• 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.

Garmin 376c

I ordered the Garmin unit, and tried it out last weekend-- it's outstanding. Cost about $800 and no laptop is needed. A GPS + radar display in one product, and the XM mariner package is only $30 a month....very impressed...GF
[/b]
Click to expand...


Im up in the air.. Looks nice.. but is 3.8" diag. screen going to be large enough to see the detail we need to get on the right storm etc?

Really nice unit but is it really for chasers? Can you really extrapulate in a satisfactory manner the information your seeing? Its basically in my deduction a palm pilot with xm weather and gps that sits on the dash.

It is tempting though... Can you give a better review of it Geroge? Anyone?
 
Im up in the air.. Looks nice.. but is 3.8" diag. screen going to be large enough to see the detail we need to get on the right storm etc?

Really nice unit but is it really for chasers? Can you really extrapulate in a satisfactory manner the information your seeing? Its basically in my deduction a palm pilot with xm weather and gps that sits on the dash.

It is tempting though... Can you give a better review of it Geroge? Anyone?
[/b]
Click to expand...

I've had the unit since last fall. I found it helpful for watching the FL hurricanes - though I wasn't chasing them.

I have yet to try it out in the field (chase mode) but it does seem to a nice job of plotting XM Weather to GPS positioning/maps. I suppose I'd like it better if it offered smoothing of the radar images. The subscription also says I have the echo tops (on the unit) but I've never seen the data. I have the Master Mariner package (though I have no boat). I would also like SPC/MD data but that has never been mentioned as available.

I've already spliced the data cable so I can still use it to connect NMEA to GRLevel 3 and/or SwiftWX as necessary. But given the problems I've had in the past with the laptop connections/ers I'll be happy to try it out solo.

I will say Garmin does an excellent job with its firmware updates. So far I've installed 3 or 4 of them to the unit - flawlessly.
 
You pretty much nailed the description when you called it a PDA + GPS + XM weather.

The display is extremely bright and have no problem reading it while on the move. I velcroed the unit to my dashboard for easy viewing.

Pros: no laptop required, takes up little space, easily portable, bright display, can run battery only. It's GPS+weather, displays and sounds a warning when you're in a county when warning is issued, easy zoom in/zoom out, can be set to overlay nearest metar data, cheaper than WxWorx, radar data is not smoothed, the $30 a month XM weather mariner package is plenty adequate.

I don't think I've ever used storm attributes/ cell tracking features while chasing, I keep it on "Nexrad" and "animate" mode.

Bottomline: works well and quite useful if you are like me and chase in different cars and don't like to be tethered to a laptop. For about $800 for the device, $30 month for data, I'm set! George Flickinger
 
I don't think I've ever used storm attributes/ cell tracking features while chasing, I keep it on "Nexrad" and "animate" mode.

Bottomline: works well and quite useful if you are like me and chase in different cars and don't like to be tethered to a laptop. For about $800 for the device, $30 month for data, I'm set! George Flickinger
[/b]
Click to expand...

This thing sounds great. Does it show velocity or just reflectivity?
 
This looks great. Can anyone post a photo with you hand for size comparison? Also, do you know if the software is Mac compatiable, or do I need a PC?
The Garmin site says you need the Master Mariner pkg. so can you access all of the pkg screens?

This looks like a better solution for me than buying a PC laptop since I'm all mac now.
 
I've had a lot of PM's about this product:

-No PC is needed unless you purchase the "auto navigation kit" while has a street level mapping disk.
-A standard base map is built in, and has state and US highways. Local roads are available with the auto navigation option.
-Depending on backlight setting, the battery lasts 4-10 hours a charge, and only requires 15 watts of power. The unit charges in one hour.
-I originally ordered the $50 a month "Master Mariner" data package, but changed to the $30 a month "Fisherman" package.
-No velocity products are available.

-and uhm, yes I am chasing now in a VW due to gas prices. 30 mpg highway!
 
Went to Cabelas the other day and looked at the unit.. WOW is it small!

I opted for the Baron to go on my laptop, only reason is the screen size. I must say though, the pics George has there of the unit with the radar looks useable. My fear again was its usability..

Kinda reminded me of the weather radar download on the cell phone.. Trying to chase with that is like trying to watch an Imax film on an old 13" black and white TV and ge tthe same effect..

Nice unit if it was a little larger screen. But again the pics George posted looks good and useable.

Fred
 
The second picture is about +25% actual size. I would prefer a larger screen, but the brightness of the display makes up for it. That, and I've velcroed the unit to my dashboard for easy viewing.
 
Thanks for posting those pictures George. It really helps me get an idea now of size. I think that I'm going to pick one up and try it w/o the car kit for now. I have a mac powerbook I was using for gps and internet through wi-fi stops and sprint. With no grlevel3 products for Mac, and baron products PC only, this will fill in the holes nicely. In doing more research I found a lot of motorcycle sites singing kudos about this product ; apparently cyclists are using them to AVOID weather! What kind of craziness is that :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

John Farley
Hydroclimate volatility on a warming Earth
Replies
0
Views
432
John Farley
John Farley
Nathan Parker
TornadoAlert Device
Replies
8
Views
1K
Nathan Parker
Nathan Parker
JamesCaruso
Google Notebook LM
Replies
0
Views
2K
JamesCaruso
JamesCaruso
Dan Robinson
Level 3 radar blind spot in velocity data has chaser safety implications
Replies
12
Views
491
Dan Robinson
Dan Robinson
Trying to Identify This Software
Replies
2
Views
147
James K
James K
Back
Top