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WSB-TV first OTA station to install dual-polarization radar

jal41

jal41

http://www.wsbtv.com/weather/27375375/detail.html

WSB-TV is the first OTA television station in the US to install this new radar called Klystron. (The first appears to be cable-only Bay News 9 in Tampa). It is located in Buchanan in Haralson County (near the Alabama line) where the old radar system was located. No costs released (Cox will keep quiet), but WSB-TV does have a fat checkbook and a bank account big enough to cover the cost.
 
Yup.
Bay News 9 has had theres for a couple of years now. I hope WSB will actually "use" it, and use it correctly. I must say, it is pretty impressive having it on a 350ft tower. That does away with any ground obstructions. I'm waiting for Nexrad in Peachtree City to get upgraded to dual pole too.
It's good stuff.
 
I'm sorry, but it's hilarious that WSB-TV placed this high-tech radar closer to Alabama than Atlanta itself. I know terrain is higher in this area, but I figured they would have tried to place it on Kennesaw Mountain or somewhere in the immediate metro area. Chances are they will use this radar, but hopefully they'll become a little more accurate with their forecasting as well.
 
If you recall, WSB TV used to have their radar behind White Columns. It scanned all of North GA for many years from that location. However, when the IBM building was built in midtown, it blocked the signal going south. It looked very funny to see the radar image around Atlanta and everything south had a huge empty pie piece in it.

I believe they decided to relocate the radar to West Ga after getting hit with complaints and the competition tapping into the Nexrad system at Peachtree City.

Someone else may have the full story.
 
tlyle said:
If you recall, WSB TV used to have their radar behind White Columns. It scanned all of North GA for many years from that location. However, when the IBM building was built in midtown, it blocked the signal going south. It looked very funny to see the radar image around Atlanta and everything south had a huge empty pie piece in it.

I believe they decided to relocate the radar to West Ga after getting hit with complaints and the competition tapping into the Nexrad system at Peachtree City.

Someone else may have the full story.
Click to expand...

I remember them having the old "Doppler 2" radar in Midtown, but there are closer higher terrain in Cobb, Douglas, Paulding counties as well.
 
Let's just hope they don't fall into the same trap at other weather folks and play with the new toy instead of explaining to us what's really going on with the weather.
 
On a related topic, does 11 Alive still have their 1-million-watt "Power Plus One Million" Doppler radar in use? I know it's based near Carrollton, but amongst all their "W.I.Z." promotion I have forgotten if they still use the radar under a new name or now using NexRad Level II like FOX 5 and WGCL-TV...
 
kilamanjero said:
I'm sorry, but it's hilarious that WSB-TV placed this high-tech radar closer to Alabama than Atlanta itself. I know terrain is higher in this area, but I figured they would have tried to place it on Kennesaw Mountain or somewhere in the immediate metro area. Chances are they will use this radar, but hopefully they'll become a little more accurate with their forecasting as well.
Click to expand...

Many factors at play here. Elevation, proximity to Metro Atl, land costs (less expensive out there), FAA regs, and the 5 mile "donut hole" around all radars are just a few considerations.

G
 
upstate29651 said:
kilamanjero said:
I'm sorry, but it's hilarious that WSB-TV placed this high-tech radar closer to Alabama than Atlanta itself. I know terrain is higher in this area, but I figured they would have tried to place it on Kennesaw Mountain or somewhere in the immediate metro area. Chances are they will use this radar, but hopefully they'll become a little more accurate with their forecasting as well.
Click to expand...

Many factors at play here. Elevation, proximity to Metro Atl, land costs (less expensive out there), FAA regs, and the 5 mile "donut hole" around all radars are just a few considerations.

G
Click to expand...

Actually, the newer radars doesn't have "donut holes" in their scans.
 
Yup. Both Channel 2 and 11 had their radars located behind the studios Peachtree Street. Then as more and more buildings were built south of them downtown, the buildings caused large holes in coverage to the south. Channel 5 had a large hole toward Athens with the construction of the new CDC building when the radar was located at the studio off of Briarcliff. It's out in the Douglasville area now. You can see channel 11's along I-20 if you look through the trees in/around the Six Flags - Thornton Rd area. I forget exactly, it's been a little while since I've been out that way.
Now, WSB does have theirs on a 350 tower. That should be high enough for them to run a low elevation on the dish, thus allowing them to see storms farther away instead of shooting over them due to the curvature of the earth, wouldn't you think?

I'm hoping that WSB will use the hydro classification of the dual pole technology in conjunction with the base scans to more accurately depict what if falling out of the sky, and not as a toy.

And no, not all radar systems have a 5-mile "cone of silence." Nexrad's and TDWR's are far less.
 
upstate29651 said:
Let's review:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJH-nvnCqLI&feature=related

G
Click to expand...

Whoa, war of the dopplers! I don't know if Channel 2 is using the new radar, but it looks like they may have at 5pm and 6pm. Atlanta metro is under a Tornado Watch and the radar looks no different than Stormtracker 2 HD. The sweep was live and accurate unlike the delays u get from FOX 5 Vipir and CBS Atlanta's Stormtracker.

kilamanjero said:
On a related topic, does 11 Alive still have their 1-million-watt "Power Plus One Million" Doppler radar in use? I know it's based near Carrollton, but amongst all their "W.I.Z." promotion I have forgotten if they still use the radar under a new name or now using NexRad Level II like FOX 5 and WGCL-TV...
Click to expand...

I haven't seen the "Power Plus One Million" doppler radar in a while. They're just refferring to it as "Live Radar."
 
