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Showing posts from 2011

Weather Buff 2012 Calendar - Gift Idea

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Looking for a gift for the weather buff in your life? Or a 2012 calendar for yourself? Check out the photos in this calendar by Tyler Mode, member of the Oregon Chapter of the American Meteorological Society. The calendar features beautiful scenic shots including interesting sky and meteorological phenomena. Tyler uses the money to help fund his storm chasing expeditions -- a cause that resonates with any weather buff. You can see and purchase individual images on the SmugMug website . To order a calendar, contact Tyler directly: weathercrazy82@yahoo.com or call 360-356-4888

New Weather Master™ Software with SQL database

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The new version of our proprietary WeatherMaster Software offers some significant "under-the-hood" improvements. -The new "dot-net" platform speeds up development time, making it easier to add features and develop custom versions. -With an expandable SQL database, WeatherMaster 4.0 can archive an even wider range of meteorological and calculated parameters. -The database export feature, always compatible with Excel, now enables customer-selected units of measure and date ranges. -WeatherMaster 4.0 is compatible with the Orion 420 (4-20mA) weather station. WeatherMaster Software is optimized for CWS weather stations. It provides computer weather monitoring, calculated parameters, graphing and trend displays. Additionally, WeatherMaster automates the processes of archiving weather data, alarm notification, interfacing with CAMEO/ALOHA, and updating weather web pages.

Old Wind Sensors Phased Out (Now selling only Capricorn 2000EX™)

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In a move toward increased cost-efficiency, the Capricorn 2000EX Weather Station will completely replace the older Capricorn 2000 model weather stations. Columbia Weather Systems will no longer be selling Capricorn 2000s. "As higher-tech sensor technology has become more available, we have been phasing out our flagship wind-sensor design," said CWS president Nader Khoury. "We will continue to assist Capricorn 2000 customers with repairs and replacement parts, as well as technical support." Capricorn 2000EX Weather Stations offer modular sensor components built around a central control module. The standard sensor package includes wind speed and direction with 360-degree resolution, barometric pressure, temperature, and humidity. Optional sensors include rain gauge, solar radiation, leaf wetness, visibility and up to three additional temperatures (ambient, soil and/or water temperature). Capricorn 2000EX Weather Stations provide the reliability and affordabili

Weather Display at ATCA

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This color Weather Display Console was recently spotted in the FAA's (Federal Aviation Administration) new Emergency Communication Shelter which was on display at the Air Traffic Control Association Expo. Thanks to Gabi Cohen of Sigmatek Advanced Technologies Ltd. for sending this photo. Gabi notes, "I checked with the FAA engineer and he was pleased with its performance." An OEM customer, Sigmatek incorporates our Orion Weather Stations into their mobile air traffic control towers.

New Vela ™ Multi-Sensor Weather Station

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Our new Vela (pronounced Vay-luh) Weather Station combines the ease of an all-in-one sensor package with the reliability and affordability of mechanical wind sensors. In addition to wind speed and direction, the sensor module incorporates barometric pressure, as well as temperature and humidity sensors in a radiation shield. A tipping-bucket rain gauge is optional. The multi-sensor design provides easy installation with a single sensor cable. "Adding the Vela extends our product line with proven technology at an even more affordable price point," says CWS president Nader Khoury. Monitoring options for the Vela Weather Station include the touchscreen Weather Display, WeatherMaster Software, and/or the Weather MicroServer with Internet and industrial protocols. Click Vela Weather Station for more information.

A Visit to the Oregon Garden

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Ten Capricorn 2000 EX™ Weather Stations form an Environmental Monitoring Network operated by the Oregon Department of Agriculture . One weather station is situated at the Oregon Garden in Silverton. Earlier this summer, CWS president and amateur photographer Nader Khoury visited the garden. We've uploaded a few of his photos to our Flickr page. To see more click: Oregon Garden Photos

Orion 420 PLC Weather Station Upgrade for Monitoring

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CWS’s proprietary monitoring devices -- the Weather Display Console, WeatherMaster™ Software, and the Weather MicroServer™ -- are now compatible with the Orion 420 Weather Station . The Orion 420 Weather Station offers a complete weather station for industrial PLC interface. It features 4-20 mA current output from ultrasonic wind direction and speed sensors, impact rain sensor, plus humidity, temperature and barometric pressure. Weather data can be monitored and integrated with PLC software such as Wonderware®. The Orion 420 is used in facility management for companies such as Intel, DuPont and Bechtel.

How NOT to ship a weather sensor

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We don't ship your weather station like this and you shouldn't either! In the event a component needs to be returned, please use the original shipping box if available as well as antistatic packing material. And be sure to contact us for an RMA number prior to shipment. This is an actual return for repair from an overseas customer. If the sensor wasn't damaged before, it probably is now!

