Installing WS1000 Weather Station
Prerequisites for proper installation
- Pole of at least 2m/6.5ft (not included)
- Base or bolts to secure in place (not included)
- Location and spacing (Best practices for proper station installation)
It is imperative that you properly install your weather station. This will create the necessary conditions for quality weather data collection, which are required for the purpose of the WeatherXM network and the resulting rewards. Faulty installation, will result in less to none WXM rewards.
Best Practices for Proper Station Installation
It is very important that your weather station collects quality measurements. This turns the weather station into a powerful tool for yourself and WeatherXM.
The values of the various meteorological parameters measured by a weather station can significantly differ depending on the obstacles and the material of the surfaces existing around the sensors. For this reason, there is a series of criteria that should be fulfilled:
Don't sure for your installation point? Check deployment examples here.
Pole's Height
The pole’s height, on which the weather station will be mounted, should be at least 2m/6.5ft. This means that the weather station should be placed at least 2m/6.5ft above the ground and any other horizontal or almost horizontal surface (e.g., roof) above the station. The maximum acceptable pole height is 5m/16.5ft.
Pole specifications
The pole’s height, on which the weather station will be mounted, should be at least 2m/6.5ft. This means that the weather station should be placed at least 2m/6.5ft above the ground and any other horizontal or almost horizontal surface (e.g., roof) above the station. The maximum acceptable pole height is 5m/16.5ft.
Tighten Pole
The pole should be adequately tightened in order to prevent any pole oscillations in cases of strong winds. This will prevent the rain gauge spoon from swinging and collecting faulty precipitation measurements.
Installation Point
The pole together with the weather station should be placed in an installation point, which:
1. Is away from heat sources
Is not affected by the air or smoke flowing out of any chimney or ventilation system (as an illustration, consider that wind of a certain direction may move warm smoke towards the station). An advisable distance from a heat source is >5 meters/16.4ft.
2. Does not get in shadowed areas
Is not shadowed by any obstacle during the day (consider that the sun is typically higher during summer and lower during winter affecting the shadow caused by an item).
3. Adequate Distance
Has a distance from any obstacles around, which 2-4 times larger than the height of the highest obstacle (e.g., if the highest obstacle around the installation point is a 6-meter tree, ht=6m/20ft, and the pole of the outdoor sensor is 2m/6.5ft, hp=2m/6.5ft, then the pole should be placed at a distance (dp) of 8-16m/26-52.5ft, 2 x (ht-hp) < dp < 4 x (ht-hp). In case the pole is placed on a building’s roof, then the building’s height should be added to the pole’s height). Note that in cases of obstacles with a height >8m/26ft, you should consider placing the outdoor sensor at a distance 30 times the width and 15 times the height of the obstacles around.All of 1, 2 and 3 are important tips for measuring temperature and humidity as accurate as possible while 3. is important for avoiding faulty precipitation and wind measurements.
Video Instructions with Dr. Keppas
Mounting the outdoor sensor
If this is the first time that you set up this outdoor sensor,
then you should make sure that all parts work properly before mounting the sensor on the pole outdoors.
Thus, it is important that you are able to read all the measurements on the WG1000 Gateway's screen,
while you keep the outdoor sensor nearby (preferably not closer than 1.5m/5ft from the WG1000 Gateway though).
When you are about to fasten the pole on which you have tightened the outdoor sensor, look at the bubble level.
After fastening the pole, the bubble should be fully inside the red circle.
If it is not, wind direction, speed, and rain readings may not operate correctly or accurately.
Adjust the mounting pole as necessary. If the bubble is close, but not quite inside the circle
and you cannot adjust the mounting pole, you may try small wooden or heavy cardboard shims between the outdoor sensor
and the top of the mounting pole to achieve the desired result (this will require loosening the bolts and some experimentation).
Now, you may tighten the bolts with a wrench.