Messages

61

WeatherSTAR Tech Support / Re: No Star on ATT Uverse?

« on: July 20, 2014, 03:59:16 AM »

Wow, I didn't even know this was the case today. I never switched over to UVerse, but honestly today I wouldn't mind since the LFs are so horrendous and hardly ever air to be of any real use. I think they only air twice an hour, which is useless for me since I could just check my phone and I'll be on my way. If they still aired on the 8s... every 8... I'd watch it. For this reason, I just use the XL.

How this was explained to me way back then was that AT&T makes little to no money on their UVerse service... which I find to be a load of horse crap. If I remember correctly, I was also told that the STARs were "incompatible" with the way their service operated. Makes no sense to me since you just stick a computer (the STAR) between the satellite reciever/digicipher and the modulator/amplifiers. That was the excuse that I got.

Bottom line... you're not missing out on much. Just the horrible reality shows with little to no weather coverage (at least when I tune in... maybe I just have a bad sense of timing or something).

EDIT: Wasn't the relaunch last November specifically meant for the forecasts to launch on every :8? It seemed like that was the case for a month then they started pulling the longform stuff again.

62

Local Forecast / Re: 4000/XL/Jr. - The End Is Near

« on: June 02, 2014, 04:19:11 PM »

I honestly think this entire thing is a hoax. No one gave any documents or elaborated on it so we're making this assumption blindly based off of peoples words. My XL is still running with analog data...

Can anyone release any documentation on this to prove this claim? It's all based on peoples words which are appearing not to hold up to their words... If that makes sense. Not meaning to sound harsh but really guys. We've been told this multiple times before and it never happened...

63

Local Forecast / Re: 4000/XL/Jr. - The End Is Near

« on: June 01, 2014, 03:23:35 PM »

My XL is still downloading data as of 12:23PM Pacific Time with the analog feed... lets hope it stays this way...

64

General Weather Chat / Re: What's the weather in your area?

« on: May 27, 2014, 09:16:35 PM »

67 and Sunny.

65

General Discussion / Re: Gas prices in your area

« on: May 27, 2014, 09:12:10 PM »

$4.33 today at 76 in San Luis Obispo, CA.

66

General Discussion / Re: Gas prices in your area

« on: May 24, 2014, 01:02:47 AM »

$4.43 at a Chevron in San Luis Obispo, CA. California... hmm. That explains the ridiculous price 

67

Local Forecast / Re: 4000/XL/Jr. - The End Is Near

« on: May 24, 2014, 12:59:30 AM »

Perhaps maybe the headends are going to just throw the units away or even try to sell them to TWC fans?

I expect them to be thrown out. A few of us here, myself included, who possess a legacy STAR unit rescued them from a dumpster. Shipping a giant paperweight like  that back to TWC is ridiculously expensive.

They're seriously fun little machines. I'm having a great time programming my data generator for it... people just don't understand the true power and value of these machines. I would hope headends would realize what the hardware is and do something other than throwing it in a dumpster. Same goes with TWC... at least part them out for us who own existing hardware.

I have an SGI Indigo that still works.

Indigo's are nice! I have an IMPACT 1000 as well as the teal "Max" edition... can't recall which processor is in it. I think the R7000 with Irix 6.3. The IMPACT has some old revision of 6.5. Something that'd help me is to get an adapter for that Sun/SGI video port. I have two but neither work due to the pinout

68

Local Forecast / Re: 4000/XL/Jr. - The End Is Near

« on: May 12, 2014, 11:10:54 PM »

As I understood it, it was possible to add a device to the III to make it sound a warning tone at every instance of a warning appearing, not just the first one, so that the unit would comply with the new FCC regulations, but TWC decided it was too much to have to worry about a 20-year machine.  Therefore, since the III would no longer be in compliance with the FCC regulations, it couldn't be used anymore.  The Jr. did get that upgrade, however.

You're somewhat correct with that. Refer to this document: http://star.fru.me/legacy_audio_alert_rel_notes.pdf

TWC has updated the machine remotely according to that document, which makes sense. It's a simple software change, no big hardware change. The Junior is a bit of a different story due to it using ROMs (which is why the external alert generator was needed). If they did discontinue the III, why would they have made that update and tell me in 2012 that it is still in production? I'm not trying to argue; just a friendly little debate.