Whoa, war of the dopplers! I don't know if Channel 2 is using the new radar, but it looks like they may have at 5pm and 6pm. Atlanta metro is under a Tornado Watch and the radar looks no different than Stormtracker 2 HD. The sweep was live and accurate unlike the delays u get from FOX 5 Vipir and CBS Atlanta's Stormtracker.

kilamanjero said:
On a related topic, does 11 Alive still have their 1-million-watt "Power Plus One Million" Doppler radar in use? I know it's based near Carrollton, but amongst all their "W.I.Z." promotion I have forgotten if they still use the radar under a new name or now using NexRad Level II like FOX 5 and WGCL-TV...
Click to expand...

I haven't seen the "Power Plus One Million" doppler radar in a while. They're just refferring to it as "Live Radar."



[/quote]

I agree. That's what gets me. Instead of using the technology they've spent lots of $$$$$$ on, to push the "live" aspect, as the television stations do, they wait on the Nexrad from Peachtree City to make it's complete cycle. It's like having a car in the driveway but taking the bus to work. Use what you've got, and use the Nexrad to confirm what "your" radar is seeing. The nexrad radars work differently from a system designed for the broadcast media. Remember, that is what the NWS uses to issue warnings.
 
kilamanjero said:
I'm sorry, but it's hilarious that WSB-TV placed this high-tech radar closer to Alabama than Atlanta itself.
Click to expand...

Well, nearly all the Atlanta weather comes in from Alabama, so it makes simple sense to put the radar over there to give some advance warning. That's all. It does not help as much for storms coming in from the east but that doesn't happen very often.

Anyway, during the last round of bad weather, Glenn Burns was so busy describing every aspect of what the radar was showing, they had very few break-ins to reporters out in the middle of it. It takes too damn long to describe some three-dee whatsit and oddball 'middle of the storm' transition color modeling. And hail icons. Lots of that.

People want to know if their house is gonna get blown away. But the TV stations are doing anything but answering that. I am not sure the current way of doing things is much better than the old way when we knew there was a storm coming and everybody just took shelter.
 
nightmanager said:
kilamanjero said:
I'm sorry, but it's hilarious that WSB-TV placed this high-tech radar closer to Alabama than Atlanta itself.
Click to expand...

Well, nearly all the Atlanta weather comes in from Alabama, so it makes simple sense to put the radar over there to give some advance warning. That's all. It does not help as much for storms coming in from the east but that doesn't happen very often.

Anyway, during the last round of bad weather, Glenn Burns was so busy describing every aspect of what the radar was showing, they had very few break-ins to reporters out in the middle of it. It takes too damn long to describe some three-dee whatsit and oddball 'middle of the storm' transition color modeling. And hail icons. Lots of that.

People want to know if their house is gonna get blown away. But the TV stations are doing anything but answering that. I am not sure the current way of doing things is much better than the old way when we knew there was a storm coming and everybody just took shelter.
Click to expand...

I will say that with the newer radar systems those weather icons like "tornado markers", "hail markers", "shear markers" (that are result of Barron services, NWS NexRad Level II) is quite helpful for those whom just see that it's coming with said storm(s). Most of the rest of the terminology and graphics are for weather and technology buffs. It's all a matter of knowing what to look for on the radar concerning your specific area and leaving the rest for entertainment purposes.
 
Actually, WSB is not the first OTA TV station with a Dual Pol radar. Baron has Dual Pol radars in Orlando, Houston, Chicago, Raleigh, and NYC. Baron's Klystron radar (is also Dual Pol) is at cable only Bay News 9 in Tampa. They do a fantastic job with the weather and the radar and often beat all of the affiliates during times of severe weather. WSB is getting a Klystron Dual Pol radar but it isn't up and running just yet.

Now, all of the National Weather Service radars are Klystron (S-Band) but they haven't upgraded Nexrad to Dual Pol yet. Baron has the contract on that too. Bay News 9's radar is the only Klystron radar in the world owned by a private company. The Klystron is able to stay in the Doppler mode 24/7, unlike most TV station radars which are running magnatron tubes. The Klystron is also more stable which allows Doppler velocity data to display better.

Actually, I'm surprised WSB has chosen to put their new radar up on a 300' tower. Unlike broadcasting, you really don't want a weather radar up high unless you have to avoid trees or buildings or hills. The side lobe will create more ground clutter if the radar is up high. You really want the thing sitting as close to the ground as possible. But, the Klystron radar Baron sells has very little ground clutter anyway so maybe this won't be a problem for them.
 
nightmanager said:
kilamanjero said:
I'm sorry, but it's hilarious that WSB-TV placed this high-tech radar closer to Alabama than Atlanta itself.
Click to expand...

Well, nearly all the Atlanta weather comes in from Alabama, so it makes simple sense to put the radar over there to give some advance warning. That's all. It does not help as much for storms coming in from the east but that doesn't happen very often.

Anyway, during the last round of bad weather, Glenn Burns was so busy describing every aspect of what the radar was showing, they had very few break-ins to reporters out in the middle of it. It takes too damn long to describe some three-dee whatsit and oddball 'middle of the storm' transition color modeling. And hail icons. Lots of that.

People want to know if their house is gonna get blown away. But the TV stations are doing anything but answering that. I am not sure the current way of doing things is much better than the old way when we knew there was a storm coming and everybody just took shelter.
Click to expand...

I'm bumping up this months-old topic because it's not every day one of our posters (nightmanager) is quoted in the NY Times (scroll all the way down).

And get ready to see a lot of Glenn Burns...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/us/19weatherman.html
 
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