Baron Weather XDD-1000C C-BAND DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR User Manual VIPIR User s Guide

Baron Services Inc C-BAND DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR VIPIR User s Guide

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S10 FAST TRAC MILLENIUM USERS GUIDE

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 FasTrac Millennium, FasTrac, NexTrac, VIPIR, City Streets, StormScan, Storm Spotter, Neighborhood Weather Net and Street Spotter are registered trademarks of Baron Services, Inc. FutureScan, PasTrac and Severe Weather Module are trademarks of Baron Services, Inc. The products, systems, and/or methods described or otherwise mentioned herein are covered by one or more of the following U.S. Patents: 5,717,589; 5,940,776; 6,018,699; 6,125,328; 6,163,756; 6,188,960; 6,266,063; 6,272,433; 6,275,744; and 6,278,947. 2001 Geographic Data Technology, Inc. This document contains images with proprietary and confidential property of Geographic Data Technology, Inc. Unauthorized use, including copying for other than testing and standard backup procedures, of this product are expressly prohibited. Microsoft Windows products are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. The trademarks of other companies used in this manual are the respective property of those companies. All efforts were taken to ensure the accuracy of this document. However, this information is subject to change without notice. Copyright 1994-2003. Baron Services, Inc. 4930 Research Drive Huntsville, Alabama 35805-5906 ii

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Table of Contents Table of Contents___________________________________________________________iii Preface_____________________________________________________________________ vii 1. Overview ________________________________________________________________ 1 1.1 Databases ___________________________________________________________ 1 1.2 File Structure ________________________________________________________ 1 1.3 Protecting Your Data _________________________________________________ 2 1.4 NetRad____________________________________________________________ 3 1.5 Starting Your FasTrac Millennium ______________________________________ 4 1.6 System Commands Not Meant for Client Use______________________________ 7 1.7 Points to Remember __________________________________________________ 8 2. Setting Up Your System ______________________________________________________ 9 2.1 Setting Up Map Layers _______________________________________________ 10 2.2 Setting Up Display Levels (for clients without .psf mapping data)____________ 10 2.2.1 Editing Display Levels for Roads ____________________________________ 11 2.2.2 Editing Display Levels for Bodies of Water ____________________________ 12 2.2.3 Setting the Enable Range for City Streets ______________________________ 13 2.3 Adding Water-Fill Points (for clients without .psf mapping data) ____________ 13 2.4 Fixing Floods with Anti-Fill Points (for clients without .psf mapping data) ____ 16 2.5 Editing the Places Database ___________________________________________ 16 2.6 Adjusting the Color Palette____________________________________________ 20 2.7 Using the Baron Chart _______________________________________________ 21 2.8 Editing Colors for 256-Color Palettes ___________________________________ 22 2.8.1 Creating Gradients ________________________________________________ 23 2.8.2 Duplicating Palettes _______________________________________________ 23 2.9 Customizing Font Displays ____________________________________________ 24 2.10 Manipulating the Automatic Legend ____________________________________ 25 2.11 Using Overlays ______________________________________________________ 26 2.11.1 Creating new Overlays ____________________________________________ 26 2.11.2 Adding an Overlay to a View _______________________________________ 26 2.11.3 Removing Overlays _______________________________________________ 28 2.11.4 Setting Overlays for Data Products ___________________________________ 28 2.11.5 Setting the FutureScan Product Overlay _______________________________ 29 2.12 Setting Up Icons _____________________________________________________ 29 2.13 Points to Remember _________________________________________________ 31 iii

