Messages

16

News and Updates / Re: Weatherscan has been on hiatus, but is coming back!

« on: September 30, 2017, 08:36:49 PM »

Nice collection of new themes! I like those pictures too. A couple of other questions to ask:

1. I know the Halloween theme was unofficial to the real WeatherScan XL back in 2000-03 since it didn't even mention in the official manual, but will they'll still be other holiday-related themes (like Christmas, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, etc.)?

2. Will the original backgrounds from the official neighborhood and city themes that were taken from the actual screen captures of the real WeatherScan XL will still be there?

Also, just out of curiosity from what I found on YouTube from fellow user LocalForecast (and also previously here on TWCClassics/Today) for the real WeatherScan XL, these were some of the official dessert theme backgrounds.

This last picture by the way was the real severe weather bulletin message feature that looked a lot different than the one the simulator had.

1. Other themes can be created, these are the ones that I created up to this point. Since I already created the templates, I just need the (royalty-free) photography to use with them.
2. They are still included, but labeled as Legacy in the configuration interface.
3. The Desert theme from the video is too grainy to recover any usable backdrop. I created a new one.
4. Severe Bulletin slide can be changed, however in practice it works differently in my Emulator than the way the TWC Weatherscan displayed these.

Thanks for letting me know. I've been good with Photoshop before, but unfortunately for the original official desert backgrounds, it's hard for me to airbrush those unwanted text and icons from these photos (especially for that first one which has an ad crawl overlapping the original Current Conditions background image and since this was likely recorded in SLP mode on VHS with some dirty video heads and possibly from an RF hookup from the cable box).

The bulletin one on the other hand, was from TWCClassics and also in higher quality (likely from a DVD recording recorded from an S-Video hookup on the cable box and in SP mode). It's possible that the layout on the bulletin feature could be changed to make it look more like the real thing. I'm also curious to see what website these loyalty-free pictures originated from.

17

News and Updates / Re: Weatherscan has been on hiatus, but is coming back!

« on: September 30, 2017, 04:13:58 PM »

Updates.. Two maps have been added to the Airport package to show ConUS airport delays and impacts. Still testing the Alert bulletin crawl, which seems to be behaving quite well. New Themes!! Among the classic "Neighborhood", "UrbanCity" and Halloween (has been touched-up), the following new ones have been added: Desert, Forest, Halloween, Mountains, and UrbanCity.

Please refer to the attached image to see what this looks like!!!

Nice collection of new themes! I like those pictures too. A couple of other questions to ask:

1. I know the Halloween theme was unofficial to the real WeatherScan XL back in 2000-03 since it didn't even mention in the official manual, but will they'll still be other holiday-related themes (like Christmas, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, etc.)?

2. Will the original backgrounds from the official neighborhood and city themes that were taken from the actual screen captures of the real WeatherScan XL will still be there?

Also, just out of curiosity from what I found on YouTube from fellow user LocalForecast (and also previously here on TWCClassics/Today) for the real WeatherScan XL, these were some of the official dessert theme backgrounds.

This last picture by the way was the real severe weather bulletin message feature that looked a lot different than the one the simulator had.

18

TWC Fan Art / Re: weatherfan_2013's TWC Fan Art

« on: September 27, 2017, 08:33:18 PM »

Beautiful classic style weather.com maps. I miss those old weather.com maps back in the early 2000s.

19

News and Updates / Re: Weatherscan has been on hiatus, but is coming back!

« on: September 19, 2017, 08:59:18 PM »

Hey folks! Update since the last time I posted, I have been able to bring the Bulletin Crawl into full operation inside the Emulator. The principle of how it works is extremely basic:

On the server end, when a message is received from the NWS, we update a file specific to the WFO of your local office who issued the message.

