Sandy Weather Station

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Station Details

	Weather Station:	Davis Vantage Pro 2 Plus (Wireless) with FARS
	Station Website:	www.sandywx.co.uk
	Software :	Weatherlink 5.8 USB
	Location:	Sandy, Bedfordshire - Location map
	Siting:	Clear of building
	Station Elevation:	76 feet (23m) AMSL
	Latitude::	52°08'23.39N
	Longitude:	0°17'35.45W
	Commission Date:	25th August 2006
	Data Uploads to:	NOAA, AWEKAS, Weather Underground & CWOP
	Observations:	Rainfall, UV, Solar Radiation, Temperature, Dew point, Pressure, Humidity, Air Density, Wind Speed & Wind Direction.

Equipment Details

	The Advantage PRO 2 weather console displays all of the current observation data which is transmitted via a wireless radio link. The console is situated in my office and is 18 metres away from the Integrated Sensor Suite outside. Transmission signals are nearly always at 100% strength at this range. The console can either be powered by batteries, which normally last for approx. 9 months or with the 12V DC mains adapter which is supplied. Weather data is stored on the console using a Data logger (shown above console) and uploaded to an adjacent computer via a USB connection. Data is continually logged even when the computer is turned off. Up to 6 months can be stored depending on the storage interval. Read more on the Advantage PRO 2 console.
	Using Weatherlink V5.8, real time weather conditions is available at a glance. The software can create graphs, generate summaries, analyze trends, produce reports and FTP the results to your web page. A weather database is also created so you can view past records at any time. These can also be imported into other weather software and displayed in more detail. Read more on Weatherlink.
	The Integrated Sensor Suite (ISS) is mounted on a mild steel galvanized tripod which is securely fixed down. Bubble levels on the UV and Solar radiation sensors allow for fine adjustment of these to ensure they are perfectly level. The unit is not located near any sources which might radiate heat on a sunny day and give false temperature readings.
	UV & Solar Radiation sensors are shelf mounted at the rear of the rain collector. The UV Sensor detects ultraviolet (UV) radiation at wavelengths of 290 to 390 nanometers. This is the radiation most responsible for causing redness of the human skin. The Radiation Sensor detects radiation at wavelengths of 300 to 1100 nanometers. Read more on UV & Solar radiation Sensors
	A daytime Fan-Aspirated Radiation Shield (FARS) has recently been fitted to where the temperature and humidity sensors are located . This uses active and passive aspiration to minimize the effects of solar radiation and to provide accurate temperature readings. The fan is powered by an additional Solar Panel mounted on the front of the ISS suite. The Fan only runs during daylight hours. Read more on Daytime Fan-Aspirated Radiation shields
	The anemometer is mounted due North on 2 No. 1 1/4 "O.D aluminium poles, using a mild steel galvanized stand off bracket. The height above the lowest point of the roof is presently 6 feet. Exposure is good from the East through to the North West but the North is slightly shielded by the roof line, therefore wind speeds might indicate slightly lower values. Read more on Anemometers
View Weathercam images	The weather cam is a Trust Megapixel USB2 Webcam and is currently used as Sandy Weather North Cam. Key features High quality USB2 webcam with 1280 x 1024 High Definition hardware resolution and 5 megapixel snapshot resolution Equipped with 3x digital zoom System requirements Windows Vista, XP or 2000 USB port (USB 2.0 recommended Read more on Webcam

Equipment Specifications

For those who are technically minded or just simply interested and want to know more about Sandy Weather Station then the PDF specification sheets for the individual components can be now viewed by clicking on the links below.

	PDF Specification Sheets
	Vantage Pro2 Plus Wireless Station
	Anemometer (6410)
	Daytime Fan-Aspirated Rad. Shield Kit (7747)
	Rain Collector (7852)
	Solar Radiation Sensor (6450)
	Vantage Pro UV Sensor (6490)
	Temperature/Humidity Sensor (7859)
	WeatherLink v. 5.5.1 for Windows (6510)

Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view these PDF files.
Download Acrobat Reader here.

Station Reception Strength

Station Reception History

The above plot shows the Station Wireless Reception strength over the last 24 hour period.

