Modernizing a legacy chaser

[Andy Wehrle]

Ever since I finally (December 2022, just before I turned 37) got a vehicle new enough to have a screen and support Android Auto, I've wished it would support Radarscope. Being able to have that app open on the car screen and pan/zoom it by touch would be huge. That said, the Bluetooth connection is finicky enough (occasionally it will drop out every few minutes just doing simple GPS navigation with Google Maps) that it might not be all that great. Even the wired (with USB) connection drops out on occasion.

By the way, the Twister quote in my signature is meant to be somewhat ironic, as I don't have a lot of "high-tech gadgets," and I actually feel my "instincts," as honed over years (decades, now) of independent study of supercell morphology and behavior, are pretty good. It's not having the confidence in myself to trust them that has cost me multiple tornado intercepts over the years, and it's only recently that's started to change.

 

[JamesCaruso]

Getting out of the rat race and unplugging from the hype train is great, but grinding on and tuning into every setup does keep you sharp. Cherry picking a handful of bigger days and checking out for the rest of the year, on the other hand, I can tell I'm getting rusty, nor am I keeping up with the latest how-to. My tornado day to chases ratio for the past two seasons was 1 and 15. Yeah, it's not a competition, and who cares if chasing is fun or rewarding. But to me, realizing that enjoyment in chasing has always included making the most with the tools and limited knowledge that are available. I know I can do better than that.

Lots to unpack here, though getting away from the thread topic of modernizing tech and equipment… Definitely agree about getting rusty if only sporadically chasing the bigger days. I feel rusty every season at the beginning of a chase vacation; after nearly a year since my previous chase, it takes me a couple chase days filled with inadequate focus and stupid mistakes before I get back into the groove. I never see anybody talk about this, and I always thought I was the only one this happened to, so I’m glad to see you mention getting rusty if chasing sporadically.

“Who cares if chasing is fun or rewarding” - I assume this is meant with ironic humor, but of course it absolutely has to be both fun *and* rewarding! I guess the issue is your definition of fun and rewarding. Over the years, I have come to learn that one needs to enjoy the *process*; if you’re in it just for the *result*, it won’t be fun or rewarding. At the same time, it can be like a fitness activity: not necessarily “fun” while it’s happening, but it’s about the fulfillment of the achievement. The relative rarity of a tornado or great structure is exactly what makes them so fulfilling; so you have to appreciate the failures, for they are what make the successes so satisfying. And it’s also important to redefine what “success” means to you, so that you are able to celebrate the smaller wins on a chase day. Participating in field experiments may make it harder to do this though, as success may have a more objective (and narrower) definition for the research team. If you are feeling some chaser burnout or disillusionment, joining a field experiments may make it worse…

 

[Skip Talbot]

Who cares if chasing is fun or rewarding” - I assume this is meant with ironic humor

I phrased that badly. I meant who cares about scores or tornado count, as long as you're having fun and it's rewarding.

My motivation to chase was to witness something rare, powerful and beautiful. I have by no means seen it all, far from it. But I have seen enough that this no longer pushes me out the door like it once did. I've kind of been there, done that, now what? I don't find grinding for three months to hit the wedge jackpot cute anymore like it was when I was in my 20s a couple decades ago. Having other constructive reasons to chase storms has been rewarding though, like being on a scientific research mission, or a film shoot, or driving a group of students around. That's great. I just need to be well equipped for it.

It's a lot like recreational flying to me, something I've been doing more than chasing lately. Maybe the analogy is alien to those that don't do it. But it's not a competition or a race either. You need to keep flying regularly or you lose your skill. You also need to keep up to date with tech and training. It's easy to just lapse and fall behind if you aren't motivated to do it or if it's not your job. I stopped flying for 8 years after a bad experience while aerial storm chasing, and when I finally returned I needed training in the advancements since then and lots of practice to get my skills back. But I was super excited to do it. Having a mission or a goal to work toward are great motivators.

But, yeah. If it's too much of a burden to stay current, and making it part of your job is resulting in burn out, then it's probably time to hang it up and move on to something else. We'll see.

 

[Tony Laubach]

Hey Skip! Welcome back! I've actually undergone a similar journey, both upgrades and 'downgrades', particularly since acquiring my new ride last year. As I told you offline, I kinda used this last chase to test some of the new setup to great success. As there are multiple parts to this journey, I will spell out how I've changed my setup over the last few years.

I've been coasting along for a few years, mostly on the personal side of my gear, as work provided me with a solid arsenal to do the job that was required of me. But I have had some renewed inspiration to extend my chasing activities beyond network work, which includes bringing my website back to life, social media/YouTube overhauls and rebranding. But this also has inspired me to update my unused (and largely outdated) gear bag by trading up for some upgrades in video/photo equipment.

Below is my detailed changes...

PREVIOUS (2016 Subaru Forester)
My usual setup involved a laptop on a passenger-seat mounted RAM Mount system, yellow pucked via GPSGate to Delorme Street Atlas 2015 and Spotter Network. I had a windshield suction-cup mounted Sony AX53 (or other Sony) with a couple interior action cameras (cheaper, generic brands). I also had a HAM radio permanently mounted in the vehicle along with a non-perma mounted scanner. I usually shot on a Sony AX100 and PXW-Z90V (personal) and moved to AccuWeather's Sony PXW-Z90V when I started with them and they gave me gear. That was the jist of my usual setup.

CURRENT (2023 Subaru Ascent)
Running iPad with Slack (for NWS Chat) and WeatherFront for radar/models, one of my AccuWX Sony PXW-Z90V for a suction-mounted dash camera. I have an always-running Vantrue N2X dash camera that constantly records. I primarily shoot video on the other AccuWX PXW-Z90V and my Samsung S24 Ultra. For stills, I shoot on my Nikon D780 and D750. I have various in-cab cameras, including a recently acquired GoPro13 Hero Black.

