3 decades since I wrote any C and even then it wasn’t network. I’ll see if any of the services offer exports if / when I have a need for historical data. If not, I may have to brush up again.

[paperdigits (Mica)]

C???

No shortage of stuff on github https://github.com/search?q=ambient%20weather&type=repositories