20010208: ldm mcidas-xcd data decoding prob. at SUNY NCC (cont.)

>From: Steve Ochani <address@hidden>
>Organization: SUNY NCC
>Keywords: 200102080457.f184v9L18569 McIDAS-XCD LDM ldmd.conf request

Steve,

re: when non image products were removed from the Unidata-Wisconsin stream
>Are you sure about that date (maybe it was in july when the new 
>products were added and the png compresion was used)? Because 
>I used mcidas in apr of 2000 with the ldm line above and we were 
>displaying surface temps

In June of 2000 I added the CIMSS products to the UW stream.  These
were the first images compressed using PNG.  In mid July, I started
broadcasting the original set of UW stream images in both PNG and delta
encoded (the old way) compressed formats.  In September, I turned off
the delta encoded images.  The previous summer is when we stopped
transmitting anything but image products in the same stream.  This
was possible since McIDAS sites could do their own decoding using ADDE.

>Anyways...

re: request MCIDAS|DDPLUS|IDS ".*" owl.uwyo.edu

>This fixed it

Great.  Glad to hear things are running again.

re: data access by ADDE to remote servers vs LDM/XCD
>At this time I think I will stick with ldm

OK.

>Although I am interested in the nexrad data, anyway we could get 
>that through ldm if not use a remote adde server to get nexrad data 
>and everything else through local decoded data? 

Right.  It is not an either/or situation.  You can mix and match where
it makes the most sense.

>I also thought that nexrad data wasn't available for free

That changed on January 1 of this year.  The NEXRAD Level III products
are now part of the freely available NOAAPORT broadcast.  We are
distributing these through the IDD, but only the most well connected
sites can get all of the products.  The option you may want to try
pursuing is subscribing to the FNEXRAD feed.  This contains a set of
floaters; it is analagous to the floaters that were (and still are)
available from WSI.  What the NOAAPORT stream does not contain (yet) is
a high resolution composite reflectivity product.  That, however, will
be coming sometime in the future (the timing for this is unknown since
it is a NWS initiative, not a Unidata one).

>My plan is to setup 12-15 workstation accounts for mcidas use so 
>it can be used in our new computer lab.

Sounds great!  You will still need to become conversant with ADDE for
your internal use since McIDAS has evolved to this client-server
model.  The server(s) your clients contact can be internal and/or they
can be any that are accessible through TCP/IP ethernet.  The great
thing is that you will be able to use the products flowing through the
IDD AND all of the extra goodies out there in the ether.

>Also another reason why I dont want to access all data remotely 
>when we need to display it is because at the current time our 
>college's T1 is quite drained as you can see here
>http://www2.sunynet.suny.edu/mrtg/nas_at.html
>most of it from inappropriate usage

A number of sites are fighting the good fight against MP3 downloads.
One, Millersville University of Pennsylvania, had to go out and
contract for a private DSL connection just so they could keep their IDD
feed working!  (I am sold on DSL myself since I have 1.2 Mb down
capability at my house. I can run McIDAS and look at my sites ADDE
remote servers at will.  This is nice for supporting them as well since
I can see what is going on on their systems directly.)

>but that will be changing soon

At that point, you should be able to sample all of the extras that
are out there.

>At least this way the data will be there waiting locally so when 
>someone wants to display it they wont have to wait too long.

I agree.  This same sort of thing can be done with ADDE also.  Don't
get me wrong, I am not trying to convince you to not use the LDM
approach, I just want to lay out the possibilities.

I also want to encourage you and/or Lisa to try out the example ADDE
display commands I sent you in the previous email.  They will help
galvanize some of the ADDE concepts and perhaps give you some ideas
about things you could do.  A couple of sites are using the ADDE
approach to generate GIF (tm) images that populate their web sites.
Both have been enthusiastic supporters of the approach and are very
happy to not have to worry about keeping their IDD datastreams coming
in/decoded/scoured.  They were not, however, attempting to setup a lab
like you, so the situation is somewhat different.

>I've also been meaning to setup crontab entries to run scripts to 
>convert data to gifs to display some data on our webpage

This is easy enough.  If you are looking for ideas, you may want to
blast a note to the address@hidden email list to see what
others have already done.  BTW, you must be subscribed to mcidas-x
(like all other email lists maintained by Unidata) to post to it.

>Thanks again for your speedy support!.

You are welcome.  Please don't hesitate to ask questions if needed.

Tom