Whats the best radar program?

[Raymond Mason]

I was thinking of GrLevel3 for radar. It seems really good. (On a site note right now I guess there is a tornado in progress near Farmville by the KRAX dopler radar reported by there local fire department.)

 

[Matt Tottle]

Many of us use GR3. It's a fantastic program. You will also want to subscribe to a premium data service like AllisonHouse, because during high activity days the NWS servers get swamped and you could be waiting many minutes for updates to come through.

 

[John Fertsch]

ditto on what Matt just said

 

[Todd Rector]

Many times your platform (Apple/Mac, Android, Linux, Windows) will determine what software you can use. My personal experience has been (and I am sure others will argue, but..)

RADARSCOPE on an iPad is moderately powerful and very user-friendly. EASY integration with SpotterNetwork, easily/quickly switch between RDA's (radar sites) and can automatically switch you to the closest RDA when you are on the move. Full touch screen compatibility is a total win. Also, it's really cheap to buy - like $10.

PYKL3 RADAR on Android is awesome. I used it on my Android phone for several years (still have it installed) but haven't used it on an Android tablet. Very powerful, very flexible, has a bit of a learning curve but it's my personal favorite. Tap screen location to easily switch to the RDA closest to where you tapped is probably my favorite feature. Several screen "layers" allow you to quickly switch between customized views. Integrates with SpotterNetwork. Cheap. $10 or so.

GRLEVEL3 on Windows is fairly new to me. I currently use it on both a laptop and Microsoft Surface tablet with good results. It is extremely powerful and flexible, and I am just beginning to tap its featureset. It's easy to customize with freely available placefiles (think: customized colors, icons, mesonet data) and shapefiles (like adding street definitions to your background). Integrates with all sorts of things (imagine GPS highlighting your location against google satellite view with radar data overlayed - it's pretty awesome). My personal opinion after having used GR3 for a few months is that it is by far the most powerful, but has a learning curve and might be a little too much for people who don't want to take the time to learn it. I really wish it had the "tap to get closest RDA to your tap" feature like PYKL3. About $80, which is a pittance for the power it brings to the table.

The bottom line is, what platform are you on, what features are important to you, and how much time are you willing to invest in learning the product inside and out? I would chase with any of these three.

Best wishes,

TR

 

[Matt Tottle]

Yeah I have PYKL3 on my phone and tablet as well. It's definitely worth the $10 just to know it's always in my pocket.

And another reason to use AllisonHouse for your data feeds.. Aside from his 99.99% uptime reputation, you also get a lot of other useful data that can be overlaid into GR3 and PYKL3 (not sure about RadarScope, I don't have an iPad), which is NOT available from the regular NWS servers.. For example you can overlay watch boxes, SPC outlook bands, METARS station data, lightning strike data, etc. It's worth the $10 a month - even if you just pay for it during storm season.

 

[Raymond Mason]

Thanks guys! For grlevel3; if I have to get another computer can I just download it again? Or do I pay to pay again?

For the time being (without car or proper equipment to chase for scientific purposes) I am just using this at home on my PC. Also I am trying to learn how to use radar and storm data properly.

 

[Bob Schafer]

Thanks guys! For grlevel3; if I have to get another computer can I just download it again? Or do I pay to pay again?

For the time being (without car or proper equipment to chase for scientific purposes) I am just using this at home on my PC. Also I am trying to learn how to use radar and storm data properly.

You do not have to pay again, assuming you're only going to enable the software on the new computer. You should have (and use) your registration key from the first time you bought it. I went through that when my previous computer broke in 2011 and I switched to a new one. It was pretty painless. [edit] If you're currently using version 1.xx, you'll probably have to pay again, since there is a charge to upgrade to v2.

 

[Todd Rector]

aaaaand... I just subscribed to Allisonhouse for data. I noticed yesterday my regular data feed was having to constantly retry. Getting rid of that issue alone is worth the $10/month.

 

[Matt Tottle]

If you buy a single copy of GR3, per Mike Gibson you ARE allowed to install it on more than one computer that you own, ON THE CONDITION that both copies won't be in use at the same time. For example.. You can install it on your home computer and your laptop at the same time, but you can't allow someone else to run the program while you're out using the laptop copy on a chase. If you want to run both at the same time, you need to buy a second license.

And you can reinstall it any time you need to, just safeguard the email with your license key in it (archive it in Gmail and you'll never lose it). Even with version 1.x, you can still download it from the Owner's Forum. I am still running version 1 no problem. And FYI if you bought version 1.xx in 2011 or 2012, then you get a free upgrade to version 2.xx - details are in the "GRLevel3 V2.00 News" section of the Owner's Forum. That's why I'm still on version 1, I bought mine in 2010, lol!

 

[Todd Rector]

Ironically, I am trying to sign in to allisonhouse.com to start setting up my equipment and their website is slow and fraught with application errors. While I am certain issues will be resolved soon, it makes me laugh a little since I make a living keeping webservers and applications online for state government.

 

[Todd Rector]

GAH! AllisonHouse went completely offline! I am getting the dreaded "503" proxy error on their main website, meaning the backend webserver isn't servicing requests. I just checked GRL3 and NO DATA from AllisonHouse. Could they possibly have crashed from overuse today? How terrible for them!

 

[Matt Tottle]

Lol when else would they have an issue other than right after they had been recommended for their spectacular uptime record..

If they went down, it wasn't because of overload. Something had to have gone kablooey at the data center.

 

[Todd Rector]

Lol when else would they have an issue other than right after they had been recommended for their spectacular uptime record..

If they went down, it wasn't because of overload. Something had to have gone kablooey at the data center.

This from the AH_Status Twitter account yesterday: "Data should begin to come back.We will release a follow up in the next 24-48hrs. We will make sure this won't happen again. Our apologies."... Subsequently it appears their provider also had an outage compounding their own. I am still a happy subscriber, though, and appreciate the recommendation. I have already set up several of their placefiles in GR3.

TR

 

[Mark Blue]

They definitely had some issues yesterday per this: http://status.allisonhouse.com. It isn't very often that this happens, but it can and will on occasion no matter what they do to shore things up. I think Todd summed it up pretty well for the 3 most popular radar viewing programs.

 

[Raymond Mason]

Awesome! I think I will get GrLevel3 first then later I will get AllisonHouse. I have the latest trial version of Grlevel 3, very easy to understand. I gotta learn how to use Twister data as well. I look at the wind sheer numbers and my head spins.

I have a question; in meteorology what does mb represent exactly? like 300 mb Storm_relative wind.