CHANGES FOR 2026

• SUBARU FORESTER TO ASCENT: While not a completely intentional upgrade at the time, this was kinda the plan for me post-Forester. I cannot speak highly enough of Subarus for chasing (both warm and winter); I miss the mini-van, and while not exactly a mini-van, this Ascent gives the space and comfort of one, but with the AWD of Subarus. I got hooked up with some Line-X protection for the hood and roof, which was a nice addon for the ride to protect from some of the moderate-sized hail I would find myself in. It also fulfills some of my personal wants in a vehicle, so it was a great fit. Ironically the increase in interior space came with a decrease in interior gear. This vehicle also has built-in wifi, which was like $20/month for unlimited, so that's AWESOME and eliminates hot spot needs (and reduced needing phones for hotspots).
• NO ACTIVE LAPTOP: This has been the BIGGEST change for me. When I bought the new ride last year, I opted to NOT install the RAM mount and chase without a laptop. My need for a laptop was usually for quick video flipping and streaming. Since I shoot and edit a majority of my quick-flip video on the Samsung and don't usually need to process external camera video til after the chase (usually when at my hotel), I can afford to NOT have the laptop perma-mounted in the passenger seat. I also have resorted to Google Maps for navigation (I have downloaded offline maps in frequently chased areas and will download offline maps as needed elsewhere), so that eliminated the need for GPS programs (Delorme is now 11 years old). I customized a generic GPS app that basically saves 1-second data points to import into any mapping software after the fact. Streaming, since done for my network, is done through their gear, I don't need to run streaming software. All this eliminated a big piece of gear that took up a significant amount of real-estate in the cab. I do have a work laptop to edit on, and if I need to do something on the road, I can, but I haven't run it on a live chase since I got the new ride last May. I am very close to being in the market for a new PERSONAL laptop that can run video editing, but no plans to put that into active chase setup.
• LIVE DATA ON TABLET: Without the laptop, I needed a way to get live data. Last year, despite having a tablet at my disposal, I opted to use my prior Samsung phone (S22 Ultra) for radar data. While it did the job, it's obviously much smaller screen, which wasn't the greatest. But I hadn't acquired a mount that I thought worked well enough to hold a tablet, and the season got away from me before I made the change. Finally over the holidays, I got a solid suction-mount for the tablet, and thus I made the move to the iPad (supplied from work) for live data. Upon the recommendation of Dr. Jason Persoff, I downloaded and subscribed to WeatherFront (iOS only as of now), which is a fantastic radar with plenty of data feeds/options, PLUS the ability to run models with your GPS location on the map. Having all this in ONE location was very intriguing, and one chase in this year showed how happy I will be with that setup. The tablet can also run mapping software I can change to (or split screen), plus I am trying to develop the app I tweaked for Android to iOS, so I'm hopeful to be able to run everything from that tablet. Slack is on the tablet for NWS Chat, but I continued to use my phone for that just for quicker typing. I have also installed RadarOmega and RadarScope, but I have downgraded my subscription plans to those since WeatherFront.
• THE PHONE: This has honestly been a big change over the last couple years, but the amount of things I can do on a higher-end smart phone is basically replacing so much older gear. After NWS Chat went over to Slack, I moved that to my phone. The video/photo capabilities are almost as good if not better than most of my regular gear, and it's quicker to turn to network/web directly on the phone. I still use the hell out of my Nikons, but most of the network video is being shot on the phone. Radar apps, scanner apps, even video editing can be done on the phone. It's almost completely replaced my laptop for in-the-moment needs.
• NO SCANNER/HAM RADIO: This is the first vehicle I've ever owned that does NOT have a HAM radio wired in. I am not 100% certain it will remain that way, but as of this post, I have not installed my Yaesu into the new ride. The issue, it just never gets used as anything more than a glorified weather radio. While it occasionally would get powered on for some car-to-car coms, I just never got use since a majority of the folks I use to chase with are no longer active and cell service has improved so much that most communication can easily be done via those methods. The scanner was never a perma-mount like my HAM, but I have used a physical scanner so little in recent years.
• UPGRADES TO PERSONAL GEAR: Since my company has provided me with a majority of the gear I use actively and all my older gear has seen very little use in the last few years, I have recently opted to sell off my old gear to make some upgrades to my personal gear bag, including a mirrorless Nikon for higher-quality video and photography and a Vlog-style camera/gimble set. I also splurged last year and bought my first actual GoPro13, upgrading my primary generic action camera.
• WEB/SOCIAL MEDIA: This is a much larger undertaking than I would've thought, but I found myself VERY behind the curve when it comes to all this. I've always had a semi-active Facebook page, but my YouTube channel has dropped off the map, and obviously let me website die back in 2017. But I've had some renewed interest in my online home again and have invested a TON of time into re-learning Wordpress code and have been working steadily, albeit slowly, on breathing good life back into my website, including backend widgets and apps along with customizing a theme very specific to what I want out of my site. In addition, I am also working behind-the-scenes on a YouTube rebrand and relaunch, which will probably stretch through the year as I again learn all the current jazz behind how to make that work better.

So that's a VERY lengthy checklist of all that's changing for ME in this upcoming year... hope that adds some meaningful insight for ya!

 

[Warren Faidley]

I've given up on live streaming during the tornado season. Too much of a hassle and distraction, with an overload of others doing the same thing. I will stream live during the haboob and hurricane seasons, since I believe there is still some public safety / NWS information value. As a pilot, I learned a long time ago that limiting the number of electronic distractions makes for a less stressful trip.