Wireless anemometer on your antenna mast!?

Hi

Living in a suburban area I feel I should limit the number of masts I erect to avoid upsetting the neighbours. Has anyone tried co-locating their wireless anemometer on their antenna mast? My mast supports the centre of an OCF HF-6m dipole and on top there’s a vertical collinear for 2M/70CM and 6M. I only run 5 watts or less on HF but I can occasionally run up to 45W on 70, although I’m not a big user of this band.

The mast is only 20’ at the moment but I hope to replace it with a 30’ model (and raise it the extra 10’ bit by bit so the neighbours don’t notice!). The current mast is a sectional GRP model and drops down (and goes back up) easily for maintenance so I’ll probably buy the same type again. If the antennas and anemometer do coexist happily then it’s a win-win - wind speeds from the recommended height in the centre of the garden and better antenna performance, certainly on VHF / UHF.

Be pleased to hear from anyone who’s done it or has a view on the subject.

Stuart

What frequency is the anemometer tx?

433.92MHz I believe. The manual just says 433MHz but the Oregon Scientific support site says 433.92MHz. I can certainly hear short data transmissions on that frequency.

Hmmm, I suppose the only real issue is if electronics pick up enough RF to affect the function. Unless it’s really badly designed I would guess the 6 and 2 won’t be a problem, but 45 watts at 432 might do something interesting since there are (presumably) tuned circuits close that frequency in there. Worth a try, I doubt it will let the smoke out.

The temporary mast I’m using at the moment is only 6’ from my antenna mast and any new mast I put up would be no more than 12’ away so I guess the smoke test is the only way to find out!

I’ve got my VP2 anemometer on my mast above the roof, that’s used for my 2M/70cm stuff, but the actual anemometer transmitter is down near the bottom of the pole.

I have no issues, but then again the VP2 is operating between 915 - 928Mhz.

Brendan - vk4blp

Hi Brendan,

I haven’t bothered with the smoke test yet as I’ve just about had it with the 180, it’s not unreliable enough for me. I get periods of a few days when everything is working OK then I lose one, or more, of the instruments until I reset them and / or the console. Sometimes I lose a sensor for as couple of days then it just starts working again without me doing anything, all a bit bizarre.

Pleased to hear you’re not experiencing problems with your Davis gear although I believe the UK version works on 868MHz which may, or may not, have an issue with 70cm harmonic interference - hopefully not! Davis is the route I intend to go when I can afford to, ideally I’d like the Wireless Vantage Pro2 Plus with 24-Hour Fan-Aspirated Radiation Shield plus an Anemometer Transmitter Kit so that I can get the anemometer up high…but the wife’s not convinced :slight_smile:

73 de G6IMT

I run my Anemometer and Temp sensor on my VHF antenna mast. I simplex a lot at 75 watts and have not scene any interference what’s so ever. However I do have the anemometer mounted a foot below my Diamond X-50 Antenna.