Fine Offset rain guage problem (now where to get a really cheap weather station)

[Fujisan]

Hi,  Ian, aka Fujisan here from the a cold wet & windy South Wairarapa.  I got a Fine Offset WH3081 at Christmas which I have linked to an old Toshiba laptop running Cirrus  Cumulus 24/7 and logged into Weather Underground and Metservice.

I have a problem with the rain gauge in particular.  (All of the sensors throw the odd funny reading every now and again, but the rain gauge beats them all).  It can be a nice sunny day and it will show heavy rain, or massively exaggerate what rain there actually is.  It's not all the time, but more than I would like to have.  Since the gauge is a tipping bucket type, it must recoding extra signals somewhere. I can't see the buckets moving without water,  (the gauge can be fooled by vigorous shaking of the 5metre pole), so it must be generating erroneous pulses somewhere.

Can anyone offer any advice on how to fix my problem, short of trying a replacement rain gauge?

Thanks

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[beteljuice]

As you say " ... the gauge can be fooled by vigorous shaking of the 5metre pole", but the rain gauge shouldn't be up a 5m pole !

Those gauges when mast mounted (any size) are prone to draughts up the drainage slots and should be on a flat plate or similar.

They are also prone to "spark" interference - eg. electric fence, dodgy mains thermostats, lightning, etc. etc.

Try it on a stable surface a few feet off the ground if you can (reduces 'spatter')

[PaulMy]

Maybe this is not the way to fix your issue but third party programs, like Cumulus, have built in spike removal that help in ignoring the spurious readings.  From CumulusWiki

I get very large amounts of rainfall shown, or other high readings

Fine Offset stations have a habit of producing unbelievable readings, and Cumulus filters many of these out automatically. You can also use the 'spike removal' settings on the calibration page, and Cumulus will then filter out large changes in readings.

Paul

[Fujisan]

Thanks. Heaps of things to look at.  We do have electric fences, but they are turned off this week so probably not that.

Cumulus spike removal.  Good idea, I need to have a play with the settings.

But most interesting is the placement of the rain gauge.  I just went by the picture on the box and since it has all the mountings to go with the other sensors, that's where it ended up, at the top of the pole, but I can see the point about drafts etc   I will look into a longer lead and bring it down to fence level, maybe put it on top of a fence post next to the mast.  To save me unbolting the pole to take it all down, can anyone tell me if they are 4 pin RJ11 plugs on the rain gauge?

[Fujisan]

An update to my problem.  I have now moved the rain gauge as low as I can on the pole using the existing (very long) cable.  It now sits about 30cm above the fence where the pole is mounted.  At least it means I can get at the cobwebs in the gauge without taking the pole down! Since we are expecting gales and rain over the next few days, it will be interesting to see how it goes.

Incidentally, I forgot to mention, that I got mine from a mail order firm in Queensland for AUD105  (NZ$114)  which is a third of the price I see advertised in NZ. I'm not sure what the rules are on the site for such things.  If anyone can confirm it's OK I will post a link to the site.

[Fujisan]

OK  Admin have given me the OK to post the link to the site I got my station from.

It is  http://ss-tradings.com.au/Weather-Station-C11880.aspx?sid=1011

Please note, I found them on Google, I have no association with them whatsoever and I have used them with no problems. So if anyone wants to give them a try and save heaps over NZ prices, over to you.

[Dan]

That's cheap Fujisan!

Worth keeping these guys in mind for spares.

Cheers

Dan

[JennyLeez]

The  'Only 6 months Warranty' would worry me, but then at that price I guess you could just buy another.
You would still be a head compared to the NZ prices.

What was the postage Fujisan?

[Fujisan]

I didn't notice the warranty period But for the price, its a pretty good trade off.  Postage was about $20, again pretty reasonable considering the size of the box and it took about a week to arrive.

[Fujisan]

Well, after a morning of high winds and heavy drizzle, the rain gauge seems to be working as it should.  Lots of small increments, not the odd massive leap as it was doing.  Seems lower down the mast was the answer (as far as the included lead would allow..... so that's why it was so long).  Simple...  (not sure if it was the movement at the top or draughts up the drain holes, but it worked)  Thanks for the advice

[Dan]

Hi Ian,

Thanks again for the link.  Two guys at work have purchased Fine Offset WH3081 units (an unbadged Aercus WS3083) through this guy in Aus.

It's exactly the same unit as I received through Scientific Sales - albeit minus the Aercus branding on the box and on the indoor unit.

They combined their order and saved on the shipping.  They paid $30 total postage for two units shipped from Aus.  The packages arrived within the week with no issues.

$349 vs $130

Really?  Your call.