RAVE Alert Integration

We have completed the changes to integrate Weather Message with Rave Mobile Safety's Rave Alert.  This allows users of the RAVE service to have weather notifications sent to their users.

MapQuest OpenStreetMaps - Implemented in WxMap

I have completed the implementation of OpenStreetMaps in WxMap.  After getting the projections corrected, the map looks very good.

MapQuest OpenStreet Maps

I have been testing MapQuest's OpenStreet Maps in WxMap.  Here is a preview.  It appears blurry or distorted.

I am working to see if I can make these clearer.  These maps are free and are served over the internet.

EMWIN Dual Internet Ingest

The next version of Weather Message's EMWIN ingest engine will have the ability to dual ingest the Internet data stream.

This feature is designed for users that do not have a satellite dish and want to minimize the potential loss of weather products.  For users with critical applications, we always recommend dual ingesting from a satellite feed along with the EMWIN Internet feed.

Ingesting EMWIN data from two Internet feeds can minimize data loss.  It however will not help when your local Internet connection goes down. There are times when an EMWIN server may go down due to normal rebooting, rebooting for windows updates, loss of Internet connectivity to that server, disconnection due to Internet connection speed, packet loss, router reboots, or a number of other hard to explain reasons.

When a connection to an EMWIN server is lost, there is a short period of time of data loss.  This occurs as the software is attempting to connect to the next available EMWIN Server.

This feature is now being tested.  It will be sold as an additional ingest engine.  More information and pricing will be posted on our website when this feature is available for general use.

Alertus Integration

We have completed the changes to integrate Weather Message with Alertus .  This allows users of the Alertus service to have weather notifications sent to their users.

IRIS Integration

We have completed the changes to integrate Weather Message with IRIS.  This allows users of the IRIS service to have weather notifications sent to their users setup in the IRIS system.

RAVE Integration

We have completed the changes to integrate Weather Message with RAVE.  This allows users of the RAVE service to have weather notifications sent to their users setup in the RAVE system.

Emailing Log Files

Weather Message Version 4.1 will have the ability to email you a user defined list of log files.  This will help users that want to review their log files on a daily basis.  You can specify the email address that will receive the log files and the time that they should be sent.

An option is selectable by log file to check it for the work "Error".  If this option is enabled, the log file will only be sent when it find the word "Error".  This may be helpful to those users that post to Facebook and Twitter.  

Weather Message 4.0 Released

Weather Message V4.0 has been released. You can download the update at http://www.weathermessage.com/Downloads/WeatherMessage.aspx. For information on what has changed in this release, please read the release notes.

Note: Version 4.0 requires the Microsoft .Net Framework 4.0. Because of this requirement, version 4.0 will not run on Windows 2000 or older operating systems.

There are over 57 changes in this release. Here are some highlights.

• Several Email and Paging enhancements, including the addition of new short message variables.
• Updated County and Zone Files.
• Updated map layers - this is a separate download.
• FTP downloads from the NWS server using your assigned user name and password.
• Auditing of changes
• WxPort now supports the POLAR Sat channel.

WxDataSave, WxLocal and the Retransmission applications have been respectively released along with Weather Message 4.0. If you are using any of these applications, they must be upgraded at the same time you upgrade Weather Message.

Thanks for all of your suggestions, bug reports and assistance with the software. Work will begin on version 4.1 right away. Watch the beta page for updates.

Version 4 is a Major Upgrade

This is a major update and requires a new registration code.  Customers who purchased Weather Message on or after 8/1/2012 are entitled to a free upgrade to version 4.0.

Users who are running a 4.0 beta can continue to use the 4.0 beta.  The 4.0 beta releases used the 3.9 registration codes.  If you install the 4.0 public release, your system will be placed in evaluation mode.  You will have 30 days to purchase an upgrade from 3.x to 4.0.

Our policy is to provide free same version updates.  Customers who purchased Weather Message 3.0 in 2006 have received free updates for the past 7 years.

The cost of to upgrade Weather Message 3.x to 4.0 is $30.25.

