This is the fourth entry of a series of seven blog entries that will provide additional details surrounding all the elements at NW Ohio Live Services (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/).
Today's topic is the "Live Mapping (APRS)" component (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/livemappingaprs.html).
The Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) is an amateur radio based system for real time tactical digital communications of information of immediate value in the local area. In addition, all such data is ingested into the APRS Internet system (APRS-IS) and distributed globally for instant access. In addition to messages, alerts, announcements and bulletins, the most visible aspect of APRS is its map display. Anyone may place any object or information on their map and it is distributed to all maps of all users in the local RF network or monitoring the area via the Internet. Any station, radio or object that has an attached GPS is automatically tracked. Other prominent map features are weather stations, alerts and objects and other map related amateur radio volunteer activities including Search and Rescue and signal direction finding.
The Live Mapping APRS (Amateur Automatic Packet Reporting System) feature on NW Ohio Live Services is made possible by the APRS-IS network and APRS.fi (Google Maps APRS) as well as all of the stations that provide RF APRS digipeaters and gate RF APRS traffic to the Internet. Find me on APRS via APRS.fi at http://aprs.fi/?call=KC8NNO*
This concludes the in depth look at the details surrounding the Live Mapping (APRS) element. Stay tuned for the next topic which will cover the Live Mapping (AIS) component in more detail.
(About NW Ohio Live Services - Blog Entry 4-A of 7)
2009 NW Ohio Live Services
Showing posts with label Live Services. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Live Services. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Live Scanner "Mini Console" Page is Back
Folks who had visited the NW Ohio Live Scanner page in the past may have remembered the "Mini Console" page with multiple embedded live streams all on one page. Well the "Mini Console" page is back. The Mini Console page features all three of my NW Ohio live streams from ScanAmerica embedded on one page. This page allows folks to listen to the NW Ohio Digital & MARCS feed, NW Ohio Fire / Emergency Analog feed, and Toledo and Lucas County Fire & EMS Digital feed all at the same time.
The Live Scanner Mini Console is designed for use with Windows Media Player. Each feed is 16 Kbps so a decent connection is needed to listen to all feeds at the same time. You may need to adjust your web browser settings to accept more than two downloads at the same time. Individual feeds can be muted and volume levels custom mixed to your needs. Stereo balancing provides pseudo surround sound and distributes the audio from each feed from the left to the right speakers. In Windows Media Player, the "Visualization" / "Bars and Waves" / "Fire Storm" provides for a good graphical activity indicator.
The Live Scanner Mini Console is designed for use with Windows Media Player. Each feed is 16 Kbps so a decent connection is needed to listen to all feeds at the same time. You may need to adjust your web browser settings to accept more than two downloads at the same time. Individual feeds can be muted and volume levels custom mixed to your needs. Stereo balancing provides pseudo surround sound and distributes the audio from each feed from the left to the right speakers. In Windows Media Player, the "Visualization" / "Bars and Waves" / "Fire Storm" provides for a good graphical activity indicator.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
About NW Ohio Live Services: "Live Camera"
This is the third entry of a series of seven blog entries that will provide additional details surrounding all the elements at NW Ohio Live Services (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/).
Today's topic is the "Live Camera" component (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/livecamera.html). The goal of this camera is to provide a window on the local weather activity.
The Live Camera is powered by a generic stand alone web camera. This web camera FTPs an image every minute to my Web Server. That image is then also FTP'd to Weather Uunderground for further visibility and achieving (http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KOHOREGO2).
One neat feature on Weather Underground is the ability to recall a 24 hour time lapse video loop of all captured images from any day in the past (http://www.wunderground.com/webcams/kc8nno/1/show.html). I've had some fun going back and watching time lapse video of the days during which we had recent snow falls.
I am also impressed at how well the camera works at nights during which there is a decent blanketing of snow present. In some cases, almost as bright as day time, but other days with less or no snow, not much can be seen. I also have a window screen that is impairing the best possible visibilty of the outside--I'm looking into removing that screen at some point in the future.
As a final note, I'm also submitting these Live Camera images to The Weather Channel via their Weather Bonk site (http://www.weatherbonk.com/weather/camDetail.jsp?id=cam_1229899380150).