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 3. Adjusting Views__________________________________________________________ 33 3.1 Using the View Main Panel____________________________________________ 34 3.2 Setting Map Parameters ______________________________________________ 35 3.3 Editing Topographical Data ___________________________________________ 36 3.4 Saving and Organizing Views__________________________________________ 37 3.4.1 Saving Views____________________________________________________ 37 3.4.2 Organizing Your Views____________________________________________ 38 3.5 Using the View Options _______________________________________________ 39 3.5.1 Adding Text to a View ____________________________________________ 39 3.5.2 Zooming In and Out From a View____________________________________ 39 3.5.3 Pointing to Features on a View ______________________________________ 39 3.5.4 Panning on a View________________________________________________ 39 3.5.5 Labeling Streets with Street Spotter __________________________________ 40 3.5.6 Controlling Display of Radar Data ___________________________________ 42 3.5.7 Utilizing TeleTrac ________________________________________________ 42 3.5.8 Displaying Lightning Strikes on a View _______________________________ 43 3.5.9 Displaying Storm Spotter Van data _________________________________ 44 3.5.10 Toggling High-Definition Data Processing _____________________________ 45 3.5.11 Displaying NEXRAD forecast data___________________________________ 45 3.5.12 Displaying Neighborhood Weather Net Sensor Data____________________ 46 3.5.13 Zooming to a Specific City _________________________________________ 48 3.5.14 Adding Fronts and Pressure Markers__________________________________ 48 3.5.15 Creating Temporary Pixel Query Points _______________________________ 49 3.5.16 Creating Fixed Pixel Query Points ___________________________________ 49 3.5.17 Displaying Precipitation Type Maps __________________________________ 50 3.5.18 Saving the Current View as a Bitmap _________________________________ 51 3.5.19 Printing the Current View __________________________________________ 51 3.5.20 Highlighting Your Spotter Network On-Air ____________________________ 52 3.5.21 Displaying National Weather Service Warnings_________________________ 53 3.5.22 Displaying Wind Speed and Direction ________________________________ 54 3.6 Points to Remember _________________________________________________ 56 4. Managing Storm Tracks_________________________________________________ 57 4.1 Setting Defaults for Storm Tracks ______________________________________ 58 4.2 Creating Storm Tracks _______________________________________________ 59 4.2.1 Creating Fan Projections ___________________________________________ 59 4.2.2 Creating Circle Projections _________________________________________ 60 4.2.3 Creating Squall Projections _________________________________________ 61 4.2.4 Deleting Storm Tracks_____________________________________________ 63 4.3 Editing Storm Tracks ________________________________________________ 63 4.4 Editing the Storm Marquee ___________________________________________ 65 4.4.1 Selecting Communities for Your Storm Track ETA Box __________________ 65 4.4.2 Moving the Storm Track Marquee____________________________________ 65 iv

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 4.5 Using PasTrac ______________________________________________________ 66 4.5.1 Auto-Tracking Real-Time Radar Data ________________________________ 66 4.5.2 Auto-Tracking NEXRAD Data ______________________________________ 66 4.6 Identifying Storms with StormScan_____________________________________ 67 4.6.1 Setting Up StormScan _____________________________________________ 68 4.6.2 Using Storm Marquees ____________________________________________ 69 4.6.3 Using the Storm Table _____________________________________________ 70 4.7 Creating Automatic Storm Sequences ___________________________________ 71 4.8 Points to Remember _________________________________________________ 72 5. Using SEQUENCER _____________________________________________________ 73 5.1 Starting SEQUENCER _______________________________________________ 74 5.1.1 Creating a New Sequence __________________________________________ 74 5.1.2 Inserting New Events______________________________________________ 75 5.1.3 Deleting Events from Sequences _____________________________________ 75 5.1.4 Deleting Sequences _______________________________________________ 75 5.1.5 Starting and Playing a Sequence _____________________________________ 75 5.1.6 Exiting SEQUENCER _____________________________________________ 76 5.2 Using SEQUENCER with Zooms and Pans ______________________________ 76 5.2.1 Creating Zooms and Pans __________________________________________ 77 5.2.2 Previewing Your Zoom Event _______________________________________ 77 5.3 Working with Time-Lapse Events ______________________________________ 78 5.3.1 Creating Real-Time Radar Time-Lapses _______________________________ 79 5.3.2 Creating NEXRAD Time-Lapses ____________________________________ 80 5.3.3 Previewing Your Time Lapse _______________________________________ 81 5.3.4 Editing Time-Lapse Frames ________________________________________ 81 5.4 Combining Time-Lapse and Zoom Events _______________________________ 81 5.5 Repainting to a Sequence _____________________________________________ 82 5.6 Adding a Radar Lapse to a Sequence ___________________________________ 82 5.7 Inserting NEXRAD Data in a Sequence _________________________________ 82 5.8 Points to Remember _________________________________________________ 83 6. Controlling Your Radar ___________________________________________________ 85 6.1 Controlling Your Non-Baron Radar ____________________________________ 86 6.2 Controlling Your Baron Radar ________________________________________ 86 6.3 Manipulating NEXRAD Data__________________________________________ 89 6.3.1 Using the NEXRAD Main Panel_____________________________________ 89 6.3.2 Adjusting Shear Marker Settings_____________________________________ 95 6.3.3 Using the Advanced Baron Chart ____________________________________ 96 6.3.4 Customizing Product and Time Marquees______________________________ 97 v

