Is anyone satisfied with their anemometer / wind gauge?

This forum provides technical help on how to run Netatmo Weather Stations to accurately gather data.
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Boswell
Posts: 30
Joined: 17 Dec 2015, 19:00

Is anyone satisfied with their anemometer / wind gauge?

Post by Boswell »

I realise that satisfied users of the anemometer are, in general, unlikely to post on the forum.

However, as a recent purchaser (it's en route to me while I write) I'd be very interested to know whether there are any totally satisfied users of this instrument?

The negative feedback and queries are discouraging, and as it's going to be a hassle to install in a suitable location, I'd rather know in advance whether I'm wasting my time.

I assume that Netatmo will continue to develop this product, but I'd rather wait until there's a good chance of a successful installation.
1l2p
Posts: 204
Joined: 30 Nov 2012, 19:34

Re: Is anyone satisfied with their anemometer / wind gauge?

Post by 1l2p »

You're right, most of we write here when we encounter problems.

My wind gauge has been installed for 4 weeks now. The data are continuously ok with no aberrations.

We did not have very windy conditions during those weeks, always below 40 km/h, but compared to the very close airport weather station, I can say that the wind direction is very accurate. Regarding the speed, the gauge values seem to be 10-15% below the airport reports (average and gusts). I can consider them ok because I am not in a really "open field" environment.

I've got the last firmwares up to date. The gauge is at 6 m height (2 m above a tree). The height compensation is set to 2m in the interface.

Image

In conclusion, I am very satisfied with the product. I hope I'll still be in a few months and after one or two winter storms ;-)
Last edited by 1l2p on 29 Dec 2015, 14:08, edited 2 times in total.
Boswell
Posts: 30
Joined: 17 Dec 2015, 19:00

Re: Is anyone satisfied with their anemometer / wind gauge?

Post by Boswell »

That's really interesting, and many thanks for the details.

One thing to take into account is that 'official' airfield wind measurement instruments (in Europe, at least) should be permanently located at 10m above ground level, and there is quite a marked difference at a lower height due to surface friction (speed decreases and direction 'backs' or decreases by 5 - 10 deg in N. Hemisphere?). I'm pretty sure that's correct. It might explain the difference in your readings. Also 'official' airfield anemometers are usually sited well away from any surface obstructions.

We're proposing to install at a small, remote, airfield (West Sussex, UK), and another factor for us is the distance of the anemometer from the base station. Ideally the instrument should be about 50m away from the base station (in our case, as we don't want any inaccuracies due to hangar buildings), but that's probably not going to work.
RobNor
Posts: 55
Joined: 28 Dec 2014, 14:06

Re: Is anyone satisfied with their anemometer / wind gauge?

Post by RobNor »

I'm pretty satisfied the only problem is that when the wind is strong the average speed indicated seems on the low side but the gusts are okay
deeayy
Posts: 22
Joined: 30 Nov 2015, 10:03

Re: Is anyone satisfied with their anemometer / wind gauge?

Post by deeayy »

RobNor wrote:I'm pretty satisfied the only problem is that when the wind is strong the average speed indicated seems on the low side but the gusts are okay
Exactly the same for me. Gusts are spot on with local stations but average wind speed seems low by comparison when it's windy. Otherwise it seems to be functioning well (fingers crossed, touch wood etc.).

Will be interesting to see what happens when we have some cold/freezing weather as this seems to be causing others a fair amount of problems
Boswell
Posts: 30
Joined: 17 Dec 2015, 19:00

Re: Is anyone satisfied with their anemometer / wind gauge?

Post by Boswell »

I really can't see it functioning with snow and ice, but maybe a very low power heating coil would cure that potential problem?

As we're using it at an airfield, for light aircraft, it doesn't make much difference, as we're not going to be flying anyway in those conditions....
RobNor
Posts: 55
Joined: 28 Dec 2014, 14:06

Re: Is anyone satisfied with their anemometer / wind gauge?

Post by RobNor »

Today's figures are pretty consistent with local stations

Image
elraj
Posts: 50
Joined: 13 Nov 2015, 21:41

Re: Is anyone satisfied with their anemometer / wind gauge?

Post by elraj »

I've now had mine for two months. When it works I am very satisfied with the readings.

Negatives:

- I've had to reinstall the unit two times after it first died and then started reporting hurricane in calm conditions three weeks later. Both occasions occured after a sharp temperature rise.

- It is useless in snow. I had a whiteout yesterday evening and maximum wind speed recorded was 2 km/h. I guess it happens when the sensors get covered by snow so we probably just have to live with that.

On a positive note: snow turned to rain after another sharp temperature rise during the last 24h, but this time no false wind spikes have appeared...
Jax
Posts: 12
Joined: 27 Jan 2016, 20:25

Re: Is anyone satisfied with their anemometer / wind gauge?

Post by Jax »

I got mine and installed it yesterday. It is located on top of a chimney, about 50 feet from the ground. It's not very high over the top of the chimney, but since the chimney is the highest part of my house and there are no trees taller than it, I think it's a decent approximation of free stream wind speed.

So far the readings seem a little on the low side, but the gusts seem correct. I'll wait a few more days before I make a judgement call but that seems similar to what others are saying. One thing to keep in mind is the Netatmo is giving you a 5-minute average wind speed, not an instantaneous wind speed. The local airport value might be giving you an instantaneous value. If the wind is blowing at 5 mph right now, over 5 minutes that might vary between 2 and 6 mph and the 5-minute average might be more like 3 or 4. It makes sense to me that the gust is more similar to the reported values since the airport probably measures the gust wind speed as the maximum value in a 10 minute period and the Netatmo does the same, but then the netatmo measures the sustained wind speed using averaging.

Right now, my Netatmo says 2 mph gusting to 6 mph (interestingly in the graph the previous wind sped was lower but it still said 2 mph which makes me think it is also rounding).
Local airport (15 miles away) says 6.9 mph with no gust wind speed listed.
Local Heliport (2 miles away, on top of a building at about 500 ft) says 4.6 mph, no gust listed.

So far I am pretty happy with it but we'll see over time. The local heliport only reports the wind every 30 minutes by the way, so it isn't a perfect benchmark but it isn't bad.
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