[Xastir] Weather Station Specs/Lacross native code?

[Tom Russo]

On Mon, Jan 15, 2007 at 08:23:18AM -0800, we recorded a bogon-computron collision of the <archer at eskimo.com> flavor, containing:
> On Mon, 15 Jan 2007, Tom Russo wrote:
> 
> > Might I suggest switching which one you have permanently mounted.  The
> > LaCrosse 2317 is a toy.
> 
> Yea, I'm well aware of the fact that it may not last.  It was
> relatively cheap though.  I figure it's a good learning tool and
> perhaps a stepping-stone towards something better later, if I get
> hooked on this weather stuff.
> 
> Besides that, we don't tend to have real weather where I live.  Ok,
> except for the last 2 or 3 months.  Normally we're moderated pretty
> well here by the ocean temps.  In the last few months we've had
> floods/winds/ice/snow and it's not done yet.
> 
> I suspect the anemometer might survive longer in this climate than
> it would in yours.

The LaCrosse devices are not weather proof, despite being intended for
use out of doors to measure ewather.

The temperature/hygro unit (to which all other sensors connect) will leak like  
a sieve and the contacts will corrode.  That's what happened to me, it seems.  
What you want to do to improve the longevity of the device is to build a 
housing for it so that it can't get saturated.  I built a "pagoda" style 
radiation shield for it so that it wouldn't be subject to solar heating (the 
shield it comes with is worthless).  That worked pretty well in that regard, 
and also reduced the amount of water that could soak into the temperature/hygro 
unit, but I should have made it more water-tight.  If you build such a shield, 
make sure you put something above it to keep the rain out.  There are pointers
to how to make such a shield in the CWOP guide --- mine is made from six 6"
plastic flower pots, some threaded rod, and some spacers.

I read a web site (after my anemometer went tango uniform) that said the
connections at the anemometer are also not weatherproof, and that they should
be sealed up somehow (he used oil-soaked cotton balls).  Since my anemometer
died during a blizzard, I'm thinking that's what bit me --- either because
the contacts in the temperature/hygro unit corroded, or because the contacts
in the anemometer itself corroded or broke.  I haven't yet been up to
the roof to take it apart and see (there's still too much ice on the roof to 
risk it).

I still think you should use the Dallas unit as your primary device instead.
I'm looking into Davis units to replace the wx station as soon as my cash flow 
recovers from December.

-- 
Tom Russo    KM5VY   SAR502   DM64ux          http://www.swcp.com/~russo/
Tijeras, NM  QRPL#1592 K2#398  SOC#236 AHTB#1 http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?DDTNM
"And, isn't sanity really just a one-trick pony anyway? I mean all you get is
 one trick, rational thinking, but when you're good and crazy, oooh, oooh,
 oooh, the sky is the limit!"  --- The Tick