This concludes the in depth look at the details surrounding the Live Camera element. Stay tuned for the next topic which will cover the Live Mapping component in more detail.
(About NW Ohio Live Services - Blog Entry 3 of 7)
2008 NW Ohio Live Services
Today's topic is the "Live Camera" component (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/livecamera.html). The goal of this camera is to provide a window on the local weather activity.
The Live Camera is powered by a generic stand alone web camera. This web camera FTPs an image every minute to my Web Server. That image is then also FTP'd to Weather Uunderground for further visibility and achieving (http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KOHOREGO2).
One neat feature on Weather Underground is the ability to recall a 24 hour time lapse video loop of all captured images from any day in the past (http://www.wunderground.com/webcams/kc8nno/1/show.html). I've had some fun going back and watching time lapse video of the days during which we had recent snow falls.
I am also impressed at how well the camera works at nights during which there is a decent blanketing of snow present. In some cases, almost as bright as day time, but other days with less or no snow, not much can be seen. I also have a window screen that is impairing the best possible visibilty of the outside--I'm looking into removing that screen at some point in the future.
As a final note, I'm also submitting these Live Camera images to The Weather Channel via their Weather Bonk site (http://www.weatherbonk.com/weather/camDetail.jsp?id=cam_1229899380150).
This concludes the in depth look at the details surrounding the Live Camera element. Stay tuned for the next topic which will cover the Live Mapping component in more detail.
(About NW Ohio Live Services - Blog Entry 3 of 7)
2008 NW Ohio Live Services
Sunday, December 14, 2008
About NW Ohio Live Services: "Live Weather"
Hello again,
This is the second entry of a series of seven blog entries that will provide additional details surrounding all the elements at NW Ohio Live Services (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/).
Today's topic is the "Live Weather" component (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/liveweather.html). I have always had an interest in weather phenomena and keeping track of the weather conditions around us. This past year I have also had the opportunity to receive National Weather Service severe weather spotter training (http://www.erh.noaa.gov/cle/skywarn/training/spottran.html) and have been involved with Lucas County SKYWARN® (http://www.lucascoskywarn.org/).
I have deployed a Personal Weather Station at my home location in Oregon Ohio and have recently integrated the weather reporting data with the Internet. My weather station instrumentation consists of an Oregon Scientific WMR100N (http://www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/product.asp?cid=2&scid=84&pid=922) Professional Wireless Weather Station. The WMR100N includes five different sensors and is capable of measuring and reporting temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind, and rainfall. The wireless feature allows for easy mast mounting of the primary instruments above roof level.
The Oregon Scientific WMR100N weather console is connected to a computer via USB cable. The computer is running Virtual Weather Station (http://www.ambientweather.com/virtualstation.html) software that is capable of logging and redistributing the weather data. I am submitting data to Weather Underground (http://www.wunderground.com/) and they're hosting my "KC8NNO" Personal Weather Station (http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KOHOREGO2). Weather Underground offers and impressive array of personal weather services and historical data logging and analysis capabilities.
I am also uploading weather data to the APRSWXNET in support of the Citizen Weather Observer Program (http://www.wxqa.com/). From here, weather data is sent to the NOAA Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System [MADIS] (http://www-sdd.fsl.noaa.gov/MADIS/index.html) for further distribution and quality control. View my CWOP information and MADIS weather quality ratings: http://weather.gladstonefamily.net/site/AT081.
The implementation of a new service always has it's challenges. I've just finished with recalibrating my barometric pressure this weekend and my station should now be tracking that measurement with little error going forward. I'm looking forward to seeing a two thumbs up rating from MADIS. I've also had some recent glitches with wind and rain reporting, but hopefully related to cold weather and poor batteries and those will not be causing any further issues.
This concludes the in depth look at the details surrounding the Live Weather element. Stay tuned for the next topic which will cover the Live Camera component in more detail.
(About NW Ohio Live Services - Blog Entry 2 of 7)
2008 NW Ohio Live Services
This is the second entry of a series of seven blog entries that will provide additional details surrounding all the elements at NW Ohio Live Services (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/).
