20040317: Gempak decoder question

Ben,

We have the address@hidden address, as well as the
address@hidden user list which you can user to talk
to other GEMPAK users. You must be a member of the list
in order to post:
http://my.unidata.ucar.edu/content/support/mailinglist/mailing-list-form.html

In general, if you have a question which is in line with the educational use
of the package, then send it to either depending on your preference for
reply.

If you have a question specific to a data set or use which is outside the realm
of educational use, then our resources to answer you are extremely limited 
and you are encouraged to go to the gembud list/forum.

Also, you can search the past email archives as you mention.

The dcmetr decoder is written to the metar standard, so if you hand
enter one, be careful that it meets the WMO spec.

Typically, if you have a 1Z metar for today such as:
ZCZC
MTROAX
metar........

Then in your dcmetr use "dcmetr -c 040317/0100"
The -c will set the clock time instead of using the current time.
For realtime data, the -b flag will set the range of time that a
metar will be considered valid. Other times will be treated as possible 
in error and not written to the output file.

For further advice, please send your metar and command invocation.

Steve Chiswell
Unidata User Support





>From: Ben Bailey <address@hidden>
>Organization: UCAR/Unidata
>Keywords: 200403171605.i2HG5irV001483

>Support guys (and gals):
>
>Thanks for the help so far in helping me get
>GEMPAK/NAWIPS up and running.  This project is both
>exciting and frustrating for me and I'm realizing that
>I'll have many more questions.  I don't want to tread
>where I'm not welcome... so where is the best place
>for me to get help if I need it?  This address?  A
>user group?  Phone help line?  
>
>I do have a specific question about the GEMPAK decoder
>DCMETR:  I'm using the decoder as a standalone
>program, feeding it FTP surface files from
>weather.gov.  I used a perl routine to add ZCZC/NNNN
>coding to the top and bottom of each bulletin (a
>solution discovered in the email archives).  The
>decoder is processing a "test" metar that I created on
>a text editor.  But the error I'm getting is "Invalid
>Bulletin" (SAUS70 KWBC 170100) and "invalid time" when
>it processes each report in the bulletin.  I apologize
>for not having the actual output (its on the linux box
>at home and I'm at work).
>
>I've tried processing with/without the curtime flag,
>with/without the -b & -m flags and I keep getting the
>same error.  From where does DCMETR get its defaults
>when called from the command line or from within a
>program?  Also, I have LDM and McIDAS installed but
>I'm not using either.  Did these programs
>change/overwrite defaults from the GEMPAK
>installation?
>
>Also, if you post this in the archives, could you
>please remove my name and contact info?
>
>Thanks again in advance
>
>Ben Bailey
>Meteorologist
>WBIR-TV
>1513 Hutchinson Ave.
>Knoxville, TN  37918
>username: thetae865
>
>__________________________________
>Do you Yahoo!?
>Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam
>http://mail.yahoo.com
>
--
NOTE: All email exchanges with Unidata User Support are recorded in the
Unidata inquiry tracking system and then made publically available
through the web.  If you do not want to have your interactions made
available in this way, you must let us know in each email you send to us.