Weather Radar Plotting Program, [ WXRDR ] - Ver. 3.x - (CW - 1987,1988)
By: Phil Baughn & Mike McCauley -------------- (All Rights Reserved)
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Standard form 'raw' radar data obtained from most services around the
country is in the format of RADAR.DAT.

xxxyyyz - xxx=lat*10
yyy=(lon-50)*10
z=intensity

Thisprogram reads the data in RADAR.DAT, or another data file, and
plots the results on EGA and VGA monitors. MCGA and CGA systems are
NOT supported as the best quality available on such systems was not
adequate to properly reproduce the SuperRadar images as we are
accustomed to seeing.

The program is completely 'menu-driven' and supports your mouse if
available. On some compatible systems with a mouse it is mandatory
that you load both the mouse device driver AND run the mouse initiation
program before using this program, one without the other may cause the
system to hang on some compatibles. The files packed with the program
disk (or ARChive file) MUST remain on the same disk or in the same
subdirectory as the main program. BRUN40.EXE is required so that we
could make use of some extra and special subroutines which could not be
included in the standalone EXE method. The only other compatibility we
have encountered is with FALCON DOS. This companies version of DOS
does not evidently properly support all of the functions that IBM's PC
and Microsoft's MS-DOS do.

When you first start the program, a default data file, WXRDR.PRM, has
been supplied using Lexington, Kentucky as the central point of
plotting. This file can be customized for your specific locations and
color desires using the standalone program RDCONFIG.EXE or by choosing
the OPTIONS SETUP feature from the main menu which will envoke the
configuration program for you directly from the main program. This
option is especially useful when attempting to select your choice of
colors and intensities as it allows immediate display of data from the
menu. Should this file, WXRDR.PRM, be deleted it will be necessary to
recreate it using the program as just mentioned before any data can be
plotted.

This program attempts to plot in as close to "SuperRadar" format as
possible just as the television weather broadcasts do. We are sure you
will agree that this package does quite a good job. The distance rings
appear elongated to compensate for the curvature of the Earth. The Lat-
itude & Latitude coordinates, data plot points, and city placements are
EXACT to the 100th of a degree.

The most cost effective service we have seen from which to obtain up to
the minute data for plotting is WeatherBank, Inc. which is accessible
at either 1200 or 2400 baud 24 hours a day for merely the cost of the
phone call (download of current radar data takes less than 1 minute)
plus 15 cents a minute. For more information on WeatherBank contact
either author of this program or Steve Root at WeatherBank direct.
Steve Roots number (voice) is 801-973-3131. WeatherBank data also
includes a multitude of any other information which you might ever be
interested in besides the radar data. Future releases of this program
will contain additional sections and detail supplied by the WeatherBank
folks along with a free usage 'test' period online for those
referencing this program.

Several radar data files have been included and can be dated by simply
observing the date and time stamps which DOS has placed on the files as
they were downloaded. These data files can be named however you wish.
If multiple .DAT files are available the program will display a menu
with time and date stamps for you to select from. It is important to
note that ONLY standard .DATa files should be present on the WXRDR
disk/directory.

A batch file which envokes PROCOMM and automatically runs the PROCOMM
script necessary to 1 - call WeatherBank, 2 - logon, 3 - open a
radar.dat file for data capture, 4 - retrieve the current radar data, 5
- open a file for ASCII non-radar data capture, 6 - retrieve the
selected data, 7 - logoff, and 8 - return you to the program for
immediate plotting has been included. You will need to fill in the
appropriate information as to your sign on passwords, etc.. You must
also have PROCOMM available unless you wish to rewite another simple
script for any of the other communications programs which you may be
using. A sample GT-Powercom script has also been included. Those
wishing to review these scripts and refine them for your system and
passwords should edit BOTH the appropriate script file, RDR.DNL for
Procomm, AND the batch file RDRDLOAD.BAT, which is the file called from
the main program menu to initiate the communications program.This
automatic retrieval of current data and display is selectable as a main
menu option.

To run the program, first create a subdirectory for the files, (or
place them all on the same disk), and copy the files over. Enter
STARTWXR at the DOS prompt. If you have PROCOMM, either change the
batch file RDRDLOAD.BAT to properly go to the PROCOMM directory and
return or copy the PROCOMM files over as well. If Procomm is run from
a different directory, use must also copy the completed RDR.DNL script
file to that directory. Additionally, a data file filename may be
enter directly from the command line to immediately plot rather than
going to the selection menu. Use the format WXRDR30 (dataname) at the
DOS prompt to automatically display the data file (dataname).

This program represents many hours of effort as can be plainly seen
when run. It is distributed as SHAREWARE. It is copywrited and NOT to
be considered as Public Domain software. This program may be freely
copied and distributed for review purposes only. Should this program
be of value to you after review, the authors request a $40.00
contribution in return for your 'licensing' fee to use the software. A
small price for the value received and to keep the SHAREWARE concept
strong and active. Your contribution will also grant you a 1 year
membership fee to The Mailroom RBBS in Lexington, KY. where support and
future enhancements will be released first. The Mailroom normally
charges a $25.00 annual fee for its use alone as it contains over 3500
program files and has been established for nearly 4 years.*

Another ARChive file has been included named PHOTO_WX.ARC. This
program package comes from another shareware author and should not be
considered as a part of this WXRDR program. It captures EGA screens to
disk on command and allows the replay of them, even the screen 9 mode
which we use, upon request from the DOS prompt. A batch file to
automatically 'walk' through the screens allows for time lapse movment
of the radar data files to be observed.

We sincerely hope you find this program as useful and informative as we
do and would be very interested in your feedback and comments.



* Information current as of 1/88.
The Mailroom RBBS-PC
(606) 293-5119 24 Hours Daily
1200, 2400, 9600 HST Baud

Messages to the program authors should be left on The Mailroom RBBS
to the attention of either Phil Baughn, Mike McCauley, or SYSOP.