KC2BUV 

For email support write to trlong@sprynet.com
Due to the extensive changes taking place with the National Weather Service on line data, the large upgrade taking place with the new dual polarization radar implementation and the redesign of warning and forecast products from the NWS, I've felt that it is time to revamp Roundup from head-to-toe.

This will take some time to implement as it requires new parsing procedures and a fundamental re-think on how best to design the app in such a way that future changes made by the NWS and other sources, will least impact the program.

While this is a labor of love (not my day job) I have not stopped tinkering (trying new ideas) with Roundup Version 7.x   Version 6 is practically useless on many levels; webpages have moved and have been redesigned, podcasts are no longer being published and Roundup V6 never handled Windows 7 time zones as it should.   

The fact that you have landed on this page means you have saved it or were directed here from a third party site.  I encourage you to check again every couple of weeks or so. I have no timeline at the moment, but when I get close, this is the page that will say so.

A very basic application prototype is available for existing Roundup users. This file should be unpacked into your existing Roundup folder and a shortcut should be created for "c:\roundup\rv7\roundup.exe" afterward. It does use some of the original files from the original program, so the prior folder should remain intact before unpacking the rv7.zip. This is not a final application design. It is merely the base program without the cosmetics that make it appealing to the eye; but it does correct for the major changes taking place with server and file locations from the NWS and NOAA.  These changes are part of a major upgrade throughout their system and I'll be playing catch up with regards to Roundup.  Note, the first time you run the RV7 Roundup.exe, you'll need to select an ATIS or Airport Terminal site in order to create the initial 5 files (that are stored on C:) for the program to reset to.   Here's the zip file  http://www.kc2buv.com/Private/RV7.zip  

The full installation program includes all of the components necessary for R7 Roundup v7.1  http://www.kc2buv.com/Private/R7-Setup.exe  Please install the program when prompted, into "C:\ROUNDUP" as the default indicates.

Roundup V7.1 in construction   2/9/12  ---  Terry Long/kc2buv

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roundup uses Airport Terminal Information Services or ATIS as a source of weather data. ATIS is generally updated hourly, although some Airports update as frequently as every 15 minutes. When you run Roundup for the first time, you'll need to set select an Airport from the SITES tab.
The ATIS tab updates every 5 minutes using the Airport you selected. This page includes basic information such as current temperature, dewpoint, humidity, wind direction and speed, weather condition and altimeter setting (air pressure).
The DATA tab contains a little more information in tabular form. The number at the bottom, 1368, is a sum of all data collected during the update. This page shows current conditions, however the program is designed to download three days of history, as well as the current hourly readings from the airport. This is why the figure at the bottom of the screen is much larger than the 17 data fields you see on this page. Currently, the program uses only 1 day or a 24 hour period of the data, which you will see in the next frame. At a later date, I will add the remaining 48 hours to the grid and chart temperature, dewpoint and air pressure, using the grid.
The GRID page shows, as indicated in the previous frame, the hourly readings for a 24 hour period.  Here you see the time of the observations is consistently at :53 minutes past the hour. This is fairly standard at most airports and these are the figures that the NOAA Weather Radio reports in its hourly roundup. Again, I will extend the grid to the full three days in a future release and work in charts that show temperature and pressure trends.
The CALENDAR page is merely a clock sync similar to D4 Time. It will synchronize the PC's clock to any of several time servers such as NIST or the U.S. Naval Observatory.
Roundup now uses Windows Media Player and is designed to play a list of videos or audio files including CDs and DVDs or files that have been saved to a hard drive. This is a carry over from the older versions of Roundup and, "No! The program isn't designed to play weather related videos exclusively. It will play any movie or audio file that Windows Media Player can play."
I am partial to weather movies ... and good witches.
The settings you regularly use with your PC's Windows Media Player, are used in Roundup, too.  For example, if you play an audio file in Roundup and your PC's Media Player is set to display the sine wave on audio files, it will do so in Roundup, too. This image by the way, was taken while Roundup was pulling in a stream from Sky FM.
Roundup includes direct links to the NOAA Weather Radio streams carried by Wunderground. In addition, you can type in a specific link to stream audio of your choice. In this example, you see the SKY FM URL for their Smooth Jazz stream. Although Roundup is not intended to be a store for on line streams, in a future release I will add a favorites list so that you can save stream locations within the program. Roundup will not store the actual audio or video file.
While separate "county-by-county" Watch and Warning statements are still an integral part of Roundup, I haven't completed the code for gathering this data yet. The SPC or Storm Prediction Center updates are included on the SPC tab. These include outlooks and warnings posted by the SPC, but not those of individual National Weather Service Forecast Offices - the "county-by-county" stuff.
Roundup v7.1, like older versions, can display radar thumbnails that are updated every 6 minutes. Clicking on one of the thumbs will launch a larger image of the radar. I'm expecting changes as NWS offices upgrade to dual polarization radar, but I don't believe these changes will impact the program for some time.
The radar thumbs can be changed on the SETUP tab. Images 1-3 are the thumbs along the top row (in the image above) and 4-6 are the second row. By clicking on a checkbox for a particular thumbnail, then using the drop lists to select a radar site, Roundup will change thumbnails accordingly. Remember to Save the Configuration before exiting the program.