Today's topic is the "Live Weather" component (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/liveweather.html). I have always had an interest in weather phenomena and keeping track of the weather conditions around us. This past year I have also had the opportunity to receive National Weather Service severe weather spotter training (http://www.erh.noaa.gov/cle/skywarn/training/spottran.html) and have been involved with Lucas County SKYWARN® (http://www.lucascoskywarn.org/).
I have deployed a Personal Weather Station at my home location in Oregon Ohio and have recently integrated the weather reporting data with the Internet. My weather station instrumentation consists of an Oregon Scientific WMR100N (http://www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/product.asp?cid=2&scid=84&pid=922) Professional Wireless Weather Station. The WMR100N includes five different sensors and is capable of measuring and reporting temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind, and rainfall. The wireless feature allows for easy mast mounting of the primary instruments above roof level.
The Oregon Scientific WMR100N weather console is connected to a computer via USB cable. The computer is running Virtual Weather Station (http://www.ambientweather.com/virtualstation.html) software that is capable of logging and redistributing the weather data. I am submitting data to Weather Underground (http://www.wunderground.com/) and they're hosting my "KC8NNO" Personal Weather Station (http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KOHOREGO2). Weather Underground offers and impressive array of personal weather services and historical data logging and analysis capabilities.
I am also uploading weather data to the APRSWXNET in support of the Citizen Weather Observer Program (http://www.wxqa.com/). From here, weather data is sent to the NOAA Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System [MADIS] (http://www-sdd.fsl.noaa.gov/MADIS/index.html) for further distribution and quality control. View my CWOP information and MADIS weather quality ratings: http://weather.gladstonefamily.net/site/AT081.
The implementation of a new service always has it's challenges. I've just finished with recalibrating my barometric pressure this weekend and my station should now be tracking that measurement with little error going forward. I'm looking forward to seeing a two thumbs up rating from MADIS. I've also had some recent glitches with wind and rain reporting, but hopefully related to cold weather and poor batteries and those will not be causing any further issues.
This concludes the in depth look at the details surrounding the Live Weather element. Stay tuned for the next topic which will cover the Live Camera component in more detail.
(About NW Ohio Live Services - Blog Entry 2 of 7)
2008 NW Ohio Live Services
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
About NW Ohio Live Services: "Live Scanner"
This is the first entry of a series of seven blog entries that will provide additional details surrounding all the elements at NW Ohio Live Services (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/).
Today's topic is the "Live Scanner" component (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/livescanner.html). This is the flagship element of the site, and the original inspiration for all Internet integration activities at NW Ohio Live Services.
The Live Scanner features local public safety radio system audio content from the NW Ohio area with a focus on Greater Toledo and Lucas County Ohio. The Live Scanner is designed to provide individuals with insight into the digital interoperable public safety radio system content that is active in the NW Ohio area with the primary goal of allowing those individuals to make an informed decision regarding the purchase their own digital scanning radio receiver.
The scanner itself is scanning activity on the Lucas County Public Safety system (http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=4239) and the State of Ohio MARCS (http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=901) Toledo tower site. Most dispatch and operational talk groups on both of those systems are enabled on the scanner. There are a handful of non-dispatch, non-operational activity that have been excluded: correctional activity, court security, records channels, medical channels, and encrypted channels, etc. Folks wanting more information regarding the above systems should follow the above links. Also visit the Live Scanner page for links to all of the current brands and models of digital scanning radio receivers that will work with Lucas County and Ohio MARCS.
The Live Scanner is powered by the GRECOM PSR-500 Digital Triple Trunking Handheld Scanner (http://www.greamerica.com/PSR-500.html). This is their first breakthrough handheld model from GRE's latest independent development and manufacturing efforts (GRE also develops and supplies Radio Shack branded equipment). This particular model features many innovative functions: Intuitive "Object Oriented" User Interface Design, Powerful and Flexible Scan List Functionality, Flexible Free-Form Memory Organization, Exclusive ALERT LED, Trunking Control Data Output, Radio ID Information, and more.
