Using Allisonhouse for GR3 rather than just the internet?

[Andrew Clope]

This may be a dumb question, but I've been playing with GR3 for about 3 months now on my desk computer at home and laptop and I planned on just taking the laptop and GR3 out with me when I went chasing. However, I see that some people recommend using a separate company like Allisonhouse @ $10 a month as opposed to just the standard internet version... Is there a reason why?

 

[Skip Talbot]

A lot of people use Allisonhouse for the placefiles you get with it, especially the lightning data. I don't use their lightning data much, but I've found the visible satellite and metars placefiles extremely handy. You can get free versions of these, but I find the Allisonhouse versions a little cleaner and higher quality.

The other big advantage is the data reliability. On a big high risk day, the public FTP can get bogged down. Then you'd need Allisonhouse in order to get your scans. I haven't seen this happen in ahwile, so maybe it's not much of an issue anymore?

$10 for data reliability and a plethora of placefiles all in one location? That's the cost of one lunch stop on a chase. It's a good deal.

 

[Andrew Clope]

Skip, Can you give a quick rundown on what placefiles are? I will google also, but find that some of the info out there can be kind of confusing/sketchy.

Also, if you have allisonhouse, does it automatically draw the data into GR3, or do I need to import somehow?

 

[mikedeason]

Ditto what Skip said.

During the last severe weather outbreak, I was using the NWS server for a while to access data which was sometimes 15-20 minutes late. That's worthless in an ongoing severe weather event.

To be honest, I usually subscribe to Allisonhouse for a few months at a time during those times of year we can usually expect active weather here in the Southeast.

 

[Andrew Clope]

So, when I am just running GR3 off of the standard internet I am using the NWS as the server?

 

[Mark Blue]

Yes. You're using the term standard internet, but what you're really asking is where is the data coming from. You can change this option in the "Configure Polling" menu, unless something changed in GRL3 version 2. I still use version 1.

 

[John Fertsch]

yup, Refresh rates could be bottled up n not the latest n greatest when you need it the most.

When and if you get a subscription to Allison House, They will provide you directions on how to set up your place files. It's really not hard to set them up. Bunch of copy n paste the custom links for your integrations.

I no longer have to jump around to several different sites to get everything that I want on one program. I highly recommend it. I hardly see retrying when i'm watching my areas radar. It truly is worth it.

 

[Andrew Clope]

Thanks so much for the info guys!!

 

[Jeff Hawkins]

...To be honest, I usually subscribe to Allisonhouse for a few months at a time during those times of year we can usually expect active weather here in the Southeast.

I do the same...or when an event warrants it. And I believe Allisonhouse encourages and expects that type of usage by storm chasers. I recall Tyler Allison saying basically that he encourages use of the service during "season" or whenever you want it, and unsubscribe when you don't. That's why they make it a monthly billing setup with no contract. I like it that way personally. I would however, like them to update the frontal boundaries more often. I think they do it every 6 hours according to the NAM. I could be wrong on that.

 

[Tyler Allison]

There's no issue if you stop/start your subscription. Up to you. We'll be here

 

[Rob H]

Or be like me and forget to turn it off and don't use it for several months. You're welcome, Tyler!

 

[Bob Schafer]

I keep my AH subscription going non-stop year-round because it seems there are always a few days out of almost every month that I want to use it. Of course, from June to December there is the possibility of hurricanes, and there are great placefiles for that. There are storms in the fall. In January and February my parents are in S Alabama, and there are always storms down there that time of year. Etc. Anyway, you get the point!