General Information

Serial #

70-092

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

metal casing, chassis, parts/ synthetic window, terminals, inkwell, tubing, parts/ spirit level in metal and glass housing

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

36.0 cm

Width

25.7 cm

Height

36.9 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Meteorology

Category

Surface wind speed & direction measurement

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Munro

Country

England

State/Province

Unknown

City

London

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

early 1950's +; this instrument was apparently in use for 40 years (Ref. 5)

Canada

A wind speed and recording device for the Meteorological Service of Canada designed and used U2A airport anemometer (see 1978.1096-1978.1097) . The U2A anemometer and ancillary equipment succeeded the MSC U2 system in 1952 and, like the latter, was intended for aviation purposes, specifically the need for immediate wind readings for aircraft on approach to landing (Ref. 1). Part of a large collection of meteorological instruments acquired from the Meteorological Service of Canada (previously Atmospheric Environment Service) by the CSTM since 1967. MSC is the government agency responsible for collecting and disseminating meteorological data and forecasts in Canada. It was founded in 1871 in Toronto where it is still headquartered. The MSC was originally on the University of Toronto downtown campus but moved to Downsview in 1971 on land owned by UofT. The headquarters houses laboratories, research facilities and calibration and instrument maintenance facilities (now largely contracted out).

Function

A recorder for wind speed & direction data received from a separate anemometer, which registers the data on a paper chart.

Technical

A Munro wind recorder for the U2A anemometer. The U2A consists of a generator attached to the MSC cupwheel to measure wind speed and a synchro attached to an aerodynamic vane for wind direction. The generator is a linear direct current generator with a 4.00 volt output which is equivalent to 100 miles per hour on the dial display or recorder. The synchro is a type of motor in which the shaft position of one motor is duplicated by another when the two are connected in parallel by a five wire cable. The wind vane is connected to one synchro and the indicator on the dial display to the secondary synchro. These synchros were fed with 33 volts of alternating current until 1967 when they were converted to the less safe 110 volts. This change was made to allow for more airport displays as well as a recorder to be attached in parallel to the same measuring synchro at the wind tower. Because of the drag caused by the DC generator the starting velocity is 2.4 mph which is higher than any of the other anemometers. The display for the U2A consists of two almost identical meters (see 1987.0782-1987.0783): a 270 degree voltmeter for speed and a 360 degree synchro for direction. Speed is read to the nearest knot and direction to the nearest ten degrees. The Munro recorder was used in parallel with the U2A displays to determine average speeds for synoptic observations, climatological records, and for aviation incident records (Ref. 1).

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

incised white lettering on synthetic plate in window reads 'MSC U2A RECORDER/ MUNRO/ LONDON/ N.11./ WIND DIRECTION WIND SPEED'

Missing

unknown - appears complete/ part of synthetic reel end is broken off

Finish

mottled grey painted casing/ glossy black painted and plated metal parts/ black terminal, handles, reel ends/ colourless transparent window, level cover and inkwell/ white synthetic wire covering and inkwell cap/ mauve fibre wire covering

Decoration

N/A