I am doing my best to get away from being “connected to the grid” this week since I am on vacation, but a quick check of the email inbox shows many notes from people asking about our radar.
ABC 33/40 as you know owns and operates a C Band Doppler Radar, located atop Double Oak Mountain in the northern part of Shelby County. Most TV stations use NEXRAD radar data from the National Weather Service, and we do as well, but having our own system means we have full control, and can offer our viewers a live 0.5 degree radar slice across the Alabama sky anytime they need it.
Radar systems are complicated pieces of equipment, and I am guilty of taking them for granted since our system has been rock solid for many years up on that mountain. This past weekend a major internal component of the system failed, and a replacement has been ordered (a magnetron, for those of you into that kind of stuff). The system will probably down for another 7 to 10 days.
In the meantime, you can always see our live radar stream anytime. Of course, the system is showing NEXRAD data since our live radar is out, but that works just as well. The data is just not delivered in real time. You can access the live stream from the main page of the ABC 33/40 site anytime… just look for the live stream button on the top right. Radar is always shown on the live stream unless we are in wall to wall severe weather or breaking news coverage. The live stream requires the “Real Player”, which is installed on most computers.
I am signing off and disconnecting from the grid… I will be back Monday!
