Last birthday Tina got me a new weather station. Well, she didn't actually get it, not having a clue what type I'd want, so I was instructed to get myself one. I decided to pick one up from the UK next time I had chance, because there's a lot more choice there, and they're a lot cheaper there than in Perth. OK, thanks! So over Christmas I picked up a Davis Vantage Vue.

Much faffing about ensued. It had to be packed carefully in order to get it here safely, given that it had to go in the plane's hold. Once here it had to be set up, and that meant climbing up onto the roof and getting to the peak. Given that our roof is metal and a lot more slippery than tiles, plus I don't have a ladder, that was an alarming experience. Then I had to learn how to work it. We're not talking about a simple device here - the console has 15 buttons and the display looks like the flight deck of an Airbus. Then I wired up the data logger unit into it, which logs the readings every 2.5 seconds until a PC requests them over a USB link. Then I installed the supplied Windows software.

Then I threw away the supplied Windows software because it's rubbish, and picked up Weewx which is an open, vastly superior package for Linux. Much more tweaking and fiddling, and it's up and running. 5 minute weather updates from my house in Mullaloo are here:

Weewx weather report from Mullaloo

Compelling viewing! But be aware that given the slope we're on the back on my back garden is higher than the roof of my house, so the unit is rather more sheltered than it ideally would be. That only affects the wind though. Also, that web page only updates when my PC at home is switched on. It needs a dedicated small computer to drive it, which I'll get in due course.