check this out: a very cool new wind meter

[Eurus]

Fail. This should be a non directional meter. Ultimately you should be able to set this up close to your vehicle run a cable to your iPhone locked in your car and broadcast current wind as needed.
Short of that its already been done

Your post is a Fail. So you are suggesting turning something intended to be simple and easy into something complex? How many launch spots are there where you can pull your car right up to the beach? So you need anywhere from 100M of cable and an extension pole to plant into the ground to elevate the anemometer high enough to get decent wind. So your iPhone is locked in your car yet someone can run off with the rest of the gear you are implying is needed to make this a viable product? And on top of that you want to continuously broadcast wind conditions? So when you get to your locked car your phone is dead and your data charges are through the roof because you were in an area where data charges applied. Yeah...you really put some thought into your great idea.

[POACHER]

So is the Vaavud style of anemometer better than this because of the design? aka: non-directional?

I like that this one is small and compact. It could have a permanent home in a kitebag.
When is the necessary app coming out for android? I see it's not in the Google store yet. Also, please don't tell me data is required for this to work properly..........cell reception itself is a luxury at some of our spots. Data doesn't even come close to working.*

*a great excuse when work is trying to get ahold of me while kiting....

[Laughingman]

Neither are usefull beyond your standard hand held meter.
Think outside the box and bring something really unique to the market!

I think you are wrong here. Since Vaavud has an API that you can access all you really have to do is make your own app, and access the information from the device to make it far useful beyond any handheld windmeter that I have seen.

Absolutely, Vaavud as it is included with the API and the fact that it is non directional is the winner here. That is the point. If one was to bring a product to market I would think you would make it at least as good as the first to market. The only challenge with the Vaavud is that it does use magnets so therefore it must be in close proximity to the phone in order to read the wind speed.
A Vaavud team member has already agreed that the next step would be to make it work remotely, as I have described.
The new one which is using the name of Weatherflow which seems to leverage an already well known company's experience and suggest there is a connection (maybe there is, but why just suggest it instead of stating it) is basically the same thing as the Vaavud but inferior because it is directional. Meaning you must face it directly into the wind +/- the allow variance to get an accurate reading.

[icebird]

I've got the vaavud and an iPhone in an otterbox armor which is great at the beach and in water.
Since the vaavud is magnetic you can hold it with your fingers next to the phone and it will work with any kind of waterproof bag. Omnidirectional is quite nice I think, but in the future vavuud is supposed to also report wind direction by using the compas, assuming you point the phone in the right direction - has nothing to do with windspeed though. Must say I find it all a bit clumsy, but it works really great and easy to always have with you.

[Laughingman]

Your post is a Fail. So you are suggesting turning something intended to be simple and easy into something complex?

No I am suggesting make it better then what is already available.

How many launch spots are there where you can pull your car right up to the beach?

Most every spot I have been to would allow you to either mount it to your car or right on a post at the beach, still I would not want my phone mounted with it...

So you need anywhere from 100M of cable and an extension pole to plant into the ground to elevate the anemometer high enough to get decent wind.

I think 8' would be sufficient... better yet make it Bluetooth capable

So your iPhone is locked in your car yet someone can run off with the rest of the gear you are implying is needed to make this a viable product?

Unlikely, but fair enough... so would you risk a $800 iPhone as easily as you risk your $30 windmeter, interesting logic you have there.

And on top of that you want to continuously broadcast wind conditions? So when you get to your locked car your phone is dead and your data charges are through the roof because you were in an area where data charges applied.

I think every 10 or 15 mins would be sufficient for your mates to get the idea of the conditions... maybe lulls, average and gusts to be included with that. We are talking kilobits per hour here... if you don't have a data package that can support that you should probably not have a smart phone.

Yeah...you really put some thought into your great idea.

Apparently more then you put into your response to my great idea.

[icebird]

If we are going to talk about future windmeters, here is what I would like:

An app that periodically reports to a server and which includes winddirection.
Any old outdated android or iphone with a solar panel in a waterproof box should then act as weatherstation. Soon we will have permanent reports on common surfspots.

