having chated to a few guys on the beach last week, I was wandering how many users would chip in towards a internet linked weather
station?? It would cost about a grand to set up with software, etc. We could then go online and check the conditions at any time.
If we could get 50 of us to chip in £20 wed be sorted! What say yous??
[Admin]... To save you reading all of this thread, the weather station is now up and running. Page 3 or so of this thread covers what
is there and this link shows a thread which tells you a little more about some of the
weather station pages
Thanks for reminding me Shem...
I was chatting to Shem about this the other day, and a couple of people on the beach yesterday. Basically, the weather station hardware
and software comes to about £1000, I can't afford to pay for that myself as I don't make any money from this site, but I am willing
to invest the time to set it up and keep it running if there is enough interest, and people are willing to pay an annual subscription
to cover the costs of setup and running it.
Obviously the data would then only be available to those who had paid the subscription. The data would be updated every few minutes
showing wind strength, direction, max gust etc along with rainfall, barometric pressure, temperature etc. There would also be a
graphical presentation of data from the last 24 hours or so to enable the current trends to be seen. It all looks pretty good and could
be useful to those of you who have a bit of a drive to the beach.
Lets see some names for people who would be interested in such a facility.
Al.
Interesting Idea.
I might be in, depending on costs, but there's quite a lot of free info about, is there a market?
count me in; could there be a system for non subscribers on the lines of wendy windblows; rod bucks sites, none subscribers can access
the info for a premium rate call.that way you could get a return on your running costs Al
£1000 ! Ouch really that much ? ?
only £20.00 for all that info sounds good to me. with that kind of info it would be worth me coming up for a session at night in summer, there for increasing time on water. well worth it me thinks. thought it could be a good way for pluto to get rid of all the cash he must be making teaching..
Count me in. £20 is only the price of one wasted tank of diesel when it doesn't blow. Be able to plan those sickies, cough, days off, a bit more accurately too!
I'm up for it - as Mark said - for those of us that travel even one wasted trip would cover the investment.
Don't suppose these things have a webcam as well?
I'm up for it, the one I've setup at my school cost £1000, but that is an all singing all dancing affair. It does everthing, we would only want one which covers wind speed and direction would we not?
Count me in for twenty. Colona watersports in Egypt had one really good especially the logged info for past seasons.
Maybe Powerkiteshop would like to part sponsor this weather station, what do ya think Col?
yea they will buy it !!!!! along with everything else there always been asked for>>>count me in for a donation though
I'm in for sure!!
As theres some defo interest, it might be worth opening a bank account, store up the coin to see what we get, and if we dont get enough
pay back all the dosh??
Unless any ones got a better accounting plan?
good plan Shem, we need someone to setup this all up now, I'm happy to volunteer to setup us up an account and let the money sit there
until we decide to do something with it - or if someone else wants to do it that's fine. I think we need to do something otherwise this
thread will creep down and nothing will have happened!
All those in favour say ai.
well volunteered that man!
Just a thought - and I bet this has been suggested before - Is there any value in asking the local council for help - many resorts have
a webcam on their site to encourage visitors, and if a weather station included one of these...... be good to check the surf out as
well!
I can set up a bank account if you like, although it seems unlikely that we are going to get enough money up front to cover the costs
so as usual some of it will probably have to come out of my own pocket... Whether or not this gets off the ground depends on how much
of it I can afford to cover as Forces-of-Nature already costs me far too much to keep running!
How many people are willing to pay some money over your side Shem? As so far we only have 9 names in this thread which is a long way
short of the 50 we need to cover the costs of the weather station equipment, and I will still be covering the costs of things such as a
computer to run it from which will have to be up and running all the time (I can't use my usual one as I have to take it with me now
and then to see clients), constant internet access etc...
I guess if I set up a bank account we can at least get some money in and see if people will actually put up some money and then keep
pushing to get enough to buy the equipment.. If not I can just give it all back and we can have an evening in the friendship talking
about what could have been!
Al.
quote:
Originally posted by Spooker
well volunteered that man!
Just a thought - and I bet this has been suggested before - Is there any value in asking the local council for help - many resorts have a webcam on their site to encourage visitors, and if a weather station included one of these...... be good to check the surf out as well!
