¶ - I finally caught the elusive North Korean satellite or, "Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2," but it was sheer luck. I just happened to catch a single flare as I looked for it near Arcturus. As there are no magnitude predictions in the tracking data I'm led to believe it is behaving as I've heard it rumored and have mentioned previously: It's out of control and tumbling. This would explain the lack of data for magnitude, the difficulty seeing it, and just the solitary (and lucky) flare I saw . . .

 

¶ - I have redone my weather station: a stouter pole for the anemometer and wind vane, made a separate "cluster" for the thermometer-hygrometer and rain collector, and fixed the annoying, slipshod-looking droop out of the radiation shield protecting the thermometer-hygrometer unit (another "design flaw" by AW). This is it with the "droop":

. . . And after:

I "beefed-up" the mount with an item I got in the Simpson Strong-Tie department at Home Depot:

. . . So now this is how my "Wx Station-Gen 2" looks now:

¶ - It looks like my weather station is recording well, as I see I am getting a Quality Control "rating" from my station's CWOP Information page:
                                       

  
                                            

                                             

¶ - I've been trying for quite some time to catch the mysterious and elusive "North Korean satellite," or "Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2." I had a good ambush point for it at Arcturus and I believe I glimpsed it, but as I cannot be 100% certain I won't enter it in my observation lists. In the decoded TLE's I can access it never shows a list of magnitudes; those magnitudes are always listed as "?". From what I've read, it is suspected that it is tumbling and out of control. I was hoping that if this was indeed the case I would see it display an irregular set of flashes. I'll keep trying for this one . . .

¶ - I've been thinking about the appearance of this page, the template or scheme, if you will. To wit, if it was some kind of commercial endeavour it just wouldn't cut-it, at least as how I see it. The black background, too many colors, it may be said it looks like the work of an amateur . . .

. . . I'm reminded of an all-too-familiar-to-me, to-remain-unnamed corporate Intranet website that the company "wanted to make better" but succeeded in merely flushing an already perfectly navigable website down the toilet, with much gaudy and unworkable cheesiness being part of the result. Check out this from The Oatmeal to see what happens oft-times when an outfit tries to "improve" its "web presence." Hilarious and so apropos . . .

¶ - I spent last weekend getting my weather station in place, at least in what may become its first iteration. The week prior I had spent checking its connectivity and its ability to upload data to the various internet display sites. This picture is with the entire sensor array together and up on the mast I assembled:

 . . . Here's a close-up of the array:

. . . The wind vane and anemometer are not at the NWS "regulation" height of 10 meters, at least not in this iteration, but after checking my data for a week, and by my interpretations, it produces good representation; its current height is about 5 meters. The "pagoda" on the left is the meager radiation shield provided with the kit that houses the temperature, humidity, barometer, and wind sensors and data transmitter, the square unit to the right is the rain gauge . . .

. . . With the provided radiation shield, it appeared my temperature readings were rolling-up about ten degrees Fahrenheit too high, and it looked like it was likely skewing humidity and barometer data, as well. The picture below shows the larger radiation shield (not fan-aspirated) that I purchased and installed, with the assembly at a more "regulation" height:

. . . Note that the shield is much larger than the "stock" unit, and a week's worth of comparisons shows good data representation, matching closely, if not exactly, with other nearby stations (some with much more expensive equipment). I'm especially pleased by how closely the barometer follows the reportings from the station at SMF.

   I do have a complaint with having to purchase the extra shield to augment the station, a sentiment shared by many others, I have found. It is obvious the provided shield is woefully inadequate, and the larger unit (basically a stack of oval UV-resistant plastic pie plates hollowed-out for sensor accommodation), costs over 30% of the original weather station purchase price!

. . . It may be hard to see in the picture above (click it for a larger rendering), but note that I moved the rain gauge down lower after becoming familiar with a new term: "undercatch." This is a phenomenon experienced by a rain gauge up too high in the wind. After reading about that, I quickly relocated down the mast to a more "regulation" position . . .

   This photo shows the console provided with the station kit and my other laptop running the software app that uploads my data to the Web:

 

  The software is called "Cumulus," and it seems to run well. The setup easy and intuitive and upload was near-instant. This setup is still a work in progress . . .

. . . My station can be seen "in action" with these links:

Sacramento Area: This is a Weather Underground overview map, my station should show at the southeast of the I-5 and I-80 interchange . . .

Weather Underground Data Display: My stations data on Weather Underground . . .

PWS Weather: The station's data on another service . . .

APRS/MADIS Data Collection: This one I just registered my station for and am still checking it out. Apparently it allows NOAA/NWS to use my data . . . like I actually have something relevant to offer!

¶ - My one-hundredth satellite sighting is Cosmos 1818, and that puts me in position #129 on the Observer List . . .

¶ - Personal-best seven satellite observations in one night. With seventy-one sightings, I'm at #152 #149 #141 on the observers list (About five-thousand gets one in the Top Ten!) . . .

¶ - Here's my Weather Console and "Server":

. . . The "server" is an old net book I had laying around, one we got from the cable company for free when we subscribed to their service after moving here. I'm running the Cumulus shareware on it, which interfaces my data to Wunderground and PWS Weather, and so far it seems to be working OK. I can see my station on Wunderground (although I don't have it permanently up in place yet); I haven't checked PWS Weather yet to see if my data is making it there . . .

¶ - All the first-run check-outs on my station appear in order, well within or near exact to the listed parameters. The Radio Control Clock (RCC) even updated . . .

¶ - I received my weather station today and I just finished assembling it and powering it up for a first run. Note the clever use of the Caldwell front rifle rest for use as it goes through its first paces:

   The base unit appears to be receiving data, through four walls and into my home office. Final install will likely be at the roof apex right above where I have the unit now; I'm somewhat confident at this point that it will still transmit and receive well . . .

. . . Note the open rain collector, I'll most assuredly be putting some kind of screen over it to minimize its collection of debris. Not including this as part of the kit is one small gripe with the unit, it seems it would be an obvious and inexpensive inclusion . . .

. . . The mast appears that it will be an attractive target for birds to roost on, and thus do their disgusting business. I should be able to get some type of spike stripping to counter that . . .

¶ - Finally caught the elusive Envisat , , ,

¶ - Moved my satellite sightings over to this program, and also in preparation to use it with my forthcoming weather station . . .