Procedure for Micromet prac & using weather tower in general

As of 2005, there is a new online booking procedure for using the area across from Bayles St. in Royal Park. This is for 'field measurements' for Ian's 625-331 micromet prac, and possibly the Siemens Summer School (but that's done in the 5th floor lab these days). Entry is off Gatehouse St. near the gardeners' depot (opp. Park Dr. - through the removable bollards and along the track. Keep the 4WD's on the bitumen track at all times.

nb: This qualifies as an 'event or activity' from the ranger's point of view and needs to be covered by a permit.

Update (29/6/2007): I ran into difficulty with the rangers in getting a permit this year which may need some clarification.
- Following the procedure below usually gets the reply from 'Events Melbourne' that our prac is barely more than a picnic so a permit is not necessary and to just get the okay from the ranger - but at least we've gone through the right channels. Unfortunately, this time the ranger was unwilling to give us permission without a permit! (I was informed of this indirectly, so I couldn't question this ridiculous situation further...)
- The mobile number for the ranger is: 0412 252 770

Obtaining a permit (do this early - at least 1 week before)

1) Visit the website:
http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/permits

2) Select 'parks and recreation'

3) Select 'Activities and events'

4) In the left hand menu, select 'Application Form'

5) Fill out details and submit.

IMPORTANT
- Allow 5 days processing time. Any costs will come out of the 625-331 designated account.
- Any queries, call the Melbourne Events Bookings Office: 9658 9162 or (9658 9750). They are usually pretty good about this.

4WD booking

To get the equipment out there we need 2 of the school's 4WD's. nb: Ensure you get the vehicles with the back screens secured with wingnuts, as these are easily removed. The tower needs this screen lowered to fit in. The tower is in 1 vehicle, the rest goes in the other. At the time of writing, the vehicles with registration numbers: SRW-949 and SKK-212 are the best to use. Ask at the office to fill out the online booking form.

Equipment

To set up the tower, you need:
        - 2 parts of tower
        - 3 stays (to hold tower up - thin wire cables)
        - 3 10kg red weights (fasten stays to these when tower hoisted into position)
        - 4 anemometer + temperature gauges (at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 metres)
        - cables to data logger + velcro strips to keep in place
        - mini Phillips' head screwdriver
        - weather vane (optional)
        - compass (optional)
        - data logger
        - 12V dry cell battery (ensure charged up overnight - needs about 7 hours)
                - be careful not to short the battery across the terminals.
                - when the green light is on, battery is charged and the charger reverts to a trickle current to prevent overcharging the battery.
                - attach positive to positive (red to red) and negative to negative (black/blue to black/blue)
        - laptop computer (optional - if you want to download data straight away)
                - charge battery overnight as well

Data collection procedure I

Set up the tower:
            - attach lower tower section to upper section (laid flat on the ground at this stage - just slots in.)
            - unravel grey data logger cable (the one with all the plugs and stuff on it)
            - screw in and connect the anemometers and thermometers for each level
                    - troubleshooting: rotate anemometers around in housing until they 'click' down, there's a groove there you should see that it slots into             - plug in cable to the data logger (match up the dots on the plugs there may be one spare which used to attach to a wind vane at the top - this broke unfortunately.)
            - attach the stay cables to the tower, and the other ends to the very heavy red weights (x3)
                    - hoist the tower!
            - connect the battery to the data logger
                    - slide clips onto the terminals
                    - plug into the power socket on the back of the data logger
            - switch on the data logger, it should beep and give a start screen.
            - press 'ENTER' button to start data collection.
            - check that the levels are registering data by pressing the 'up' and 'down' buttons to scan through the variables. I think temperature is displayed by default, and the W1 - W4 readout is windspeed updated every 10 seconds or so (minute averages are archived)
            - nb: The logger has a random date setting, so at the start of the data collection, try generating a few 'zeros' in the record by holding one of the anemometers for a minute or two.

That's it - do the reverse of the steps above to dismantle.

Data collection procedure II

Once collection is finished, the data is logged by 'Rmycomm.exe' (in the C:/Rmy/ directory) on the department laptop. (Ask Kevin Walsh to borrow it) Plug in the blue comms cable (in with the laptop) with the other end to the back of the data logger (this should already be switched on)

Rmy procedure: type the following

CTRL-R = begins retrieval of data in logger memory (will ask for a filename)

Type "file1.txt" or whatever name you want the file to have. Win95 doesn't like long names > 8 chars, so be careful.
Keep the *.txt file extension for simplicity too.
(will chug away for a bit downloading all data in memory - a lot of this will be from previous experiments. Check today's date and time on logger (press up a few times)...it's probably not exactly right, but it will help you identify your measurements)

ESC = ends the data retrieval
ALT-X = quit the program

Your data is saved as 'file1.txt' or whatever name you chose before in the C:/Rmy/ directory. Edit this, save it to floppy disk and give to the students later on (on your web page etc...)

vaughan barras 7/4/2005 (updated 29/6/2007)