Count me in as well. I reckon it is a fantasitc idea. It should attract more windsurfers and kiters to Borth.
now the lottery are supposed to give grants ,there is one idea. as for old computers ; what sort of ones do we need Al, there are loads
being thrown out regularly at school, how high tech do they have to be.i have my old one which i will donate; it is rather slow, but so
am i.
i will bring my 20 up on friday and we can get the ball rolling
Cheers Neil, I've got a long list (thanks to Anna's research today) of people to contact about grants for buying the thing in the first
place. I'm not sure if any of them will go for it but it is worth a try.
As far as a computer goes I do actually have a spare one sat on top of my filing cabinet at the moment that should do the job if I buy
a wireless network card for it.. I could at least use it as a back up system for the weather station on those days when I have to take
my main computer out of the office... I wouldn't want that particular computer on all the time as my main computer is silent and like
most computers the older one isn't!!.. So that side of things should be sorted.
I'll get onto some of the grants people ASAP as these things usually take months to process.
Al.
Count me in as well
Right. I got the ball rolling today and got some people to put their money dwn too... If we don't get enough to get the weather station
up and running then they will all get their cash back.. So far I have a £20 subscription from:
• MarkyP
• Neilm
• Jon d Hat
• Encee
• PaulB
and promises from Leonardo, Dunk and Wilf, there are still plenty of others who have said they'll be interested, so we may get close to
the target and get this thing going after all.
Shem, will you do some colecting on your side the the estuary from those who want access to the data?
I'll also continue pursuing other funds towards it and will do some more research into the best option as far as the hardware and
software goes.
Come, on we need a few more people to sign up....
Al.
A few more people paid up for access to the weather station today:
• Leonardo
• Spooker
• AndyB
Still more to come though and a few more people promised to get in on the action.
Al.
Hey AL,
I'm sure youv'e got a list of people to contact but how about trying to get a donation from Hydro Extreme........ It's probably in in
there interests as a business and you may get more than £20
i'm in with the dosh when i get up next
Good stuff... I think if all the people who have said they'll sign up and pay (either in this thread or in person on the beach) do so
then we'll be half way there already. Shem says there are people interested on Aberdovey side as well, so I'm beginning to get a little
more optimistic that this will indeed happen.
Al.
quote:
Originally posted by mNeil
as for old computers ; what sort of ones do we need Al, there are loads being thrown out regularly at school, how high tech do they have to be.i have my old one which i will donate; it is rather slow, but so am i.
i will bring my 20 up on friday and we can get the ball rolling
Al
Forgot to give you some money at the weekend, will pay up next W/E. As long as I don't have a @drunk in charge of bicycle@ fine to
pay
I'll be after you for the cash, fine or no fine!!
Al.
well al i think kitefish should pay double, i mean giving kitesurfers a bad name nearly getting arrested and on a girls bike as well. lol. you would think neil would look after the children when on outings into the town. he he
well neil is so old now that 2 of the massif had to escort him home; one in front and one behind so that i didnt get lost. the lone
ranger who stayed had orders to finish the barrel of beer before any pole dancers got their hands on it, and he did a sterling job ,so
we hear!
Some more cash came in today....
£20 from Col
Any other takers??
Al.
Al, can we just post a cheque to you? Stick your address on this thread and I'll chuck the money in the post to you
cheers
OK.... Address sent via u2u
Alternatively I could let people pay via PayPal but then I would have to pay the 3.4% + 20p transaction fee so I'll leave that option
for now.
Al.
A couple more have paid up, helping the fund to grow:
Impi
Kitefish
Cheers guys, but we still need more.... I've set Neil onto the task of getting some of the other kitesurfers to chip in as he knows
them better than me, and I'm still waiting to hear if Shem has had any luck getting some cash off people in Aberdovey.
Al.
Had another subscription to the weather station today thanks to a cheque in the post from:
Jon Stone (aks pebble)
That gets us a quarter of the way, but I'm sure there are still lots of people who have said they'll contribute but haven't done so
yet.... And I've set Neil onto the case of getting some off the kiters who have yet to sign up, so we are still making progress.
Al.