Weather Station Roadmap

July 13th 2008 Downloaded and upgraded WeatherLink for Windows v 5.8.1 Update
May 8th 2008 Downloaded and installed V4.4 upgrade version of Willing Webcam
Mar 20th 2008 Updated Vantage Pro 2 Firmware to v1.73 Vantage Pro2 Wireless Console Firmware v 1.73 Direct from PC Install Downloaded and upgraded WeatherLink for Windows v 5.8 Update Version 5.8.0 Features 1. Support has been added for the new WeatherLinkIP data logger (#6555). 2. The Communications Port dialog now supports both a direct USB connection and multiple connection methods for WeatherLinkIP. 3. The Station Walkthrough has been modified to accommodate the addition of a web station. Version 5.8.0 Bugs Fixed 1. WeatherLink will not crash if it cannot access database files over a network.
March 9th 2008 Downloaded and installed V4.3 upgrade of Willing Webcam
Dec 25th 2007 Installed & commissioned new hi resolution North Facing Weather Cam. The Initial trial has been successful, the images now being produced are a lot sharper with greater object colour depth & definition.
Nov 13th 2007 Downloaded and installed V4.1 uprgade of Willing Webcam
July 20th 2007 Downloaded and installed V4.0 upgrade of Willing Webcam to replace existing version.
July 20th 2007 Downloaded and upgraded WxSolution to the latest version 1.7.6 from Thunderhead Technologies
March 16th 2007 Downloaded and upgraded WeatherLink for Windows v 5.7.1 Update Version 5.7.1 Features 1. Modified Daylight Savings for 2007 new dates. 2. Included hourly and last 24-hour rain in the APRS packet. 3. Changed default APRS default server to "rotate.aprs.net" and port 14580. 4. Changed console diagnostic screen to show version number for new console and keep the firmware date for older console. 5. Fixed bug for not showing up the yearly rainfall on the "Set Yearly Rain" dialog box correctly in "mm".
January 28th 2007 Downloaded and upgraded WxSolution to the latest version 1.7.5 from Thunderhead Technologies
November 25th 2006 Downloaded and upgraded VirtualVP to the latest version 1.1.4 Beta from SoftWx What's new in version 1.1.4 Beta Bug fixed that sometimes caused virtual ports to not get reopened if console connection was lost and then quickly re-established.
November 3rd 2006 Downloaded and installed the full version of Willing Webcam V3.6 to replace existing webcam software installed in August. This new software is feature rich and as well as uploading scheduled Jpeg snapshot images with captions & time stamps it also has the option of creating and uploading Time-Lapse streaming movies allowing the days weather to be animated. View Screenshot.
October 10th 2006 sandywx.co.uk website moved onto dedicated hosting server. This will allow more options for coding of the website i.e CGI and ASP scripting.
October 9th 2006 Downloaded and upgraded VirtualVP to the latest version 1.1.2 stable from SoftWx Downloaded and installed VP Live V 1.11.3 from SoftWx VPLive is a program that connects to a Davis Vantage Pro 1 or 2 Weather Station console and displays the live data. It calculates the station pressure (i.e. actual pressure), altimeter pressure, and running averages needed to properly generate and send APRS/CWOP data .It sends the weather data to the APRS/CWOP system. VPLive also has a feature that will force the VP barometer to update more frequently than the standard 15 minutes. It can run WeatherLink at regular intervals to allow WeatherLink to download the archive data from the console and write it to the archive file. It requires very little CPU time or system resources while running (for example, on an older 500 Mhz Pentium III, VPLive uses around 1/10 of 1% of the CPU's time).
September 4th 2006 Finally mounted anemometer on 2 No. 1 1/4 "O.D aluminum poles, using mild steel galvanized standoff bracket. The height above the lowest point of the roof is presently 6 feet. Exposure is good from the East through to the North West but the North is slightly shielded by the roof line, therefore wind speeds might indicate slightly lower values. I will monitor this over the coming months. The anemometer data cable supplied length is 12metres long. The distance between the anemometer and the ISS was more than 12 metres so an additional extension cable was purchased with a weather proof connecting box.
August 30th 2006 Downloaded VirtualVP from SoftWx. This lets you connect up to 4 weather programs to a single Davis Vantage Pro 1 or 2 weather station (console or Envoy console available to allow additional software to access the Vantage Pro console. I have now also downloaded WxSolutionfrom Thunderhead Technologies to enable additional data to be displayed on the computer as well additional graphical data online. Downloaded and installed N8VB vCOM Virtual Serial Ports Driver from SoftWx It creates a "Virtual Null Modem Cable" in Windows 2000 and XP by pairing virtual com ports.
August 29th 2006 Updated Weatherlink5.6 software to Weatherlink 5.7 Commenced uploading data to AWEKAS, Weather Underground & NOAA.
August 28th 2006 Installed Anemometer at the back of the house above roof line but the existing 12 metre data cable was too short to reach the ISS. Ordered an additional 12 metre extension cable from Meteorologica online.
August 26th 2006 Fitted daytime Fan Aspirated Radiation Shield (FARS), to minimize the effects of additional solar radiation and to ensure more accurate temperatures.
August 25th 2006 Downloaded and installed Cam Commander webcam software, this allows Jpeg snapshots from my wesahter cam to be taken and upload at regular intervals throughout the day. Sandy Weather goes live Online.
August 24th 2006 Sandy Weather station equipment installed and commissioned.
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