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 6.4 Utilizing Multiple Real-Time Radars Via Network ________________________ 98 6.4.1 Using Network America ___________________________________________ 98 6.4.2 Changing the Width of the Radar Sweep Cursor_________________________ 98 6.5 Comparing Base Reflectivity and Composite Reflectivity ___________________ 99 6.6 Points to Remember ________________________________________________ 101 Glossary_____________________________________________________________________ 1 vi

Preface This manual describes the operating procedures for Baron Services’ FasTrac Millennium software, the industry standard for display and storm tracking. You can use these products to present critical weather data that will provide customized weather displays. Document Organization The information in this manual is organized as follows:  Chapter 1 is a general overview of the system and provides the information needed to start the program.  Chapter 2 describes the operations needed to set up your system.  Chapter 3 describes how to manipulate your views (screen displays).  Chapter 4 describes how to create and manage storm tracks.  Chapter 5 describes how to use SEQUENCER  Chapter 6 describes how to control both non-Baron radars and Baron radars. Before using FasTrac Millennium, you should have a working knowledge of Microsoft Windows. Support Information The Baron Services support team is available to answer questions about technical-support issues and to assist you with operations and procedures. You can reach the support team by calling (256) 881-8811. You will need the following information when you call:  Product name and version.  Station name, your name and your job title.  Number of a telephone close to your workstation. Do not give a fax number.  Brief description of your problem. You can also access troubleshooting documentation from the Baron Services Tech Support website. You will need your username and password to enter the site. The site URL is: http://techpage.baronservices.com To learn about our about Baron Services' products, the newest enhancements and additions to our product lines, and the latest in news and weather events, go to our primary website at: http://www.baronservices.com vii

$Preface FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Type Faces Italic Indicates a document title, the first occurrence of a new term, a directory or file name, or a system response that explains what the system is doing. For example: Open the example cities.bmp file in your C:\fastrac\places directory. Bold Indicates an item in the graphical interface, such as the OK button or a command button. Courier Indicates information you type. For example, Set the signal processor parameters by typing SOPRM. Symbols The following document conventions are used throughout this manual: Information that is not critical to system operation but describes useful procedures or information that will optimize system operation. Very important information about a command or a procedure. Critical instructions that must be followed to prevent loss of data. Keyboard Conventions ALT Alternate key. CTRL Control key. DEL Delete key. ENTER Return/enter key. ESC Escape key. SHIFT Shift key. TAB Tab key viii$

