I received the weather station as a Christmas gift from my wife (yeah, she's pretty cool!). Since it was the holiday season, I didn't want to dive in for a day or two until I had some time. When I looked around the internet for mounting ideas and information, I came up pretty much empty, so I decided to take some assembly pictures and put up some info on the subject. Little did I know how far it would go . . .

This product is manufactured by Oregon Scientific under the WMR968 model number. It seems that's the model more people have than the Radio Shack version, although I haven't found any differences.

Setup and calibration of the actual weather station components was not all that complicated. It was the mounting locations and brackets that seemed to take most of the time and thought. The manual suggests mounting the anemometer on a common TV antenna mast and the rain guage on a small platform (not included) on top of the roof.

The rain guage is shown on a small platform nearby with both transmitters mounted on the mast. The temperature and humidity sensor must be mounted elsewhere since it has to be in the shade and protected from moisture. I preferred having roof mounted components in some kind of single assembly for removal and easy maintenance. The thought of having to remove the eight tiny screws on each transmitter to change the backup batteries every year while on top of the roof seems like a disaster waiting to happen!

I read the manual carefully before removing the components, and then I had at it! The station component setup consisted of assembling and calibrating the anemometer, removing the packing tape from the internals of the rain guage and installing the batteries in all the transmitters. It's noteworthy that alkaline batteries are fine unless you experience temperatures of -4 or below. I'm going to try to get away with it this winter, but otherwise lithium ion batteries are recommended.

I wanted to mount the rain guage and anemometer as well as both transmitters on a single mast. The problem is, the rain guage must be level. Since I would have to build a bracket anyway I decided to make one for the mast instead of the roof. Since the hardware should be corrosion resistant and I just wanted everything to look good since it's going to be on top of my house, I chose aluminum for the mounting bracket material. It's also easy to work with, easy to obtain and it's pretty cheap. A length of 1 1/2 inch aluminum angle, two small flat pieces and assorted bolts were all that was needed. Tools used were basically only a hacksaw, a drill.

I temporarily mounted the mast in my work area and leveled it verically. This way I could get the bracket prefectly level according to the surface level I mounted on the bracket. Before securing the rain guage, I tried the mast in it's mounting bracket on the roof, so I could determine if it would be perfectly vertical. I had to use a small piece of aluminum as a shim. Now that the mast and the bracket were correct, I affixed the rain guage, the anemometer and both transmitters. The transmitters must be at least one meter apart, so I mounted the rain guage transmitter on the top opposite the rain guage to gain maximum separation of the transmitters and avoid rain splashing off of anything into the rain guage.

Since there was a considerable amount of cable left over, I bundled it into a piece of 2 in PVC pipe with a cap cemented on top. A pair of holes in the bottom and a white electrical zip tie secured the wire in place. I've used a lot of zip ties to avoid any loose wires or components causing vibration in a high wind.

Next, I secured the anemometer and it's transmitter. The anemometer is aligned to face magnetic south once on the roof. The transmitters also face south and are adjusted to capture maximum sunlight in all seasons. Since I did the installation near the winter solstice, I aimed the sensors between current arc of the sun and the straight overhead summer sun position.

Having the components aligned and secured, I made sure the receiver was picking up data before carting the assembly up to the roof. Since everything seemed in working order, I mounted the mast in it's final position. The surface level I mounted on the rain guage bracket sure turned out to be an excellent idea and made one less thing to hold while aligning the assembly on the roof.

The completed assembly is mounted to the mast using gable mounting brackets. Strangely enough, Radio Shack seemed like the only place in town with a good assortment of mounting hardware and masts for TV antennas. A tripod or chimney mount would have also worked nicely, but this way I don't have to climb out to the middle of the roof.

The only thing left now is the outside temperature and humidity sensor. I built a much simpler bracket for this consisting of a piece of the aluminum angle and another flat section. Four holes in the plate allowed me to use the u-bolts that came with transmitter for mounting.

I then attatched the bracket to the support beam of the overhang in front of my house. The placement of this component is the hardest to decide, since the transmitter must be in the sun, but the sensor must be in the shade and clear of any rain or other moisture.

The sensor is attached to the beam with two screws. When the weather warms up a bit, I'll probably build a small insulating enclosure for the sensor to keep the radiant heat from the aluminum overhang from affecting the temperature readings. Mounting the sensor on the north side of my house seemed like the best idea, but I couldn't get the transmitter in full sun for the entire day. I'm not sure how that would affect battery life.