Wind Talker is working again (for now)

[Stephen Wasson]

Apparently, our new "marine grade" anemometers aren't up to the task.  Saturday, we (Cahill, Lee, Zim, & I) took the pole down and inspected the anemometer.  Although it wasn't obvious, it seemed the (second) new anemometer, like the first, no longer turned quite as freely as it should.  Spinning them by hand, they'd turn but come to a premature and detectable halt.  It turns out the new anemometers have sealed bearings, and while that's good, they also have a very small gap between the bearing and the mounting ring.  Never mind if you can't visualize that, just know that the small gap is vulnerable to much finer sand grains than the older, open ball bearing anemometers were.  So, we stuck one of the older anemometer cup assemblies on, and that's what's working now.

I'll contact the manufacturer (Peet Bros) and see what they can do for us.  Ideally, they'll offer to replace the cup assemblies free of charge.  More likely, we'll have to buy new ones *if* they're sold separately.  Otherwise, we have these choices:
1) buy new whole units of the older ball-bearing style
2) buy new ball bearings and do the rework ourselves (we know someone who can do that)
3) buy/design an ultra-sonic anemometer (more expensive, but no moving parts)

---

Stephen Wasson
Secretary/Treasurer
Coastal Condors, Marina CA
USHGA Chapter 084 (aka 136)

---

*** All my outgoing email is scanned by Trend anti-virus software ***