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Preface Terminology Click To position the pointer on the screen, and then to press and quickly release the left mouse button. Double click To quickly press and release a mouse button twice without moving the mouse. This action is used as a shortcut for common actions, such as activating an icon, opening a file, or selecting a word or graphic element. Click and drag To click and hold a mouse button while moving the mouse. This action is used to identify a range of objects, to move objects, or to resize objects. Enter To input information by typing or by using the mouse. Identify To locate an element on the screen either by clicking it or by typing the name. Click and hold To press and hold down a mouse button to perform an action, such as resizing a window. Scroll To move through text or graphics. Select To click a button, a text box, an item in a list, or some other item on a menu or window. Type To key in data. To complete this action, you may also need to click OK, press ENTER, or press TAB. What to Expect from This Document This document describes how to start, set-up, and run FasTrac Millennium. All of the menus and procedures you will use while working with the program are fully explained in this guide. After reading this manual, you should be able to:  Start FasTrac Millennium.  Customize the weather displays to fit your needs.  Use storm tracks and sequences to quickly and effectively inform viewers about pertinent weather information.  Understand the capabilities of every feature you have on your system. ix

$1. Overview This manual describes the FasTrac Millennium product. FasTrac Millennium is the industry standard for providing real-time, local weather information to your users, allowing you to analyze real-time radar and to translate it into meaningful predictions of potentially harmful weather phenomena for your community. It also provides NEXRAD data, combining exceptional resolution, topography, and street-level mapping with Baron’s unique, intuitive user interface. Most users use the program both for NEXRAD sites and their own, real-time radar. This chapter introduces the main system components, including the databases, the file structure and the main FasTrac Millennium display. 1.1 Databases Two databases, known as Places and Maps, provide the mapping information underlying the functions. When Baron Services introduced these databases to the meteorological world, they were referred to as liquid databases because the user could smoothly change the map display and effortlessly zoom into and out from points of interest rather than using the static one or two radar displays that were then the norm. When Baron Services installs your system, the databases are populated and ready for use. However, as discussed in Chapter 2, you can specify which communities are displayed (referred to as prioritizing places) and add important features, such as schools, malls, and parks, to the Places database. Thus, you easily can customize your display to fit your needs. 1.2 File Structure All the Baron files are in the C:\fastrac directory or one of its subdirectories. While there are many files and subdirectories in the \fastrac directory, the following table lists the ones that you must have to run your system properly. File or Directory Name Description Basepal.bmp file The color palette bitmap that defines the colors for all data displays. Fast95.exe file An executable file that activates the main program. Lapses directory The directory that contains time-lapse files created through SEQUENCER (see Chapter 5, Using SEQUENCER). Logs directory The directory that contains archived radar data (in the \Radar subdirectory) and archived lightning strike data (in the \Strikes subdirectory). Maps directory The directory that contains the files for the map databases, including roads, rivers, and state lines. Nexrad directory The default directory for storing NEXRAD files. 1$

$Overview FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 File or Directory Name Description Omninet.ini file The main configuration file. Overlays directory The directory that contains bitmap files that can be placed on the screen. Places directory The directory that contains the data files for all the communities in the Places database. Views.ini file The View configuration file that contains parameters for every saved view. Zooms directory The directory that contains all files for zooms created with SEQUENCER. Do not adjust the .ini files or the Basepal.bmp file unless you receive directions from a Baron Services representative. We preset all settings and software in your system according to your specific needs. Tinkering with Windows or any program outside your FasTrac Millennium is potentially dangerous. If you are not sure about what you are doing, please call our Client Services Department at (256) 881-8811. 1.3 Protecting Your Data You may back up your system by whatever normal backup procedures your business uses to protect important software. A CD R/W drive is provided with all new systems, letting you perform backup operations. When your system is delivered, we strongly recommend that you back up your \fastrac directory to a CD. Alternatively, you can back up the system on your hard drive using the Backup command: 1. Open FasTrac Millennium. 2. Select File > Backup to open the Backup menu. 3. The menu to the right will appear, asking you to designate a directory in which to create the backup. You must have C:\FasTrac as a parent directory. 4. Click Backup to automatically copy system files to the designated directory. This will take several minutes. 5. When a message indicating that backup is complete appears in the text box, click Cancel to exit the menu. Our system offers unique customization opportunities. You may want to back up individual files to protect your customized set-up. If possible, shut down Windows before restarting your computer. Shutting down a computer before exiting Windows may create hardware complications. Experienced Windows operators will often have FasTrac Millennium operating simultaneously with other programs. If FasTrac Millennium is operating and you return to the desktop before 2$

