# Local forecasts on The Weather Channel



## Kevin (Mar 27, 2002)

I am sick and tired of the horrible Dish Interactive Weather. If the merger goes through, alot of satellite space will be freed up. Is there any chance that they will use some of that extra bandwidth to carry our Weather Channel local forecast feeds? It would be a great move on Dish's part since cable has got them beat when it comes to weather forecasts.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

I doubt we'll ever see local weather channels. But theres a service called Intellicast, which is a series of 10 or so regional weather channels that used to be on Primestar, but for some reason D* never pick them up after the buyout. Intellicast was backed by MSNBC, I have no idea if theyre in existance anymore, but I would love it if someday they could be back on DBS.


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## STXJim (Apr 22, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Steve Mehs _
> * theres a service called Intellicast
> *


They have a great web site.
They are on my desktop because I use them to track hurricanes.
The season starts in three weeks. 
Oh...I forgot; most of you guys don't 'really' *know* what a hurricane is.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Hasn't it been about 10 years or so since you guys down there were hit with a big one, Jim? I hope they miss you this year!


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## Guest (May 9, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Bowling For Soup _
> *I am sick and tired of the horrible Dish Interactive Weather. If the merger goes through, alot of satellite space will be freed up. Is there any chance that they will use some of that extra bandwidth to carry our Weather Channel local forecast feeds? It would be a great move on Dish's part since cable has got them beat when it comes to weather forecasts. *


I have both Dish and analog cable, and The LOCAL Weather Channel is one of the HUGEST advantages that cable has. The LOCAL Weather Channels is about about a BILLION times better than channel 9500(Dish Instant Weather). The National Weather channel is really pretty stupid because it doesn't even give you any local info and it doesn't have the red warning at the bottom of the screen when there's a severe thunderstom warning, tornado warning, etc. 
The things that cable has HUGE advantages over dbs in my area are The LOCAL weather channel, Local High School Channels, Home Town Big League Sports(which are blacked out on Dish), up to 6 times better picture quality than Dish standard def channels on NBA games, many other local channels that Dish doesn't carry, ADDITIONAL outlets at NO EXTRA CHARGE per month(Dish charges like $5 for each additional reciever). It's not surprising that dbs has the THOUGHEST time in my area out of any major market when you look at all the advantages that cable in my area has over dbs.


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## Tom_S (Apr 9, 2002)

" 6 times better picture quality " 

Don't make me laugh!


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## Kman (Apr 22, 2002)

Not that it will help any, but at least they get the hint. I have already wrote to Direct TV, The Weather Channel and the Accu Weather Channel telling them that I am disappointed in the local weather offerings when using DBS. Will it make a difference? Probably not. But there is strength in numbers if all you guys e-mail Direct TV and tell other DBS subscribers to, maybe eventually the DBS providers will do something about it.


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## jmeluni (Apr 29, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Jack White _
> *
> 
> I have both Dish and analog cable, and The LOCAL Weather Channel is one of the HUGEST advantages that cable has. The LOCAL Weather Channels is about about a BILLION times better than channel 9500(Dish Instant Weather). The National Weather channel is really pretty stupid because it doesn't even give you any local info and it doesn't have the red warning at the bottom of the screen when there's a severe thunderstom warning, tornado warning, etc.
> The things that cable has HUGE advantages over dbs in my area are The LOCAL weather channel, Local High School Channels, Home Town Big League Sports(which are blacked out on Dish), up to 6 times better picture quality than Dish standard def channels on NBA games, many other local channels that Dish doesn't carry, ADDITIONAL outlets at NO EXTRA CHARGE per month(Dish charges like $5 for each additional reciever). It's not surprising that dbs has the THOUGHEST time in my area out of any major market when you look at all the advantages that cable in my area has over dbs. *


Obviously a cable employee or stock holder!:lol:


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## EricG (Mar 28, 2002)

Why can't we get the same feed for TWC for the local forecast that the cable company gets, based on your location?


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

Jack White said...

_"...dbs has the THOUGHEST time in my area out of any major market when you look at all the advantages that cable in my area has over dbs."_

We're glad you enjoy your local cable service. Some are "clearly" better than others. Personally, I still miss the 'local access' channel, but I don't miss that oh so s-l-o-o-o-w program scroll, or the extended outages, or the herringbone patterns/static interference my previous cableco served up.

Jack, you say DBS has a' tough time' in your area. First, what _is_ your area, and second, we would like to know what your source of information is about DBS penetration in your area?

