Radar alternatives

[John Farley]

After several years of using primarily GRLevel3, I need to find an alternative. Apparently there is some odd compatibility problem between Internet Explorer 11 (ie11) and GRL3 such that if you have ie11 installed on your computer, you get an intermittent inability to download the radar data. Other than the fact there is some kind of incompatibility between ie11 and GRL3 I don't know why this happens and moreover DON'T CARE. I just want something that reliably works.

This problem arose when I replaced my old laptop with a new one that runs Windows 8.1 Update 1, and downloaded the newest version of GRL3. Worked fine for a while, then stopped on many radar sites. I am given to understand from several sources that the problem is that GRL3 does not work properly with ie11. For a variety of reasons, I am not going to uninstall ie11, so please don't anyone suggest that. What I need is to find some source of radar, either Web-based or standalone software, that will give me the radar I need in the field. My still keep GRL3 on my home computer since it works fine there, but need something new on my laptop. I am kind of leaning toward Weathertap, which I used to use before switching to GRL3. What is most important to me is something that is current, automatically updates whenever the radar does, and includes warning polygons. Is there some alternative to Weathertap that I am overlooking? I did try Storm Predator but the image was too small and I could not get the full-screen function to work, so I think I need something other than that.

Any suggestions on alternative sources of radar for laptop use would be appreciated.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

Sorry, couldn't resist lol.

 

[Todd Rector]

If only PYKL3 http://www.pykl3radar.com/ worked on Windows...

I am using a Microsoft Surface Pro with Windows 8.1 Pro, GRL3 v2.15, IE11 version 11.0.9600.17105 this year, and after about 5 hours of pre-chase testing and approximately 20 hours of actual chasing, I have had absolutely zero issues acquiring data from either NWS default or AllisonHouse.

I am curious: Are you getting any error messages? Why are you so sure it's IE11 causing the issue?

If you have a documented, reproducible conflict between GRL3 and IE11, I am sure the developers at Gibson Ridge would like to know. Have you email them for technical support?

TR

 

[rdale]

There's an issue with IE11 that causes GR3 FTP uploads to occasionally glitch. But I don't know of any info about it causing ingest issues (or he'd have MANY complaints )

 

[Todd Rector]

FTP is such a sad, outdated protocol.

Makes me wonder if the GRL3 client software tries to use active FTP rather than passive. Passive works better with strict firewalled environments. Maybe I should send them a resume' and offer my consulting services?

TR

 

[rdale]

FTP was something he added on back in the day, and regrets ever doing because all it does is cause people to complain because it's such an outdated protocol but it's so widespread. My guess is that it'd disappear if there weren't so many relying on it (and honestly back when mobile data didn't exist, this sort of thing had some value. Not now.)

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

After several years of using primarily GRLevel3, I need to find an alternative. Apparently there is some odd compatibility problem between Internet Explorer 11 (ie11) and GRL3 such that if you have ie11 installed on your computer, you get an intermittent inability to download the radar data. Other than the fact there is some kind of incompatibility between ie11 and GRL3 I don't know why this happens and moreover DON'T CARE. I just want something that reliably works.

This problem arose when I replaced my old laptop with a new one that runs Windows 8.1 Update 1, and downloaded the newest version of GRL3. Worked fine for a while, then stopped on many radar sites. I am given to understand from several sources that the problem is that GRL3 does not work properly with ie11. For a variety of reasons, I am not going to uninstall ie11, so please don't anyone suggest that. What I need is to find some source of radar, either Web-based or standalone software, that will give me the radar I need in the field. My still keep GRL3 on my home computer since it works fine there, but need something new on my laptop. I am kind of leaning toward Weathertap, which I used to use before switching to GRL3. What is most important to me is something that is current, automatically updates whenever the radar does, and includes warning polygons. Is there some alternative to Weathertap that I am overlooking? I did try Storm Predator but the image was too small and I could not get the full-screen function to work, so I think I need something other than that.

Any suggestions on alternative sources of radar for laptop use would be appreciated.

uninstall IE11, use firefox or chrome...problem solved? too easy

 

[Todd Rector]

Okay, now I feel a little guilty for dissing on FTP and GRL3. I don't know any of the back story, I am only speaking from a current consumer aspect.

