Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: TruVu Max Questions

« on: November 12, 2014, 02:24:04 AM »

I wonder how much training a TV meteorologist has to go through just to be able to make effective use out of all this computer equipment.  Not only do you need a degree in meteorology, but you practically need one in computer programming and design, too!

Oh, for the days when a map painted on a wall and a grease pencil were all you needed!

It can be a bit challenging for some but just imagine it as google earth and powerpoint on extreme steroids.

Compared to the old days that you referenced it actually is a lot easier. In those days radar data would come in (if they had it at all) as a gridded spreadsheet on a printer with a lot of 0 and 1s. You had to manually make an x on a map for each radar sector/pixel that had rain based on this.

Weather maps just had raw data from the weather service and printed on giant pieces of paper that had to be hung to dry and only came out once or twice a day.

It's pretty amazing how far we have come. Before MAX, the previous system required you to render every single element on the fly. Have a spelling error or want to make a quick change a few seconds before your weather hit? Not possible before. MAX renders everything on the fly. Pretty amazing stuff when you think about how much data has to be rendered.

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Local Forecast / Re: General LF Discussion

« on: November 06, 2014, 08:18:58 PM »

Have they always shown Special Weather Statements on the crawl? Perhaps I just never noticed before

3

General Discussion / Re: TruVu Max Questions

« on: November 06, 2014, 08:04:33 PM »

This brings up a second question, will WSI allow you to choose your own vendor? Like Allisonhouse.com for example ? Although you probably won't get the RPM model?

No you can't use any data not provided by WSI (with a few minor exceptions)

Essentially WSI sends out special data feeds of model data and current conditions. Those special grids are sent to the Core and then sent to the MAX system.

Also live sweeping radar is not included unless you buy MAX Storm. I'm sure that is another expensive package and monthly fee. The base MAX system does have a radar mosaic like you see on TWC but its pretty poor quality when you are really zoomed in.

These systems are intended mostly for tv stations which is why they can charge such a high rate. Larger TV corporations sometimes negotiate rates for data and systems so its a bit cheaper.

I use MAX everyday at work and it really is an amazing system. It's super powerful and very flexible. The only software that came close to it was WeatherCentral... which of course was bought by WSI and being phased out as they integrate Weather Central features into MAX.

4

General Discussion / Re: TruVu Max Questions

« on: November 06, 2014, 02:59:58 AM »

To own a max system you must have at least 1 max workstation and 1 max core.

Those two alone will probably cost around 24K, The monthly service fee for max services typically is around 6-12k. It depends on the market size you live in and how many services you have. For example Max Sky, an add on to MAX, costs around 12-18k for the software upgrade itself and an additional ~2-4K a month for data.

Even if you go the cheapest route.... you still have to own a core and workstation which will cost 10k+. You can not have a workstation without a core.  Its not really feasible unless you are a commercial vendor.

5

Local Forecast / Re: General LF Discussion

« on: October 30, 2014, 01:50:57 AM »

Local on the 8s is celebrating #1 Boss Day. What is up with the pointless holidays thing?

The weather channel, where everyday's a holiday.

Also has anyone noticed the new SWC tone, or rather one very low un-attention grabbing tone followed by Cantore's voice?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UtPYGgeNAw&list=UUSQeM5RXxKcEDpGC3AQj4rQ at around 5:00

Glad they brought it back... to be honest they may have had to bring it back due to FCC regulations.

Next year will really be interesting.... starting in May all weather alert crawls will have to have text to speech audio generated in real time. TV stations will have to install equipment to broadcast a separate audio channel. TWC filed for an extension for this rule citing technology limitations. I'm curious to see how they solve this.

6

General Discussion / Re: WN is WORSE than TWC!

« on: October 23, 2014, 10:38:56 PM »

I talked to several people who have left WN of their own accord over the past year who have confirmed this. They have lost their original mindset at the network.

7

General Discussion / Re: Happy Birthday, Martin!

