'Allo 'Allo Gardens! (AAG)
Howick (uMngeni)
The Ambient Weather
PM25 Outdoor Particulate Monitor
13 March 2026
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Rob Dempster
'Allo 'Allo Gardens! (AAG) Howick (uMngeni) The Ambient Weather PM25 Outdoor Particulate Monitor 13 March 2026 |
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When I retired I installed a Web Camera at our home at the top of Town Bush Road in Pitermaritzburg. The camera afforded a good view of The Town Hill descent and what a pilot would see if s/he was about to land at Pietermaritzburg's Oribi Airport. I know that because when it went off-line for a while, one of the piliots contacted me to find out when it would be on-line again.
At the same I also ran a Davis Weather Station that was lent to me by my PMB son-in-law, Andrew Sheard. After various Davis Weather Station configurations and a relocation to Howick I switched to an Ambient 2902C Weather Station. Recently I bit the bullet and purchased an Ambient PM25 Wireless Outdoor Particulate Monitor.
I guess the purchase was motivated by two reasons. 1) Howick is at the hub of a timber (Pine and Eucaplyptus) production area. Once a plantation has been harvested, the smaller branches that are left behind are massed into heaps that are BURNT. This produces a huge smoke plume that wil rise vertically if it is a windless day. Ultimately this smoke disperses, sometimes drifting over Howick. 2) Another row of Units is currently being added to the Protea Gardens Complex. There will be DUST, and given that we live in the row of units above the new row, I am curious as to how it will affects us.
The two tables included below have both been extracted from the PM25 Outdoor Particulate Manual. The first table enables a user looking at the output of the monitor to interpret the data in order to determine the quality of the air passing over our unit. The second table provides information that would be useful to anyone trying to set up Wireless Communications between devices scattered his/her home/garden.
My Allo Allo Gardens - Ambient Weather Station link. Follow the link if you would like to view the PM25 Outdoor Particulate Monitor recordings amonst other weather recordings.
| AQI Category Breakpoints | (μg/m3) |
|---|---|
| Good | 0.0 – 12.0 |
| Moderate | 12.1 – 35.4 |
| Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 35.5 – 55.4 |
| Unhealthy | 55.5 – 150.4 |
| Very Unhealthy | 150.5 – 250.4 |
| Hazardous 250.5 – 350.4 | Extremely Hazardous 350.5 – 500 |
| Medium RF Signal Strength Reduction | |
|---|---|
| Glass (untreated) | 5-15% |
| Plastics | 10-15% |
| Wood | 10-40% |
| Brick | 10-40% |
| Concrete | 40-80% |
| Metal | 90-100% |
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If you have any comments, corrections, suggestions or plain criticism,
I would appreciate it if you would communicate the same to me.
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[email protected] |
| Allo Allo (Protea) Gardens |
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