Relocation of anemometer - feasible?

[RayProudfoot]

My Davis anemometer has been attached to a pole connected to my chimney breast for 11 years. It's perfectly positioned for capturing gusts as it's close to the 10 metre height. However, it is not easily accessible and as I and my good friend who has helped with ane problem are getting no younger I need an alternative arrangement that I can easily access.

The ideal for me would be for it to be positioned at the top of a telescopic pole attached to brackets on the side of my house on the wall above the garage. I can easily access the flat garage roof so providing a suitable mounting can be found it would be a great solution.

I'm attaching a couple of photos so you have a better idea of the situation. The pole would need to clear the gutter which is around 1ft (30cm) wide. A fibreglass pole is extremely light (<5lbs, 2Kg) and the ane is also light so weight shouldn't be an issue. My concerns are how much of the pole would not be supported. This company make a 6.3m (20ft) pole which looks suitable. If the top bracket was close to the gutter I would guess around 12 ft of the pole would be unsupported.
https://www.barenco.co.uk/products/mast ... 26%5D=1526

Here are their clamps. https://www.barenco.co.uk/products/brac ... mps/clamps

My idea would be to loosen one or both clamps holding the pole and then release each lock on the pole allowing it slide down for easy access to the ane. The cable would be taped to the bottom end of the telescopic pole and connected to the transmitter below the bathroom window (see photo).

Thoughts?

House_Full.jpg

House_Closeup.jpg

[ConligWX]

Ian at Chatteris had built a retractable radio mast so time ago. it might give you some idea. links to part 1,2,3 are also listed there. give him a shout i'm sure he would be happy to give any other info if you like.

https://www.chatteris.biz/blog/mast-aut ... -finished/

[RayProudfoot]

Thanks Simon. Looks daunting! I notice he has an anemometer on the gable end of his house but not a aprt of the radio antenna.

https://www.chatteris.biz/blog/radio-ma ... y-control/

[ConligWX]

Thanks Simon. Looks daunting! I notice he has an anemometer on the gable end of his house but not a aprt of the radio antenna.

https://www.chatteris.biz/blog/radio-ma ... y-control/

yep, he did however add one to the mast for wind speed to automate the lowering of the master slightly from what I gather.

https://www.chatteris.biz/blog/mast-aut ... ification/

[RayProudfoot]

I particularly like the section where gets his wife to drive at a constant speed so he can check the output from the anemometer!

I shall drop him a line.

[RayProudfoot]

I’m getting an error when trying to send him a message from his Contact Me link.

[mcrossley]

Not quite the same situation as Ray, but I have converted my anney pole to a sliding affair.
The pole was replaced with a thick walled 2" 4 metre pole, and I used new sliding clamps this means the pole can be slid up and down easily without losing alignment. To facilitate this I have routed the cables down the inside of the pole, and clamped the transmitter to the bottom of the pole so there are no dangling cables and the whole thing slides as a unit.

NewPole_mdm.jpg

[ConligWX]

I'll send you a pm with his email address.

[RayProudfoot]

Mark, oh to have a gable-ended house. It makes life so much easier.

How much of that pole is unsupported Mark? And given it’s steel / aluminium probably a lot heavier than fibreglass.

[RayProudfoot]

I'll send you a pm with his email address.

Good man, thanks.

[mcrossley]

Mark, oh to have a gable-ended house. It makes life so much easier.

It does, you would need a good unsupported length to get from below your gutter up to the 10m level. But 12 ft unsupported does not sound excessive, so long as the pole is stiff enough. I used a 14 gauge (2.0mm) 3.6m welded alloy pole, and it bends around a bit in a wind, but not too badly.

[RayProudfoot]

It does, you would need a good unsupported length to get from below your gutter up to the 20m level. But 12 ft unsupported does not sound excessive, so long as the pole is stiff enough. I used a 14 gauge (2.0mm) 3.6m welded alloy pole, and it bends around a bit in a wind, but not too badly.

I’m guessing that’s a typo and you mean 10m. The distance between the two brackets would appear to be crucial. Yours look to be around 2ft. If the top bracket was just below the gutter and the lower one was 2-3ft lower then the unsupported section would need to be around 15ft.

These fibreglass poles weigh around 7lbs for a 40ft so we’re talking around 4lbs for a 20ft / 6m. Whilst expensive fibreglass is very strong and lightweight making it ideal. The pole I linked to earlier is 2mm thick.

[RayProudfoot]

Doing some arithmetic, when I stand in the loft under the apex I can just about stand upright. I'm 6ft 5in so with the anemometer another 6-7ft above the roof line that makes it roughly 14ft from gutter to existing anemometer height.

If 6ft of the pole is below the gutter that would need a pole around 20ft long with around 14ft unsupported. Not far off Mark's suggestion of 12ft. Seems doable with the right brackets around 4-5ft apart.

[RayProudfoot]

Bugger! (Technical term). The poles I'm looking at have a diameter at the top of 30mm. Davis requires 32-48mm for the anemometer holder. Would a bit of padding be okay?

[Mapantz]

Don't quote me on it, but I would have thought that using fibreglass would mean you'd need to guy it from 4 angles due its flexibility?

I've often wondered how much wobble/flex can affect wind speed recordings? I mean, I have seen Davis anemometers mounted to the masts of sailing boats that are moored up along the river - in to Poole harbour.