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Overview exiting the program, you may not return to it by clicking on the icon. You must click on the minimized icon on the task bar to return to the program. This safety feature is designed to prevent multiple copies of FasTrac Millennium from running at the same time. 1.4 NetRad The NetRad module lets you specify which radar sites provide NEXRAD data to your system. You must enable it before starting FasTrac Millennium, as described in this section. 1. Double-click on your NetRad desktop icon or double click on the netrad.exe filename to open NetRad. 2. Select Connect > Disconnect, and then select Setup > Main Setup to open the NetRad Setup menu. 3. Use the Add Site and Remove Site commands to select the sites you wish to display. The FutureScan products option on the NetRad Setup menu is available only if you own the FutureScan module. Be sure that the Data Compression box is checked, as this reduces the load on the NetRad server. 4. Set the Folder pathname to reflect the directory that will contain the NEXRAD product files, and click OK to return to the NetRad main menu. 5. Select Connect > Connect to reconnect to the NEXRAD server. If you have modified your NEXRAD sources, go to the folder to which NetRad delivers files (the folder defined in the Folder field in the NetRad Setup dialog box) and delete all of the files in the folder. You may now view NEXRAD products in FasTrac using the NEXRAD panel, as described in section 6.3.1. 3

Overview FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 1.5 Starting Your FasTrac Millennium FasTrac Millennium automatically starts up when you boot up the computer. To manually start, double-click on the FasTrac desktop icon (shown on the right). Either method displays the following main FasTrac screen: To exit the program, select File > Exit or click the Close (X) button in the upper-right corner of the screen. Subsequent paragraphs describe each screen component. Program Name and Release Date The title bar at the top-left of the FasTrac Millennium screen display is information you will need when calling in for technical support. The release date is very important in determining which version of software you are using. Main Menu Bar This tool bar provides access to the main pull-down lists, referred to as Main Menus in this manual, which allow you to access advanced functions of your system. Clicking on a menu title at the top of the screen opens a pull-down list. To activate a particular function, hold down the mouse button, place the cursor over your choice on the menu, and release the mouse button. Hot Buttons Hot buttons appear just under the Main Menus. There are two rows of ten symbols each. You can use these buttons for simple, one-click execution of system functions. Left-clicking activates the main function of the button. Some buttons have dual functions, activated by right-clicking the mouse button. 4

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Overview Temporary Text opens the Temporary Text dialog box, which lets you key in text that displays when you click OK and click on the text location. Lightning replays the lightning in the past hour. Right-click on this hot button to disable Lightning. Note that the button changes to the button shown on the right. This button blinks when the connection to the TCP/IP lightning server is down. Sweep displays real-time radar data. Left-click on the Sweep hot button to display intensity, and right-click on it to display velocity. If you are viewing NEXRAD data, left-clicking on the icon refreshes the display with the current NEXRAD product. (This icon blinks when the RDAC connection is inoperable.) Storm Spotter Van displays the current location of your Storm Spotter Van. The button blinks when Van data is being received. See Section 3.5.8 for more information. Radar Lapse lets you display time-lapse frames. If you have real-time radar, seven minutes of radar data displays. If you have NEXRAD data, the number of frames specified for the Lapse parameter on the NEXRAD Main panel displays. Weather Wire Data lets you set up and edit Weather Wire warning features. This icon blinks when the National Weather Service data feed is not operational. See section 3.5.20 for more information. Telestrator lets you do free-form drawing on your weather display. Right-click on this icon to open the Telestrator Pen Information menu, which lets you specify the width, color, and type of drawing. Zoom closes in on the area defined by your cursor. Right-clicking on this icon zooms out to double the current range. NEXRAD activates the NEXRAD Main Panel on the left side of the FasTrac display. This icon blinks when the NEXRAD connection is not operational. Show View displays the saved view corresponding to the number on the hot button. Fronts/Hi/Low lets you draw weather fronts with the cursor, as well as create high and low pressure markers. See section 3.5.13 for details. Map Pointer activates the Map Pointer. When you select this hot button, Telestrator drawings disappear. Left-clicking on a road causes its name to appear in the Cursor Status Area. Right-click on this button to enter Pixel Query mode, which indicates the radar data (this works for all data products) and level at your cursor position. Map Pan enables Pan mode, letting you set a different center point for the current view. Neighborhood Weather Net lets you edit and manipulate live weather data that can then be displayed on map views. See Section 3.5.11 for more information. 5

