Re: [PLUG] Way Off Topic: Raise a Weather Station Mast

[Steve Litt via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>]

>
>On Wed, Feb 9, 2022 at 12:31 PM Casey Bralla via plug <
>plug@lists.phillylinux.org> wrote:  
>
>> Sorry for off-topic, but you guys are clever and creative.  (I was
>> going to say "good looking", but that was too much of a stretch :) )
>>
>> I want to mount a wired (not wireless) wind speed and direction
>> sensor about 6 feet above the peak of my 2-story house.  The
>> simplest way would be to mount a TV antennae pole on the side of the
>> house, but his has 2 major problems:
>>
>> 1.  I'm afraid of heights and can't climb a ladder that high to
>> install it
>>
>> 2.  I want to be able to service the unit about once per year, so
>> it's gotta be accessible
>>
>>
>> So here are some of my ideas:
>>
>> 1.  Use a telescoping pole mounted to the side of the house at "step
>> ladder height" (where I am comfortable).  Not sure where to get a
>> telescoping pole.
>>
>> 2.  Hire somebody to mount it, and to retrieve it when service is
>> needed
>>
>> 3.  Build a ground-anchored hinged pole that I can use pulleys and
>> cables to raise into position, then lock somehow
>>
>> 4.  Mount the station away from the house at step ladder height and
>> run a wire to it.

I don't understand #4. If you wanted it six feet above your 2 story
home's peak, why would you settle for six feet off the ground?

If six feet above the ground is sufficient, then it's obviously the
easiest and safest. Just use a 10 foot piece of 3 inch schedule 80 pipe
buried 3 feet into the earth, and have guy lines (non-conductive) that
can be tightened to stabilize it. I'd recommend filling the 3 buried
feet with some sort of concrete for weight, and so when you pull it
out, it isn't squeezed between inner and outer compact dirt, and so
when you pull it out you still have a hole.

It's outside, so you need lightning protection. Whatever cable you use
should be run to where your TV/Internet cable is, looped for
lightning-resisting inductance the same way your cable TV cable is, and
grounded to the building ground the same way your cable TV cable is. It
might seem a good idea to install your own grounding rod, near the PVC
pipe, but it just seems like a good idea. With two earth grounding
points, a lightning strike in the area can set up a potential
difference between the grounding points, blowing up a lot of your
equipment in your house, and possibly causing a severe shock danger
within your house.

If that lightning protection sounds like a pain in the ass, consider
that it's pretty much necessary for anything mounted outside that
requires wires going into the house: On the roof, side of the house, or
in the yard. You might want to get a competent TV Antenna person to do
the first installation, with the proviso that after that you can loosen
the guy wires, pull the PVC pipe out of the ground, lay it down, and do
maintenance by yourself. Or get a wireless setup :-)

SteveT

Steve Litt 
March 2022 featured book: Making Mental Models: Advanced Edition
http://www.troubleshooters.com/mmm
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