Nathan Parker
EF1
My PC died earlier this year, so I’m running Mac-only (plus iPhone Pro and an iPad mini) at the moment. I’m currently on an iMac Pro. My next major computer purchase will be an Apple Silicon Mac, probably next year.
Right now, I’m using a combination of RadarScope (just the app, not Pro) with the AllisonHouse Chaser package, plus the web-based version of Baron Threat Net (not the XM satellite version), as my two main storm-tracking apps (Baron for street-level Level II and their data, AllisonHouse for another rock-solid radar feed in RadarScope).
I’m trying to decide if I want to “supplement” RadarScope with another app, or just keep going with my RadarScope+AllisonHouse+Baron workflow.
I tried RadarOmega for Mac (since it can integrate with AllisonHouse) a while back, and it seemed a little rough around the edges. I found RadarScope to be more solid on the Mac.
WeatherWall for Mac seems about dead.
I tried AllisonHouse Maps for about a month, but I didn’t see myself heavily using it for storm-tracking. It was useful for some CONUS data, but I don’t use all the datasets in it during intense severe weather events.
I took a trial of WeatherTap, but it just seems “cheap” to me and not the quality as some higher-priced tools.
I’ve thought about trying AWIPSII with the AllisonHouse feed (since I like the folks at AllisonHouse), but I am running Monterey 12.5.1, so I’d have to finagle Python 2 support on it, plus my iMac Pro has an AMD card on it, so those are two strikes against it. I also don’t know if AWIPSII would be that useful for storm tracking since it’s more of a forecasting suite.
I don’t want to run a Windows VM on my iMac Pro I did it a while back, and graphics performance on the VM's drivers weren’t great. I also just don’t want to mess with Windows updates, Windows 10 or even Windows 11 on a VM just to run a handful of apps. Plus when I move to an Apple Silicon Mac, while there are hacks to get the ARM version of Windows running in a VM, I’m not in the mood to do that either.
I had considered purchasing a new Windows PC down the road, but it looks like I’ll need to be Mac-only for the foreseeable future with both my current and future potential jobs.
I have a license to CrossOver Mac, plus CrossOver Mac can run on Apple Silicon Macs using Rosetta 2 for now (when Apple pulls support for Rosetta 2, that might be an issue). I have successfully pulled off running GR2Analyst without issues in CrossOver for Linux, and I have successfully pulled off running GRLevel3 in CrossOver for Linux (with the exception of auto-updating since I had to get CrossOver support to build me a custom launcher using an UTC offset). This would open the door if I ever wanted to use GREarth again as well (although I’m not sure I’d use all the data in it as well for everyday storm tracking).
So is it worth my time to look into one of these additional options, or should I stick with what I’m doing now since everything “just works”?
I’m completely off of social media, so I no longer need to share the graphics on social media (I do occasionally blog on the WeatherTogether blog and post screenshots there). I have a General-class HAM license now (N5PKR), and I plan to get more involved in using my HAM license in the community during severe weather (weather nets, etc.). I don’t chase in the field, and since I have a desktop computer, just running radar on my desktop works there (plus I have RadarScope and Baron Threat Net work on my iPhone and iPad).
Thanks!
Right now, I’m using a combination of RadarScope (just the app, not Pro) with the AllisonHouse Chaser package, plus the web-based version of Baron Threat Net (not the XM satellite version), as my two main storm-tracking apps (Baron for street-level Level II and their data, AllisonHouse for another rock-solid radar feed in RadarScope).
I’m trying to decide if I want to “supplement” RadarScope with another app, or just keep going with my RadarScope+AllisonHouse+Baron workflow.
I tried RadarOmega for Mac (since it can integrate with AllisonHouse) a while back, and it seemed a little rough around the edges. I found RadarScope to be more solid on the Mac.
WeatherWall for Mac seems about dead.
I tried AllisonHouse Maps for about a month, but I didn’t see myself heavily using it for storm-tracking. It was useful for some CONUS data, but I don’t use all the datasets in it during intense severe weather events.
I took a trial of WeatherTap, but it just seems “cheap” to me and not the quality as some higher-priced tools.
I’ve thought about trying AWIPSII with the AllisonHouse feed (since I like the folks at AllisonHouse), but I am running Monterey 12.5.1, so I’d have to finagle Python 2 support on it, plus my iMac Pro has an AMD card on it, so those are two strikes against it. I also don’t know if AWIPSII would be that useful for storm tracking since it’s more of a forecasting suite.
I don’t want to run a Windows VM on my iMac Pro I did it a while back, and graphics performance on the VM's drivers weren’t great. I also just don’t want to mess with Windows updates, Windows 10 or even Windows 11 on a VM just to run a handful of apps. Plus when I move to an Apple Silicon Mac, while there are hacks to get the ARM version of Windows running in a VM, I’m not in the mood to do that either.
I had considered purchasing a new Windows PC down the road, but it looks like I’ll need to be Mac-only for the foreseeable future with both my current and future potential jobs.
I have a license to CrossOver Mac, plus CrossOver Mac can run on Apple Silicon Macs using Rosetta 2 for now (when Apple pulls support for Rosetta 2, that might be an issue). I have successfully pulled off running GR2Analyst without issues in CrossOver for Linux, and I have successfully pulled off running GRLevel3 in CrossOver for Linux (with the exception of auto-updating since I had to get CrossOver support to build me a custom launcher using an UTC offset). This would open the door if I ever wanted to use GREarth again as well (although I’m not sure I’d use all the data in it as well for everyday storm tracking).
So is it worth my time to look into one of these additional options, or should I stick with what I’m doing now since everything “just works”?
I’m completely off of social media, so I no longer need to share the graphics on social media (I do occasionally blog on the WeatherTogether blog and post screenshots there). I have a General-class HAM license now (N5PKR), and I plan to get more involved in using my HAM license in the community during severe weather (weather nets, etc.). I don’t chase in the field, and since I have a desktop computer, just running radar on my desktop works there (plus I have RadarScope and Baron Threat Net work on my iPhone and iPad).
Thanks!
