Cooperative Ventures!

We're now providing severe weather bulletins to Bradford County area users.

In the spirit of public service, we're expanding our services to now provide severe weather bulletins to email and cellphone for Bradford County area users. Sponsored by Alachua County SKYWARN, the Alachua County EMWIN Project, and the Bradford County Office of Emergency Management.

What makes our service different is the customizeability that most other services don't offer, such as the ability to either BLOCK/TRASH bulletins during certain time periods, like say, overnight; or to HOLD bulletins after hours and still send them in the morning anyway if users wish, maybe because they still want to know what happened overnight.

We've already been providing these bulletins to BCEM's Facebook and Twitter pages, too, for quite a while, now.

New AC-EMWIN Server!

We now have a brand new web server!

The Alachua County EMWIN server was switched out with a newer, much faster one this afternoon and y'all didn't even know it! :) Not a beat was missed in the switchover and everything went perfectly and smoothly. In fact, I'm kinda nervous because I'm waiting for Murphy's Law to kick in at any moment. It was as simple as installing all the Windows Updates and then transferring the weather software over to the new machine. Hmm.

The old server was a chugging 1.6 GHz, 32-bit, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB HDD clunker that was completely adequate 8 years ago; but the EMWIN software was getting more complicated as it became continually upgraded over the years and we were starting to experience some occasional drags and lockups. So we went to TigerDirect and for $239 got a refurbished 3.4 GHz, dual core, 64-bit, 2 GB RAM, 400 GB HDD, 8 USB port monster-engined speedster. :) No more dragging or lockups, and everything works SO much faster.

The server serves both Alachua County SKYWARN and Alachua County EMWIN, and sends weather bulletins to email, pager, cellphone, and to listgroups at UF and on Yahoo, as well as to Twitter accounts, and to Facebook accounts - for FREE as a public service.

The old server will remain in inventory as a backup/standby server.

(Yer welcome!)

UPS Replaced

Had to replace the AC-EMWIN system UPS. Past couple days it started acting squirrley. Would have some sort of hiccup which caused it to beep endlessly in one long, unending tone. When I'd go into the room to check, I'd find the red light flashing, and the desktop would be blank - no EMWIN software running.

I'd reset the battery. Red light would keep flashing. I'd turn the battery off and then back on. Wouldn't do anything. Unplugged it for a while. Didn't help, either. Left it alone and restarted the EMWIN software and let it be, to see what would happen.

In subsequent days, same thing would happen. Sometimes, after a while, the battery light would go green again, BUT, I'd find all the EMWIN software unloaded again, and a naked desktop (i.e., just the normal icons and folders, with no programs running), as if the system had been rebooted. Odd.

So, the battery was apparently having some kind of hiccup wherein it would shut down all the software that was running, shut down the computer, and then restart the computer. But in the occasions where it would reboot the computer, there would be no warning. No beep, nothing. AND, mysteriously, you'd find the battery light lit green.

This was not acceptable and obviously the battery was in a non-relilable state so I went out and purchased a new one.

The system is again operating normally.

New AC-EMWIN Facebook/Twitter Feeds

Spent the past week learning new ways to distribute the bulletins to Facebook and Twitter. Experimented and fiddled and finally got things working.

AC-EMWIN is now distributing some limited bulletins to our AC-SKYWARN and AC-EMWIN Facebook and Twitter pages.

We are ALSO distributing bulletins to the Facebook page of our friends at the Bradford County Office of Emergency Management so that their page can benefit from timely weather bulletins, too. Michael Heeder also advises us that he is receiving lots of compliments on the new weather bulletins being fed to the Bradford EM page, and on their timeliness.

AC-EMWIN "Adustments"

Downloaded an additional map database for the AC-EMWIN server software which allows painting of the TS/hurricane watches/warnings along the coastline. Had to take the server down very quickly - no one really noticed - in order to implement it.

Also made a few tweaks to the software not really worth mentioning they're so insubstantial.

Added a link to the NHC to the AC-SKYWARN page's side navbar, as well.

Two New Custom Bulletins Added to AC-EMWIN Line-up

We've added two new custom bulletins to the list of available items from AC-EMWIN...

1) LCHGNVFL - Launch Announcement Bulletin
2) LCNGNVFL - Launch Cancellation Notice

The Launch Announcement Bulletin (LCHGNVFL) will be sent out one hour prior to any rocket launch from KSC or Cape Canaveral to notify users of an upcoming launch. It is set up weeks or months ahead of time and is automatically sent by the EMWIN software one hour prior to launch.

The Launch Cancellation Notice will announce any launch cancellations or reschedulings which might occur. This bulletin, however, is forced to have to be sent manually by the AC-EMWIN sysop at some point after the abort announcement and could be delayed by some time depending upon where I am at the time the announcement is made and how close to the actual launch time it is made. If the announcement is made long before the actual launch date, then this bulletin should be sent out in time. If the announcement come minutes before the launch, I could be out photographing it and sending will not occur until after I have returned home.

To view the last version of the bulletin, see here:

http://alachuaskywarn.org/emwin/products.html

REMINDER: Spotter Training Class!Dec 9, 2010 - 6-9pmAlachua County

When:
  December 9, 2010
  6:00-9:00 pm

"Bring a friend!" - Dave Donnelly

Location:
  Alachua County Public Health Auditorium
  224 SE 24th St
  Gainesville, FL

To register, contact:
  David Donnelly
  (352) 264-6500
  Email: dad@alachuacounty.us

Instructor will be Al Sandrik.