Registering for WeatherWire

The NWS has a new website for registering for WeatherWire access.  Visit NWS OI Request to request a user name and password.

IPAWS Ingest

IPAWS is FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System.  It combines the Emergency Alert System (EAS), Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), and National Weather Service Dissemination Systems.  The data stream uses the CAP 1.2 protocol.

If you want to know more about IPAWS, see http://www.fema.gov/alerting-authorities.  Users of this data stream are required to sign an agreement with FEMA.

The IPAWS data stream is based on pull technology.  That means that we have to poll the IPAWS server to receive new products.  Our default setting is to poll once per minute.  This is in contrast to the EMWIN, NWWS, and NoaaPort data streams, which are push streams.

We have been testing our new ingest engine for a couple of weeks.  This has allowed us to see the different products that appear on the stream.

Since this data stream is based on CAP 1.2, we needed a new decoder for Weather Message.  We have spent some time redesigning our decoder so that it will work with NWS and CAP products.  This was major work, but the results have been excellent.  We are now testing the new decoder to insure that there are no issues with decoding received products.

We are working on changes for our alarm setup.  There will be a new option to select different filtering criteria for CAP messages.  Weather products that appear on the IPAWS data stream will continue to be filtered by our existing alarm criteria.  Other messages, however will require some additional criteria.

Here is an example product that was received by our new ingest engine and processed by the new decoder.  This is not a weather product.  Weather products look similar to those received over our standard weather data streams.  Non-weather products however look different.  This format may change as we get more experience with the CAP products.

Id     : NC.000_1034_2015-12-02T14:59:44-05:00
Event  : Required Weekly Test
Sender : EMnet-NC.000,Melbourne,FL
Issued : 12/2/2015 1:59:44 PM
Expires: 12/2/2015 3:59:44 PM

Category  : Geo
Scope     : Public
Type      : Alert
Status    : Actual
Urgency   : Unknown
Severity  : Unknown
Certantity: Unknown
Response  :

Headline
EAS Required Weekly Test

Description
"THIS IS A REQUIRED WEEKLY TEST FROM THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER "


Area: All North Carolina
Resource link: http://publicwarning.us/capresources/NC_000_ID1034_TM565F4D39_en-US.mp3
 

We will be posting more information as we get closer to a beta release.

NOAA Port New Channels

The Weather Message ingest program, WxPort, has been updated to process the three new NOAA Port channels.

The program will now allow you to enable ports 1208 - Experimental, 1209 - GOES West, and 1210 - GOES East.

Registering for EMWIN FTP Server Access

If you want access to the EMWIN FTP Server, you will need to register with the NWS.  See the following link for registration information.

NOAA Direct Readout Users Survey

The U.S. NOAA Direct Readout Satellite support group has recently installed a NOAA web site page that is just for users like you.   NOAA is trying to get an estimate of how many direct readout users are out there. 

There are some good reasons for this effort.  There is strong contention now for the satellite transmission band to be used for TV and cellular like services.  A large piece of the band spectrum was recently auctioned off for $45 billion U.S.  And there are efforts to hold another auction soon.  So, we need to show adequate usage of the direct readout environmental band, and that is where your participation is needed.

I am including the web site URL that only takes a couple minutes to register what services that you use or intend to use. When the web site opens just click on the “Register for Direct Readout” menu tab to go to the direct readout page.  NOAA is also working to provide on this web page the option of receiving notification of satellite anomalies and to give you the means to provide feedback on requirements for future satellites and systems.  Also, the ability for you to cancel out at any time you lose interest is in the works.  The important thing right now is to be counted as a user of satellite data.

 I am a former NOAA research scientist that has been asked to gather satellite data users to register on the new site.  Please do not underestimate the importance of your support.

Also, feel free to forward this information to anyone that you know that is a user of NOAA direct readout environmental satellite data; we want them all to register.

Some have had problems entering their antenna latitude/longitude location, if so just leave the box “unknown” checked as it is.  The important thing is to register. 

https://dcs4.noaa.gov/

https://dcs3.noaa.gov/

Thanks,

James.wydick@noaa.gov

Facebook Changes May 1, 2015

Facebook has made changes that will break Weather Message's ability to post status updates.  We have released Weather Message version 4.1 to address these changes.  It does require additional setup steps.  See the Facebook chapter, in the Supplement section, for the required setup steps.

Speed comparison Weather Wire and EMWIN

Several users have asked me about the speed differences between Weather Wire (NWWS) and EMWIN.  The following table shows a quick comparison.  It appears that Weather Wire is faster.  Both systems deliver products very quickly.  I will note that EMWIN carries graphics that are not available from Weather Wire.  Weather Wire only carries text products.

Product Identifier	NWWS Received Time	EMWIN Received Time	Difference in Seconds
HWOBMX	05:14:01.50	05:15:09.92	68
SVRMLB	11:43:09.68	11:43:51.18	42
SVRMFL	12:08:05.29	12:08:47.75	42

If receiving weather products is critical to your mission, I recommend using both ingest engines.  Weather Message will filter out duplicate products.

New NOAA Weather Wire Service (NWWS-2) in Production

The next generation NOAA Weather Wire Service (NWWS-2) is now in production.  The system features a C-Band and Internet feed.  You can find more information about the new NWWS at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwws/.  Click on the future configuration button.

For those of you using the WeatherWire Internet feed.  Weather Message will support the new Internet feed in the next software release.  You will need to go ahead and request your user name and password from the NWWS program manager Gregory Zwicker.  Send your request to Gregory.Zwicker@noaa.gov.

The legacy CSC service will end June 30, 2015. NWWS users must use NWWS-2 compatible hardware configurations and client software by that date to continue receiving NWWS alerts and warnings.

 

Comments Sought on EMWIN Usage

American Meteorological Society's Emergency Management Committee seeks feedback on proposed radio spectrum sharing; response date extended to Feb. 17, 2015
IAEM
Bob Goldhammer, CEM, IAEM-USA outreach liaison and co-chair of the American Meteorological Society's (AMS) Emergency Management Committee, requests feedback from users of the Emergency Managers Weather Information Network (EMWIN) system who receive their data directly via satellite broadcast. The assured availability of EMWIN over the air reception may be diminished or constrained due to planned or proposed radio spectrum sharing. The radio spectrum just above EMWIN was sold by auction this month to the commercial broadband wireless community, and regulators are evaluating whether to offer the radio spectrum that includes EMWIN for a future commercial auction. Both actions could create significant interference for EMWIN users. If you use EMWIN, please provide your responses to the following three questions via email to RGGoldhamr@aol.com by Feb. 17, 2015, using the email subject line "EMWIN Usage Response." If you submitted comments and have received no response from Bob Goldhammer, please re-send your information.

1. Do you or your organization receive EMWIN broadcasts? If so, please provide your organization's name, city, county and state where EMWIN receiver(s) are located.
2. Please briefly cite one example of when/how EMWIN played a significant role in a past EM event, or tell us how you currently use EMWIN received via satellite.
3. If you use EMWIN, please indicate what population area is served by this data, including any retransmission or further near-real time use of this data (e.g., King Country, WA or Tri-County area of Sevier, Piute and Wayne, UT).

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.