[Laughingman]

If we are going to talk about future windmeters, here is what I would like:

An app that periodically reports to a server and which includes winddirection.
Any old outdated android or iphone with a solar panel in a waterproof box should then act as weatherstation. Soon we will have permanent reports on common surfspots.

I agree 100%, we need affordable solar, GSM sensor stations that have a backend to support broadcasting to the web.
I think the Vaavud is closer to this then the Weatherflow meter attachment. No reason not to make these stations as small and portable as possible...

[Peter_Frank]

C'mon guys, you cant be serious here ?


1. Some like to have and sometimes use a windmeter, for many various reasons, no reason to badtalk these kitesurfers.

2. A directional meter works excellent, and you are a douchebag that should not be allowed to kitesurf if you dont know how to hold it "right" and close to the wind direction - there is almost no errors on these in fact.

3. Why make things complicated and expensive ???


ome introduces a smart inexpensive wind meter foreveryone (with a mobile), and suddenly everybody starts screaming instead of being happy this new option exists

It is a handheld meter and not an automatic weather station - just saying'

Fine to discuss what some would like to have, and possibilities, yes, but to put down this new "device" in such a hard manner makes no sense in my eyes


Peter

[Laughingman]

C'mon guys, you cant be serious here ?


1. Some like to have and sometimes use a windmeter, for many various reasons, no reason to badtalk these kitesurfers.

2. A directional meter works excellent, and you are a douchebag that should not be allowed to kitesurf if you dont know how to hold it "right" and close to the wind direction - there is almost no errors on these in fact.

3. Why make things complicated and expensive ???


Some introduces a smart inexpensive wind meter for everyone (with a mobile), and suddenly everybody starts screaming instead of being happy this new option exists

Just saying'

Fine to discuss what some would like to have, and possibilities, yes, but to put down this new "device" in such a hard manner makes no sense in my eyes


Peter

Hi Peter
I don't think anyone is bad talking anyone, I don't even know who is behind this product, but the product as it stands is inferior to the Vaavud based on the simple fact it is directional.

A directional windmeter does work well if you point it into the wind correctly but who uses wind meters on the beach? Experienced or New kiters? I bet most of them are new kiters, I would not call them "douchbags" but they are inexperienced and might not know exactly how to determine the exact direction the wind it coming from. I don't think I would call anyone a douchbag... mostly because I don't even know what that is.

I have a none directional wind meter which uses a bicycle odometer computer led display to show the wind speed (have not used it for 5 years). There is nothing complicated or expensive about it... all you need to do is send a pulse down a cable to the headphone jack, calibrate it and write an app to record, display and share it... 99% has been done by these two companies, add a cable and a mount and your done as far as Vaavud (provided they move away from the magnetic part), Weatherflow on the other hand inherently cannot be used this way because it is directional.

I don't think anyone is screaming, I think I am stating my opinion and what I think would be a good idea you don't have to agree.
If all this is, is a portable handheld wind meter I would not buy one, simply because I don't need a meter to tell me the wind when I am in it. If you want my money, give me something I can use and I am telling them exactly what that is...

[icebird]

Peter I agree - there are two good startups here, Vaavud in my own backyard, and this in the thread start. No reason to put down either of them.

But they are not simple hand meters. What takes them apart is the connectivity provided by a mobile phone. And as such, it opens many options. Some silly, some less so. Vaavuud offers integration with weendy, but so far, it works better to report the reading manually to local facebook forums.

Clearly directionals work, it's just a nice feature to have an omnidirectional - I think it is valid criticism, but the reason may be a desire to create a more compact device.

As to who needs one - I have surfed for a while and never needed one - but with all this light wind craze and the fact that we actually do have a lot of light wind this year - I thought it'd be better to actually have an idea when commenting on how much a board helps in light wind and so forth. For choosing a kite the windspeed is not very useful as it depends on temperature and the gust frequency on so forth - it is just too tedious and unnecessary. A windmeter is also good to evaluate the quality of different weather forecasts once you start to doubt some of them, as I have recently.

Most of all a meter is good for communication, and that is where the online devices start to make sense - wether you report directly or send text messages - either way you have the phone next to you.

In the end it also comes down to stupid things like not having yet another device to run out of battery.