The fund continues to grow, thanks to £20 from:
nick the hill
And Neil is on the case today to get some more people signed up.
Al.
Dunk has paid his £20 now so will get access to the weather station if we get enough money to get it up and running.
Al.
what's the running total now...and whats the target again!!
that was from Nick the hill Al
spoke to Tim from shrews and he is going to get on to Alex and Paul (pluto)
Count me in, will be down next w/end with ?Ǭ£20 squids, if any there's any wind.
sorry Steve but its £20 even if there is no wind!
Can post a cheque to Al if that helps.
Just need his details
Nick the Hill
Nick the Hill
Nick the Hill
Not Nick the fish.... So who is Nick the fish and hy hasn't he paid up!!
Steveo... A cheque will be fine... I'll u2u you my address.
Running total with Steveo's will be £300 but there are still about 6 others who have said they'll pay up who have yet to do so and
quite a few people who sail / kite here regularly and haven't been told about it yet. There should also be a collection of people in
Aberdovey. The total cost to set it up will be around £1000, so it looks as though some of it will come out of my pocket.
Al.
Send me your address Al & my £20 is on the way.
Come on PKS and Boardwise, put your hand in your pocket!
Don't forget Hydro
Cheque is in the post Al....when do I get my free gift? I'm sure Neil said it's a mountain bike.
Cheers Graham, your cheque arrived today, so your name is on the list as well...
Al.
And another £20 via cheque thanks to:
bucski
Al.
Al, will put cheque in post tomorrow.
Cheers
Whoosh
I've just added a link to this thread from the weather forecast on the home page... Hopefully a few people who check the weather but
don't read the forums may be interested... I know that quite a few locals check the weather forecast every day.
Al.
Steve has now paid up his £20 so we are one step closer to getting this thing rolling.
I am also in the middle of talks about grant funding for some extra cash towards the set up. If that comes to nothing then I may have
to look towards sponsorship from some of the shops (local or otherwise).
Al.
can you pm me your address?
blimey i'm well behind on this thread, i'll drop £20 squid in when i see you next al
[Edited on 29-10-2005 by carlessd]
Cool... keep em coming.
Larry gave my £20 today so thats another one on the list.. I forgot to get some cash off Stevebus but I'll be after hime next time I
see him, and Mark from Tywyn showed some interest today so there should still be more on the way.
Al.
Just got the £20 off:
Carlessd
today, which takes us about half way. I have a computer sorted (well almost, I just need a hard drive and wireless networking card I
think) ready to run it which will hopefully sit in the attic out of sight and earshot.. We're getting there, I'm sure there are still
quite a few people who have shown an inteerest but have yet to pay up!
Al.
Received £20 towards the weather station from
Stevebus
today, and Shem is on the case with a few names to chase up on Aberdovey side. All we need is a few more people and I'll put in an
order and start building the web interface so that is is ready to go as soon as the sensors are set up.
Al.
Al.
Right, as this has gone a little quiet I thought I'd post a latest update on the status of the weather station project.
So far we have 20 people who have pre-subscribed so there is £400 towards the set up of the station. The weather station itself
costs £793 and with the extra for a PC to run it and various bits of software the set up costs are likely to be around £1000.
There are then going to be running costs associated with it. So, the pre-subscriptions have made a decent dent in the overall set-up
costs, but there is still a fair way to go.
However, I have decided to make an executive decision and go for it so I will be putting a considerable amount of money in upfront in
the hope that once it is up and running more people will subscribe and over the years it will eventually pay for itself.
I shall start setting it up as soon as it arrives and those that have pre-subscribed will be able to access it as soon as I get things
online even before it officially goes live... I'll be counting on some of you to help with beta testing the system anyway, but as it
will take a while for me to get everything working properly and build all the pages that will be associated with the weather station it
will mean that pre-subscribed members will be able to access certain parts of it for a month or so before anyone else will.
I'll keep you all informed of progress as and when anything happens, but the weather station cometh!!!!
Al.
brave move Al !!
Can I just say that I for one, and I strongly suspect I speak for all the regulars here, that I/we really (really) appreciate the
amount of time, effort - and money - that you put into this site.
In fact if you were a girl - I'd give you a BIG hug.