Nick :smoking:


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## jmeluni (Apr 29, 2002)

I especially don't miss Time Warner's annual and outragous rate increases!


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## EricG (Mar 28, 2002)

I have to say that the lack of the local forecast is my ONLY complaint about my move to DBS 16 months ago.


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## Neil Derryberry (Mar 23, 2002)

The only thing I would love to see in regard to weather is some sort of warning delivery system based on zip code.. this could possibly be built into chnl 9500...?


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## jmeluni (Apr 29, 2002)

I'd go one better and have the warning appear on any channel your watching. Maybe they could somehow tie into the EAS or EBS (whatever there're calling it now) system.


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## Lorax (Apr 22, 2002)

www.weather.com - that will pretty much get you anything you need to know 

I wondered about the same thing when I got DBS, but an antennae and getting my locals OTA really solved it. When it comes down to it for severe weather, locals are the only way to go. TWC reports stuff after it happens quite often with regards to time sensitive material......For long term forecast, TWC online really does suffice and give the same info.....All in all, although a concern at first, really havent missed it.....

Dave


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## Guest (May 9, 2002)

If you have internet, why would you care about the local weather.... I really have a hard time understanding that.... Lorax is right, just go to www.weather.com and find your local area.... It has radar and keeps you informed of bad weather..... Just my thoughts.....


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## Guest (May 9, 2002)

> _Originally posted by STXJim _
> *
> They have a great web site.
> They are on my desktop because I use them to track hurricanes.
> ...


We had a bad boy in 1989 (Hugo)... I live in the Columbia, SC area and I never thought a hurricane would do that much damage 100 miles in.... It even ripped Charlotte, NC up pretty good.... We had 7 billion dollars worth of damage.... I believe Andrew surpassed that mark but Hugo was no fun storm.... I would hope we never have another like that.....


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## Kman (Apr 22, 2002)

I think for now I am going to invest in one of those weather radios. I understand it gives out local weather reports and also has an alert system built in. I believe a high pitch signal is followed by whatever the weather advisory is. I have seen them at Radio Shack. They are fairly inexpensive. Does anyone have any info on these radios? I still think though for the long term we should all nag Direct TV. After all being a media service provider, they should also take responsibility for detail local weather and a weather alert system. Especially for you guys located near hurricane areas or Tornado Alley.:hi:


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## Neil Derryberry (Mar 23, 2002)

weather.com is great, but I don't spend my life behind a computer... The extra warning would be nice.


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## Guest (May 9, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Tom_S _
> *" 6 times better picture quality "
> 
> Don't make me laugh! *


You can laugh all you want, but if I only had Dish Network standard def channels to watch the NBA playoffs, then I'd be crying instead of laughing. 
I have PROPERLY CALIBRATED Sony Televisions, I use THICK S-video cables to connect my Dish recievers directly to my televisions, and my analog cable picture quality still BLOWS away Dish's standard def channels.
You see you've never seen what a good analog cable picture looks like. I didn't say that my analog cable has 6 times better picture quality than Dish Network standard def channels on every single channels. 
I said that my analog cable has 6 times better picture quality than Dish Network standard def channels on NBA GAMES.
Just because the cable in other people's areas migh suck doesn't mean that mine will suck too.
The difference in picture quality really depends on the channel.
Starz East on my analog cable for example only has about 50% better picture quality than Starz East on Dish. 
Dish could have way better picture quality than my cable if it had a good bitrate like 8Mbps or 10Mbps per channel, but unfortunately Dish has a very bad bitrate on standard def channels.
When people are over at my house and there's an NBA game on, I do a direct A/B comparison between Dish and my analog cable, and people's jaw hits the floor when they realize just how much worse the picture quality of Dish Standard def channels is than my analog cable.
Dish looks very blury and soft after you've watched analog cable or after you've watched a good high bitrate dvd.