External USB Sound Card for the Werner Labs Receiver

The Behringer UCA202 Audio Interface can be used with the Werner Labs Receiver.  This is an external USB Sound Card.  It eliminates the need to use the internal sound card for processing the receiver's data stream.

 

One of my customers is using this interface with a virtual machine.

New Weather Wire Feed Confirmed

The NOVRA S300N receiver settings, for Weather Wire, in the previous blog post have been confirmed.  I was able to receive data from the new Weather Wire feed tonight.

I made some modifications to WxPort (our NOAA Port ingest program) to receive the data stream.  The stream is in standard SBN format, so I did not have to develop a new ingest routine.

The following picture shows the stream being received and processed by Weather Message.

I plan to update the existing WxWW2000 ingest program to support this feed.

Novra Receiver Settings

I have been trying to receive the new WeatherWire stream using my Novra S300 receiver.  I thought it was as simple as adding PID 201 to the Novra receiver.  After further research I found that some of the other receiver settings would have to be modified.

The following summarizes the settings for Weather Wire and NOAA Port.

Setting	NOAA Port	Weather Wire
Frequency	1154	1154
Modulation	DVBS2	DVBS2
Coding	2/3 8 PSK	1/3 QPSK
Symbol Rate	15.120	15.120
ISI	13	2
PID	101 102 103 104 105	201

Based on this information, it does not appear that you can receive NOAAPort and WeatherWire from the same receiver at the same time.

New Weather Wire Service Coming this Fall

The National Weather Service issued a Service Change Notice that outlines the new Weather Wire Service.  It appears that Weather Wire will be on the same satellite as NOAAPort.  It will use the same receiver as NOAAPort and share the transponder.  The information that has been posted indicates that it will use PID 201.

Here is a picture of the Novra S300 receiver used for NOAAPort.

I am interested to see what data will be on the Weather Wire channel.  The NOAAPort stream already contains more data than the current Weather Wire feed.  The website indicates that they will be providing an internet feed based on XMPP.

It may be possible to modify the WxPort (NOAAPort) ingest engine to receive the data from the satellite.  I will know more after seeing the data stream.  The WW2000 (Weather Wire) ingest will have to be rewritten to receive the XMPP data stream.

Service Change Notice 13-52
National Weather Service Headquarters Washington DC
722 AM EDT Tue Aug 20 2013   

To:        Subscribers:
           -NOAA Weather Wire Service
           Other NWS Partners, Users and Employees 

From:      Craig Hodan
           Chief, NWS Dissemination Systems Branch  

Subject:   New NOAA Weather Wire Service (NWWS) During 2014   

NWS is continuing the upgrade of NWWS to disseminate weather products to the public. A new NWWS will be commissioned during 2014. The new NWWS will operate concurrently with the present NWWS system until the NWWS system contract ends March 2014, at the earliest. For the latest news and information about this change, please consult the Weather Wire website at: 

    http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwws/news.html  (Corrected Link)  

The new system will allow C-band satellite users to continue to use outdoor antennas they have in place, which will not require re-pointing but will require a new satellite receiver, new Low Noise Block Converter (LNB), and new or modified weather data processing/display software. Internet (Open Interface) users will need the new or modified processing/display software.   

The current NWWS system, operated under contract with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), will continue to operate into 2014.  CSC may or may not continue Weather Wire satellite and open-interface services after government contract termination.   

Updates will be posted on the NWWS website as it become available. For more information please contact: 

   Gregory Zwicker, NWWS Program Manager
   Operations Division
   NWS Office of Operational Systems
   Silver Spring, MD 20910
   Gregory.Zwicker@noaa.gov   

National Service Change Notices are online at:
     http://www.weather.gov/os/notif.htm   

$$

Radar Layer in WxMap

I had some time tonight to test loading a radar layer in WxMap.  I knew that the GIS engine would support graphic layers, I just have not had time to test the capability.

Here is a snapshot of the test program.



 



This shows the KMXX radar image overlaying West Alabama.