Instead I'll confine my efforts to evangelising the weather station and getting some more contributions
well done Al!
how can we get more dosh? i for one dont mind increasing our individual contribution to help.
a raffle of some kind?
is it worth putting a posting re contributions to the station on other web sites ie flexi,etc or is the opinion to keep borth low
key?
Two more pre-subscribers:
Dave
Pat
Thanks.... The online live Weather Station will be coming soon... I should get the PC to run it from around the middle of December so
will get things up and running as soon as I can after that. I'll give myself a week off work over Xmas and get as much done on the
weather station web pages then (unless of course its windy!!!).
Al.
Finally got some cash off Shem who started this thread, so we have now made it to £460 altogether.... But that isn't the exciting
part...
I have actually gone ahead and bought the weather station. I shall go to Bristol next weekend to collect a computer to run the website
side of it from and I have also ordered a few other electrical essentials that I need to set it all up. Once I have all of that I will
then start work on getting the data-logger to 'talk' to the computer and start setting up the website pages. It may take a few weeks as
there is quite a lot to do but all being well the weather station should go live (at least to the pre-subscribers) over the Xmas
period.
The weather station itself is set up, and seems really good. Really sensitive to even the slightest breeze. There is a slight problem
in NW winds as the current positioning of the anenometer is not exposed enough to NW's. I shall try mounting it a little higher to see
if that helps. If not I shall have to see what other solutions I can come up with as far as alternative positioning goes. It seems to
perform perfectly in other directions, although we've yet to have a decent SW to check it in.
Al.
Finally got some cash off Shem who started this thread, so we have now made it to £460 altogether.... But that isn't the exciting
part...
I have actually gone ahead and bought the weather station. I shall go to Bristol next weekend to collect a computer to run the website
side of it from and I have also ordered a few other electrical essentials that I need to set it all up. Once I have all of that I will
then start work on getting the data-logger to 'talk' to the computer and start setting up the website pages. It may take a few weeks as
there is quite a lot to do but all being well the weather station should go live (at least to the pre-subscribers) over the Xmas
period.
The weather station itself is set up, and seems really good. Really sensitive to even the slightest breeze. There is a slight problem
in NW winds as the current positioning of the anenometer is not exposed enough to NW's. I shall try mounting it a little higher to see
if that helps. If not I shall have to see what other solutions I can come up with as far as alternative positioning goes. It seems to
perform perfectly in other directions, although we've yet to have a decent SW to check it in.
Al.
I've now got the PC and hopefully my KVM switch should arrive today so I'll be able to set the computer up tonight.
If all goes well I'll then be able to connect the weather station to the PC and start looking into the exact format of the data that is
transmitted to the PC from the data-logger. Hopefully from that I'll be able to start building some of the weather station web-pages
that subscribers will be able to see.
I've also had a subscription from a non-windsurfer, non-kitesurfer local who lives a few doors away from me but wants to see what the
weather has been up to.
I also need to look into alternative mounting options for the anenometer....
I'll let you know as soon as there is a web-page to look at (even a very basic one as I start working on it).. For now, there are a
couple of photos and some details on the weather station
here
Al.
Just to keep you up to date... I'm still waiting for a couple of 'gender changers' that I need to (hopefully) complete the necessary
cabking needs to get the data-logger connected to the PC.... Why is nothing ever easy!?
Al.
I'm sure if you visit Milton Keynes (no offence, just sprung to mind) you will find a few gender changers. Or is that gender benders? Only joking Al, good luck in your quest. I bet it will be worth the trouble, probably not for you though. Lucky guy, living virtually on the beach.
Thanks... The KVM switch doesn't seem to be behaving itself at the moment which is a pain in the arse, but I do have the PC up and
running and it seem to be talking to the weather station OK so that is a step in the right direction... Now I have to work out how to
change all the data into webpages and get the KVM switch sorted.
Al.
I've given up with the KVM switch for now.... This won't make a difference to you guys, it just makes things a little more difficult
for me.
However, I have formulated a plan and now have managed to get all the elements on place to actually gets things up on the web. There is
still LOADS to do and shall be working on it over the Xmas (I might stop for a few minutes on Xmas day... to listen to the queen of
course!), so should have lots of it up and running by the time everyone is back at work.