Overview FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 StormScan activates the Arrow Filter panel on the left side of the FasTrac display. See Section 4.6, StormScan, for more details. Street Spotter allows you to find and label the streets in your database. See Section 3.5.4 for details. SpotterNet lets you display a network of eyewitnesses for weather activity. See Section 3.5.19 for details. Main Status Area The Main Status Area is the area in white, just to the right of the hot buttons. This area displays the following: • Latitude and longitude of the map pointer. • Azimuth and range of the current pointer from its last selected position (reset this by right-clicking on the view). • Current system time in local time and in Greenwich Mean Time (ZULU). We equip our systems with time keeping software to ensure that the system time remains accurate, but you may use a different time keeping program if you wish. • Azimuth and elevation of the live radar. • Azimuth, range, and height of the your radar’s beam center at the cursor position. Cursor Status Area The gray bar located under the main status area is the Cursor Status Area. This bar is dual-purpose. First, it displays information about your last selected command. For instance, if you place the cursor over the Lightning hot button, the words replay last hour’s lightning appear. Secondly, this area displays various status messages relating to system activity. Select Panel The Select Panel options, described below, occupy the left column of your screen. Option Description VIEWS Opens the View Main panel, which displays map radius, map center, and map name. This is the default panel and displays upon system startup. STORMS Opens the Storm Track panel, which lets you control storm track settings. SEQUENCES Opens the SEQUENCER panel. NEXRAD Opens the NEXRAD Main panel, which lets you display NEXRAD products. 6

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Overview More Settings The More Settings area, which appears at the bottom of the left column when the View panels are active, lets you display the following panels: Option Description MAP Controls street, road, water, and county line displays for the current view. DATA Controls appearance of radar and lightning data on the current view. The Radar Control option lets you control the real-time radar. TOPO Controls the topography display, and specifies the textured background bitmap. MISC Controls radar cursor appearance, radar range height indicator (RHI) mode, and overlays. 1.6 System Commands Not Meant for Client Use In the Setup and Misc Main Menus, there are several commands that are intended for use by Baron Services personnel for the purpose of system maintenance and troubleshooting. You should not use any of these commands without the assistance of a Baron Services representative. The commands are as follows: • Setup > Map > Advanced > Map Window • Setup > Miscellaneous • Setup > Data > NexRad • Status > Debug Window • Status > Advanced > System Report • Status > Advanced > Memory Check • Status > Advanced > Toggle Debug 7

Overview FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 1.7 Points to Remember  When you start your system, you automatically enter the FasTrac environment. If you have exited FasTrac, you can double-click on the FasTrac icon on your desktop to manually initialize FasTrac.  Perform back-up operations often, to protect your data and setup configurations.  All of the operations that you may use are covered in this manual. If you find something that is not discussed, it is best not to tamper with it. Again, if you have questions, feel free to call the Client Services Department at (256) 881-8811. This chapter merely provides an overview of FasTrac Millennium’s capabilities. The other chapters describe the five primary areas of program functionality. Description Chapter Setting Up Your System Chapter 2 View Manipulation Chapter 3 Storm Tracking Chapter 4 Sequencing Chapter 5 Radar Control Chapter 6 8

