Boltek + Nexstorm + WD + GRLevel3 = Live Radar/Lightning

Thanks to Brian and his work in exporting data from Nexstorm to a generic format, I’ve been able to take the data and make a place file for displaying in GRLevel3.

Interestingly, I used the code that Jozef and I developed for the TRAC report graphic.

http://members.cox.net/carterlakeweather/nexstorm2grlevel3.zip

Again, you have to have:

A Boltek lightning detector
Nexstorm lightning software
Weather Display
GRLevel3 radar software
PHP

If you have GRLevel3, you can display my lightning data (at least for now)…

(http://www.grlevelx.com ← install the trial)

Simply copy/paste this placefile into your manage placefiles:

http://www.carterlake.org/nexstorm2grlevel.php

The PHP code allows for variables. I prefer:

http://www.carterlake.org/nexstorm2grlevel.php?displaytime=5&striketime=0&striketype=1

(This says display last 5 minutes of strikes, don’t show time shade, but show strike type symbols)

I still need to play with the icons themselves. When I have GRLevel3 save my radar in JPEG, they look like fushiaish blobs. Should be fine for PNG though.

Current data from my Boltek… detecting a storm 220-280 miles away around St. Louis.

cool - you guys in the US have it all dontcha? :wink:

Not to start a side track… I am SHOCKED at the cost of basic weather info in the UK… even life-saving info.

Thank the Spaghetti Monster that I live in the US.

Yeah, and if the rest of the US knew how much fun we were having on their tax dollar they’d put an end to it. :wink:

–Dave

I use to have this placefile but I think it was lost in the HD crash. Does anyone else have this?

Tom, where did you get that great looking background image from?

Thanks.

Wow, digging up some very old posts… This was last updated in 2006.

Tom was last on the forum August 25, 2011

The place file I think is this one USA-TOPO.bmp. It is 117kb in size.

I put it into a zip file (much smaller). it is temporarily here

There is a site which has all these, but I don’t recall the link. Was a while ago as well. I’m sure it is in the GRLevel3 Users forum though.

Yep! LoL, I had this placefile and loved it and now I don’t know where it is. Was hoping maybe someone had it. The link to it is no longer valid.

I think it may be grlevelxstuff.com They have a lot of backgrounds and tons of color tables and other goodies over there.

I included a URL to it in my post…

I put it into a zip file (much smaller). it is temporarily [b]here[/b]

Thanks, Kevin. Got the file. Will poke around the GR3 forum and see what I can find.

I was referring to the lightning placefile. I was hoping someone had it. I hope I can find mine.

-Thanks

I have a link to Tom’s post about that place file on my NSLog Add-ons page because his script was the basis of my nslog2grlevel.php place file script. Tom’s original post can be found at http://www.grlevelx.com/owners/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2507&p=20772&hilit=lightning+placefile#p20772.

Good Luck. - Jim

Thanks Jim, I had seen that thread before but it seems the link to that placefile is dead now.

The link to the placefile as posted by carterlake downloaded just fine for me. Remember it needs a right click/save as to get it (for me, anyway). However, the .zip file at cox.net times out.

The link you are referring to is the placefile running on Tom’s server for is Boltek, so you are only seeing his data. The zip file is what contains the script and icons to set it up and host it on your own server so you can use your own Boltek to display lighting strikes on GR3. Unfortunately it is not working a long with some others he has that I used.

Maybe drop Tom an EMail, he’d probably like to know that he has a dead link.

  • Jim

I sent him one a while back and no response. He has several dead links on his script page. He may have removed them, but only reason I think he didn’t is he still has links to other scripts that are combined like the tracgraphic. I will send him another one and see if I get a response.

Or if you want to run NSLog, there’s a script based off his original one that does the same thing. It’s on the Add-Ons tab of http://jcweather.us/NSLog.php.

  • Jim

Oh wow Jim, great information, there is a lot of nice add-ons since the last time I was using NSLog. You definitely that placefile I am looking for. Haven’t got around to setting up my lightning pages but I will be sometime this week. Thanks for sharing that it will come in very useful.

-Thanks

So I know this is a super old thread, but does anyone have this script I can download?