Data feed at the house, GOES EMWIN or NOAAPORT?

[EricGermann]

Didn't want to hijack the thread on AWIPS II coming out, so I thought I'd start a new one.

That thread got me thinking and I posted this on the EMWIN list, to very little feedback. Since we seem at one level or another to be a data junkies, thoughts?

My original post ...

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I've been debating equipment selection for doing EMWIN via satellite to tackle this summer. I am currently one of the ByteBlaster servers redistributing an Internet feed. Typically, I'm running 25 to 30 outbound connections, all day long.

I was looking at the Wernerlabs stuff and had passingly looked at NOAAPORT a while back. Then I stumbled on http://www.noaaport.net/ and nbsp.

If you met the following conditions:

1. Your wife didn't care about the C-band BUD
2. You had the expertise to bring up nbsp

would you go with Werner Labs stuff?

A BUD is about $200 (or less, there are a lot around here ripe for the picking to get them out of their yard). An LNBF is $50. Pricing on a Novra DVB-S receiver is about $400 shipped. So for less than $700, you end up with the receive system which has about 6.7Mbps (peak) worth of data coming down, with no monthly fee and no impact on your (inbound) Internet lines.

The Werner Labs gear goes off the "new" GOES stream which runs at 19.2Kbps and costs $2000. Both are one time costs. Granted, the dish is a lot smaller.

Some stats on the nbsp page allude to about 500MB per hour coming down which would average about 1.1 to 1.2Mbps, sustained.

Interestingly, they talk about EMWIN programs needing to be able to handle a higher data rate than traditional methods.

As a bonus, it can supply data to Digital Atmosphere, MetarWeather, GRLevel3 and a number of other programs. Given the amount of data showering down (for free) and the fact the gear is about 1/4 to 1/3 the cost of the Werner Labs stuff, why shouldn't I? Rain fade may be an issue, but use the Internet as a backup source.


Seems like it would be a nice source of data for DA, GR stuff, EMWIN, GEMPAK and a host of others. The nbsp architecture is flexible enough to support output filters for about anything (Usenet, RSS, etc). It's an interesting read over on their site as to what all they can filter it to.

Thoughts? Poke holes?

EKG

 

[Robert Dewey]

This is something I'm pretty interested; If you know what you're doing, I'd say go for it.

I remember pricing NOAAport systems around 2000 or 2001 (before you could access via DVB-S), and full systems (with support for all channels) + processing computer ran around +$12,000. To get that entire setup for under $1,000 is pretty amazing.

Out of curiosity... what type of hardware + software do you need, and where do you get it? I'm familiar with the LDM and internet data distribution, but as far as hooking up my own receivers for NOAAport, I'm lost.

 

[czenzel]

I'm setting up a NOAAPORT feed at my house right now... I just got an old 10 foot Mesh dish and have to replace the LNB with a C/Ku- universal. If you are looking for a wide range of data NOAAPORT is the way to go.

I did get the Novra S-75 DVB-S from Novra in Canada. They were very easy to deal with getting the receiver. It did cost about $375 US with shipping to Pennsylvania.

My used dish was on the high-side of $400.00; however, I got a FTA receiver, rotator, and some other parts with it. I had to use Rust-olium to prep the dish for black paint to make it look new.

I am still waiting for getting a quote and ordering a mounting pole. My rotator looks like it needs at least a 3" Inner Diameter pole with about 3-feet in the ground and some number above ground. We get a lot of wind here (we are the highest point in Bucks County, PA).

I am looking into using the nbsp software and LDM software for now. I haven't looked at many others. Weather Message (NOAAPORT Ingest) looks like a good commercial option also.

The software to parse and perform analysis: there are many to choose from! I am yet deciding what the best packages are to use. I am looking into web site display graphics mostly (interactive maps, etc).

The reason I choose NOAAPORT is the data feeds seem to be very stable and also it seems to be an interesting learning project before, during, and after the setup of the dish, receiver, and software.

I would also like to know from some others on the forum about what satellite feeds, software (display and retrieval), and other experiences they have had when setting up a satellite receive station.