Those that are subscribed can click this link to see progress
as it happens. So far there is little there (Just the most important current wind speed and direction, but I shall be adding to
it all the time.
Al.
top stuff Al looking good, thanks for all your hard work !
hope you Anna and Morgan have a happy christmas and all the very best for 2006
Thanks Neil... Let me know if you notice any mistakes (although everything will be in a state of flux as I work on it).
I've now added the current, max/min and rates of change for:
Barometric pressure
Temperature
Humidity
and Rainfall
in addition to the wind on the front 'overview' page and added a few icons to brighten it up a bit. There is also a 'forecast' which is
generated by the weather station (so is unlikely to be 'that' accurate as it is only based on one data point.)
I've also started work on a few other pages such as the daily, monthly and all time extremes (very little is there so far and all will
change soon)
And I've built a page dedicated to the Sun and
Moon...
Loads more to come yet!
Al.
hi AL just had a good look through the weather area ; some cracking stuff and hard work there, especially liked the CHARTS showing not
just isobars but the fronts.
Top work Al very impressed, well worth our investment.
Al hope you and your familt have a great Christmas, see you very soon in the New Year.
I've made a little more progress...
After some mathematical wizardry I have now added the change in average windspeed over the last hour and over the last two hours to the
overview page.
I have also added a 'graphs' section which so far has a
•24 windspeed and barometer graph
•24 hour temperature and humidity graph
•An average temperaure / windspeed / rainfall graph for the current month.
More to come soon.....
Al.
Haven't managed much today.... Just the following:
•Added 'Feels Like' Temperature to the overview page (This is based on a standard calculation that takes into account the actual
temperature, the windchill and the relative humidity to give an equivalent temperature to one that the human body would feel.
•Added some extra values to the 'All Time Records' Page.
I'll start on the page dedicated to the 'wind' next.
Al
Today I have added the 'Wind' page which shows the following:
Current wind conditions, including current wind speed and direction, gust speed, average speed, 10 minute average speed.
Trends - Average wind speeds and gust speeds for the last 10 mins, 10-15 minutes, 15-30 minutes, 30-60 minutes and 60-120
minutes
Wind run - The win run for the day, month and year so far
Wind Extremes - The maximimum 10 minute average windspeed and maximum gust for the last hour, today, yesterday, month to date,
year to date and all time.
Chart showing wind direction vs time
Chart showing wind direction vs strength
Graph showing direction and strength as a percentage (Not sure if this one is working yet!
I've also added a few other graphs to the graphs page. These show average windspeed, wind direction, gust speed, temperature, pressure,
humidity, rainfall, wind chill and dew point as line-graphs over a 24 hour period, a 48 hour period and a 72 hour period.
Enjoy!!!
I might have a break tomorrow as my brain hurts!!
Al.
So much for a day off.... I've just added a 'Barometer' page showing the current conditions, recent trends and barometer extremes.
Al.
Temperature page now added, which shows various Temperature and humidity readings.... I haven't finished it yet, but will do soon. Good
timing though as it was pretty cold last night!!
Al.
gonna have to be running evening courses on how to read it all soon Al!
You should try it from my end... All these codes and cryptic clues to what they mean are driving me mad.. What the hell is the
difference between %monthtodatemaxgust% (which is supposed to show the 'maximum gust so far this month') and %mrecordwindgust% (which
is supposed to show the all time record high wind gust for the current month to date)??
I've used the latter which I now think is wrong as it sounds as though it will show the highest wind gust ever experienced in a
December (or whichever is the current month) rather than the highest gust THIS month.... Aaaarrrggghhhh that means there are hundreds
of tags to change (well about 80 of them actually!)... Trouble is I won't know which is the right tag until the I have some data that
is more than a year old!
Oh well, I guess I can leave it until then, by which time I won't have a hope in hell of remembering what I did and why it is
wrong!!
Not to worry, I've now finished the temperature page (for now).
Al.
Just added graphs that show all the weather parameters for the previous day and also the previous week.
Al.
Weather Station looking really good Al - Keep up the hard work.
Hope to use it for real as soon as I shake off this recurring "lurgy" that's keeping me off the water !!