The PortLog has useful up-to-the-minute weather logging capability, can operate independently and is easy to set up, writes Chris Nel.
The Alberton-based company Impact Measurement Solutions imports and distributes the RainWise Portable Weather Logger, also called the PortLog. It’s a compact, rugged professional-quality data logging weather station. It records wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, dew point, barometric pressure, rainfall and solar-radiation intensity. It’s completely self-contained and is designed to operate independently in remote areas. An onboard, non-volatile memory stores data for up to nine months at a logging rate of once an hour, and it’s user-selectable down to once a minute.
Memory upgrades are available for extended logging applications. The PortLog memory can be configured to either wrap or to stop logging when it’s full. In wrapping mode, when the memory is full, the newest record replaces the oldest. Data are output in comma-delimited text (CSV). All sensors are traceable to National Institute of Standards and Technology. Data can be retrieved from the PortLog on a notebook computer or Windows Mobile PDA with PLmobile software, or through a landline or cellular modem, and Microsoft Excel can be used to view, graph and manipulate data.
A large 3W solar panel and a 4Ah sealed lead-acid battery ensures reliable operation in the harshest conditions, while communication equipment requires an additional power source. The PortLog is supplied with a tough carrying case to hold the logger, its sensors and its tripod, as well as accessories such as a hammer, battery charger and a hand-held compass. It can be completely set up and made operational by one person in a few minutes. The unit costs about R34 000 and is guaranteed for five years. |fw
