New Anemometer Installation

I think 5’ is a lot better than 3’, really as much as you can get, but most of us just have to do the best we can. 3’ to 4’ support for a 10 footer with just an anemometer is OK, assuming the supports are solid, that’s about what I have on mine.

Thanks, niko.

To tell you the truth, I will be getting away with murder if the association even allows me to put a 5’ pole up there. If they let me do that, I will take it…I really don’t want to push things. I’m just about 100% sure that 3’ above the peak of the roof is a better place then where it is now.

By the way, what is the big risk with putting the anemometer a 3’ above the peak?

Thanks.

–Tim

With all the crap you’ve had to go through with this, 1 metre above the roof is a great improvement over where you last had it.

So what do they do in regards to people who want to put up one of those antique looking wind vanes off their roof? Taking in to account your anemometer would be a whole lot smaller than one of those antique ones, and possibly off the backyard side of the roof I can’t see a problem.

In fact, get a photo of one of those antique looking ones, and ask them if you’re allowed to have one of those up on the roof, and if so fire back at them the thing you really want up there is much smaller than the “1 metre tall wind vane in the photo”. :slight_smile:

The roof will affect the wind, both speed and direction. The closer to the roof the more the effect could potentially be.

-Bob

…and bear in mind that it’s very difficult for someone on the ground to accurately estimate the height of a thin pole above 2nd story roof :wink:

weatheroz,

No one in the neighborhood has has a wind vane, or anything on the roof…I’m telling you, the association is much more strict than you think. As a matter of a fact, I just talked to someone today that I know personally and he’s going to try and come over soon to check things out. I should have a proposal soon.

Bob,

Thanks. Although if I can only get it up about 3’ above the roof, I will be satisfied. Also, the radioshack mounting hardware (brackets) says it reccommends supporting 5’ poles at max…Do you think the brackets would support a 10’ mast as long as it has about 3’-4’ of support?

Niko,

That’s a very good point… :lol: :wink:

–Tim

Perhaps a bit of subtle suggesting to your neighbours how wonderful their house would look with a classic wind vane on the front roof ??? :wink:

Get one or two big clunker wind vanes up in your area, and it’ll make life a whole lot easier to get your inconspicous anemometer up there, perhaps even a bit higher up? :slight_smile:

Actually, whichever way you go, I’d start with as short as possible, i.e. 3 feet above the roof, and then over the next year or so extend it slowly up to 10 feet. :wink: !!

Tim, if it is brackets that mount to the peak of a gable roof then I would not go with more than a 5’ pole. One bracket mounts at the top about 6" below the peak and the other is about 12" below that if I remember correctly. So you have actually only about a foot at the most of support. This is the mount I have for mine and would not consider it adequate support for a 10 footer. Just my opinion.

–Dave

Very sneaky there oz… :wink:

Dave,

So then you basically have it clearing the roof by 4’?

Thanks,

–Tim

The length of the pole and the gap between the brackets depends on a number of things, but mainly…

  1. What is the maximum wind speed you want to withstand? There’s little point designing for a 150mph wind if your roof will rip off at 100mph!

  2. How sturdy the brackets/fixings are.

  3. What type of wall you’re fixing to. A good solid brick will will support more than a wood/plastic cladded wall.

  4. What type of bolts you use to fix the brackets to the wall.

  5. What diameter pole you’re using

Look at what radio hams do…I’ve had a 20ft vertical antenna mounted on an 8ft pole on brackets screwed to a wall. As long as you buy the right mounting brackets/equipment and mount the brackets properly, then you’ll have no problems with a 10ft pole with the anemometer attached. In my case the pole was 2 inch thick walled aluminium and the brackets were very strong solid welded steel. I’d guess I had about a 2-3ft separation between the brackets, but it’s a long time since I had that antenna.

By the way, then antenna eventually came down in a storm…the bracket and pole survived but the antenna mounting to the pole gave way leaving a mangled mess of bent aluminium :frowning:

I would add one thing to the list,

  1. How much wind resistance does whatever is at the top of the pole have?

Yes, about 4’ above.

Chris makes good points about properly installed mounts but… unless you KNOW the proper fasteners are embedded into a framing member I would caution against a 10’ mast using the mounting hardware RS sells. (From your post Also, the radioshack mounting hardware (brackets) says it reccommends supporting 5’ poles at max… Many houses are sheathed with something much less substantial than plywood and many fascia boards are only 1X6 material. Again, just my opinion and I have been wrong more than once.

–Dave

Okay, thanks for all of the great posts, guys. I talked to the guy that is supposed to come and take a look, and he said he should be able to come out in the next couple of weeks…

  1. I would say no more than about 50-60 mph…We will usually get some days where we receive up to 40 mph gusts. Sometimes we will get sustained gusts up to 50 mph if we have a severe thunderstorm or a tropical storm.

  2. Not sure since I haven’t gotten a chance to look at the radioshack brackets.

  3. It’s a plastic wall, although the apex is a thick plastic.

  4. No idea.

  5. The pole I would be using is 1 1/4" in diameter (from Radioshack).

Thanks.

–Tim

That’s the killer one. You need to think very carefully about how you will mount the brackets. Just screwing them into plastic is unlikely to be successfull and may well end up badly damaging the wall if the pole/brackets come loose. If you’re lucky the plastic will have wooden beams behind it that you can screw the brackets into (although make sure they’re substantial enough for that. You may need to invent something to spread the load of the bracket across more of the plastic.

I don’t suppose you have a brick built chimney that you could mount the pole onto?

Sorry Chris…How could I be so dumb. #-o

I was just taking a look outside, and behind the plastic siding is some sort of concrete material. :wink:

I think that should be okay…

–Tim

Tim they make screws called Tapcons. They are specially designed for screwing into concrete. Usually a small pack of 6 to 8 screws can be bought that comes with the proper sized masonary drill bit and you drill the length of the screw into the plastic and concrete and then you screw in the Tapcon.

Lowes and HomeDepot will both carry and I am sure Ace and other Hardware stores will as well…

Well worth the money, IMHO :wink:
-Bob

Thanks for the idea, Bob.

Do you know how much they go for?

Thanks.

–Tim

Tim,

I haven’t bought any in awhile but I am thinking anywhere from 3 bucks on up depending on the diameter, length and whether a drill bit comes in that pack…

I would think for your need maybe 10 - 15 bucks at the outside…

-Bob

OK. That’s good…Thanks.

–Tim

Unless you live in a bunker I rather doubt that it’s really concrete up at roof level :?