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## Guest (May 9, 2002)

> _Originally posted by jmeluni _
> *
> 
> Obviously a cable employee or stock holder!:lol: *


Oh please, in fact my family's cable bill is about $40 a month, and the Dish bill is about $120 a month.
I'm just an objective person who cares most about picture quality.
If Dish was delivering a high bitrate picture to me, then I'd be bashing my cable company, but as things are, my cable company is delivering the superior picture.
If you'd have read some of my posts from years ago, you'd see that I have bashed my old cable company on picture quality a lot to.
My old cable company used to have real bad picture quality, but then it was bought by a different company.
My family tried free digital cable for a month, and when the new cable company came to install it, they said that the an analog cable picture this bad isn't acceptable, and they rewired the whole analog cable part and the picture quality on analog cable has been has been very very close to broadcast quality ever since then.
The cable guys said that the problem with the old cable had to do something with ground water or something.
My family only had digital cable only for 1 month, and it did have better picture quality than Dish, but not as good as analog cable. 
It also didn't have some of the exclusive channels that Dish has, and the digital cable boxes didn't have S-video outputs.
The ONLY reason my family has Dish is because of the EXCLUSIVE channels that Directv and Digital Cable don't have.


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## Guest (May 9, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Nick _
> *Jack White said...
> 
> "...dbs has the THOUGHEST time in my area out of any major market when you look at all the advantages that cable in my area has over dbs."
> ...


I live in the suburbs of Philly.
My source of the info is just the word on dbstalk, dbsforums, avsforums, alt.dbs.echostar, and also the percentage of people I know who have cable vs dbs, and also how many dbs dishes I see when I'm driving around the neighborhood or town.


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

Good enough! 

Great to have you (and your input) here. 


Nick :smoking:


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## jegrant (Mar 24, 2002)

I can't believe that the Weather Channel is that great!

Maybe it's just because I live in weather-obsessed Central Indiana, but I have found that my local stations, particularly the SkyTrak Weather Network (a separate channel operated by my NBC affiliate) are much better than anything the Weather Channel can provide. I think live and local TV, Radio, and Weather Radio are the way to go.

The only use I have for Dish's Instant Weather is to get my forecast, and lately, I haven't been doing that often. My local NBC affiliate (WTHR.com) has now implemented a "Personal Forecast" that plots a weather forecast for my house and emails it to me twice daily, plus maintains it on a web page I can visit any time.


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## Kenster (Apr 24, 2002)

Jack White, if your cable is $40 a month and your sat bill is $120, are you really making a fair comparison?: Basic (maybe digital) cable vs. Dish with a zillion add on premium packages? Are you counting your pay-per-view bill, also?
Compare basic to basic. Here in Houston TW Digital is $40 a month with no add ons. Direct TV Total Choice with locals (no premiums) is $37. If you're making a comparison, let's talk apples and apples.


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## Guest (May 9, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Kenster _
> *Jack White, if your cable is $40 a month and your sat bill is $120, are you really making a fair comparison?: Basic (maybe digital) cable vs. Dish with a zillion add on premium packages? Are you counting your pay-per-view bill, also?
> Compare basic to basic. Here in Houston TW Digital is $40 a month with no add ons. Direct TV Total Choice with locals (no premiums) is $37. If you're making a comparison, let's talk apples and apples. *


I wasn't meaning to imply that cable is cheaper, I was just responding to someone who said I owned stock in cable or that I worked for a cable company. The cable bill vs sat bill thing wa just to show that that's the farthest thing from the truth, and that if anything, my family helps out Echostar more with the high sat bill.


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## STXJim (Apr 22, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Mark Lamutt _
> *Hasn't it been about 10 years or so since you guys
> were hit with a big one?
> *


Actually the last 'big' one was Marilyn in Sept of '95. She really ripped up St. Croix and St. Thomas but I was lucky. At that time I lived on Tortola and the fifteen miles between us spared us from the brunt of the storm.
I've lived in the Virgins since '93 and have experienced eight hurricanes here.
Luis - Sept '95
Marilyn - also Sept '95
Bertha - Jul '96
Hortense - Sept '96
Erika - Sept '97
Georges - Sept '98
Lenny - Nov '99 and
Debby - Aug '00
After Hurricane Georges in Sept '98 we were without power for almost two months. When we were energized our transformer exploded sending a surge into our house that melted my surge protectors and destroyed my electronic components. I still don't understand how my refrigerator survived.
Before moving here I lived on the coast of North Carolina for over twenty years. I can't begin to remember how many hurricanes I went through there. At least there we had the option to evacuate inland. I never wanted to leave my home though.
These things really suck but I guess you got to pay some kind of price wherever you live.


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

> _Originally posted by STXJim _
> *
> 
> Actually the last 'big' one was Marilyn in Sept of '95.
> ...


We got caught in that one during our honeymoon on St. John. It wasn't too much fun. The only funny part was that my wife's name is Marilyn, so I guess she ruined our honeymoon.