I *love* GRL3, but I would like to see them put some effort into updating their website for better usability, as well as make their product more "tablet friendly" as I see the future for storm chasers moving away from laptops and more toward touch-screen tablets. Again, I love their product - I just see a lot of room for improvement.

TR

 

[Todd Rector]

Installing Firefox seems to be the obvious answer, except the original post said removing IE11 wasn't an option - so adding Firefox (which doesn't remove IE11) would not be a viable solution and (presumably) would not fix the problem at hand.

FYI: I am a HUGE open-source advocate and use Linux/Firefox myself so I am strongly biased in that direction. That being said, I believe the root of the problem is one of two things:

1. The end user is experiencing a local computing environment anomaly which does not affect most GRL3 users;
2. GRL3 has a bug which needs to be addressed.

It's hard to have sympathy for functional issues if Gibson Ridge hasn't been notified and been given the opportunity to respond.

TR

 

[John Farley]

Todd, I DID notify Gibson Ridge and pretty much was told it was an Internet Explorer issue. It's no secret, GR is aware of it and from looking at their support board has had a fair number of reports about it. Seems to me like Gibson Ridge wants to blame it on ie and Microsoft doesn't much care. I do use Google Chrome also, but as I said do not want to uninstall ie11; there are some sites I use that it works better with, and I do not want to create other internet issues by uninstalling it when it is integrated with much in the Windows 8 OS.

What I am getting is pretty much what Rob describes above except that the glitches are usual and working correctly is what is intermittent. What usually happens is that it just keeps saying it will attempt to reload in 60 seconds or 2 minutes, but it never loads the radar successfully.

What would be helpful to me would be suggestions for what alternative radar sites people have had good experience with. I know there are apps for Android and i-Phone, and I may well use some of the i-Phone apps, but I really prefer the larger display I can get on my laptop so I would like suggestions for other radar sources for laptops.

 

[rdale]

I *love* GRL3, but I would like to see them put some effort into updating their website for better usability, as well as make their product more "tablet friendly"

You mean the MR3 for Windows tablets software he released about a year ago?

 

[rdale]

Todd, I DID notify Gibson Ridge and pretty much was told it was an Internet Explorer issue.

John - I see your post in a thread about FTP upload issues. I do not see a separate bug report for data download issues.

I reiterate - I am using Windows 8.1 with IE11 and am having no issues downloading. I do not do FTP uploads so cannot comment on that but believe the IE11 bug is causing an issue there. However no problems downloading.

It's no secret, GR is aware of it and from looking at their support board has had a fair number of reports about it.

Actually no, when you do a search on IE11 at the forum I'm only finding issues reported about the FTP upload. I'd suggest using the form for issue reporting and post an issue report.

PS the reason you aren't hearing alternatives to Gr3 that are nearly as good as GR3 isn't because people aren't seeing this thread. Good alternatives don't exist.

 

[Todd Rector]

I wish I could offer a good alternative that runs under Windows, but I have no experience with anything there. I installed RadarScope on my fiancee's iPad, and chased with it earlier this month with good results. It's not nearly as powerful or customizable as GRL3, but it's a decent (and cheap - $10) program for the IOS platform (it will run on your iphone as well).

I have an Android tablet (Galaxy Note 10.1) running PYKL3 Radar, and also have PYKL3 running on my Android phone. It's a good mid-range program that is customizable and powerful. The most notable features I like is its ability to automatically choose the closest radar to your location, center on you if your speed is over 25mph, and all you have to do to switch to another RDA is tap the screen near what you want to look at - it will tell you the closest radar to that location and you can then select it. MUCH easier than trying to figure out what radar site is closest then choose it from a dropdown list while you are bouncing down the road.

TR

 

[Todd Rector]

You mean the MR3 for Windows tablets software he released about a year ago?

What? Huh? MR3... I will definitely have to look for that, as I knew nothing about it - thanks for the tip!

 

[rdale]

http://www.grlevelx.com/mrlevel3/