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radar opinion

  • Thread starter Thread starter jeremy wilson
  • Start date Start date

jeremy wilson

ok, fixing to spend some big bucks on some chase gear and need you yahoos opinion. first of all radar software. been looking at baron, stormlab, gr and all The other usual suspects. i wanna hear your success and horror stories about all of em. thanks fellow SDS sufferers.
 
GR along with Sprint for data since you live in OK. There is a huge data gap over Western OK with Verizon's data coverage.
 
Also if you're looking to spend big bucks, look into a cell signal amplifier. Great investment.
 
I use GR as well, but with ATT's mobile broadband, with a cheap 20$ antenna from a Love's truck stop! I've been into all of western OK, TX panhandle and southern Kansas, with only having VERY minimal drops in coverage. As far as horror stories goes, don't really have any. I bought my aircard outright (paid like 350$ bucks) which allows me to have a month to month contract with ATT. Pretty nice, one phone call for me gets the card, turned back on/off whenever I need. No having to go by the store and hassle with the geek squad! :cool:
Biggest horror story hear, would be tryin to come up with a believable excuse to leave work early and chase!!!:D
 
As far as radar, GR was what was reccomended, and I've used that the last 2 seasons with good results. I added in AllisonHouse for the data feed and had no problems with dropped data that the NWS feed was having last year. Well worth the $10/month.


Mark Sefried said:
GR along with Sprint for data since you live in OK. There is a huge data gap over Western OK with Verizon's data coverage.
Click to expand...

I discovered that gap with Verizon last year the hard way...driving 500 miles through OK w/o any data :(:(:(

But Verizon kicks Sprint's you know what in NE, SD, IA, and CO, so I can see having Sprint as a backup, but I'll still use Verizon as my primary.

Donovan Gruner said:
"Also if you're looking to spend big bucks, look into a cell signal amplifier. Great investment. "

I did this as well, and honestly feel it was NOT money well spent. My Verizon data signal was only minimally improved, or the same, or in quite a few cases actually *worse* with it than without. (Yes, it was setup exactly as instructed too, and all the usual technical problems that could account for it were checked and ruled out).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
you guys rock. thank you. i've used sprint, at&t for data over The years. depends on where your at but they both have their ups and downs. and we were leaning towards GR.
 
You might want to look into Virgin for mobile data. They use the Sprint network and offer a truly amazing deal: no contract mobile phone service starts at $25.00 a month for 300 anytime minutes, or $40 for 1200 minutes, plus unlimited 3G data tethering to your phone as a modem. It's a prepaid plan, but if you maintain continuity from month to the next, they roll over any unused mintues. My girlfriend, who is a geek to the 10th power, researched it and absolutely loves it. She's got me convinced, and I'll be switching as soon as I can afford to purchase a new phone--and the Virgin phones are quite affordable.

I own my own Verizon USB, and I'll still definitely still use it during storm chasing season for the coverage, but otherwise, I'll be going with Virgin prepaid in the near future.

On other fronts: GR with the Allisonhouse feed gets my vote. I also love F5 Data. It's a fantastic forecasting tool, and via Allisonhouse, you can customize up to 6 F5 mesoanlysis profiles and display them on GR to see what kind of environment storms are moving into and out of.
 
Hey Jeremy. You wouldn't happen to drive an Xterra would you?

I use GR3, and its incredible. Price aint bad either.

I've been using Verizon for data, but as stated, that MASSIVE hole in western Oklahoma is insane. I'm looking into switching to Sprint for next season because I'm based in Dallas.

I'm running a Rockies amp along with a super trucker 9db gain antenna, and there is a big difference after adding that to my setup.

Its funny....The biggest hassle I've had with my setup turned out to be power inverters. Even when I would buy two of the same make and model, my GPS would NOT work with one of them, but fine with the other. Then, with a different set of inverters I would have one interfere with my Cell signal. Then, one overheats.....UGH. I finally have it worked out, but it was a hassle I was not expecting. And....I carry a spare brand new one with me (3 total).
 
Does anyone really use WX Works anymore? It is really good as a backup when you get into those situations when no cellular coverage at all. I have cell booster with Sprint and there have been times when no signal but Baron's is always available as backup!
 
What are all you guys talking about? Everyone seems to dog ATT coverage here in Oklahoma i have been few places in central,southern,northern Oklahoma and the data was good Mostly 3G. by the way May 10 i used my Iphone 3g and tracked the crazy Drapper Lake tornado just east of Moore OK. What turned out to be EF4 nearly ran me over. This spring im using my newly purchased IPAD 3G with Radar Scope. Im just a causual chaser and i try to do things cheap. By the way i only chase central,southern, and northern Oklahoma
 
bradjones said:
What are all you guys talking about? Everyone seems to dog ATT coverage here in Oklahoma i have been few places in central,southern,northern Oklahoma and the data was good Mostly 3G. by the way May 10 i used my Iphone 3g and tracked the crazy Drapper Lake tornado just east of Moore OK. What turned out to be EF4 nearly ran me over. This spring im using my newly purchased IPAD 3G with Radar Scope. Im just a causual chaser and i try to do things cheap. By the way i only chase central,southern, and northern Oklahoma
Click to expand...

AT&T might be good for certain areas, but Sprint seems to be the best deal for the average chaser that may chase in multiple states. I've used Sprint data for 3 years now and I have nothing but good things to say about it.
 
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