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## STXJim (Apr 22, 2002)

James,
Many moons ago when we lived in NC my wife and I went to Barbados for our annivarsary.
A Tropical Storm moved through while we were there.
What a wash out....
I didn't mind at all. The waves were great! I surf and that was part or the reason we went there. 
I think that Terri read two books sitting in a car while I was in the water. 
We still enjoied the heck out of our wonderful dinners together every night.
BTW...That's a great picture of Karl Malone!   
DUH!!!


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## Kman (Apr 22, 2002)

Just curious, is that local Skytrak Weather channel picked up from your dish or do you have cable also? Here in eastern PA we have the Accu Weather channel, but right now is not picked up by Direct TV.


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

I dont see a localized Weather Channel coming for eaither provider. The closest we may see would be a regional service such as IntelliCast.

Local forcasts are put in using a special computer (The WeatherStar) which is installed in each cable companies headend. When I installed the two for our cable company they were running on Comodore Amiga computers. (This was 15 years ago) 

What we may see that I am sure both companies will fight is something the cable companies now must do, and that is provide EAS service on ALL CHANNELS.

If a emergency condition is signaled for your area on cable all channels show the EAS information.

If this requirement is made I wonder how DBS will handle it.


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## HarryD (Mar 24, 2002)

> _Originally posted by EricG _
> *Why can't we get the same feed for TWC for the local forecast that the cable company gets, based on your location? *


Eric,

AFAIK, your local forecast is driven by a small computer AT THE CABLE Company. When it's time for the local forecast, a signal is sent to these computers who then send out what you see on your cable channel.


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## Kman (Apr 22, 2002)

When we get the current regional local weather from TWC, why couldn't the local detailed weather be sent to each area based on what zip code is entered in the DBS receiver? Is getting local detail weather an issue w/ Direct TV because of a capital cost involved? I doubt it would be because the technology does not exist. :shrug: 

As far as EAS, I also think the EAS system should be mandated by the FCC or whatever governs DBS providers. Again, DBS as a media provider should be held accountable to at least provide EAS messaging in an event of an emergency to it's subscribers.

Instead of "I want my MTV" the slogan should be "I want my EAS". And of course, local detailed weather would help.


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

Yeah! And I want my DBS to make breakfast, do the 'dishes' and vacuum the floor. 

Who do I see about that?

The Nickster :smoking:


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## Kman (Apr 22, 2002)

the personal adds in your local paper


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

> _Originally posted by STXJim _
> *BTW...That's a great picture of Karl Malone!
> DUH!!! *


Don't you people know the best homerun hitter in baseball? 

Jose Offerman


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## STXJim (Apr 22, 2002)

> _Originally posted by James_F _
> *
> 
> Don't you people know the best homerun hitter in baseball?
> ...


James,
I was pulling someone else's leg...remember.
You didn't get it.
I guess the jokes on you now.

Harry, Great avatar...
Where did you find it?


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

> _Originally posted by STXJim _
> *
> You didn't get it.
> *


Oh, I got it...

Jose Offerman???? That's the big joke!


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

You mean Henry 'Hank' Aaron, don't you?

_"I was there for #715"_ Link

Nickster :smoking:


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

> _Originally posted by jmeluni _
> *
> 
> Obviously a cable employee or stock holder!:lol: *


Who lives in Philadelphia !!!


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

Harry, the signal in your avatar is going the wrong way! With THAT much power, please reverse before you blow up a bird. 

The Nickster :smoking:


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

Barry is getting close.... 

But I doubt he'll pass it


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## BrettR (Apr 24, 2002)

Comcast Digital cable has WeatherScan local on a digital channel, along with the regular weather channel. Most these accuweather outlets can be found on the web, though.


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## HarryD (Mar 24, 2002)

> _Originally posted by STXJim _
> *
> 
> Harry, Great avatar...
> Where did you find it? *


Jimmy,

I found it here . They have a lot of cool stuff. I like your guy, nice and relaxed..


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## nicshow (Apr 12, 2002)

I recently upgraded my weatheradio - the S.A.M.E. technology now available really makes a huge difference. Radio Shack's best model is the 12-250. It not only allows you to filter the warnings and alerts to your specific county, it also allows you to filter the type of warnings you receive (i.e. not get the flood warnings). I bought a used Oregon Scientific WR196T which is also a nice unit - just doesn't allow you to filter the type of warning.