On the client end, every minute, the Emulator will poll the server to check the latest message from your WFO. At that point, if the file is new, the Emulator will challenge that message with your Zone or County code. If your Zone or County is found to be inside this message, it will present the emulator with this text, and ONLY the text pertaining to your Zone or County. Once this has been received by the Emulator, it will then scroll across the bottom of the screen for a pre-determined length of time. (At this moment, it is set for 10 minutes but I may change this to 15.)

Currently, I am testing this to make sure it works properly. Through testing, I have fixed a few bugs along the way, but this system appears to be working.

At the present moment, I am hosting a YouTube Live running the Emulator over Puerto Rico, and if there is a Bulletin issued, you will see it crawl across the bottom of the screen. Tune in at http://youtube.com/cc17926 ..

That's cool to hear! I've even noticed that from your latest stream during Hurricane Maria. Just out of curiosity, does the severe weather crawl kind of uses the same source code like what the WeatherSTAR 4000 v3 simulator uses?

One other thing that I have here is that I happen to have the official WeatherScan XL manual that's from around 2000 (I found it from the former TWC WeatherSTAR support website from the Internet Archive since the website no longer exists anymore, but still manage to find the official WeatherScan XL manual). I've also found some additional WeatherScan XL-related press releases from around 2000-01.

What's even interesting about the official manual is that the real WeatherScan XL back then also had Garden Forecasts, Golf Forecasts, Fall Foliage (something which the previous version of the emulator once had), Health, International Forecast, Spanish Forecasts, Skiing Forecast, and a Travel Forecasts feature. It even mentions in the manual that the main local forecast segment also apparently had different flavors (they had a "Core-Package" which is something that the emulator previously had and a "Mini-Core Package", which only has some features of the local forecast segment).

Lastly, the manual also mentions that there were not only the "Neighborhood" and "City" themes, but also a "Desert" theme, a "Forest" theme, a "Mountain East" theme, a "Mountain West" theme, a "Ocean East" theme, and lastly, a "Ocean West" theme.

So I wonder if it's possible to get some of the data from any of the other official features mentioned in the official WeatherScan XL manual?

20

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: September 13, 2017, 01:53:13 AM »

With Tropical Depression Irma now dissipated, TWC has gone back to their regularly scheduled boring reality shows and documentaries. I think their coverage wrapped up at 8:00 PM ET. With the nearly two consecutive week "marathon" of watching live weather coverage on TWC coming to an end since start of the solar eclipse coverage, I really miss the days that even on a slower weather-related news day, TWC used to always care about forecasts 24/7. Heck, I even miss Evening Edition and Overnight Outlook being on every night. All I ever watch on TWC these days are AMHQ, WeatherCenter Live, WeatherUnderground, and Weekend Recharge and whenever a major storm is going on. Whenever the reality shows comes on TWC, I always change the channel. It's kind of sad how much things have changed at TWC.

I hope everyone in Florida has stayed safe from Irma.

21

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: September 06, 2017, 10:48:46 PM »

This is probably the most coverage of TWC I've ever watched for the first time in years! First the solar eclipse on August 21, then Hurricane Harvey from August 24-September 1, now Hurricane Irma since at least Monday. I think the last time I watched TWC on consecutive days was probably "Winter Storm Jonas™" the January 2016 East Coast Blizzard. Now if only TWC would permanently ditch the long-form programing on a slow weather day.

I just hope every reporter on TWC and also on all other networks stay safe from Irma. This storm is probably even worse than Harvey.

22

News and Updates / Re: Weatherscan has been on hiatus, but is coming back!

« on: August 27, 2017, 10:21:42 PM »

Thanks for steaming your WeatherScan XL simulator. I've been enjoying your WeatherScan XL streams during Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey (including the NOAA Weather Radio streams). Just one quick question, is the new version still in development? Since last year or so, I've recently had trouble getting my WeatherScan XL simulator to work (I already had a cine account).

23

TWC Fan Art / Re: weatherfan_2013's TWC Fan Art

« on: July 15, 2017, 06:12:57 PM »

Nice job on the banners and the XL! I've always wanted to see a simulation of older style TWC maps with live weather data.

