[OZAPRS] Message Traffic and WX Alerts in Xastir

Thu Nov 27 08:14:01 EST 2008

Hi Geoff and Ray....heres my latest piece of info FYI

wx_alert log
# 1227732315 Thu Nov 27 06:45:15 EST 2008
NECSWW>APRS::NWS_ADVIS :270000Z,WIND,TAZ506  {QHkAA

this is the same as you sent me in the e-mail

WX ALERT LIST
NECSWW QHkAA NWS_ADVIS 26 at 1746Z       ------------>  27 at 0000Z    ?Y 
TA_Z506 WIND

i presume this is how Xastir is dealing with the data that is coming in 
as per the wx_alert.log

Geoff you mentioned that UI-View would use TAZ506 and the expiry time 
and date....
looks like Xastir may be using TA_Z506 would the "_" make any difference ??

David VK4BDJ

Ray Wells wrote:
> Geoff,
>
> Thanks for the additional info. I spent hours yesterday disseminating 
> what I've got and gathering information on how it fits together. I was 
> also looking for an example of some US aprs weather bulletins - more 
> searching when I get home later today.
>
> I also wondered about those extra characters but since I'm wandering 
> around in the dark I didn't pay too much heed without knowing their 
> relevance.
>
>
>
> Geoff wrote:
>> I can't answer the Xastir specific queries, however how the 
>> shapefiles are
>> triggered is as follows:
>>
>> Each shape within each shapefile is assigned a field that is used to
>> 'trigger' the shape (Each shapefile has a unique .dbf format - we just
>> copied what the Yanks use)
>>
>> In the z_ausXXXX file for example, the .dbf contains STATE, ZONE and
>> STATE_ZONE.  These are defined within the .dbf as for example NS, 
>> 025, and
>> NS025 respectively.
>>
>> The APRS message that triggers this zone contains the state and zone(s)
>> required to be highlighted (Leading 0 is insignificant)
>>
>> The APRS message itself looks like:  UPWSTS>APRS::NWS-WARN 
>> :260830z,TSTORM,NSZ25 {Q5QAB
>>   
> In wading through the examples posted by David yesterday, and my own 
> log entries, I came to the conclusion that the particular dbf file to 
> use is triggered by the zone information.
>
> A bulletin containing NS_Z021 looks in z-aus...dbf, one using NS_Z541 
> uses mz_aus...dbf, and one using NS-C021 uses c_aus...dbf
>
> Logically, if a particular dbf is used the matching shp and dbfawk 
> files are used.
>
> If my thinking is flawed please tell me. I can't fit it all together 
> if I'm using bits from another puzzle :-)
>
>
>> Now I'm not sure how Xastir handles this, but in UI-View, all it 
>> cares about
>> is the NSZ25 part and the expiry time.  TSTORM is a "plaintext" 
>> identifier
>> that only shows up within the NWS plugin, and the shape is automatically
>> hidden when the expiry time passes.
>>
>> Objects on the map are just that - objects, triggered by an object 
>> beacon,
>> like this one:
>> UPWSTS>APRS:;UPW_STS  *260830z3023.94S\14310.20ETSevere Tstorm {Q5QAA
>>
>> The symbol used to represent the Thunderstorm is Symbol-set \ 
>> (Alternate)
>> symbol T.  We're using the same symbols as the US NWS messages, so they
>> should be available.
>>   
>
> Icons appear to be ok here.
>
> Ray vk2tv
>> Regards,
>> Geoff  VK2XJG
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: ozaprs-bounces at aprs.net.au [mailto:ozaprs-bounces at aprs.net.au] On
>> Behalf Of David
>> Sent: Wednesday, 26 November 2008 3:30 PM
>> To: Australian APRS Users
>> Subject: Re: [OZAPRS] Message Traffic and WX Alerts in Xastir
>>
>> Hi Andrew......ive been getting areas with Yellow and Flood for some 
>> time now....also was getting Blue Alert at one stage.....
>> at the moment we have large areas with STS Severe Thunderstorm Storm 
>> warnings....
>> i note that in the /usr/local/share/symbols dir there is no .xbm for 
>> Thunderstorms...would this cause them not to be shown up as colored 
>> areas as they are in UI-View  (Red)...if this is so how would one go 
>> about making a .xbm for Thunderstorms.....have tried to change the 
>> file name of the Tonado one to see if it worked ...nix...
>> how  does the .shp file pick up which warning and what it is from
>>
>>
>>
>> 73 David VK4BDJ
>>
>>
>>
>> Andrew Errington wrote:
>>  
>>> I did a quick experiment.
>>>
>>> I have made my own .dbfawk files for the map data from here:
>>>
>>> http://mapcenter2.cgpsmapper.com/mapsetview.php?id=185
>>>
>>> (You can get maps of Oz too, but for any of these files you have to run
>>> cgpsmapper first to convert to shapefiles).
>>>
>>> I used QGIS to examine the list of fields, and entered that list as the
>>> dbfinfo line in the .dbfawk file.  Unfortunately I couldn't get 
>>> XASTIR to
>>> recognise my .dbfawk, so I moved the .dbfawk file to the maps directory
>>> (to the same directory as the shapefiles) and gave it the same name 
>>> as the
>>> shapefile.  It worked.
>>>
>>> Today's quick experiment was to move the files *back* to the /config
>>> directory and try and get them to work.  When I did that XASTIR 
>>> reported
>>> its "No DBFAWK signature for..." error, but then I selected Map|Index:
>>> Reindex all maps, and viola!  The .dbfawk files were found and used.
>>>
>>> The second thing I did was to edit the dbfinfo line and change all the
>>> field names to uppercase (I already had them as lowercase).  This 
>>> did not
>>> seem to make a difference, which implies that the dbfinfo line in 
>>> .dbfawk
>>> files is case-insensitive.  I would like to verify this with the source
>>> (or by asking someone who knows for sure).
>>>
>>> It might also be useful to point out that you can tweak the .dbfawk 
>>> files
>>> while XASTIR is running.  XASTIR reads them every time it re-draws the
>>> map, so your changes are visible without having to quit and restart
>>> XASTIR.
>>>
>>> Hope this is useful.
>>>
>>> 73,
>>>
>>> Andrew
>>> ZL3AME
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Ozaprs mailing list
>>> Ozaprs at aprs.net.au
>>> http://aprs.net.au/mailman/listinfo/ozaprs
>>>
>>>       
>>
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>>   
>
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