Mac Software for Capricorn 2000EX Weather Station™

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Mac software WeatherSnoop is now compatible with Capricorn 2000EX weather stations. Besides graphical real-time monitoring, WeatherSnoop offers database, spreadsheet, graphing and data sharing with web-based networks such as Weather Underground and Citizen Weather Observer - all with the look and feel Mac users expect. "We are pleased to provide Mac weather enthusiasts with support for the Capricorn 2000EX weather station," said Boisy Pitre of Tee-Boy. "Columbia Weather Systems readily provided their support and expertise in adapting their station to WeatherSnoop, and we're happy to partner with them." For more information click: WeatherSnoop

New Italian Dealer Exhibits at WMO Expo

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We welcome Top Meteo of Italy as a new dealer. Owner Jonata Giorgini and sales manager Patrizio Turri visited our offices this spring looking for professional-grade weather stations to round out their product offerings. Top Meteo signed on and got their website up and running just in time to exhibit in Geneva at Meteo Hydex 2011 , the World Meteorological Organization's exhibition of meteorological and hydrological instruments and equipment. Their booth displays WeatherMaster Software ™ on the big screen with the Orion Weather Station ™ demo model which is available to dealers for trade shows and demonstrations.

Panel Temperature Monitoring Optimizes Solar Panel Efficiency

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A panel temperature sensor is now available for Capricorn 2000EX Weather Stations or any CWS Weather Station using our Weather MicroServer . This specialized sensor was developed for a weather station application monitoring solar panel arrays. photo by David Watts Jr. Solar panel temperature affects maximum power output - generally, the warmer the solar panel, the less power it can produce. In an industry that focuses on energy efficiency, panel temperature is a critical parameter to monitor relative to performance.

Protective Case for Vehicle-Mounted Sensors

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No matter how rugged the housing, meteorological sensors are sensitive electronic instruments. A Sensor Protective Case can help protect your sensor head in the rough environment of an incident response vehicle. These cases are constructed of ultra-high-impact structural copolymer, making them extremely strong and durable. They are unbreakable, watertight, airtight, dustproof, chemical resistant and corrosion proof, offering total protection for sensitive weather-monitoring instruments. Part Number 88173 (shown with Orion sensor head and cable, not included)

Playing with SlideShare -- Presentation on Capricorn 2000EX™ at Madonna University

When Madonna University purchased a Capricorn 2000EX , Professor Asaad Istephan requested a PowerPoint® presentation to help spread the word. We created this one to highlight all the features of their configuration which includes a Weather MicroServer and WeatherMaster Software . While it is our business to be on the cutting-edge of weather monitoring technology, it is tough to keep pace with ever-changing social media. Today we are learning about SlideShare , a free website/application for sharing slide presentations on the Internet as well as embedding them on your own website. Check out our results. Capricorn 2000EX™ Weather Station

Responsive Architecture and Weather Monitoring

"Responsive Architecture optimizes energy use by adapting to changing environmental conditions while increasing the quality of space." This according to American-Architects.com in its write-up of LumenHAUS as Building of the Week. That means monitoring environmental -- weather -- conditions and manipulating environmental controls such as HVAC, but also insulating panels, windows and shades. See how it's done by LumenHAUS . Is it a house of the future, or is such architecture realistic now?

Storm Report from Dixon Weather

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We received a report with photos from a Capricorn 2000 user, Dixon Weather Service in Missouri: Wind damage in and around Dixon February 19 from supercells thunderstorm with strong meso. No tornado reports confirmed, but a lot of funnel clouds were witnessed. The pictures show the kind of weather we have here. 80+ mph as measured by your equipment. Keep up the good work! I am glad we went with your equipment -- just as good if not better than surrounding ASOS systems. View additional photos on Flickr

New Interoperability with Popular Automation Platforms

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All weather stations manufactured by Columbia Weather Systems can now be integrated into PROFIBUS®, PROFINET® and LonWorks® networks. Interoperability is critical in many applications where weather monitoring is one component of a large automation control system such as process control, building or industrial automation, Adding these popular communication options allows managers invested with these systems to optimize their use of meteorological data for environmental monitoring and device control.

AMS Honors Weather Wiz

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Free weather curriculum for grades K-12 is available online thanks to meteorologist Jim Witt. The WeatherWiz program teaches students to use freely available information to make forecasts like professional meteorologists. This week, Witt will receive a special award from the American Meteorological Society: "For innovative leadership in teaching high school meteorology, mentoring, and inspiring his students to accomplishments in the meteorological community and in life." Offering long-range forecasting services, Witt is dedicated to education and charity. Each year he offers a Hudson Valley Weather Calendar which has raised over $2 million for the Hope for Youth Foundation. Congratulations to Jim Witt and the other AMS Award Recipients! Photo from the 2011 Hudson Valley Weather Calendar

New Color Weather Display Console

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We are now shipping the new Color Weather Display with no price increase over the previous monochrome Weather Display. The Color Weather Display Console displays weather data from your CWS weather station and performs complex computations to display calculated parameters such as wind chill and heat index. The new console contains an industrial-grade, 7-inch WVGA LCD touchscreen panel and is powered by a Single Board Computer with a 200MHz ARM9 CPU. A singular advantage is the addition of Ethernet connectivity. The Weather Display can connect directly to a weather station with the serial port or connect to a Weather MicroServer over a network utilizing an existing Ethernet infrastructure - no extra wiring. The MicroServer configuration also allows for data from one weather station to be monitored from multiple display consoles at various locations. The main viewing screen can be fa