• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

Apple iPad Video Review

Casey,

Great job demonstrating the iPad. Clear, fact based and relevant to the forum. Kudos to you
 
Good review man, getting a 3G model bought for me for work and planning on using it for chasing. AT&T Coverage is spotty, but I only feel the need to use data before storms initiate and at that point, you can find coverage and park it. Needing radar when you are on a storm that isn't at night is probably something that should be avoided anyways, but that's another topic for another day :) Great job demoing some apps and websites!
 
Thought I would update this review after having the device for a few weeks and putting over 1,000 chasing miles on it in the last few days. Just a few bullets to flesh out my thoughts.

- I think it is the perfect around the house computer. I probably use it 90% of the time and my other computers 10% of the time.
- I chased solo on 5/10 and never picked up the iPad while on the road. The problem is you need hands on the wheel and the iPad requires two hands to really be useful. For solo chasing a laptop on a mount is the only way to go and that is what I will continue to use.
- Chased 5/11 and 5/12 with Greg, Keith and Justin with three laptops in the truck plus the iPad. No question the laptop on a mount was excellent for the front seat guys. However, a laptop in your lap is not ideal in the back seat or the front seat either. That is where the iPad really came into its own.
- I found the device very useful as an analysis tool on the way to the target area. I actually stuck my laptop in the seat back today and used the iPad only while heading to the target. Everything I would normally do analysis wise was easier on the iPad and I had no wires or hot laptop computer in my lap.
- iPad + Radarscope does not replace GRLevelx. It is good for quickly taking a look at things, but you can't see the environment or the storms evolve the way you can with GRLevelx.
- During the chase today it replaced my paper maps and Streets Atlas for route finding. Street Atlas and my window mount GPS let me know where I was, but I found it easier to pan and zoom in google maps on the iPad to make route choices and found I was able to stay a step ahead of where we were and was able to focus on options using the iPad.
- The iPad really excels in terms of sharing info in the car. If there was something I saw on mesonet or SPC meso etc, I could just hand it to someone else and they could see for themselves. It became more of a collaboration tool.
- At one point today we were lamenting not having a hand analysis for the day and it occurred to me that I had an app for that :) . I was able to go to the SPC Meso Analysis site and save the current image, open it in a drawing application (free) and Greg did a hand analysis on the fly just using his finger to figure out whether we had a surface low or a trough brewing. Being able to integrate the real time data with collaboration was a whole new way of approaching the problem.
- iPad is a great tool for looking at the situation while waiting for initiation in the middle of nowhere or looking at data while having lunch. It is easy to carry around and it runs just fine off the WIFI in the car while you are standing around a county road or sitting in fast food joint having lunch.

Those are just a few of the thoughts I thought I would try to capture and share. Is it a replacement for your main chase laptop? No I don't think so. Is it a great addition to the tool kit? Only if you aren't chasing solo. Hope this helps some that are thinking about adding this tool to your chase equipment.
 
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