Messages

286

The Game Room / Movie One-Liners! (Message reply game)

« on: July 25, 2010, 03:42:50 AM »

I'd figure this would be a fun game since I have my one liners. The way this works is when you respond, you must specify who the previous post's one-liner was from. For example, if i said "You lack dicipline!", you would reply specifying its from Kindergarten Cop. You may even add that it was from Arnie .. So then with that, you can put a one-liner out there for someone else to take a shot at. I will start this one off..

"I would like to buy a hamburger." (hehe)

287

General Discussion / Re: Looking for a relationship (between numbers!!)

« on: July 23, 2010, 05:17:18 PM »

hey patrick,
i thank you for the response, however I would say it is safe to assume that the regions are not proportional, and it is not clear where the maps are centered at any particular point. i am going to send you further details in a PM hoping you can figure this one out!
thank you!

You need to use a scaling factor here, and it will involve a proportion.  I will assume that your X and Y axes are centered perfectly on both maps.  Here's an example:

A small map goes from -30 to 30 on the X-axis and -40 to 40 on the Y-axis.  A big map goes from -70 to 70 on the X-axis and -90 to 90 on the Y-axis.  In order to scale the smaller map to the bigger map, you take your X-coordinate from the smaller map and multiply by the ratio of the largest positive X-coordinate of the bigger map over the largest positive X-coordinate of the smaller map, and that ratio would be 70/30 in this example.  For the Y-coordinate, you would take your Y-coordinate of the smaller map and multiply by the ratio of 90/40 (same procedure described before but this time with the Y-coordinates of both maps).

So, if you're at (12, -8) on your small map and want to convert that to the coordinates of your big map, you would find that the new X-coordinate would be X = 12 * (70/30) = 28, and your new Y-coordinate would be Y = -8 * (90/40) = -18.  Thus, (12, -8) on the small map correlates to (28, -18) on the big map.

I hope this helps, and I apologize to others reading this math drill!

288

Local Forecast / Re: Weatherstar 4000 Locations that remain

« on: July 23, 2010, 11:06:09 AM »

I work for Bledsoe Telephone in Pikeville TN we still use a 4000. sometimes I have to powercycle it because it will get stuck on the locals.

Wow! if I may ask, what does "powercycling" mean?

rebooting by pulling the power

289

IntelliStar 2 Discussion / Re: IntelliStar 2 Equipment pic

« on: July 23, 2010, 09:19:29 AM »

if you look hard at these pictures, youll notice XL's on the left and SD IS's on the right. ~*love*~

290

General Discussion / Looking for a relationship (between numbers!!)

« on: July 23, 2010, 08:35:04 AM »

hey guys,
i am working with some radar stuff, but i am busting my head on the wall trying to figure this one solution out. in this topic, i am not going to cite any numbers inorder to keep this simple and sweet.

-I have two images, a basemap and radar data. given known area that the basemap and radar data populate (respectively), I am trying to overlay the radar data with a relationship between the numbers i can't quite figure out.
-The local area's center is plotted on an X, Y axis by both images, however the resolution on each image is different (and not the same aspect either).
-What i can always determine is what X, Y coordinate will be used on the basemap, however, i cannot co-relate a known X,Y coordinate for the radar data's center because the layer is a different size.

What I do have is a few examples of location exact X,Y coordinates both known on the basemap and on the radar data layer in an effort to determine a relationship between the numbers. I appologize, this may be very simple graphing arithmetic using proportions, but it has been many years since I touched a math problem. If someone is willing to lend a hand with this, please message me on AIM (cc17926). I will not leave you empty handed for any effort given!
Thank You!!

291

News and Updates / Re: New Update Coming?

« on: July 22, 2010, 08:17:16 AM »

Dunno if the emulator will accept the upper corrections I made in bold but here goes

Public Sub SkyIdentification(skyident As String)
If (LCase(skyident) = "mocldy") Then Skyfound = "27": Exit Sub ' at night
If (LCase(skyident) = "ptcldy") Then Skyfound = "29": Exit Sub ' at night
If (LCase(skyident) = "mocldy") Then Skyfound = "28": Exit Sub ' at daytime
If (LCase(skyident) = "ptcldy") Then Skyfound = "30": Exit Sub ' at daytime

The changes I made correspond to TWC's reports unless the conditions I changed cannot be pulled into the emulator

i was going to link a copy of the nws directives in regards to words used, but this does not include all, just forecast words, however still informative: http://www.weather.gov/os/public/dir/CCF_Specifications.pdf
if i find it, i will link the one inregards to the "regional weather roundup" (current conditions)..

