Our new Marmong weather station is now online! It's located on the roof of the sailing club at Marmong Point (north end of the lake), with a clear view of winds from North through East to South. Its slightly protected for anything with west in it so add a few knots to readings from this direction.

The station also monitors temp, humidity, pressure and rainfall via the Weather Underground site.

Visit the page at this link
www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/INEWSOUT858

If you have a smartphone (iPhone or Android), download the free "Weather Underground" app, then search for station ID NEWSOUT858
If you have an iPad, you can get even more info via the free "WunderStation" app, which shows trends etc - link it to the station ID INEWSOUT858

Thanks to all the members of Marmong Point Sailing Club who contributed their time, money and enthusiasm to this project. PM me for any technical questions or issues.

Weather station location




Android App




iPhone App




iPad App

great investment, will benefit the community of sailors, every sail club should have one

So far everyone I've spoken to has found it really helpful. The catamaran sailing club around the corner is hoping to set one up, so that will give us good coverage for westerlies, as we're a bit sheltered at Marmong

We did it a bit cheaper, with some club members donating equipment and building the mounting pole. But if you were doing it from scratch, it should be achievable for under $600, with an annual data cost of $50/year.

There are three parts to the setup
- Internet Access
- Weather Station Hardware
- Weather Underground Account


For Internet Access, the best option is to set up a 4G hotspot in the club, then connect the weather station into that. We found the best deal for prepaid data was from Optus, which is our only recurring cost to run the weather station (apart from electricity):
- Hotspot - $49 - www.optus.com.au/prepaid/mobile-broadband?planId=10609694
- Data pack - $50 for 7GB which lasts for a year - www.optus.com.au/shop/broadband/prepaid-mobile-broadband

For weather station hardware, we took a cheaper but more complex option. In the end we only saved about $100 over the next option, so in hindsight I'd recommend the following all-in-one unit(from Jaycar):
- Weather Station ($400)- www.jaycar.com.au/Outdoors-%26-Auto-Products/Weather-Forecasting/Outdoor-Weather-Stations/Wi-Fi-Wireless-Station-with-7%22-LCD-Display/p/XC0422
- Mounting Post ($30) - www.jaycar.com.au/Sight-%26-Sound---Home/TV-Accessories/Antenna-Hardware/Antenna-Bargeboard-Mount/p/LT3200

The Weather Underground site is where all your data is stored and accessed via PC, tablet or smartphone app. They have a good guide on their site about how to get it working
- www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/overview.asp

Good luck, let me know if you need any more information.

Cheers,
James

AyreForce1 said..
Thank you James,

That's way cheaper than the BoM suggested in reply to my direct inquiry some 3 or 5 years ago.

In fact it seems very reasonable and do-able by the local windsurfing/kiting/SUP community alone; and perhaps without all the effort & paperwork required to get a Council involved. [However I think the building I'm referring to at Long Reef point is leased from Warringah Council by Surf Lifesaving NSW (or similar marine safety organisation) so Council permission may still be required.]
www.google.com.au/maps/@-33.7394527,151.3094401,3a,75y,18.7h,81.43t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ss1zsIHzXkjFi__8cyhd-wQ!2e0!7i3328!8i1664?hl=en

Perhaps the WindSurfNSnow shop down the road could take the project on, to implement & sponser, and profit from their sponsorship visibility?
I think Sam's the man!

Perhaps I can post a link to this thread in the hope that it could achieve further interest.

I know the spot well and it'd have to one of the most protected spots in the area sadly. Nice idea though.

If you want to see what the conditions are like then check out surfit.com/ for some great movable cameras of Narrabeen/Collaroy and Long Reef. I can see the water from the shop almost but these cams are easier.

If in doubt you can also call the shop.

Cheers,

Sam.

Sam,

I guess the roof of that little 'coastal services' building is only 4 to 5m above sea level. But a mast would only need to be say about 2 to 3m to get the instruments comfortably above the level of the adjacent trees.

I agree that it's relatively protected from the easterly direction; but it's cerainly open to the wind directions NW to NE, and SW to SSE.

WSNSnow could have the app link on your www site - thus inviting more clicks and better rankings etc.

Reckon it's worth further consideration.