An Ambient Weather Station is a great addition to monitor what’s going on outside. There are many different models to choose from and most will enable reporting to sites like Weather Underground and WeatherCloud. A few can even populate a database on a PC to populate your own website.
This isn’t an article about the capabilities of an Ambient Weather Station (although it might be fun to write). This is a mount site, so that’s what this article is about. Let’s get on with the mount discussion.
Mount Analysis
An Ambient Weather Station comes features an attachment for round poles. There are a few U-bolts that have a pair of nuts. Slide the U-bolts which are attached to the weather station over a mounting pole. Tighten the nuts on the end of the U-bolts using pliers. Make sure they are tight. It’s easy. You can see an Ambient Weather WS-2902A in the photo that accompanies this article.
Selecting the location of the pole mount requires some planning. Mount your Ambient Weather Station where it won’t be blocked by a structure. That’s important as you want to ensure to capture the wind speed without a building getting in the way. Also try to pick an area that won’t get roasted by direct sunlight.
Some like to mount their Ambient Weather Station high up on a pole but that might not be necessary. Have a clearing on the back patio? Assuming you have enough clearance to achieve accurate readings, deploy a tabletop mount.
Mount Recommendations
You can make a tabletop mount with a heavy patio umbrella base such as the Sundale Outdoor 38.5 lbs Heavy Duty Square Steel Plate Stand . A patio umbrella pole is a perfect diameter for the u-bolts. Just wrap them around the top portion of the pole and tighten the nuts. Place the mounted weather station on a table or wall. It’s weighted so should hold your station just fine.
Of course, Ambient Weather also makes some mounts for their weather station so let’s look at a few of those.
Consider the Ambient Weather EZ-30-12 Stable Mounting Kit with Mast. This is a standard vertical mount that attaches to a wall or fence. The weather station attaches near the top and the bottom bracket attaches to the wall or fence. It’s 35 inches high and extensions can be added for increased length.
Another Ambient Weather mounting entry to consider is one that attaches to a horizontal surface. Consider the Ambient Weather EZ-48 Weather Station Tripod and Mast Assembly. This looks somewhat like a tripod. You can add ground stakes for ground installation. or the Tar Pad kit for rooftop installations. The mount is 48 inches high.
Rules of Thumb
How about some rules of thumb for placement? If you have a wind gauge on your Ambient Weather Station, it needs to be clear of the structure. How clear? Four times the distance of the differential height of the tallest obstruction. If your house is twenty feet tall, and you are using the tripod mount we just discussed (4 feet tall), place 64 feet away (4 * (20 – 4)).
If your Ambient Weather Station does not have a wind gauge, then be sure to mount the device at least 5 feet away from a building or the ground.