« on: October 23, 2014, 10:37:26 PM »

Thanks guys

8

Everything Else TWC / Re: TWC website criticism

« on: October 23, 2014, 10:36:19 PM »

Actually it turned out to be a significant noreaster with widespread impacts across coastal areas of the Mid Atlantic and NE. Whether they knew that at the time or not is a different question.

I think this is a lesson to wait and see how a storm turns out before bashing a weather headline. I certainly understand where the criticism was coming from but this wasn't the best example to make their point.

9

General Discussion / Re: The Pot Belly Stove

« on: October 07, 2014, 09:16:21 PM »

Ok so who unplugged the server?

Sorry for the site downtime today. The hosting company incorrectly took the site down. On the bright side they gave us a couple free months of hosting to make up for it

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TWC Today News / Re: Site News

« on: October 07, 2014, 09:12:37 PM »

Some of you may have noticed the site was down for a while. This was an error due to a mistake made by our hosting company with our account information. Sorry for the inconvenience

11

Local Forecast / Re: What exactly makes the Intellistar 2 Jr cheaper than the original Intellistar?

« on: September 18, 2014, 07:13:38 PM »

My guess would be that the IS2 Jr is essentially the next generation of the Intellistar SD rather than an alternative cheaper unit like the original Jr. It looks to be built on the same software and hardware infrastructure as the IS2.

Here what intellistar 2 Jr look like

Very cool! Thanks for sharing! We really appreciate it.

12

Everything Else TWC / Re: Weather Channel for Sale

« on: September 15, 2014, 02:26:37 PM »

If you think this is NBC making this move, you're looking at the wrong names.

This is what Blackstone and Bain Capital and investment firms do - buy something, cut the costs, then sell it for (hopfully) profit.  The three bought TWC for $3.5 billion, they'll at least make their money back.

If anything, I imagine NBC/Comcast would be very interested to keeping their ownership share if the other entities decide to part ways.

You're correct. NBC plays a large role in the operations of TWC but a lot of people forget they aren't the sole owner.

The bigger issue is the decline of the need for The Weather Channel with mobile devices and the internet. Sure there will always be the demand for the network during major weather events but otherwise the outlook isn't too bright. TWC might be worth more now than it will be in the future so the current holders might want to consider a sell.

13

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: September 13, 2014, 02:25:14 AM »

@SamRichardson92 Sorry if this seems a little pushy, but what is the weather channel going to do with LO8s music? Are they staying with the production songs, bringing back jazz or vocals? I tried tweeting @freddyflaxman but unfortunately no response. If you cannot answer this question then just say so.

In a world where music rights are skyrocketing I think production music is the cheapest solution in order to still provide local on the 8s. Just my opinion but I think it's lucky the brand (local on the 8s) has survived this long.

14

Hurricane Central / Re: Tropical Storm Edouard

« on: September 13, 2014, 02:20:32 AM »

Looking at the computer models, there's a high possibility it won't make landfall onto the US as a hurricane, or a TD for that matter. Personally, I think Invest 93L is going to be interesting, I think it may make landfall onto the Caribbean islands but it could well go north and so possibly go up the east coast

If it can get organized. It's got a lot of shear and hostile environments to deal with.

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Programming and Graphics / Re: The Weather Channel - LIVE ON YOUTUBE

« on: September 13, 2014, 02:18:58 AM »

Now, there is a stream that seems to be online only, showing severe coverage.  "WATCH LIVE: Severe Storm Coverage:" http://youtu.be/cei3uGi1nFU

Pro tip if you ever go into the tv biz.... if you are wearing a mic ALWAYS assume it's live. I heard a few cuss words dropped in some of the convo when they were "off air" in that clip from the stream. Oops!

When I visited TWC I was let in on some information regarding this. You guys guessed correctly, in the event of a severe event in a local area, TWC will livestream  the coverage on YouTube as well as breaking into the locally affected market and keeping the national feed on natural drama programming.

This is the off air feed, so that explains the swear words and such, this is only temporary while they find a way to get the viz feed onto the livestream without having to stream the national feed w/ commercials.
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Correct but even if.... If you are near a mic just assume it's live.  Essentially everything is recorded in this day and age so be safe than sorry