24

TWC Fan Art / Re: weatherfan_2013's TWC Fan Art

« on: June 27, 2017, 09:40:10 PM »

Something I've been working on. Very complicated process to get this done.

Nice maps! You did a great job!

25

Local Forecast / Re: TWC Songs you've heard in other places

« on: June 26, 2017, 08:52:24 PM »

I've just heard another classic TWC Local Forecast tune from a recent FreewayJim video. "Summer Sky" by Shakatak (May 1985 playlist) is featured in the Tampa freeway tour (starts at 6:46 at the Selmon Expressway part).

https://youtu.be/e0m621Q8FHg?t=6m46s

26

Local Forecast / Re: TWC Songs you've heard in other places

« on: June 13, 2017, 05:42:30 PM »

Sorry to bump yet again, but yet another TWC song that I've heard elsewhere recently came from another one of VWestlife's recent videos. He demonstrates an old Pioneer CT-W616DR cassette deck and the cassette that he featured came from yet another cassette album called "CD 101.9 - Today's Smooth Jazz" (again, doesn't specifically mention what radio station and media market it originally came from or what the exact volume it was since I originally thought there was only one single album). Anyways, he mentioned that he found the cassette on eBay of course. One of the featured songs that were from the other "CD 101.9" album features Kenny G's "Songbird" (from the December 1986 LF playlist). The song starts at 11:20.

https://youtu.be/v14AEKgX29U?t=11m20s

One of the earlier songs that was also featured early on in the same video also was previously featured on one of the songs that was featured on one of The Weather Chazz's previous WeatherSTAR 4000 emulation videos (I can't remember the name of the song since the emulation video that he posted back around either 2007 or 2008 was based off from a replica of the early 1990-era text-based 4000 and I could of swore that the same exact song featured on the other "CD 101.9" album was an actual TWC song that was featured on one of the 1990 TWC LF playlists).

27

Local Forecast / Re: TWC Songs you've heard in other places

« on: January 02, 2017, 05:45:37 PM »

Sorry to bump, but from a YouTuber I regularly follow (since I also had always had a similar interest in electronics and A/V equipment); VWestlife posted a video review on a cheap, but decent cassette-USB converter. In the video, one of the cassettes that was featured features the songs "Morning Dance" by Spyro Gyra (May 2002 playlist, starts at 6:56), and "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)" by Gato Barbieri (December 1986 playlist, starts at 13:01). It appears that the pre-recorded cassette came from an album called: "CD 101.9 - Today's Cool Jazz" (I'm not sure what radio station it originally came from for the official album).

https://youtu.be/dtCeRTfEwd0?t=6m56s

28

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: February 01, 2016, 04:39:11 PM »

Dunno if anyone else has mentioned this but TWC has a twitter account that posts updates on TWC scheduling, including when they will be doing extended live coverage.

https://twitter.com/TWCProgramming

Are you sure its an official account? The logo looks weird and doesn't look right.

29

Local Forecast / Re: General LF Discussion

« on: January 26, 2016, 07:56:33 PM »

It seems that TWC has added a new product to the LDL: Air Quality Forecast.
! No longer available

They always had the Air Quality Forecast feature on the IntelliStar and earlier models during Local On the 8s, though the WeatherStar XL and earlier only used its Air Quality feature in Southern California. This is got to be the first time they ever used it on the LDL as well as the IS2.

30

Local Forecast / Re: TWC Songs you've heard in other places

« on: January 05, 2016, 03:29:32 AM »

Once again, another TWC tune has been featured on FreewayJim:

"(It's Just) Talk" by Pat Metheny Group (featured in the May-June 1988, December 1988, and October 2003 playlists).
It starts at 4:12-10:22 in the video.

https://youtu.be/Ukb3gy0GLLw?t=4m12s