Hi everyone, new to the site. Being an instrument rated pilot I’ve always been interested in weather. I lived within a couple miles of Centennial Airport in Colorado and was able to use their ASOS to get accurate home weather. I also lived in a subdivision so I didn’t want to setup my own station. However, I’ve now moved to 5 acres east of town and would like to set up a station.
I ordered a Davis Vantage Pro2 wireless and will be receiving it this week. I could put this on the barn but it’s lower than the surrounding area. The best siting location seems to be the back corner of the property. It’s about 15’ higher than the home grade and about 4’ lower than the highest point around for 100 yards or more. The closest trees that are taller are farther than 200’. The nearest building that is higher is well over 100 yards away and is about 30’ tall. My house is located about 400 feet from the site. So, in summary, I think I’ve got a great location with no man-made objects within 100 yards and no trees closer than 200’.
I was planning on using an existing concreted fence post that is used for a 4’ wide swing gate on a field fence. I was hoping to get a 2" pole and mount it directly to the point thereby negating the need for a tripod or putting a post into the ground. I’d like to put the anemometer as high as possible but I’m wondering how high I can go without using guy wires. Wires would go into a bridal easement or adjacent property so I’d like to avoid that. Also, at what point do I need to use a grounding rod (I’m assuming any metal pole should use a grounding rod)?
What does everyone think? Is that a good site?
Thanks!
Sounds like a great location, welcome 
Hard to answer your question without knowing how tall, and how sturdy that fence post is, and what type of pole you intend to use. The anemometer doesn’t have much wind resistance so with a good strong 6’ post I wouldn’t hesitate to use a 20’ pole if it was lightweight and rigid, so not sched 40 galvanized water pipe. A little bit of sway is OK for the anemometer, but you don’t want the rain gauge to be moving around. Also if it’s a solid wood fence do not mount the rain guage/temp/humidity unit directly above it or the temps will be off due to solar heating of the fence affecting the local air temp, better to hang an arm off the pole/post to mount that part.
It doesn’t need to be grounded (but there will be other opinions on that I’m sure). Grounded or not it will be toast if lightning strikes anywhere near 
The post is approximately 4.5’ tall. It’s 6" diameter and set in concrete and was just installed by a professional fence installer. It’s a solid wood post but the rest of the fence is wire and T posts. I need to be sure to raise the ISS a bit higher since my dogs might find it interesting if it’s within their reach. I’ll figure out a shelf or arm per your suggestion.
Should I be looking at one (or two) of the masts available at Radio Shack? I know they’re a bit expensive but their lighter than what I’ve seen at Lowe’s. I had originally thought of using electrical conduit.
Not sure what you’ve seen at Lowes but they have fence top rail in 21 ft lengths, but AFAIK RS only has 10 ft lengths of pole which would mean having a join. I’ve been using the fence top rail for years with good results, but this isn’t tornado country.
We’ve had tornadoes within a few miles but very infrequently. We do have winds over 40 mph on a regular basis and over 50 or 60 frequently enough. I’ll check on the top rail fence and see how that works.
Thanks!
Rare to see > 30 mph here, so it may be a bit light for you but cheap enough to try it and see how it goes.
Thanks for the link. They don’t have them in stock at the Lowe’s around here. Home Depot has them in 10’ 6" lengths. I can get two of those for half the cost of the 21’ at Lowe’s. The two shorter lengths will be easier to move however I’d need to drill at the connection and put a screw to be sure it doesn’t twist and change the orientation of the anemometer. I’m assuming that joint won’t make too much of a weak connection but I’ll see.
Ok, got mounted. I used two 10.5 foot poles and used a sleeve and self tapping screws to keep everything in place. It’s not perfect but it will do. I’ll need to keep an eye on it in heavier wind but I’m good for now. I left some slack in the csble in case it goes over so it won’t take the sis down with it. I mounted the iss on some angle iron off the top of a new fence post. Time now to see what comes up weather wise!