Author Topic: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0  (Read 10781 times)

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Offline George Richardson

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questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« on: May 11, 2013, 03:06:39 PM »
A few questions about GRLevel3 v2.0

1) Anyone running this on Windows XP (without any problems)?

2) Are there add-ons that someone could/should get and what are the costs? I have seen "placefiles" and "Allison House" feeds mentioned.

3) Can this software be configured such that each time it is started, it shows the Base Reflectivity radar for a hundred mile radius from my location over the previous hour at 10 minute intervals?

Thanks for the education.

George

Offline DaculaWeather

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #1 on: May 11, 2013, 03:35:58 PM »
A few questions about GRLevel3 v2.0

1) Anyone running this on Windows XP (without any problems)? Yes

2) Are there add-ons that someone could/should get and what are the costs? I have seen "placefiles" and "Allison House" feeds mentioned. I pay $10/month for Allison House Feeds

3) Can this software be configured such that each time it is started, it shows the Base Reflectivity radar for a hundred mile radius from my location over the previous hour at 10 minute intervals? There currently isn't a way to set a zoom level and it will not go backwards in time to display images. It will start with the current image

Thanks for the education.

George

Offline Dr Obbins

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #2 on: May 11, 2013, 04:13:46 PM »
2) I don't pay any monthly fees for add-ons.
3a) One of the weaknesses of the software is that it does not remember zoom levels once shutdown and restarted. I use software called AutoIt to create a small program that zooms in and starts the upload automatically. Here is a short video of it in action. The program is controlling the mouse movements.
3b) The software does not "go back in time" so it can not show the previous 10 minutes from start up. However, once up and running, it can loop images.

Offline WeatherHost

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #3 on: May 11, 2013, 05:14:24 PM »
3b) The software does not "go back in time" so it can not show the previous 10 minutes from start up. However, once up and running, it can loop images.

I don't have V2, so unless there's a change from V1, that's not entirely true.

Once started, you can click the Archiver icon and it will pull in the previous 20 volume scans.  How much time that is in minutes varies on what the radar site is currently sending.



Offline DaculaWeather

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #4 on: May 11, 2013, 06:05:06 PM »
But it doesn't do that automatically when it loads.

Offline George Richardson

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #5 on: May 11, 2013, 06:18:41 PM »
Thanks Guys for the info, but don't stop now.

Steve, I am very impressed with your GRLevel4 page. If I decide to grab this thing, I'll probably want to steal borrow learn from your work there. From what has been said can I surmise that you have GR3 running 24/7 and if so, how frequently is it downloading? from AllisonHouse and how frequently are you FTPing? to your web site. You just have SO MUCH on that one page.

George

Offline Farmtalk

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #6 on: May 11, 2013, 11:15:19 PM »
A few questions about GRLevel3 v2.0

1) Anyone running this on Windows XP (without any problems)?

2) Are there add-ons that someone could/should get and what are the costs? I have seen "placefiles" and "Allison House" feeds mentioned.

3) Can this software be configured such that each time it is started, it shows the Base Reflectivity radar for a hundred mile radius from my location over the previous hour at 10 minute intervals?

Thanks for the education.

George


1) Yes, I used to use GR3 V2 on my old laptop, however the google earth background was slow loading on XP for me.

2) All of my placefiles that I use are free and include METARs, satellite, storm reports, convective outlooks/mesoscale discussions. But if you want items like lightning data, then Allisonhouse would be a good choice.

3) I have never gotten the zoom level "memorized" for the program, and I don't think it's possible right now. But I think that would be a good suggestion for Mike to add on a future release. I have never heard of getting the radar to set at a specific interval, but if you click the archive button, the radar loads QUICKLY loop imagery back to about 2 hours. Also, you can get ARCHIVED data dating back many many years very easily  :-)
Joe Fitzwater
Chief Meteorologist for WVNS-TV 59 in Beckley, WV

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Offline Maumelle Weather

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #7 on: May 12, 2013, 08:52:03 AM »
Hi George,

The download timing and ftp uploads are determined by the radar station in the mode it is operating in. If you look at the GR3 v.2 software itself, in the upper left hand corner you see the radar site ID, then below it you see VCP: with a number beside it.  This number is the mode the radar is operating in, therefore decides the update time. 

