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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.
Mike Krzywonski
---------------Thanks, Scott.
David Draun
EF5
Are the dynamic placefiles supposed to update by themselves? I have recently applied the swody, watches, and mcd's place files from Jeff Snyder's page to GRLevel3 earlier this afternoon and they did not update with the SPC. Do I need to add or tweak something to make them update on time?
Someone please help me with that.
Someone please help me with that.
Jeff Snyder
EF5
David,
You add the URL / internet address. I think you downloaded each placefile to your own computer, then loaded the saved placefile. There is a line of code at the top of the placefile that tells GR3 (GR2 too) when to reload that file (e.g. reload every 10 minutes). If you downloaded the placefile to your computer ("save as..."), then GR3 will just reload that same saved file every xx minutes. If you enter the internet address / URL, GR3 will re-download that file every xx minutes, which is what you want to have happen.
I have a West Texas mesonet placefile that I should add to that my GRx Placefiles page... As of now, most of the WT mesonet sites are loaded with the TX Metars placefile, but the source I use doesn't always add the newest stations.
FWIW, I would also suggest the use of the Public National Spotter Network placefile --> http://www.spotternetwork.org/grlevelx.txt , which lets you track other chasers and spotters using the Spotter Network.
Last edited by a moderator:
Glenn Dixon
EF2
As a much cheaper alternative try GoogleEarth - $15 adds GPS capability - you can get all your data for free too, from NWS...
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/gis/kml/
Radar, satellite, surface obs, warnings, watches, spotter locations - if it has a KML file you can add it
It's sort of the indy/mashup alternative
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/gis/kml/
Radar, satellite, surface obs, warnings, watches, spotter locations - if it has a KML file you can add it
It's sort of the indy/mashup alternative
David Draun
EF5
Thanks Jeff, that worked! 
Those placefiles are really cool. Now if only lightning data was free.
Those placefiles are really cool. Now if only lightning data was free.
Jeff Snyder
EF5
Thanks Jeff, that worked!
Those placefiles are really cool. Now if only lightning data was free.
No prob. I have a lightning placefile set up, but I can't share it since it uses NLDN data that's under contract (with OU). If your university has access to NLDN data, you could set up your own lightning placefile (which would just use a shell script to decode and output the lightning data, and PHP or some other script language to properly format that data in a placefile).
To be more on topic to this thread -- I whole-heartedly suggest GR3. In addition to reasons given by others, I greatly appreciate being able to directly interact with the software developer. The GR users forum is a valuable resource... Oh yeah, you can't forget the relatively frequent updates that Mike so far has released free of charge (feature enhancements, possible bug fixes, etc.)
Patrick Marsh
EF5
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2006
- Messages
- 783
Hi David,
Your university may have access to a NLDN feed. If so, you can theoretically write a script in gempak to put the data in proper format to view in GR3 - for FREE.
Only catch is, you cannot share it with anyone who is not a student or you will be violating the user agreement.
Your university may have access to a NLDN feed. If so, you can theoretically write a script in gempak to put the data in proper format to view in GR3 - for FREE.
Only catch is, you cannot share it with anyone who is not a student or you will be violating the user agreement.
David Draun
EF5
Alas. I don't have GEMPAK, plus I think that's only for Linux. My university has access to NLDN data, but it is only available on the NIU domain. There is a lightning detector on campus, but it seems it is always off by like 50km or so. There could be a thunderstorm to the SW out of range, and the detector is picking up CGs from just a few kilometers south of here.
It would just be cool to add lightning data to my already loaded GRLevel3 add-on list. Thanks again Jeff.
Right now I have:
US Topo map background
SPC swody1
Mesoscale discussions
Watches
METARS for all 48 Continental States.
Advantage HD reflectivity color table
A nice logo that I quickly Photoshopped from one of my storm pics.
It would just be cool to add lightning data to my already loaded GRLevel3 add-on list. Thanks again Jeff.
Right now I have:
US Topo map background
SPC swody1
Mesoscale discussions
Watches
METARS for all 48 Continental States.
Advantage HD reflectivity color table
A nice logo that I quickly Photoshopped from one of my storm pics.
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