Both weather stations are Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 Wireless units running the Ambient Virtual Weather Station software. This software handles the ftp transfers to the web site nicely but the graphics are not top notch - the long term graphs suffer from aliasing and the inability to show high / low values. Also, the Davis / Ambient USB connection can be problematic (the old faithful RS-232 version is much better).

Web cams are 2 megapixel Logitech Pro 9000 with auto-focus which seems a bit outa-focus at infinity. However, the Logitech unit handles the high ambient light conditions outdoors very well and the ability to set a zoom level is convenient.. I am currently using Dorgem as an alternative to BooruWebCam, both are simple yet delightful freeware webcam applications.

The Colorado weather station has been active since 2007. The wind sensor is mounted about 5' above ground. A high ridge to the north and east of the sensor probably reduces the detection of winds from those directions. Internet connection is via radio link WISP, a service provided by Ridgeviewtel to those of us who live beyond the reach of telephone lines. The system is currently running on a Dell Dimension 8100. A lightening strike took out the laptop in 2009.

The Arizona weather station was activated in October, 2008. This installation is running on a Dell Dimension 4100. The Davis monitor connects to the computer through the RS-232 serial port. The wind speed sensor is mounted on the roof of the house. I suspect that the temperature readings are slightly high due to the flat roof and protected enclave where the sensor is located. Internet connection is via cable.

Getting a Windows based personal computer with a router / MODEM connection to the Internet to operate stand-alone for extended periods of time is a challange. I have found that the most reliable method is to power off AC power to the system at least once daily. This can be done by powering the computer system off with a software scheduled shutdown and then cycling the power with an AC switch. The computer is powered down using AMP WinOFF. The computer's BIOS is configured to restart the system upon restoration of power. The same AC timer power switch reboots the MODEM and router once per day in case anything has confused them. So the sequence of events is; 1) AC power on, BIOS powers system up, Windows boots, 2) applications including AMP WinOFF boots and schedules a shutdown in 4 minutes, 3) data is uploaded to website, 4) system powers down.