Davis Instruments Weather Club
October 1999
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Here's a quick preview of this month's contents:
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Shielding the fall into winter...The Force of Floyd...Spider Wars... and Are there Unix users out there? Enjoy!
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Davis: Shielding the Fall
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For some, colorful leaves signal that winter's around the corner; however, for most of us, it's remembering to `fall back' and reset our clocks that says `Jack Frost is on his way'. Yes, this upcoming weekend we fall back. If you have forgotten how to reset the time on your weather station, refer back to the March 1999 e-news issue. You may also want to clean out the leaves from the rain bucket, check your connections, and wipe away the debris left by bugs. While performing these necessary, albeit boring chores, you can dream about the weather accessories you hope to get this holiday season. Maybe you've always wanted to know the water content of the coming snow. Or you might remember wondering if the temperature really was that cold last year or had your temperature sensor turned into an icicle.
In either case, we have some ideas for you. The Fan-Aspirated Radiation Shield claims the prize as the final new product featured in our 1999 Catalog. Companion to our popular Radiation Shield, the Fan-Aspirated model combines both active and passive airflow to minimize the effects of radiated heating and cooling. A motor driven fan draws air through the sensor chamber and out through the top. Whether you choose the Fan-Aspirated Radiation Shield or the passive Radiation Shield, both provide protection from the elements for your temperature or temperature/humidity sensor, extending its lifetime.
If you'd like to determine the water content of the snow you receive, or don't like having your rain collector freeze up during ice storms, consider adding a rain collector heater. It fits into the base of the rain collector and comes with a thermal cut-off switch. You turn the heater on from inside the house, so you can stay warm too!
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Follow-up: The Force of Floyd
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Last month we shared Michael Maier's data from Floyd and asked if any of you had a Floyd story. Graham Barden of Eastern NC sent us not only a story but some amazing pictures we just had to share. Here is Graham's report:
>A friend of mine here in New Bern is a pilot and invited me to go assess the damage to his beachfront house on Elbow Cay (Hopetown). It was a chance to see the aftermath of a brutal hurricane, and I jumped at the chance. We flew down early Friday with tarps and the hope of securing the house until repairs could be made.
>Marsh Harbor had significant damage to the trees and some buildings, but was functional. We boarded a ferry for the short ride to Hopetown on Elbow Cay. There were many damaged houses and boats visible from the harbor. Only one store and one restaurant were operational. Very little phone service. The locals use VHF radios as their primary means of communication. No central power. Generators are the only source of power.
>We went to his house, and it was a total loss. The dune in front was washed away and a basement wall knocked in by the waves. As it collapsed, the front wall separated from the roof and the roof blew away. The house was sand blasted down to bare wood. There was even sand stuck to the under side of the eaves of the roof on the backside of the house.
Thanks for sending your story Graham. We have a renewed appreciation for the power of hurricanes.
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Reader's Write: Spider Wars
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It seems only fitting, with Halloween a week away, to conclude our latest discussion of the birds and the bugs with solutions to Dan's spider problem. If you remember, spiders were "gluing" Dan's anemometer to its mast so he wasn't getting any wind readings. We asked for your solutions, and boy did we get some creative ones!
From Tom:
>Try spraying your mast with a vegetable oil spray or rub on some solid shortening. It doesn't harm the metal and spiders don't like to get all greasy. They also cannot connect a web to the grease.
From Frank:
>OK, it's a little freaky, but I have a solution for the spiders in the anemometer problem... coat the inside of the cups and the surfaces around the unit with a light layer of the hottest jabanero chili oil you can buy. Don't get it on your hands or in your eyes though!
>I also spray a bit of anti-static laundry spray on the unit from time to time.
From Demitri:
>I may have a solution for Dan Clanton and his spider problem. I, too, have the same problem. Recently, however, my wife purchased a Riddex electronic pest repeller because she does not like spiders or other pests in the house. Ever since we plugged it in, I have not had a problem with the spiders. Somehow this signal must travel up the wind wire and get right to the mast itself. I won't know for sure until next spring and summer but for now I think it is working. The product is made by Global Instruments in Trenton Missouri 64683. It sure beats getting up and down off ladders.
Our resident meteorologist reminded us that we had a spider problem at one of our remote locations. Our tech guys installed the larger wind cups, and that seemed to alleviate the problem too. One note, if you do decide to spray your anemometer, spray from above and don't get any oil in the bearing area of the shaft!
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Miscellany of the Moment: Are there Unix users out there?
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Currently, all Davis software runs on Windows or Mac platforms. When we introduced the toolbox earlier this year, it was built to support the Windows platform. However not everyone is using Windows or Mac, as Chris Snell of San Antonio points out. He writes:
>I'm looking for some source code to read data from our Davis stations using our UNIX-based computers (which run FreeBSD and Linux). I tried writing some myself using Perl with poor results. If you know anything about hooking up Davis stations to UNIX boxes, please let me know.
Can anyone help Chris? Send us your e-mail, and we will pass it on. When you write, please include your city or state along with your first and last name.
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That's it for October's E-news! See you next month!
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