The KJ4AJP Weather Station hardware was manufactured by Fine Offset Electronics. The Fine Offset stations are imported and rebranded by various distributors, this station was purchased from Tycon Power Systems under the model designation TP1080WC. Because of its modularity, the station has more flexibility in proper siting than the "all-in-one" offerings in its price class that combine all sensors in a single unit.
It may be interesting to note that the Fine Offset wind and rain sensors are used by the Argent Data Systems ADS-WS1 Amateur Radio APRS Weather Station package, and offered by SparkFun Electronics for part of an Arduino project.
Outside, the basic mounting structure of the KJ4AJP Weather Station is three treated 4X4s: one 16 foot, one 6 foot and one 5 foot. Each are buried to a 2 foot depth on a bed of gravel, and the remainder of the hole filled with concrete.
The wind sensors are mounted on a 10 foot length of 1 inch pipe strapped to the 16 foot 4X4, which puts their height at around 18 feet above ground level. The home-made Stevenson screen which houses the temperature sensor, humidty sensor and 915MHZ wireless transmitter is mounted to the 6 foot 4X4 to put it at around 4 foot. The rain sensor is mounted on the 5 foot 4X4, putting its height at around 3 foot. A Stratus RG202 rain guage is also attached to the 5 foot 4X4.
Inside, the station's receiver console is connected by USB to a computer running the Cumulus software. The software sends data in the required format to three aggregators via the computer's residential internet connection:
Weather Underground, part of The Weather Channel Companies . The data from the KJ4AJP station is uploaded in "Rapid Fire" mode at approximately every 5 seconds.
PWS Weather, part of HAMweather and Weather For You. Weather For You is the source of the Five Day Forcast between the Current Conditions and radar map on the KJ4AJP Weather webpage.
CWOP, the Citizen's Weather Observer Program. CWOP uses Amateur Radio's APRS Internet System for data uploads, which allows the KJ4AJP station's information to also be sent "over the air" on Amateur Radio frequencies for reception by local Ham operators with compatible radio equipment without the need of internet access. FindU.com, an APRS database, provides the cgi for the current weather display on the KJ4AJP Weather webpage.
Both Weather For You and CWOP are mesonet providers to MADIS. MADIS then provides data to NOAA to aid in forcasting weather alerts, watches and warnings for local communities by the National Weather Service. Wind speed and direction data could also prove useful to Emergency Management officials or to Homeland Security in the event of a chemical spill or terrorist incident.
Questions or comments about the station are welcome, please send to kj4ajp at arrl dot net.
