Weather Announcements  AR-Cluster User Manual

Weather announcements contain weather information that is distributed to all users connected on the network.   By being connected into a DX Cluster you will get weather announcements in real-time as they are spotted.  You can also query the database for past weather announcements.  Additionally, you can post weather announcements to the network. 

 

Real-Time Weather Announcements

As soon as you connect into a DX Cluster you will automatically start receiving weather announcements as they are posted.  The display of real-time announcements can be controlled with the following commands.

Examples:

set/nowx_announcements        

set/wx_announcements 

     

Normal Weather Queries

You can list previous weather announcements in the standard format with the SHOW/WX command.  The default listing is the last five announcements.

Example:

show/wx
 

If you want to see more weather announcements than this you can also add an optional number to the end of the command as in SHOW/WX/nn.    This will allow you to display the last 20 or 30 weather announcements.

Examples:

show/wx /20

show/wx /30

 

Advanced WX Queries

AR-Cluster also allows the user to program his own WX spot queries using SQL.  SQL queries are very powerful and allow you to build custom commands to query the WX spot database.   With some simple examples, is not too hard to pick up some SQL basics.  The SH/WX query commands can be ran against any of the fields in the WX spot database.  

Examples:

sh/wx where FROMCALL = 'K1TTT'

sh/wx where FROMNODE = 'N1EW'

sh/wx where SpotterCty = 'K'

sh/wx where SpotterSubCty = 'TX'

sh/wx where SpotterSubCty = 'TX' OR SpotterSubCty = 'OK'

 

You can also use the LIKE operator and the wildcard character "%" to do partial matches. 

Example:

sh/wx where ANN LIKE '%TEMP%'

sh/wx/30 where ANN LIKE '%SEVERE%'

 

The database fields that are available for Advanced WX Spot Queries are:

 

FromCall

Callsign that originated the spot

ToFlag

Field indicating who the spot is directed to

Ann

Weather Announcement message

SysopFlag

Flag indicating a sysop announcment

FromNode

Node that originated the announce spot

SrcStation

Node that we received the spot from

DTS

Date-Time-Stamp

SpotterCty

Country of the spotter – follows ARRL.CTY file

SpotterSubCty

State/Province of the spotter

 

 

Making Weather Announcements

The WX command is used to make a general broadcast of weather conditions.  To make an announcement to users on the DX cluster you are connected to.

Example:

wx Tornado alert for travis county

 

To make an announcement to users across the whole network use the FULL operator.

Example:

wx/full Three inch hail reported in travis county

 

Weather Station Data

Certain nodes may have the capability of displaying data from an optional weather station.  This data can be polled with the SH/WXSTATION command.   The wind chill will be displayed if it is less that 4 degrees lower that the current temperature.  Optional values for humidity, barometric pressure and rainfall will be shown if available.

Example:

Show/wxstation ab5k

Example Output:

WX for Bee Cave, TX:  Temp(F) 81  Wind 180 at 12 MPH

 

SHOW Weather by Zipcode

If your node has a Internet connection try the Show/WXZIP zip code command.  This command makes a call to a Internet server using SOAP and returns current WX conditions by 5 digit zip code.  The command will only work on nodes connected to the internet.

 

Example:

Show/wxzip 96555   (returns wx for the Marshall Islands)

Show/wxzip 72501

 

Sample:

                Weather for zip 96555: Temp: 79, Conditions: partly cloudy,

                Barometer at  29.93 Falling