Installing and Setting Up The XC0440 Weather Station

Have you ever heard the weather on the news or looked at your weather app and thought, 'That can't be right!' Official government weather stations for the Bureau of Meteorology are scattered around the country and commercial operations like WeatherZone have their own instruments too, but they are spread out and the weather for your suburb may be based on an instrument some distance away. The further from a metropolitan centre you are, the worse it is. For example, Gundagai, roughly half-way on the drive between Sydney and Melbourne, gains its weather data from Wagga Wagga, an hour away by highway roads.

In these situations, having your own weather station can do more than just satisfy your curiosity. It can provide you with accurate data so that you can monitor, say, how much rain your vegetable garden has had, or how hot it really is at home so that you can remotely turn on or off your air conditioning, if you have a unit equipped for that. You can also receive more accurate storm warnings for your exact location, and compare data to other people nearby who also have their weather stations connected to Weather Underground or Weather Cloud websites. This allows you to assess the accuracy of your own data. It also allows you to see trends that the official or commercial data may be too sparse to show.

ABOUT THE WEATHER STATION

THE 5-IN-1 SENSOR

The 5-in-1 is the largest part, with a rain sensor, wind vane, anemometer, thermometer, and hygrometer all in one. It is designed to be weatherproof but there are some rules about where to put it if you want accurate information out of it. The sensor needs to be at least 1.5m off the ground to get accurate wind direction and speed readings, and to avoid reflected heat from affecting temperature readings. If mounting on a roof, you may need even more height to avoid reflected heat, but that is not always possible. That's one reason the XC0440 comes with an extra sensor!

The other challenge is for the rain gauge (and, to a point, the wind instruments). A rule of thumb is to mount a rain gauge as far away from any surrounding structures or trees, as those things are tall. In other words, mount it at least 40m away from a 40m high gum tree. That is also not always possible, but is something to consider.

THE EXTRA SENSOR

The extra sensor is a temperature and humidity unit. It is designed to use indoors and outdoors, although under cover is best. If the 5-in-1 sensor is going to be affected by reflected heat, the extra sensor can give a more accurate temperature by being mounted in the shade away from such reflected heat. In our example, we mounted it to the wall under the house eaves. Used indoors, this extra sensor could tell you how well your air conditioning spreads through a house, or what the conditions in the baby's room are.

THE DISPLAY WITH SENSORS

The display is an indoor-only unit but it has a temperature and humidity sensor as well. This is really useful to compare to the outside temperature and humidity to help inform decisions like opening the windows or keeping the home closed up. Never again will you open the windows thinking it's cooler outside only to find the house shoots up to 80% humidity! The display unit is best sited away from sources of temperature changes, like the airflow from an air conditioner or draft from a heater or door. The power cord is around 1.2m long, too, so this will also influence the location.