On my website, I am using GR3 version 1.92, uploading 24/7. The size of my pics are 610 wide by 474 high.  This is because of my uploading internet connection of 384Kb. I am only uploading 3 different windows from GR3 because of this, too.

John
GR2AE, GR3, Cumulus

Offline George Richardson

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2013, 06:35:04 PM »
Next Step.

Started the evaluation period yesterday. One major problem so far. I read instructions/help files word by word. There are no instructions/help files for this program.

First help request. I have a "KFT" scale on my display. How do  change that to "dbZ"?

Second, and enough for today; What are the "SMW", "FFW-7", "SVR-28", "TOR-1", "TORR" and "TORE" check boxes?

Thanks for the help.

George

Offline Maumelle Weather

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #9 on: May 21, 2013, 06:59:55 PM »
George,

Sounds like you need to change tables in order to the correct one up. To change the table on the left, click on "View, then on Color Table settings. This opens a box with a category listing of all the available products in GR3v2.

The "SMW", "FFW-7", "SVR-28", "TOR-1", "TORR" and "TORE" check boxes are the warning boxes that count how many warning of each are currently in effect.

SMW - Special Marine Warning
FFW - Flash Flood Warning
TOR - Tornado Warning
TORR - Confirmed Tornado on the ground
TORE - Tornado Emergency

John
GR2AE, GR3, Cumulus

Offline jmcmurry

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #10 on: May 21, 2013, 07:06:58 PM »
And here's the online user's guide http://www.grlevelx.com/manuals/grlevel3_2/index.htm which should help get you going.

- Jim

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Offline Farmtalk

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #11 on: May 21, 2013, 07:09:05 PM »
Hey George :-) These guys did a great job providing answers to your questions. If you have any more questions, feel free to pm me, and I'd be happy to help  :-)
Joe Fitzwater
Chief Meteorologist for WVNS-TV 59 in Beckley, WV

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Offline George Richardson

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #12 on: May 22, 2013, 11:03:43 AM »
Thanks everyone for the help. It pointed me in the right direction.

"I have a "KFT" scale on my display. How do  change that to "dbZ"?"
Answer: In the top menu, click "BR" then click "Base Reflectivity 0.5°"

"What are the "SMW", "FFW-7", "SVR-28", "TOR-1", "TORR" and "TORE" check boxes?" John's answer to my question is correct, however I was talking in "Old Man's Code" and the question actually was; What do the checks in the boxes do? Answer: Allow the appropriate warning "boxes" to display on the radar view.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: VCP:12 Volume Coverage Pattern with 12 indicating a full sweep takes 4 minutes. IF it takes 4 minutes for a full sweep, why does GR3 update as often as every minute?

Thanks again,

George

Offline DaculaWeather

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #13 on: May 22, 2013, 11:14:24 AM »
Where are you located George? The reason I ask is that there are different scan times based on the activity in your area.

Clear Air or Light Precipitation: VCP 31 and 32
Shallow Precipitation: VCP 21
Convection: VCP 11, 12, 121, 211, 212, and 221

The scan time can range from 4.5 minutes to 10.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEXRAD


Offline Farmtalk

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #14 on: May 22, 2013, 05:05:02 PM »
And here's the online user's guide http://www.grlevelx.com/manuals/grlevel3_2/index.htm which should help get you going.

- Jim

Nice link! I hadn't seen that before! 8-) And on a side note, did you make that color table for your radar?
Joe Fitzwater
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Offline DaculaWeather

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #15 on: May 22, 2013, 05:26:14 PM »
Thanks. Yes I did. I also just realized it wasn't uploading, corrected!

