Messages

1126

Contributions / Re: Local Across The 48s- TWCT 4th Year Anniversary

« on: June 26, 2011, 02:30:53 PM »

Thanks for the local forecast from Bucks County!  I used to spend my summers there when I was younger, but the last time I was there, they still had only the 4000.  It was good to see how a familiar sight has been modernized! 

Oh wow! Where in the county did you visit? It's very scenic as you get farther north.

Northampton Township.  Do you know it?  Specifically, the village of Holland.

1127

Contributions / Re: Local Across The 48s- TWCT 4th Year Anniversary

« on: June 26, 2011, 01:17:05 PM »

Thanks for the local forecast from Bucks County!  I used to spend my summers there when I was younger, but the last time I was there, they still had only the 4000.  It was good to see how a familiar sight has been modernized! 

1128

Local Forecast / Re: Weatherstar 4000 Locations that remain

« on: June 26, 2011, 01:15:12 PM »

The XL can go beyond what it's doing right now,  , it can even handle 3D very well! (I've seen the SGI O2 and 3D graphics)

But it's not the newest system, and it's not the system preferred by TWC.  Therefore, I can understand why they'd rather not waste the money and manpower necessary to reprogram it.

As for the 4000s and Juniors, they are at their full capabilities. However, they can at least cue an LDL during squeezeback time.

That would be awkward looking, I think.  And the LDLs on those systems only give the current conditions over and over again, except for whatever 4000s are remaining in large enough markets for the "today's/tomorrow's forecast" line after the conditions.  Not worth it.

1129

Your Local Weather / Re: Boston weather

« on: June 26, 2011, 01:12:20 PM »

It's 76° right now... and already too hot and muggy for me.  Florida is going to kill me.

1130

Contributions / Re: Local Across The 48s- TWCT 4th Year Anniversary

« on: June 25, 2011, 10:32:12 PM »

my camera decided to be a  and started having problems right before

When is this not the case for anyone?  Murphy's Law. 

1131

Programming and Graphics / Re: TWC Revamp: Strong Chance Of Less Weather Coverage

« on: June 25, 2011, 10:29:17 PM »

I don't know what the "real" statistics are, but if severe weather were to hit my area, I would NOT be watching TWC. Instead I would tune in to my local news station because 99.99% of the time, TWC is not talking about the storms that are affecting my area, and even if they were, they would only talk about them for a couple of seconds and talk about other storms elsewhere in the U.S. or show more long-form. I don't why TWC calls themselves the "Severe Weather Authority" when I think most people find their local news stations more reliable for severe weather coverage anyway.

It's really impossible for a national network to cover in specific detail what's happening in one very small area.  Brief exceptions can be made for extraordinary circumstances, but, otherwise, it's really just not possible.  That's the nature of national broadcasting.

1132

Local Forecast / Re: Weatherstar 4000 Locations that remain

« on: June 25, 2011, 10:23:50 PM »

The 4000 was an excellent machine for its time, but its time has since passed.  Twenty years on, its graphics and even its font are terribly outdated, its abilities, while fantastic in the 1990s, seem very restricted now, and its abilities to change are practically nonexistent.  The last change that I know of was to the more square (yet still old) TWC logo, lower-case forecasts, and a change to the radar screen font.  After that, I think TWC has just stopped any plans to update it (quite right), and only supports the data feed to it now.

The Jr. is better than nothing, but that's where it ends.  The III was discontinued because TWC saw no purpose in spending a lot of money to upgrade a machine that was already 20 years old to meet new FCC regulations.  And, other than the fact that it still works and has graphics in addition to text, the 4000 is pretty much at the end of its lifetime, too.  Sure, it can go on for another 20 years, probably, or so long as the SD feed exists, but it's never going to grow past what it is now, unlike the Intellistar and (possibly) the XL.

I would be quite unhappy if I had to watch local forecasts generated by a 21-year-old machine every day.  Believe me, I LOVED the 4000 when it first came out because it was so much better than what there was before.  But it has since become so incredibly outdated that the only reason to keep it is for a small cable company to save money and not upgrade.  Other than that, I can think of no reasons at all to favor the 4000 over something newer.

Yes, I do miss the days when the 4000 and even the III were used and when I saw them every day.  But that's only nostalgic value.  I also miss TWC actually focusing entirely on weather forecasts.  I'd love for THAT to return, but... one can only hope.

1133

TWC and your Cable Company / Re: Can't get SD Feed from TWC

« on: June 24, 2011, 03:34:18 PM »

I have tried other Tv's in the house and they have the SD feed. Just not mine Grrr

The only way this wouldn't be possible would be if your own receiver was having problems.  It sounds like a problem with your satellite provider.

1134

Your Local Weather / Re: Boston weather

« on: June 24, 2011, 02:04:48 PM »

My calendar says late June, but my window is apparently two months behind. 

1135

Your Local Weather / Re: Boston weather

« on: June 22, 2011, 10:46:38 PM »

It's pouring outside right now!  Even with an umbrella and raincoat I still got soaked!!

1136

Everything Else TWC / Re: General TWC Discussion

« on: June 22, 2011, 10:45:54 PM »

I remember when they were still at 3600 Cumberland Parkway. 

1137

General Discussion / NOAA to lose vital satellites?

« on: June 18, 2011, 06:14:23 PM »

Government officials are forecasting a turbulent future for the nation's weather satellite program.

Federal budget cuts are threatening to leave the U.S. without some critical satellites, the officials say, and that could mean less accurate warnings about events like tornadoes and blizzards. In particular, officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are concerned about satellites that orbit over the earth's poles rather than remaining over a fixed spot along the equator.

It was data from polar satellites that alerted forecasters to the risk of tornadoes in Alabama and Mississippi back in April, Sullivan says. "With the polar satellites currently in place we were able to give those communities five days' heads up," she says.

Read more here: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/17/137251742/blind-eye-in-the-sky-weather-satellites-lose-funding

1138

Questions, Comments, Suggestions / Re: Can't we do something about spam?

« on: June 18, 2011, 07:26:54 AM »

Spammers? To be honest, I'm not seeing a lot of them at all. I don't usually check here constantly, but I'd say the admins are doing a pretty good job to me at keeping the spammers at bay. One or two are nothing compared to the spammer pandemonium at another forums I used to visit.

You're a few hours too late.  Late last night (Eastern time), we had dozens of spam messages for fake Gucci bags or something like that.

1139

Questions, Comments, Suggestions / Re: Can't we do something about spam?

« on: June 17, 2011, 11:27:34 PM »

Something in particular about this latest round is interesting. The accounts were deleted making it really hard for me to remove the posts. Rather than just remove the account and all the posts at once I have to remove each individually. Please report anything I missed. Thanks guys

Oh, geez... the spammers are learning!!

1140

Questions, Comments, Suggestions / Re: Can't we do something about spam?

« on: June 17, 2011, 11:06:33 PM »

Thanks to the administrators for working to keep this forum as spam-free as possible! 

Just imagine my disappointment, though, when I saw so many new posts... just to realize that they were all worthless.