Portable Personal
Weather Station
that you can build
at home
Mounting bracket
attached to a roof
luggage rack
Both sides: Components of the Portable Personal Weather Station
It is almost impossible to get interested in hot air ballooning and not get interested in the weather. Current, accurate weather information is needed before any flight, and is often useful while in air and at the landing. Many areas do not have a truly localized weather reporting station, and so personal weather stations become necessary for many balloonists. Living in such an area, I had to have one.
Originally, my weather sensors were mounted on a mast six feet above the roof line of the house and the information was fed by wire to the display inside my home office. The station provided me with up-to-date weather information to share with area pilots in a less than automated way. I would read the current wind, direction and temperature information and pass it on to the pilots that called.
I wanted the instruments to do more. I wanted the same data on the launch field. I was faced with the dilemma of how to make the unit portable and yet still mountable on my house for those times when I'm not traveling. I also had to design the system so it could be set up in the field by any one of the crew in under five minutes. The sensors needed to be as high off the ground as possible and still be able to be carried in the chase vehicle. The solution is what you see in the photographs. I tried several different setups, each time working out the bugs, until I arrived at the setup shown. Erecting the entire system many times (i.e., practice) was a must. It allowed all the bugs to be worked out, and gave my crew chief a chance to try erecting the assembly and to critique it. That was necessary as there is an eight inch difference in height between us.
The portable weather station is just another part of my repertoire of tools to make my flights safe. It does not replace calling flight service or use of any of the other methods available to gather the necessary weather information crucial to the safety and enjoyment of our sport. It merely makes me more informed and better able to make good go/no-go decisions. If the decision is to go, the portable unit's job isn't done. On those days when there are no ground wind indicators (smoke, steam, dust, etc.) and I really want to know what the conditions on the ground are, I can just ask the crew. One of the benefits of being portable is that the station can be there when I land, on the chase vehicle. Anyone on the crew can set it up in less than one minute when the sensors are already mounted.
Other balloonists interested in a portable system can benefit from my trial-and-error efforts. There is no need to re-invent the wheel. The first job is to select a unit. Portable weather monitors or stations are available through companies specializing in weather instruments for boats, home or field use. There are several options for powering these instruments: regular or rechargeable batteries, 9-12 V DC power adapters, AC power, and some are even solar powered. Most charge while in use or when turned off.
The most basic units consist of a monitoring instrument with a wind direction indicator and an anemometer. Some units include temperature sensors or barometers, and rain gauges and humidity sensors are available as extra cost options. The more expensive units can be connected to a home computer to monitor current weather and to chart trends over 24 hours or even longer periods of time.
Many basic units have enough features and are small enough that they ideal for taking them into the field. They can monitor barometric pressure, temperature (current, high and low), current and highest wind speed, and wind direction. Some units have alarms for temperature and wind speed, and most readouts are selectable for US Standard or metric units. Many portable units are lighted for ease of reading in the early dawn hours, a must for balloonists. A handy feature is the ability to run in scan mode and display any of the weather information monitored by the instrument, continually looping through the various readings. My weather station has many of these features encased in a small portable unit.
My final (for now) system is erectable in under five minutes and adjustable in any compass direction, regardless of vehicle orientation. Velcroš cable straps mounted on the mast make for quick harnessing. A hinge on the mounting block allows the mast to be laid flat on top of the vehicle and secured in less than a minute. For short trips (under 30 mph) or repositioning of the vehicle, the sensors need not be removed. The main instrument control and display is powered off the vehicle through an electrical power takeoff and is attached to the dash with Velcroš It is positioned for easy reading through the windshield so the vehicle can be locked and left unattended while inflating-good at rallies where you can't always watch everything. It also allows other pilots access to current information when I'm not around. I normally leave my instruments in the scan mode, showing in order barometric pressure, external temperature, current wind speed, wind direction, and highest wind recorded.
The mast clamp and mounting block are made of scrap pieces of hardwood finished with marine spar varnish. The mounting block is split in two pieces to allow fastening around the existing roof rack on my vehicle. All screws are stainless steel secured into brass inserts. The hinge between the mounting block and mounting clamp is also stainless steel, secured with stainless steel screws into brass inserts. The hardwood collar block is fitted with zinc plated eyebolts for bungee attachment. Zinc plated lag screws with stainless steel wing nuts secure the instruments to the mast. The mast is a standard-issue KAIBF chase flag pole. The mast clamp is a two-piece block with opposing v-grooves, which allows the mast to be adjusted and cinches closed with less than one turn of a thumb screw.
While there are many benefits to having this system along in the field, both at takeoff and landing, it can't do everything. It provides current surface conditions but cannot give you direction and speed of winds aloft-a pibal can. So, take your weather station with you and you will always have the current surface weather information available. You will also end up being the Weather Officer at almost every event you attend.
Both sides: Components of the Portable Personal Weather Station