292

News and Updates / Re: New Update Coming?

« on: July 22, 2010, 07:38:55 AM »

Mike, I am actually not sure how the XL behaved with the coastal advisories, although the way the NWS places them would make me specially make a bulletin page for them. As for the LDL, I was planning to create a few toggles to handle that, along with the possibility to do some crawls and stuff. I know the real XL did 12 crawls, but I might just do a rotation of like 6, more than that would seem useless. Even if the emulator was used for a TV network or whatnot, too many crawls are pointless. as for the background thing for the core LF, i just made a hack using the sunrise/sunset calculations to determine if we are currently in daytime or nighttime. it would allow the emulator to do two things, one is to select the correct haze icon for the current time of day, the second is the potential for the emulator to use a day/night time theme. figured it would be a clever idea to include since its not that hard to implement.

Also, for the first time, I am putting code up, but I need a few people to check my work, in regards to icon mapping, and icon naming. please post corrections!

Code: [Select]

Public Sub SkyIdentification(skyident As String)
If (LCase(skyident) = "mocldy") Then Skyfound = "27": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "ptcldy") Then Skyfound = "29": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "ptsunny") Then Skyfound = "28": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "mosunny") Then Skyfound = "30": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "clear") Then Skyfound = "31": Exit Sub 'night time sky
If (LCase(skyident) = "notavbl") Then Skyfound = "70": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "sunny") Then Skyfound = "32": Exit Sub 'day time sky
    If IsDaytime = True Then
     If (LCase(skyident) = "fair") Then Skyfound = "34": Exit Sub ' 34 at daytime
    Else
     If (LCase(skyident) = "fair") Then Skyfound = "33": Exit Sub ' 33 at night
    End If
If (LCase(skyident) = "cloudy") Then Skyfound = "26": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "fog") Then Skyfound = "20": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "lgtrain") Then Skyfound = "11": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "rain") Then Skyfound = "12": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "lgtsleet") Then Skyfound = "6": Exit Sub 'fix
If (LCase(skyident) = "lgtsnow") Then Skyfound = "14": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "lgtrain") Then Skyfound = "9": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "snow") Then Skyfound = "16": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "drzl") Then Skyfound = "9": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "tstm") Then Skyfound = "0": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "hvyrain") Then Skyfound = "12": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "smoke") Then Skyfound = "22": Exit Sub
If (LCase(skyident) = "haze") Then Skyfound = "21": Exit Sub

Skyfound = "70" 'Generic NA
End Sub

Public Sub SkyIdWords(skywords As String)
If (LCase(skywords) = "mocldy") Then Skyfound = "Mostly Cloudy"
If (LCase(skywords) = "ptcldy") Then Skyfound = "Partly Cloudy"
If (LCase(skywords) = "ptsunny") Then Skyfound = "Partly Sunny"
If (LCase(skywords) = "mosunny") Then Skyfound = "Mostly Sunny"
If (LCase(skywords) = "clear") Then Skyfound = "Clear" 'night time sky
If (LCase(skywords) = "notavbl") Then Skyfound = "Not Available"
If (LCase(skywords) = "sunny") Then Skyfound = "Sunny" 'day time sky
If (LCase(skywords) = "fair") Then Skyfound = "Fair"
If (LCase(skywords) = "lgtrain") Then Skyfound = "Light Rain"
If (LCase(skywords) = "cloudy") Then Skyfound = "Cloudy"
If (LCase(skywords) = "lgtsleet") Then Skyfound = "Light Sleet"
If (LCase(skywords) = "lgtsnow") Then Skyfound = "Light Snow"
If (LCase(skywords) = "lgtrain") Then Skyfound = "Light Rain"
If (LCase(skywords) = "snow") Then Skyfound = "Snow"
If (LCase(skywords) = "rain") Then Skyfound = "Rain"
If (LCase(skywords) = "fog") Then Skyfound = "Foggy"
If (LCase(skywords) = "drzl") Then Skyfound = "Drizzle"
If (LCase(skywords) = "tstm") Then Skyfound = "T'Storm"
If (LCase(skywords) = "hvyrain") Then Skyfound = "Heavy Rain"
If (LCase(skywords) = "smoke") Then Skyfound = "Smoke"
If (LCase(skywords) = "haze") Then Skyfound = "Haze"
If (LCase(skywords) = "n/a") Then Skyfound = "Not Available"
End Sub


293

Local Forecast / Re: Basemap change .. ??

