Cumulus Support

My Ambient Weather WS-2080 (FO WH-2081, I believe) arrived Monday. Got it assembled and running pretty easily. Hooked up Cumulus yesterday. Got some rain, some wind. All seems to be working well. That was easy.
The whole thing is just stuck in a flowerpot until I can determine more permanent arrangements. Then I'll worry about getting the station online.
First impressions:
For $100, it's quite a nice piece of technology. A few reminders here and there that it's 'cheap Chinese', but does seem a cut above in engineering.
The anemometer arrived with the 3 posts that hold the bottom screws sheared off. The assembler must have had a bad day. A few dabs with a soldering iron welded the soft plastic together.
I don't have much data yet of course, but am looking forward to using Cumulus. The interface is very user friendly.
I think I just became a weather junkie.

I have the same model. Your description is right on. For the price it is hard to beat. You will gather some really neat data with Cumulus.

Good choice in Cumulus. Solid software. Lots of features. Lots of flexibility.

Your temporary setup is a good way. You might try one of those green, steel fence post you drive in the ground you find at Lowes or HD for a couple of bucks. Move around your place till you find a good spot.

Remember, you will need to clean the rain gauge more often than you think and change batteries someday.

Randy

That sounds like good advice. I've got a big chunk of open land, so if the range is good enough I should have no trouble with obstructions. I'm not going to try and make a lightning rod out of it.
My old rain gauge (Oregon Scientific) had screens top and bottom. That kept the bugs out. I squirted a little Clorox Cleanup into it before a rain once and a while - that took care of the algae. I'm glad it finally died after 3 years, that's what prompted this upgrade!
After looking at various solar options, I think the way to go is a battery pack with D cells. At roughly 6 times the capacity of AAs, D cells will probably start to leak long before their voltage begins to drop.
I looked at your temps the other day and got a bit jealous. But Spring is in the air!

OK. got my station mounted, website up and banner and all that good stuff. Have a peek.

I had a few issues, most of them were similar to ones that I found around this site. When I get a chance to document them, I'll pass them along. I'd like to suggest maybe a Wiki section or sticky for more detailed instructions regarding the web. I can fix a computer, and program in Access and Excel. But the web might as well me Ancient Aramaic. It took a lot of digging to figure out the error of my ways.

Donations on the way...