GOES 12 Decommissioning to Occur August 16, 2013

GOES-12 is scheduled to be decommissioned on August 16, 2013.

GOES-12 was launched on July 23, 2001, and it has supported South America at 600W since May 2010. The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) announced the decommissioning on July 9, 2013.

The decommissioning will end the broadcast of the EMWIN-I legacy data stream.  This broadcast was put in place to assist users in the transition to EMWIN-N on the operational GOES East and West satellites and facilitate manufacturer testing. Any remaining legacy users should migrate to EMWIN-N capable systems and use GOES East or West.

GOES 12 EMWIN-I users can also continue to receive EMWIN with an Internet connection through the EMWIN ByteBlaster Network if unable to upgrade to newer equipment.

For the latest information on the GOES 12 decommissioning and for a list of vendors that currently provide EMWIN-N capable systems, please go to:

  http://www.nws.noaa.gov/EMWIN/transition.htm

  http://www.weather.gov/EMWIN/winven.htm

GOES 13 is Broadcasting EMWIN Data

GOES 13 is now broadcasting EMWIN data.  Here is the latest update.

GOES-13, at 75 degrees West, will return to GOES-East operations on Thursday, June 6, 2013, at approximately 1534 -1545 UTC (first image at 1545 UTC). Derived products from GOES-13 will begin immediately following the switchover.

All GOES direct readout services (DCS, LRIT, EMWIN, etc.) except SAR were switched over to GOES-13 today, June 4, 2013. Specifically, GOES DCS services were switched back to GOES-13 on June 4, 2013, at 1530 UTC.

GOES DCS has no issues and there has been no outage to the communications packages.

GOES 13 Status

I know many of you are trying to decide whether to reposition your dish to GOES-14. Here is the latest status on GOES-13. 

GOES-13 remains out of service with no estimate on return to operations at this time. It was successfully brought out of storage mode for testing last night, and will be monitored for 24 hours.

It appears that there is still some life in GOES-13.  Hopefully it can be brought back on-line.

GOES 14 takes over for GOES 13

From the EMWIN Team:

GOES-14 at 105 degrees W now broadcasting EMWIN

EMWIN Users:

To help mitigate the GOES-13 outage, GOES-14 is now broadcasting EMWIN data. It is located at 105 degrees West.

GOES-14 It will not be drifted east. Engineering at NESDIS will continue to investigate the anomaly. Meanwhile, GOES-13 will remain in storage mode.

Users now have the option to re-point to GOES-14 or remain in back up mode with antennas still pointed at GOES-13.

EMWIN team

GOES 13 Outage

From the EMWIN Team:

EMWIN Users

Be advised that there is an anomaly on the GOES 13 satellite that affects systems on the spacecraft including the EMWIN broadcast. NESDIS engineering is working on the problem. Please switch to the Byteblaster back up or point your antenna to GOES 14.

EMWIN team

You will find details on the problem on this web page.

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/SATS/bulletins.html

EMWIN Logon Changes Tested

I participated in the EMWIN Logon changes test this week.  Starting June 10, 2013, the National Weather Service will require all EMWIN FTP users to use an assigned user name and password to access the FTP server.  If you do not use the FTP method to access the server, no changes are required.

If you use the EMWIN FTP server, you should send an email to Rob Wagner,  EMWIN Team,  Office of Operational Systems, robert.wagner@noaa.gov with your static or dynamic IP address.  You will be assigned a user name and password to access the FTP server.

In a previous blog post I announced that users would be required to use a static IP address.  The NWS will now filter dynamic IP users on the first three octets of their IP address.  This should not be a problem for most dynamic IP users.  (The first three octets are highlighted in the following IP address:  192.168.10.25)

I noticed that my Verizon 4G wireless connection does change that third octet on occasion.  Because of this, I have sent multiple IP addresses for my registration.

Weather Message 4.0 contains changes that allows users to enter their assigned user name and password.

Note: To my knowledge a small number of Weather Message users use the FTP ingest option.