[wxqc] adventures of a newbie

[Bud Rogers]

Greetings to the list.  I'm new to CWOP and to the list.  I've had a VP2 
Pro up for about ten days now.  I've been submitting data to CWOP and 
Weather Underground for almost that long.  ID KD5SZ and KOKANADA2 
respectively.

But I'm still learning the ropes.  I put the entire ISS, including the 
anemometer, up on a TV mast above my roof.  It was a chore to get 
everything up there.  When I put the ISS in service I thought to myself 
I hope I don't have to change batteries very often.  And I thought to 
myself I better order some spare batteries and keep them on hand just 
in case.  Heh.

Since then I've been reading  furiously on the CWOP site, as well as 
browsing the archives of this list.  I've already learned several poor 
choices I made in setting up my station.  Obviously the first was 
putting the ISS up on the roof where it would be hard to get to.  So I 
ordered a second transmitter for the anemometer.  It came in a couple 
of days ago and I had planned an excursion tomorrow afternoon to put it 
up and bring the ISS down off the roof.  Best laid plans...

Around noon today I stopped receiving data from the ISS.  Low battery.  
So, after a mad scramble, the transmitter for the anemometer is 
(temporarily) in the attic, where it's not quite so hard to get to.  
And the ISS is (temporarily) clamped to a shovel handle in the front 
yard.  Everything is back up, at least for now, though any data I 
submitted for the past four hours or so is probably suspect.  
Particularly that 0.13 inches of rain.  I toggled the rain detector 
several times in the process of getting the ISS down off the roof.

Now I need to think really hard about where I want to put the ISS and 
the second transmitter permanently.  Ah well, learning is half the fun.

-- 
Bud Rogers <budr at netride.net> KD5SZ