Blackdown Hills Weather

Archive

First attempt at improved Stevenson Screen
The main Stevenson screen was made from an inverted plant pot saucer at the top and plastic picnic dishes for the other screen elements.  Holes were cut in the bottoms for the fan and good clearance for the air tube. Aspiration was provided by an unwanted PC CPU fan mounted on the top dish. Air was directed over the sensor unit by a tube formed from a plastic sweetener jar with the bottom cut off and a hole in the plastic lid for the fan.  This was attached with nuts and bolts through the top dish and fan housing. The whole screen was held together with 3 6mm threaded rods, nuts and washers. This was then suspended over the sensor unit from the spare original bracket no longer wanted by the rain gauge.  Extra stability was provided by drilling a hole in the lower bracket to take one of the threaded rods (having been cut longer than the other two). The whole assembly was mounted on an unwanted handle from a broken floor mop in turn attached to a fence post.

Improving the Rain Gauge
The original rain gauge was screwed to a piece of wood.  Above this is a large funnel bought from a hardware store - with a bit cut off the bottom to allow for it to sit on the bucket. A 5 litre container which used to contain wood preserver was used to support the funnel and shelter everything from the elements.  Most of the bottom was cut out leaving a narrow ledge on which to rest the funnel.  A hole was also cut in the lid to clear the rain gauge.  The lid was then screwed to the wooden base.  The plastic bucket is shown in green above. The bucket was lined with two layers of wall paper liner (polystyrene) to provide insulation and reduce heat loss from a thermostatic heater used to prevent freezing up in the winter. The lid clips onto the bucket providing an easy access for maintenance and the funnel was attached to the bucket with paper clips and screws.