2008 is my first year back in the field...

Joined
Feb 28, 2004
Messages
161
Location
Burkburnett, Texas
...after hundreds of evenings in a windowless TV studio during severe weather events.

Well, weather is no longer my job, its back to being my hobby. The best thing about not doing TV weather is...I can be out in the field to observe, photograph and enjoy storms as I please and not worry about the obligations of a broadcaster. I'm not a chaser...I'm a volunteer spotter and in the past I have rarely wandered out of a 50 mile radius from my home. but thats the glory of living in the Red River valley (TX/OK)... often enough the storms come to us!:cool:

After 10 years of of being a volunteer spotter, 2008 may actually be the year that I add a laptop to my very short list of gear. If anyone wants to offer advice as how I can get online in the field inexpensively (laptop/power/internet service) I'm all eyes.

If anyone who wanders through my neck of the oil fields would like my cell#, please PM

Its good to be back in the game! I'll be checking Stormtrack much more frequently now.
 
John, if you are going out just to spot I'd recommend finding some good wifi spots in the area and picking from a list of locations based on where the storms are. You can get a decent laptop for under a thousand with wifi standard. I wouldn't be shelling out a steep monthly charge for cell data unless you already have a plan that can add it for cheap. Power is easy if you are light on gear: a DC power adapter that plugs right from your car into the laptop. No need to waste power or over complicate things with an inverter.
 
Wireless internet is all you will need these days as long as you have an interstate nearby in the US. Wireless access is only going to increase as time unfolds. I wouldn't invest in cell data, not worth it. You can also get an add-on wireless card that has a connector for an external antenna. Buy an antenna w/ a magnet and put it on top of your vehicle. That will definitely help your range out, however when you are driving in the middle of nowhere you might as well just go right into town to the wireless spot so the external antenna helpfulness is questionable. Also, check out Weatherscope from the OCS (www.mesonet.org). You can get some basic Level 3 stuff from it (TVS, Meso sigs, storm mvmnt, hail size estimation parameter, etc.) Also, its basically a customizers dream. I have some awesome scripts I use in the field all the time.
 
Unfortunately though, much of chasing it's convenient to Interstate Highways on the plains. That said, at least on the Sprint network, the data coverage has been exceptional the last couple years, and always getting better. From my experience, it has been VERY WELL WORTH IT. I rarely use WIFI any more on the road, aside from a motel stayover.

GRLevel3 with a cell data connection is the cat's meow out in the middle of nowhere these days.
 
Wireless internet is all you will need these days as long as you have an interstate nearby in the US. Wireless access is only going to increase as time unfolds. I wouldn't invest in cell data, not worth it. You can also get an add-on wireless card that has a connector for an external antenna. Buy an antenna w/ a magnet and put it on top of your vehicle. That will definitely help your range out, however when you are driving in the middle of nowhere you might as well just go right into town to the wireless spot so the external antenna helpfulness is questionable. Also, check out Weatherscope from the OCS (www.mesonet.org). You can get some basic Level 3 stuff from it (TVS, Meso sigs, storm mvmnt, hail size estimation parameter, etc.) Also, its basically a customizers dream. I have some awesome scripts I use in the field all the time.

Im not really sure this is too accurate. Cell data is quite well worth it, especially if you can get it for $25/month through alltel. I have a great coverage area, and don't have to go out of my way do get data.
 
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