20' pole (1.5" in diameter) without guy-wire

Hi,

I have a 20’ pole of galvanized steel (hollow inside) with a diameter of 1.5" that I want to mount a Davis Vantage Vue on. I will use a 8’, 4"x4" wooden pole as the base. I will put the pole 4 feet under ground and fill op the hole with concrete. Hopefully the base will be nice and firm. I will mount the pole to the wooden base all the way from the grund.

Do you think I will need guy-wires to secure the pole? Or will it be steady enough to not screw up the rain tipping bucket. I heard of people saying it might be too wobbly…

What is the maximum (working) pole height that you have ever seen with a Vantage Vue?

Best regards
Allan

PS. I know the rain might be a little off… but it’s not a very windy place… and I will use a manual rain gauge mounted close to the ground and compare the measurements and maybe make an offset in weather display.

What is the wall thickness of the pole? Is it water pipe or something else?

the problem with sway is that although the base may be firmly planted ( I am assuming that the base will be in concrete or at least mostly in the ground.
The upper will sway a bit. I have guy wires with my VP2 for many years now http://www.weatheraardvark.com/station_setup.htm and it cuts the wobble on very windy of days.

You could try it without the guy wires and do some observation. if it wobbles, then take the mast down and put in 3 guy wires and go from there.

I think it is kind of water pipe. The wall is 0.06" (1.5 mm)- All though it is a “real” antenna from Triax: http://www.triax.dk/FindProduct/ProductDetails?product={EB80D48A-E938-4935-BFD3-7B12A39BD986}

SPECS
Mast diameter

You could get away with it, the problem is oscillation can start at certain wind speeds, exaggerating sway dramatically.
If that happens fit guys later?
20 feet is a long pole unsupported with a ‘relatively’ bulky ISS on top.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. I will try and then observe and maybe fit guys afterwards :slight_smile:

That’s a lot thinner wall than equivalent size water pipe which is very heavy and tends to flex from it’s own weight. You’ll have about 12 feet unsupported if I understand correctly, might be OK, certainly worth a try. It’s real pity Davis didn’t make the anemometer able to be separated on the Vue, just makes the mounting such a compromise :frowning:

This is a 2" dia flag pole ~20’ tall with only the anemometer and solar sensor up there. It is 2’ in the ground and supported by a fence post about 4’ up. It has enough sway to it at the top that I would not put a Vue up there.

Ok - thanks for the info. I might need to upgrade to Pro2 :slight_smile:

you can get some ideas about guywiring on my site as well:http://www.weatheraardvark.com/station_setup.htm

That sounds good to me :smiley:
Remember even though “it’s not a very windy place”, it only takes one good gust.

Might be a bit late to this thread but for what it’s worth. I use black iron pipe on my station. This stuff is similar to what McDonalds uses for their play area support structure if you’ve ever seen this. When I tried to put it up where the threads met the reducer snapped under it’s own weight. Yes the poles are strong but their weight can compromise the whole thing. But if the wind gets that thing swaying it’s like bending a paper clip back and forth. Eventually it will snap and break sending everything on it plummeting to the ground. So from my own experience if you’re hitting heights of 15-20’ or greater guy wires might be a great idea.