The scanner is connected to a computer running StarrSoft Win500 (http://www.starrsoft.com/software/win500/default.asp) software for the screen capture visual and Windows Media Encoder 9 Server (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/encoder/default.mspx) for the streaming media functionality. The Live Scanner is currently limited to twelve connections, as all users are directly connected to the server and my personal website bandwidth is limited. Folks can visit the Scan America website for an audio only equivalent of this feed that offers virtually unlimited connections ("NW Ohio Digital & MARCS" at http://lucas.oh.scanamerica.us/index.php). Feel free to visit their site for this feed and additional live scanner feeds.
This wraps up the futher look at the details surrounding the Live Scanner. Stay tuned for the next topic which will cover the Live Weather element in more detail.
(About NW Ohio Live Services - Blog Entry 1 of 7)
2008 NW Ohio Live Services
Today's topic is the "Live Scanner" component (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/livescanner.html). This is the flagship element of the site, and the original inspiration for all Internet integration activities at NW Ohio Live Services.
The Live Scanner features local public safety radio system audio content from the NW Ohio area with a focus on Greater Toledo and Lucas County Ohio. The Live Scanner is designed to provide individuals with insight into the digital interoperable public safety radio system content that is active in the NW Ohio area with the primary goal of allowing those individuals to make an informed decision regarding the purchase their own digital scanning radio receiver.
The scanner itself is scanning activity on the Lucas County Public Safety system (http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=4239) and the State of Ohio MARCS (http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=901) Toledo tower site. Most dispatch and operational talk groups on both of those systems are enabled on the scanner. There are a handful of non-dispatch, non-operational activity that have been excluded: correctional activity, court security, records channels, medical channels, and encrypted channels, etc. Folks wanting more information regarding the above systems should follow the above links. Also visit the Live Scanner page for links to all of the current brands and models of digital scanning radio receivers that will work with Lucas County and Ohio MARCS.
The Live Scanner is powered by the GRECOM PSR-500 Digital Triple Trunking Handheld Scanner (http://www.greamerica.com/PSR-500.html). This is their first breakthrough handheld model from GRE's latest independent development and manufacturing efforts (GRE also develops and supplies Radio Shack branded equipment). This particular model features many innovative functions: Intuitive "Object Oriented" User Interface Design, Powerful and Flexible Scan List Functionality, Flexible Free-Form Memory Organization, Exclusive ALERT LED, Trunking Control Data Output, Radio ID Information, and more.
The scanner is connected to a computer running StarrSoft Win500 (http://www.starrsoft.com/software/win500/default.asp) software for the screen capture visual and Windows Media Encoder 9 Server (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/encoder/default.mspx) for the streaming media functionality. The Live Scanner is currently limited to twelve connections, as all users are directly connected to the server and my personal website bandwidth is limited. Folks can visit the Scan America website for an audio only equivalent of this feed that offers virtually unlimited connections ("NW Ohio Digital & MARCS" at http://lucas.oh.scanamerica.us/index.php). Feel free to visit their site for this feed and additional live scanner feeds.
This wraps up the futher look at the details surrounding the Live Scanner. Stay tuned for the next topic which will cover the Live Weather element in more detail.
(About NW Ohio Live Services - Blog Entry 1 of 7)
2008 NW Ohio Live Services
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Stay tuned . . .
An upcoming series of blog entries will highlight additional details surrounding the unique content of all elements at NW Ohio Live Services (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/). The NW Ohio Live Services web site is an experimental test bed for radio, electronic, computer and Internet integration activities. As a technology buff, communications enthusiast, and ham radio operator--I enjoy connecting the world around us via computer technology and the Internet. This Electronic Interface to the World is designed to be a hobbyist showcase.
Stay tuned right here every few days for more information about each element. The "Live Scanner"--the flag ship element--will be the first element to be covered in additional detail.
Jeff KC8NNO
Stay tuned right here every few days for more information about each element. The "Live Scanner"--the flag ship element--will be the first element to be covered in additional detail.
Jeff KC8NNO
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
NW Ohio Live Services
The NW Ohio Live Scanner site is now NW Ohio Live Services: http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/
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