On the back of the III, you are right. You can add external equipment on the terminal strips. The Junior alert generator actually could be used on this terminal strip and operate properly as the generator is seriously just a 5V relay that triggers sound to overlap the incoming audio.

69

Local Forecast / Re: 4000/XL/Jr. - The End Is Near

« on: May 12, 2014, 07:45:50 PM »

I believe it's up to the headend on what they want to do. I'm sure a majority will scrap their STARs while some may go to eBay to sell theirs. However, I don't see why TWC would need them anymore if they're going to be out of service now.

From what I was told by Vala over at Taiganet, her local cable company was directed to send all of their equipment back to TWC. That may be due to their contract (between the operator and TWC) but who knows. But to bring it all down, I think it depends on whether the operator purchased the machines or if they were leasing them since it seems like they either wind up in the trash or wind up being sent back to TWC. I also wouldn't count on eBay. Very rarely do they pop up on there. Chances are they'll just sell all of it to a liquidator or put it on a storage rack depending on company policy.

However, when the WeatherStar III was discontinued because of a change in FCC policy, headends were instructed to dispose of them.

Any documents to cite? TWC told me that III's were still out in the field as of 2012. That, and I have documents from TWC that prove the III was made compliant to these new FCC regulations in 2004. Until then, I believe that the III's are still out there (given thats what I was told from TWC when I requested some information from them). That, and the III uses the same exact data format and transmission/decoding methods as the Junior. Just change the dials on the front of the III with a Junior serial and you're in business.

70

General Discussion / Re: The Front Porch

« on: May 02, 2014, 01:05:02 AM »

Off topic, but hey... it's The Front Porch.

I think this is the most dead I've seen this thread out of my entire time being registered here.

71

General Discussion / Re: TV to computer

« on: May 02, 2014, 12:59:52 AM »

I'm satisfied with my Pinnacle 801e HD USB stick. Very small... just plug it into a cable line and it works.

The other expensive option is the Slingbox, and TiVo also does the job. Issue with TiVo is that it's expensive, and you have to pay a monthly service fee.

I'd go with a USB TV tuner. I love mine.

72

Local Forecast / Re: Connecting a WS Jr. To PC

« on: April 08, 2014, 07:17:40 PM »

Don't hurt yourself... the diagram wasn't needed

You aren't supposed to press enter twice at BIOS... you need to use a terminal emulator for whatever operating system you have. Settings should then be:
2400-8-N-1

Or replace 2400 with whatever the baud rate is set to on the Jr. Default is 2400bps. Also, just another thought... you should try keeping all of this stuff to one thread. That other one was hijacked so I'm just throwing out my thoughts.

73

Local Forecast / Re: Buy a Weatherstar XL at my house?!

« on: April 02, 2014, 07:02:55 PM »

I have a few things to say regarding the past few comments...

1. Satellite Dish - In the Junior's manual, it will tell you all of the requirements for the satellite dish. You need a 6' C-Band satellite dish at the minimum. So no, you can't use a Dish Network dish... you need a BUD.

2. Feed Encryption - I noticed you're fairly confused with how the encryption works on the satellite feed. You said in your YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC5q94V3598) that you purchased a DigiCipher. This will not work. You need a VideoCipher II for this to work properly in your application, but even then you can't get these things authorized anymore. It's just not possible.

3. The STARs do not phone home... the satellite feed is one way communication. Now, as for the newer models possibly utilizing the internet (not sure why they would, but possible) they may phone home. But that is just speculation.

4. Some stuff about the Junior's diagnostic screen... "RLYS" is for relays. When activated (0 to 1), it will close a circuit telling external equipment to perform their tasks. DQ is data quality, and sensors is obviously for the external weather sensors that were available to the operator (never seen a Jr use this).

**Aside from that**

This stuff isn't exactly easy or cheap, either. Yes, this is all old technology... but you really have to know what your doing for the work to actually pay off. And given the analog feed is supposedly kicking the bucket last I've heard this may not be a wise investment.

74

General Discussion / Re: Where in the world have you been?

« on: March 31, 2014, 12:13:37 AM »

Eh, why not...


(Can't tell but Belize is in there, too)

75

Local Forecast / Re: Weather STAR XL Replaced

« on: February 11, 2014, 08:15:38 PM »

I'd much rather have this over the current IntelliStar. This looks like a total step up in my eyes...

So IntelliStar Jr? Is that the official name or what? I'd like to see a press release or some form of documentation on this machine. I'm interested.