Slip End Weather Station History

My intesest in weather data started at school as part of a geography project and for a long while I kept records while at home in Wales. These were later a source of data when learning programming at college.

1992

I started collecting weather data in October 1992 here in Slip End. The weather station started out as a simple but effective home made set up. The picture on the right shows the inside bits, rain gauge, max/min thermometer and the anemometer. The collection point for the rain guage is on the garage roof and the head for the anemometer is on the roof of the house.

2002

However in September 2002 a major part of the home built system failed and I replaced it with a ready made wireless system. The outdoor temperature sensor and rain guage are on the garage roof as can be seen to the right while the display unit (left) gives better information and includes a simple barograph.

The new anemometer showed that the old home made one was not giving accurate readings. I suspect that the old one developed a fault in early 2002 and had been providing inaccurate data for a while.

During 2005 the wireless system proved to be a problem especially at the end of a period of high pressure. Local interference caused the base unit to lose contact with the remote sensors and some data was lost. The rain guage was affected more than anything else and for a while I had to rely on the old trusty funnel and a measuring cylinder.

2006

Alison brought me a new weather stattion for my 2005 Christmas present. The La Crosse WS3600 was installed on the 2nd January 2006. The remote sensors can be wireless but with the previous experience, I hard wired them to the base unit. The base unit can also be connected to a PC and the log of data can be downloaded. I have set the logging for every 60 minutes to giveme far more detailed information each month.

2011/2012

At the end of 2011, the WS3600 started to give serius problems. the Anemometer was making a lot of noise and then the outside temperature sensor failed. Spares were not available and so it was time for a change. The TFA-NEXUS weather station is far more modern with a USB interface for data collection and better logging facilities. Logging is now set for every 30 minutes. The sensors have been mounted on the end of the garage which is no different for the rain and temperture but the anemometer is much lower and better shielded from the real wind speeds. However the current location is better for maintenance.

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Last revised: Monday, 06 February 2012