Live weather satellite imagery

[Turbohawk]

Has anybody heard of the possibility in the near future for Dishnet to have localized weather satellite imagery available instead of just the forecasts?

This would really be nice. And give the cable companies a conniption.

[Whammy]

A nice idea. But the problem with this is that this would take up too much satellite space and most receivers could not handle this function.

[Jacob S]

If the satellite receivers had enough memory then they could do this I would think. They would just be better off adding a bunch of weather channels for each region just as Primestar had. Are those channels still around?

[rh26]

A nice idea. But the problem with this is that this would take up too much satellite space
I have thought about this a long time. Satellite imagery (or weather radar imagery) updates very slowly. I suggest 1 frame per second would be more than adequate. Compare that to a 30 frames per second for normal video and I could support 30 markets with one channel slot. Add to that the fact that the frame to frame changes are very small (compared to normal action video) and I suspect you could really up the compression and nobody notice. Ultimately, between low frame rates and upped compression, I bet you could get upward of 100 radar feeds into a single channel's worth of bandwidth.

and most receivers could not handle this function.
Now here's the kicker. Could my receiver handle a slower frame rate and higher compression? I believe the answer is yes. Just watch a CD music channel. How often do they update the video on one of those? Once every 3-5 seconds? Those channels take very little bandwidth...it's dominated by the stereo music. (Try this test if you have a PVR 501/508; pause a CD channel and then use the "jump" keys to go back or forward a frame at a time. It doesn't go back 1/30th of a second does it?) So why can't I make a weather radar channel along that model--and if I'm clever have all 100 of them share the same mono Muzak data stream so you don't have silence?

So I don't see why every customer doesn't have a weather radar channel (channel 8888 for argument's sake) that is mapped to some other channel on their receiver based on their zip code. Viola! A real-time local weather-radar channel!

:scratch: The really cool solution (which probably does require "new" receiver functionality) would be to figure how to multiplex these low frame rate feeds onto a single channel and let my receiver only grab the frames for "my" weather. If you could do that, then The Weather Channel could send that multiplexed feed during the time when cable subscribers get "Your Local Weather".

Well, enough dreaming...

Robert

[jeffwtux]

Their forecasts supposedly come from AccuWeather.com. How about just adding the detailed 36 hour forcast on a page? That's all I ask for. That wouldn't take too much bandwidth. Most people don't need to look at satellite or radar images and try to read them. They just want the forecast. Just the facts mam.

[jeffwtux]

You people have think more in terms of what the masses want. Detailed local forecast like "The Weather Channel". That's what they want. It's available from www.AccuWeather.com, and that's what should be included.

[JohnH]

While the bandwidth required for such a service would be less than normal video, the entire frame would still need regeneration at least once a second or so. This requirement is so if you just tuned to the channel, you would not have to wait long to see the image.

[ScottK]

I don't care nearly as much for satellite images as I do for detailed forecasts.

In my part of the world (Maine), telling me "Snow, 22 deg" (like on the instant weather) tells me very little. A day's worth of light snow might add up to two inches (not a big deal to us in the NE)... or a day's worth of heavy snow might add up to 2 feet or more (a fairly significant inconvenience). This information cannot be derived from satellite pictures alone...

-Scott

[ScottK]

I don't care nearly as much for satellite images as I do for detailed forecasts.

In my part of the world (Maine), telling me "Snow, 22 deg" (like on the instant weather) tells me very little. A day's worth of light snow might add up to two inches (not a big deal to us in the NE)... or a day's worth of heavy snow might add up to 2 feet or more (a fairly significant inconvenience). This information cannot be derived from satellite pictures alone...

-Scott

[Jacob S]

They could even have a radar picture without a moving frame in which would be better than nothing for the whole U.S. to start then later on have regions added. They could add another picture to show the fronts, temperatures, and a graphic view of the weather currently, just like those you see online.