« on: July 21, 2010, 08:08:23 AM »

here is a video detailing that change:

Satellite LF- New Basemap - 7/21/2010

294

Local Forecast / Basemap change .. ??

« on: July 21, 2010, 07:30:32 AM »

i figure i would put this question out there, incase i was the only one that noticed..
did twc change the basemap used for the first two frames on the SD satellite LF, and also, for on-air, the basemap used for animating IR satellite.. ??

295

News and Updates / Re: New Update Coming?

« on: July 21, 2010, 05:15:07 AM »

i spent all night on this.. btw im not an artist either, so if it looks weird, thats why. this will be apart of the next updates.
you will also be able to select which set of coastal maps you want to use (northeast, southeast, and west)
also note, at some point (soon) the configuration site will be down for some changes to accomidate these updates, and at that point the new copy will be released.

296

News and Updates / Re: New Update Coming?

« on: July 20, 2010, 08:13:18 AM »

First, to answer all the questions above, for the most part, all of them are yes, except for the anti-aliasing clock, i will try and figure that out. the clock is an ocx i wrote which overlays everything except the regional satellite. the warning scroller will behave (for the most part) just like the real thing (overruling the weather details LDL). the warning scroller will unload in a similar manner as TWC's scroller would (thats if you configure it to do that!).. The bulletin page stays as long as *something* was issued. also, as some of the warning products were not identified in the program, its master product name, like "non precip advisory" was displayed. i have a way to correct that without a problem.

Second, if anyone wants to help me with this.. i am looking for royalty-free background graphics for the following products.
for the coastal waters forecast segment: Bulletin Page (for coastal advisories, etc..), Tides (yea, hate 'em, but i am going to include them.)
new product, summer Outdoor Activity: Map contents background (already have the Up Next menu board frame).
new product, travel weather: Up Next menu board frame, and a Map contents background.

all images must contain no people and capture an element of life and weather.

thanks for any contribution!

297

News and Updates / Re: New Update Coming?

« on: July 16, 2010, 08:42:58 AM »

Weatherscan Local - Heat Advisory Crawl - 7/16/2010

In this video, you can see the crawl and bulletin page in operation, enjoy!

298

News and Updates / Re: New Update Coming?

« on: July 14, 2010, 01:31:49 AM »

many questions and stuff to answer all at once..
-the "black" that you see between products is itself a product of my emulator. no the original weatherscan did not create this effect. this is created within my program when one frame unloads and the next frame is loaded and shown. the most clean method i was able to create from transitioning from the radar's to something else was done the best way I could, given VB6 is still the programming language I am using for the program. the product pages are rendered objects, the radar (with the title bar inserted) is a rendered object, and even the fading between one product to the next is a live motion render. the only thing that is not a live render is the call to the radar files, which is just played back file-by-file sequentially.

-other than the current conditions LDL, the alert LDL does behave like it would on a regular star. even when a warning is issued, a  beep sequence is heard. this alert function of the emulator isn't fictional, it does infact work!

-the font used is the best one I could come up with, which is still what the original weatherscan used. most of all the pages use the proper font and its compared with its size. the only product that may differ is the 36 hour forecast.

-i havn't quite figured out how the ldl should function, maybe some advice should be given. i was debating on a solid toggle of on and off, but currently in the program, it alternates on and off by itself after a lapse period of time.

-yes, i would like to experiment with different weatherscan backgrounds, i am not a creative artist, i only am working with what i have. when i release the next version of the emulator (hopefully really really soon, like within the next few days to a week or so) i would like to pre-package the emulator with some user-submitted overlays and backgrounds.

-i am also proud to announce that the National League (of baseball) won the All Star Game for home field advantage during the World Series.

-i am thankful that many enjoy this emulator, if it wasnt only for me using the emulator, i wouldnt bother making enhancements and modifications to it.

-i love feedback!
Brian

299

News and Updates / Re: New Update Coming?

« on: July 13, 2010, 06:44:07 PM »

the latest release is on CINE, however the video of what I am working with will be be released hopefully really soon! there are a few things i want to create selectable options for, like the displayed LDL.

300

News and Updates / Re: New Update Coming?

« on: July 13, 2010, 11:14:55 AM »

ok here is how it looks at the time of this post:

Weatherscan Local - Update Progress - 7/13/2010