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## J Rath (Apr 14, 2002)

Scott, I thought that WeatherSTAR was actually a satellite based system patented by TWC and that the STAR in WeatherSTAR actually stood for Satellite Transponder Addressable Receiver (I believe I read that once on weather.com somewhere)? Couldn't it be feasible for TWC and the DBS companies to somehow incorporate this to provide local weather information?

Well I actually answered my own (first) question! The link is here .


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## mattb (Apr 29, 2002)

I assume that if DBS providers wanted to do something simular it would take up precious bandwidth that they are both lacking right now as D* and E*.


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## Guest (May 11, 2002)

> Why can't we get the same feed for TWC for the local forecast that the cable company gets, based on your location?


Why? Because the local cable company has special equipment that inserts the local data from the National Weather Service. The NWS data is received locally. The DBS providers theoretically could pick up this data at their local POP's and run a local version of the Weather channel alongside the locals. Another option would be to build in a NWS data receiver into all new IRD's. That would not always work, however. Instant Weather is the compromise that does work, albeit not as well as the true local Weather Channel inserts.


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## EricG (Mar 28, 2002)

That's fine for everyone who has a Wink enabled box, but after I switched from E* to DirecTiVo, I didn't get Wink with the Hughes box.


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## Bub2001 (May 12, 2002)

I would like to see the Weather Channel added to the spot-beams and some kind of regional forecast added, encompassing the area serviced by the spot-beam.


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## jegrant (Mar 24, 2002)

Well, the SkyTrak Weather Channel is part of our lowest basic cable package here. It is also a Class A (low power) TV station on the air in Indianapolis, IN on Ch. 50.
It's not carried on any satellite system. The only TV stations that must be carried by a satellite system are full power ones. Even then, the rule only applies if they choose to carry any stations in a DMA. If they carry one, they "must carry" all full power TV stations that request it.


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

> _Originally posted by EricG _
> *Why can't we get the same feed for TWC for the local forecast that the cable company gets, based on your location? *


I doubt that this is feasible. The cable comapny sends one feed over its lins. Youa re asking the DBS comapnies to send who knows how nmany feeds out.

Theera re amny advantages to DBS but cable hyas the edge when it comes to

weather
local news channels
public access
school closings
community interest

Persoanlly I think that the advantages of DBS are greater tan those of DBS but to each their own.


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## lee635 (Apr 17, 2002)

With the spotbeams, couldn't they workout a deal with TWC to produce a regional weather forecast for each spotbeam area? I suppose then you would have a conus TWC feed, then a feed on each spotbeam that simulcasts the conus feed, except for the "local weather on the 8s".


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

They COULD do it but would it be efficient? Do you really want to use bandwidth for this. Besides we are not ALL on spots.


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## Kman (Apr 22, 2002)

Do they all originate from the weather channel or does the local weather feed originate in local areas? I ask this because if all the local feeds are originated at TWC channel, then there must be a way for each local area to be able to pick up it's correct local feed from that same channel. I still think it can be done by zip code or something. If they can come up with a video game channel, they can come up with a way to get local weather feeds. Maybe right now DBS providers do not think it is worth addressing. I wonder if the FCC would push the EAS for local areas, that the local weather could then tag along???. Just like DBS providers use local channels as a selling tool now, they can add local detail weather too. If DBS keeps nipping at the cable companies services, they will get more subscribers along the way.


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## MarkA (Mar 23, 2002)

LOL. I hope not. That's a total waste of bandwidth if I ever did hear one. Besides, there are no local weather channels. The local weather is inserted by the cable company from a VBI signal on the national feed.


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## Kman (Apr 22, 2002)

Actually, there are local independent weather channels. We have one here in the eastern PA- NJ area. That is another story.


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## Guest (May 15, 2002)

What utopia do you folks live in where the weather channel predictions are even half correct. I always laugh when they show 5 day forecasts that are completely different from yesterday's 5 day forecast.


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## Kenster (Apr 24, 2002)

> _Originally posted by jbateman _
> *What utopia do you folks live in where the weather channel predictions are even half correct. I always laugh when they show 5 day forecasts that are completely different from yesterday's 5 day forecast. *


True enough,I don't put much stock in long term forecasts. I really like it for current conditions, short term forecast and area radar. When you have a major storm approaching its nice to have that local update every ten minutes.


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## Kman (Apr 22, 2002)

three day forecast might as well be 300 day forecast. They could omit the long range forecast as far as I care. I also would want the local for the NWS scroll along the screen bottom during possible severe weather conditions.


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