$2. Setting Up Your System This chapter describes how to prepare your system for displaying crucial weather data in meaningful formats for your users. While you can readily perform most of the Setup commands, some operations are not so apparent. Before you start setting up, you should back up the delivered \fastrac directory as explained in section 1.3, Protecting Your Data. This chapter addresses the functions described in the following list:  Setting Up Map Layers  Setting Up Display Levels  Editing the Places Database  Prioritizing the Places Database  Adjusting the Color Palette  Using the Baron Chart  Customizing Font Displays  Manipulating the Automatic Legend  Using Overlays  Setting Up Icons 9$

Setting Up Your System FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 2.1 Setting Up Map Layers The Map layer editor menu, which you can access with the Setup > Map > Map Layers command, allows you to edit the appearance and viewing range of all the water and road types in your map database, as well as county and state lines. The pull-down list lets you select which map feature type you wish to modify (for example, Lakes, Rivers, County Lines, State Lines and Roads). Two Color specifies that two colors define the selected map feature and is available only for county lines, state lines, and various types of roads. Clients without .psf mapping data should use the Display Levels commands detailed in Section 2.2 to adjust the appearance of roads and water. Inner Line defines the color of one-color features, and the inside color of two-color features. Outer Line is enabled only if you select the Two Color option. This option defines the outside color of two-color features. Min Range defines the minimum range at which you can see the selected feature. You will not see the feature when your view’s range is less than the specified Min Range. Max Range defines the maximum range at which you can see the selected feature. You will not see the feature when your view’s range is greater than the specified Max Range. Preview displays the selected feature type and the one or two specified colors for that feature. 2.2 Setting Up Display Levels (for clients without .psf mapping data) For clients without .psf map data, the Setup > Map > Advanced > Display Levels commands control what roads and bodies of water are displayed within your map at a particular range. This system utilizes both the 1:2,000,000 database and the City Streets database. See Section 2.2.3 for information on how to set the range at which the display switches between the two databases. The Display Levels commands only appear for clients that do not use .psf data for mapping. Clients with .psf data should use the Setup > Map > Map Layers command detailed in Section 2.1 to edit the appearance of roads and water. 10

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Setting Up Your System 2.2.1 Editing Display Levels for Roads (for clients without .psf mapping data) Select the Setup > Map > Advanced > Display Levels > 1:2,000,000 Roads command to open the 1:2,000,000 Road Display Levels menu. This menu has nine categories reflecting different levels, or subsets, of roads. The Cutoff Range area lets you activate the databases at different ranges so that an appropriate amount of detail appears, regardless of range. For example, interstates are appropriate at any range, so they receive a high value, like 999. Residential roads, on the other hand, are only appropriate when you zoom in close, so they receive a low value, like 10. This configuration results in interstates appearing on any map with a range of less than 999 miles - in effect, on every map. Residential roads only appear when your map range is less than 10 miles - a more appropriate activation range. These ranges are adjustable to suit your needs. Select the Setup > Map > Advanced > Display Levels > City Streets Roads command to open the City Street Display Levels menu. Although City Streets Roads is a separate menu with six levels, levels 1 through 4 (Interstates, Divided Highways, Highways, and Roads) are roughly comparable to the 1:2,000,000 database. Streets and Minor Streets occupy levels 5 and 6 and use the City Streets database. This prevents the database from placingmuch detail at longer ranges. too 11