[jeffwtux]

See some of you people think of satellite TV as a "hobby" whereas for the masses it's entertainment and information. Most people just want the information and don't care how "COOL" a satellite image would look.

[dbronstein]

Originally posted by jeffwtux
See some of you people think of satellite TV as a "hobby" whereas for the masses it's entertainment and information. Most people just want the information and don't care how "COOL" a satellite image would look.

Exactly. To put this in for the handful of people who actually care about it would be a complete and total waste of resources. The vast majority of people just want their local forecast.

Dennis

[Jacob S]

I have had customers request and ask about the channels that Primestar used to have in which showed weather warnings and radars of regions.

[Turbohawk]

Getting the "facts" goes without saying. After all, right now we are getting several days of "guesses" with the current weather program.

Seeing a few seconds worth of moving satellite pics of my area can tell me what to expect over the next few hours and even a day or two. Plus, most of the reason I want weather info is to know what to expect when I go fishing, etc. several hours away from my home...

It could and should be done. Echostar, it would give the cable company a heartattack. It gives those last "lame-o's" one less excuse to "take the plunge" and go cable free to have their beloved "radar/satellite picture channel" also available on DBS.

After all, you guys finally got the locals going pretty nicely!

[Cyclone]

Bah! Save the Weather Radars for the Web page of your local TV stations. Otherwise its a waste of bandwidth.

[Kagato]

All the weather services basically take free NOAA weather information and present it in whatever fancy way you want it. For a top 50 city they might even feed the data into a model and tweak the forcast a little bit. Otherwise, it's all about the same. Bandwidth for each city is very very low. But you're got a lot of area to beam out. If dish was serious they'd get a company like my-cast to write the software. AT&T, Sprint, and Nextel already have used them to write custom weather apps for their phones. (Full animated color radar, and all that jazz.)

[scaredpoet]

While it's true that wireless companies have the weather radar apps, you have to realize that the bandwidth needs are different. Sprint PCS, Nextel and ATTWS all serve that content on-demand: the phone queries the server, and you get your data. E* (and D* for that matter) doesn't have the same query/receive capability.... they're going to be continually broadcasting this stuff. If the wireless companies had to do the same thing, you'd bet they wouldn't even bother to try.... the bandwidth used would be too much.

[bmciver]

TWC Channel 214, local forcast every 8 minutes... "Locals on the 8's" If that's not good enough, like many have said, intellicast, acuweather, weatherbug etc. I'd rather see far less compression of my CURRENT channels before we add more junk like live radar.

[JayeDVXIII]

hahah @ bmciver..i was wondering why someone hadn't asked that yet...just watch the weather channel!

[Nick]

Two words: "The Weather Channel"

[Turbohawk]

Originally posted by Nick
Two words: "The Weather Channel"

That's 3 words, not 2!

Anyhow, there are no Locals on the 8'S, they are regions.

Give me my radar/satellite features. Or just say screw it and use the internet which has more info anyhow?

Doesn't seem like it would take all too much to do it. Incorporate it into the already existing "Dish Interactive"...

[Kagato]

Band width is minimal. You need a 3K image to cover 1/4 of a state. You only do a frame for every 15 minute slice. The STB is already listening for all sorts of data. Guide, Auth, etc. Only using 3K of the transponter you could send out 2700 pictures in 15 minutes. It's just a matter of programming the STB to listen for the pictures it's interested in. Weather images are fairly low resolution.

[bmciver]

You get loacal for every major city, the weather isn't much different within 30 miles, also you have live radar and satelite imagery for every region of the country. So I guess you can consider it regional on the 8's?!!?

[jlabsher]

Locals on the 8's doesn't really cut it, just shows regions.
There are many parts of the country that get severe weather in the spring/summer/fall. Would be nice to see if that tornado or thunderstorm is bearing down on you or going 20 miles south.

[Jacob S]

Use spotbeams to give a local radar image. And I do agree, it would be real nice to see a radar of your area closer so that you can see if a bad storm is approaching your neighborhood.