Offline George Richardson

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #16 on: May 22, 2013, 10:33:23 PM »
"Where are you located George?"

Steve,
I'm in Virginia, between Roanoke and Lynchburg on Smith Mountain Lake. My local radar is KFCX, Blacksburg.

George

Offline George Richardson

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #17 on: May 26, 2013, 08:12:41 AM »
Good Morning,

With your help, I am very pleased with my progress in the use of GRLevel3. I now have visions of moving on to putting Radar on my web site. I see me reading and absorbing all the information for this project, creating the web page, and not bothering you guys once. HA!

Help Please. I can't even get GRLevel3 to publish to my web site. Under File -> Publishing -> Start -> Output Settings: Location I put"ftp://WebSiteUserName:WebSitePassword@smlweather.com/grlevel3/" NOTE: When I preview this, "http://" is inserted in front of "ftp://" and I can't remove it.
Then OK and I get "InternetConnect failed"  220 (vsFTPd 2.3.4)  331 Please specify the password.  530 Login incorrect.   Error = 12014

Not a very auspicious start (but not surprising considering my history)

TIA for any suggestions.

George

As a PS. I just found on GRLevelX Trial Support Forum "Make sure to URL escape any special characters in your username and password." I do have "%" in my username. How do I "URL escape" that?
« Last Edit: May 26, 2013, 08:29:21 AM by George Richardson »

Offline jmcmurry

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #18 on: May 26, 2013, 08:45:52 AM »
As a PS. I just found on GRLevelX Trial Support Forum "Make sure to URL escape any special characters in your username and password." I do have "%" in my username. How do I "URL escape" that?

George,

Usually that's a backslash, maybe try "\%" and see if that works?

- Jim
« Last Edit: May 26, 2013, 09:03:54 AM by jmcmurry »

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Offline DaculaWeather

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #19 on: May 26, 2013, 08:55:43 AM »
This is mine:
//LOGIN_NAME:PASSWORD@daculaweather.com/daculaweather.com/grlevel4/

EDIT: corrected
« Last Edit: May 26, 2013, 08:58:50 AM by DaculaWeather »

Offline jmcmurry

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #20 on: May 26, 2013, 08:57:24 AM »
George,

I just found this

"Because the percent ("%") character serves as the indicator for percent-encoded octets, it must be percent-encoded as "%25" for that octet to be used as data within a URI."

I don't think my previous backslash suggestion was correct.

- Jim

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Offline DaculaWeather

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #21 on: May 26, 2013, 09:00:42 AM »
Never ever use spaces in any link/login on the internet, it will screw you up everytime. If you need a space, use an underscore.

Offline jmcmurry

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #22 on: May 26, 2013, 09:02:46 AM »
George,

And I found this by Mike in the GR forum

Quote
The escaped chars in FTP url needs a little explaining. In order to include a troublesome character in the FTP Location, some users will need to "escape" the character into its hex value. You can find the hex value by using Windows "charmap" applet. Start charmap then click on the character in the grid. At the bottom you'll see something like "U+0078". The "78" part is the hex code. To include that in your publishing Location, stick a "%" in front of the hex code, e.g. "%78".

Mike

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Offline George Richardson

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #23 on: May 26, 2013, 09:05:41 AM »
Thanks Jim.

Found that replace % with %25 does the trick. Still not completely correct. Error Message:  FtpSetCurrentDirectory failed :  550 Failed to change directory.  Error = 12003

Instructions: FTP format: //username:password@server.com/directory

I have: //username:password@smlweather.com/grlevel3/

The Saga continues

George

CHANGED it to:  //username:password@smlweather.com/smlweather.com/grlevel3/

Still doesn't work.
« Last Edit: May 26, 2013, 09:23:51 AM by George Richardson »

Offline jmcmurry

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Re: questions about GRLevel3 v2.0
« Reply #24 on: May 26, 2013, 09:08:51 AM »
George,

I think you need to remove that final slash after grlevel3.

- Jim

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