Messages

31

Local Forecast / Re: Pleasant Days by Robert McLaughlin found...

« on: October 01, 2021, 04:09:26 PM »

There were a lot of songs submitted under different names and titles in the late 90s and 2000s. I'm not sure why, but maybe it had something to do with licensing? I just did a quick search, and it appears that Gary and Robert/Bobby are friends on Facebook. So maybe Bobby submitted it on Gary's behalf?

32

Weatherscan Discussion / Re: Should we bring back Weatherscan?

« on: September 17, 2021, 05:31:04 PM »

I didn't realize some cable companies still had it. It's not really needed for DirecTV. We get a local forecast that has most of the same data.

33

General Discussion / Re: I'm new.

« on: September 17, 2021, 05:29:27 PM »

Not much activity here these days, but welcome!

34

Local Forecast / Re: The Popcorn song

« on: August 09, 2021, 01:05:00 AM »

I know this is almost 10 years late, but the artist behind the version TWC played in the 80s is "Billy Mann".

Yah, someone emailed me the ID a few years ago.

35

Questions, Comments, Suggestions / Re: Location

« on: June 18, 2021, 06:00:47 PM »

Hi, are Canadians allowed here, or is it strictly Americans?

All are welcome!

36

OCMs & Personalities / Re: Paul Emmick

« on: April 09, 2021, 05:48:05 PM »

I actually got to meet him back in 2019 at a college meteorology conference and he was the nicest guy. We just sat and talked about broadcasting for awhile.

That's pretty cool. He was never one of my favorites when he was on TWC, but in recent years, I've came to appreciate him more. While reviewing footage for site updates, I've come across a few of his presentations and a couple of his comments made me laugh out loud. He was professional, classy, and laid back without being goofy. Nice to hear that he was in person like what he seemed on camera.

37

Questions, Comments, Suggestions / Re: Dear Matt:

« on: February 26, 2021, 08:33:29 PM »

It didnt work.

What didn't work?

38

Everything Else TWC / Re: So much for less longform this year

« on: November 20, 2020, 07:09:04 PM »

How do we feel about TWC reviving Storm Stories? (As Storm Stories: The Next Chapter" What about "Deadline to Disaster"?

They're reviving Storm Stories (or Storm Bories as a friend of mine liked to call it)? Oh brother.

39

Everything Else TWC / Re: Evening Edition Theme

« on: July 25, 2020, 05:53:45 PM »

Are you referring to this clip?

40

Everything Else TWC / Re: TWC Ratings

« on: July 24, 2020, 07:15:55 PM »

Thanks for sharing. I wonder whether these numbers are good or bad?

41

Local Forecast / Re: "The WeatherSTAR" - Waking up the old beast...

« on: June 22, 2020, 08:13:50 PM »

Great stuff, thanks for sharing! How did you get the animated background to work?

42

Local Forecast / Re: the Real WeatherSTAR 4000 Lives again.

« on: June 22, 2020, 07:43:12 PM »

The thing to keep in mind with these older WeatherSTAR units is they are essentially "dumb". They are just character generators that can be addressed over satellite... I hope that makes sense. It's not an in-depth explanation, and there are a lot of technicalities -- but that's just a dumbed down example of whats going on behind the scenes.

Yes, that does help explain things. I assumed that if you were able to get one working, it would work pretty much the same as it did when it was at TWC. I didn't know you could customize it that much. It also explains what Mike told me about how whenever they wanted to update the graphics, they had to either ship new hardware or have the cable operators download the update from the satellite. Which explains this somewhat cryptic message that aired in early '92:

https://twcclassics.com/view.php?file=4000-change92

43

Local Forecast / Re: the Real WeatherSTAR 4000 Lives again.

« on: June 22, 2020, 07:27:34 PM »

Anyways, I noticed you like to nitpick at this stuff. Any particular reason as to why?

I'm a programmer, so I find this stuff really interesting. I've asked Mike (the guy who programmed the 4000 for TWC) a lot of questions too.

44

Local Forecast / Re: Classic LF Questions

« on: June 19, 2020, 07:53:07 PM »

Does anybody recognize the music in this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z50k3hEnGk I wasn't the one who posted that, but whoever this is says it played from 2004-2007, but it doesn't sound like anything I've heard, so now I'm wondering myself what song that person's playing on that video.

LOL. Not much to go on there.

45

Local Forecast / Re: the Real WeatherSTAR 4000 Lives again.

« on: June 19, 2020, 07:52:01 PM »

Did you program all the weather data parts? I've never seen "Scd T'strm" or VAR6 on any real STAR. And apparently there isn't going to be any sun light in Boston or Cleveland tomorrow.