New all-inclusive storm tracking software coming in Fall - taking suggestions.

Paul,

Screenshots look good. Thanks for posting them! The ability to view multiple radar site at once is a definite plus!

I'll be looking forward to the release of this and will give it a try. Looks good so far from what I have seen.
 
It'll take some experimentation, but try to have a day mode and night mode for the screen. It's rather annoying at night when the computer screen is so bright....even with the levels turned down. High contrast and the ability to have overly bolded items for quickly viewing important info while driving and not being able to stare at a screen for more than 1/2 second.
 
Jason Foster said:
It'll take some experimentation, but try to have a day mode and night mode for the screen. It's rather annoying at night when the computer screen is so bright....even with the levels turned down. High contrast and the ability to have overly bolded items for quickly viewing important info while driving and not being able to stare at a screen for more than 1/2 second.
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Ditto! Maybe add an option so that you can change between night and day mode like Street Atlas has.
 
Jason Foster said:
It'll take some experimentation, but try to have a day mode and night mode for the screen. It's rather annoying at night when the computer screen is so bright....even with the levels turned down. High contrast and the ability to have overly bolded items for quickly viewing important info while driving and not being able to stare at a screen for more than 1/2 second.
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I third that comment. I have some astronomy software that tries to make the screen easier on the eyes when at night, but it ends up messing with the colors in a way that sometimes makes the radar difficult to interpret. Thus, a night mode built in would be nice.
 
Joey Ketcham said:
Ditto! Maybe add an option so that you can change between night and day mode like Street Atlas has.
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does 2009 have it right on the main screen? I do hate that I have to go into the menus on my 2006 edition.

Buttons, lots of clear visible buttons....and maybe the ability to choose which ones you want.
 
The one thing I would change about GR3 would be to give the option of downloading level 2 velocity data (SRV) instead of the poor resolution level 3 velocity data. I don't really see the need to have high resolution refelctivity in the field, but hi-res SRV would be invaluable in situations when your cell connection allows it. BTW, anyone know the file size comparison for level 2 vs level 3 velocity data?
 
Here are a couple features I'd like to see included:

- a button to break the 'cap' on those days that mother nature just isn't cooperating...

- a setup enhancement tool for those days that the setup is 'borderline' and needs that little extra 'kick in the pants'...

I'd also like to see, if available, an implementation of 'Teleport 2.0' so I can skip the hours upon hours of driving and get right into the action.

In all seriousness though, your software is looking good and I look forward to trying it out when its ready to go. Keep up the good work :cool:

One serious suggestion - visible satellite included with the radar (maybe you have this already). Since Grlevel3 doesn't have this, I have to switch between that and my browser to get the latest satellite info (which isn't a real big deal but still it would be nice to have it all in one place)...
 
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I do have a night mode feature, but all it does is dim the program. Is that what you guys mean or would you prefer some sort of contrast/true night vision system?
 
For me the ability to do:

A 3d display like 2AE.
Publish screens to a website like LVL3.
Create an animated .gif of a sequence of frames for web publishing as well.
Save all radar screens even taken during its use to specific dated directories and allow us to decide how many frames back are in the display loop.
An accurate google earth like topo background (accurate) would be nice.
Lightning data.
Basic Looks. Don't need bloatware.
Night Dimmer (or variable even better).
Storm Paths and time estimates.
Storm Reports.
SN

And any and all options should be able to be toggled on or off.
 
paulmarv said:
I do have a night mode feature, but all it does is dim the program. Is that what you guys mean or would you prefer some sort of contrast/true night vision system?
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Perhaps it isn't as bad with gr level 3, but many programs have a white background, and the color schemes can quite bright at night. For example what my GPS does well is it switches from a white background to a black background at night. Different color schemes can also be helpful. For example red color schemes have less of an impact on your night vision. This is because your eye is most sensitive to green, hence why a nebula or galaxy usually appears green to an eye through a telescope.
 
Some ideas and suggestions.

1) Force radar updates. I hate it when I lose my connection on gr level3 and have to wait for 1 minute. Having a way to make this update happen or the lack of having to wait would be nice.

2) Intergration with spotter network. Work with their group and allow for Point and click reporting. Allow the user to right click on a point on the map and download that point into the reporting tool to give more accurate reports and help prevent some of the reporting issues.

3) Not only have built in maps but if you could make it possible through the open map project (o have a one click map update.

4) Full screen mode

5) Notes section to allow for a person to leave notes with a radar snapshot.

6) Placefile support

Those are somethings off the top of my head. I like this idea a lot. Not that I don't like GRLevel 3 I would just love to see some enhancments. Above all else it needs to be workable on a normal computer and not require a graphic or memory powerhouse.
 
Robert Edmonds said:
Perhaps it isn't as bad with gr level 3, but many programs have a white background, and the color schemes can quite bright at night. For example what my GPS does well is it switches from a white background to a black background at night. Different color schemes can also be helpful. For example red color schemes have less of an impact on your night vision. This is because your eye is most sensitive to green, hence why a nebula or galaxy usually appears green to an eye through a telescope.
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I know what you mean. The program has a dark blue background for these reasons. Screenshot.
 
Just a couple of random thoughts from my Ham background:

1. Support for shapefiles. On top of the shapefiles discussed elsewhere for road support, I have a collection of Maidenhead grid square overlays in shapefile format that I overlay in Xastir. Makes it nice to use an unambiguous grid system with other Hams, assuming they know what a MH grid square is. I'm partial to Kenwood's and their D700 calculates the GS and sticks it on the display if you have a GPS connected.

2. Support for APRS connections on a TNC so I can feed heard positions on the air into the display. Plotting yourself (from the GPS) plus who's around you on APRS (heard OTA, if they're squawking) would be cool for situational awareness (who's around me and where are they, without tying up the air).

3. Support for APRS via the APRS-IS over a mobile broadband connection. If you wanted to get really sexy, you can get your own position from your connected GPS, figure out what the radius of the display is based on display zoom level, then submit a filter string to the APRS-IS connection to only send you the objects within that radius. Bonus points for filtering on object type, so I could say show me everything, only WX stations, etc. By letting the server do the work, you save bytes (good if you're not on Alltel) and cut down on the processing (tie the filter to what the display is zooming at and everything you get SHOULD be relavent).

This is quickly turning in to a GRLevelX, Xastir, <insert your own favorite here> mashup, but could be a very useful tactical display.

We run a local weather net of Davis stations squawking APRS on an alternate frequency here in the county (I gate it to the Internet for the local EMA). Are they perfect, no. Do we get a good idea when the front passed and it gets really windy on the west side of the county? Yes. Not perfect, but useful to know, and our FD spotters don't have to call in "it's windy here" without defining windy.

If I could mash that into GR2AE, I'd never leave the computer :)

EKG
 
Skip Talbot said:
As for Mac users... I believe a software application should be written for one platform, and written well. I've seen my fair share of cross platform applications that run like crap on every platform. Optimize it for one platform. Use the platform with the best graphics hardware support (Windows).
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That is an incredibly dated comment to make re the graphics hardware support and graphics performance in general. It's more about your knowledge of leveraging the API's than it is about the actual hardware. We aren't rendering deep fields at 90fps in our weather apps.

It's also dated to talk about the platform support. Building an application using something like the cider libraries allows for triple-platform support with minimal programming.

But it sounds like Mac is out so this is a moot point. The one thing to make it unique could have been that though and he was asking for things to make it unique.

I think the next differentiation points will be via more GIS integrations and using back-end infrastructure to deliver custom information and maps. I'm not sure how much more there is to do on the client without running into patent issues.
 
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