This text will attempt to answer specific questions about WeatherTracker. The file "WeatherTracker Help" contains information of a more basic nature for those who are just getting started. Balloon Help is also available throughout.
Much of this text will be removed very soon, since it is now duplicated in WeatherTracker Help.
Why can't I connect to any of the servers?
Make sure that your network connection is operating properly. Try to open a telnet connection to rainmaker.wunderground.com using port 3000. If that fails as well, then the problem is likely not with WeatherTracker. The weather servers also go down periodically due to excessive usage, so try connecting again in a day or so. If the problem persists, send me email, and I will try to straighten things out.
What about access from a firewall?
Support for the SOCKS proxy is now included. To activate, open the Preferences and go to the Network panel. Check the "Use Socks" box, and type in your SOCKS server and port number. If you are unsure of what port number to use, just leave it blank. If you have problems, contact your network administrator.
How do I change the weather server names?
Open the Preferences and go to the Network panel. Type the name of a weather server in the "Weather Server" field. The default is rainmaker.weathertracker.com, which should be all you ever need. Since this server is so reliable, support for multiple servers is no longer available.
Are there other weather servers available?
WeatherTracker is currently configured to work only on rainmaker.wunderground.com. It may also work on any of the following servers:
downwind.sprl.umich.edu
madlab.sprl.umich.edu
um-weather.sprl.umich.edu
I am not aware of any other servers currently in operation that give comparable data.
How do I change cities?
Use the City List menu item in the Edit menu. Select a new city by setting the desired Country, State, and City popup menus. To add the city to the list, click the Add button. To remove a city from the list, select it from the Current Cities popup menu, and click the Remove button. Be sure to set the preferences for any cities that you add.
Why is my home town not supported?
WeatherTracker gets all of its information from the Internet weather servers. Simply adding a feature to WeatherTracker without making any change to the server would be pointless. WeatherTracker currently supports every city that the weather server supports. If you really want to see local information, talk to your local National Weather Service office about their outgoing data feeds.
Why do my cities never update?
Open the Preferences and go to the City panel for the desired city. To turn on updating for that city, click the Get Weather checkbox. It is best to have Get Weather checked for at most two cities to reduce load on the weather servers.
Why can't I select Get Local/Marine Forecast or Get Climate Data?
Local forecasts are only supported for cities in the United States and Canada. Marine forecasts and climate data are only supported for cities in the United States and a few in Canada. These are limitations of the weather server, not WeatherTracker. There are no plans to add such features in the near future.
Why are the high/low indicators always at the current value?
The first time you run WeatherTracker on a given day, the high/low will default to the current reading. When new data is downloaded during the day, the high/low markers should move accordingly.
Can I graph changes in weather over a period of time?
Yes, but not directly within WeatherTracker. Turn on data logging via the city preferences panel for your city of interest. Every hour, the current data will be appended to a file in the same directory as WeatherTracker, with the city name as the file name. You can then use whatever spreadsheet or graphing program you want to process the data.
What are wind chill and heat index?
Wind chill and heat index are terms used to give a measure of how cold or warm it feels. Wind chill is based mainly on the temperature and wind speed. When the wind is blowing, it feels colder than the air temperature indicates. Heat index (also called humiture in some places) indicates the increase in effective temperature due to high humidity.
How can I change the update interval?
You can't. The weather servers update information hourly, so the update interval is set internally to 60 minutes. Registered users can get updates manually by selecting the Force Update menu item in the Weather menu.
Is there a faster way to get to a specific Preferences panel?
Double-click on any of the instruments in the data windows to show the associated Preferences panel for that city. You can also double-click on the current conditions to open the forecast window.
What do these status messages mean?
The network connection could not be initialized: An error occurred while starting up MacTCP or OpenTransport. Check your MacTCP or TCP/IP control panel settings.
The name could not be resolved: An error occurred while translating the name to an IP address. Check your Domain Name Server settings in the MacTCP or TCP/IP control panel.
Could not open a connection: Your network settings may be incorrect, or the server may be down. Check your MacTCP or TCP/IP control panel settings.
The connection was broken: The connection was established and then lost. Check your cables and try again.
SOCKS firewall access was rejected: An error occurred while getting authentication from the SOCKS server. Check your Network preferences settings and contact your network administrator. WeatherTracker supports versions 4 and 5 of the SOCKS protocol.
Expected to see _______: The weather server sent back data that WeatherTracker was not expecting. If the problem persists, please send in a bug report.
No time stamp available: The time for the weather report could not be found. This happens when the report is not available, so that city is not updated.
Time is unchanged since last the last report: The information is the same as from the last update, so there is no reason to update the current data that city. Forecasts may still change, so they will be updated.
City not found: The weather server did not list the city at all in the reports. If the problem persists, please send in a bug report.
No current data available: This city was listed in the reports from the weather server, but there was no current data listed.
Badly formatted data: The current data for this city was not in the expected format. If the problem persists, please send in a bug report.
A piece of data was missing: Some cities just do not report all of the data.
Skipping new data: The Get Weather checkbox in the City preferences panel is not turned on. No data is collected for this city unless one of the data windows is visible.
Skipping local forecast: The Get Local Forecast checkbox in the City preferences panel is not turned on. Local forecasts are only supported for cities in the United States and Canada.
Skipping marine forecast: The Get Marine Forecast checkbox in the City preferences panel is not turned on. Marine forecasts are only supported for coastal cities in the United States and selected cities in Canada.
Skipping climate data: The Get Get Climate Data checkbox in the City preferences panel is not turned on. Climate data are only supported for cities in the United States.
The data could not be written to the log file: An error occurred while trying to update the logfile. Check the folder setting in the City preferences panel.
WeatherTracker is the best software I have ever seen! How do I register?
Shareware registration for WeatherTracker is now being handled through Kagi. To register, run the "Register" program included with this distribution. Fill in your home and email addresses. Type in the number of copies (US$15 each) you would like to register in the box next to "Single User". Site licenses and worldwide licenses are also available, but most users will not need those. Select your payment method and provide any additional information as requested. When you are done, print out the form and send it to:
Kagi Shareware
1442-A Walnut Street #392-HX
Berkeley, California, 94709-1405
USA
FAX: +1 510 652 6589
Online registration is also available for credit card and First Virtual accounts at:
<http://order.kagi.com/?HX&S>
Acknowledgements of payment are sent from Kagi when they are processed, usually within one week of receipt. When I am notified of your payment, I will send you a registration code via email. After you enter this code, WeatherTracker will save your preferences when you quit. If you do not get an acknowledgement from Kagi, you can contact them at <mailto:shareware@kagi.com>. Should you
have any other problems with the registration process, feel free to contact me at <mailto:weathertracker@kagi.com>.
Current information can be found on the WeatherTracker home page at