Setting Up Your System FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 The Display Style area lets you adjust the graphic look of the roads in your system. There are six graphic styles: Road Style Type Example Smallest Single Line Small Single Line Medium Double Line Major Double Line Divided Triple Line Two Color Triple Line Triple-line styles are usually assigned to interstates, and divided highways and double-line styles are usually assigned to state and county highways. Single-line styles work best when assigned to the smallest roads. Use the Setup > Colors command to adjust the road colors. 2.2.2 Editing Display Levels for Bodies of Water (for clients without .psf mapping data) The Setup > Map > Advanced > Display Levels > 1:2,000,000 Water and Setup > Map > Advanced > Display Levels > City Streets Water menus operate exactly the same way as their respective Roads menus, except that you do not need to assign different looks. Water is usually blue (unless you would like to select a different color). Again, you use this command to set ranges for the different levels where you want the water database to appear. If you want to display more water bodies at a certain range, see what the current level is and raise the cutoff range value. 12

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Setting Up Your System 2.2.3 Setting the Enable Range for City Streets (for clients without .psf mapping data) Select the Setup > Map > Advanced > Display Levels > City Streets Range command to open the City Street Maximum Enable Range menu. This menu lets you set the range threshold at which the system will move between the 1:2,000,000 database and the City Streets database. If you specify 20, for example, the system will use the 1:2,000,000 database at ranges greater than 20 miles. At ranges less than 20 miles, it will use the City Streets database. Setting this value too high can result in excessive clutter and slower processing times. The City Streets database is very large and is usually too great for any computer to handle at ranges above 20 miles. You can override the range by selecting the City Streets Use control and its associated Lock control on the View Map Features panel. 2.3 Adding Water-Fill Points (for clients without .psf mapping data) The main water database contains only the outlines of bodies of water. While water bodies normally appear as solid, blue shapes, you may have to use the Setup > Map > Advanced > Water Fill command to fill in a water shape. The Water Fill command only appears for clients that do not use .psf data for mapping. Clients with .psf data should use the Setup > Map > Map Layers command detailed in Section 2.1 to edit the appearance of water. 1. Use the Setup > Colors command to verify that the water color is correct. Adjust as required. 2. Use the Zoom Out option to display the body of water in question. Note in the following example how the river body, bounded by the dark, bolded lines, is empty. 13

Setting Up Your System FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 3. Select the Setup > Map > Advanced > Water Fill command to display the Setup Water Fill panel on the left side of the screen.  Zoom Out automatically zooms out the map display to 50% of the current range. You can continue to issue this command until you have the appropriate view.  Add Line opens the Add Water Fill Line dialog box. This dialog box lets you fix the display of two separate bodies of water. If there is a gap between such features, the water fill could extend beyond the intended boundaries (referred to as a flood). You can use Add Line toconnect the two bodies for a water-fill operation. You then could select During Fill Only to display the line only during a water-fill operation.  Refresh Map updates the map display.  Auto Refresh automatically updates the map display when you add a line or point.  eets. (This option is available only if you have the optional City Streets module.)  f the view. (This option is available only if you have the optional City Streets module.)  Water Level +/- lets you move to different levels on the map.  > 1:2,000,000 Water command from changing when you zoom in and out of the view.  Map Cursor Normal places your map cursor in pointer mode.  sor Pan places your map cursor in pan mode, letting you move around the map display.  your map cursor in zoom mode, letting you get closer views of points of interest. 4. Right-click your mouse button on the body of water in question to add a water-fill point. City Street displays the city strCity Street Lock prevents the street levels that you specified with the Setup > Display Levels > City Streets Roads command from changing when you zoom in and out oWater Level Lock prevents the water level that you specified with the Setup > Display LevelsMap CurMap Cursor Zoom places 14

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Setting Up Your System 5. Verify that the water body is filled with the water color. The following example depicts the water fill. Note that the water-fill point appears as a small white square on the map For best results, click near the center of the water body, away from the boundary lines. 6. Zoom out to ensure that the entire body of water is filled in correctly, as shown in the following example. Notice that multiple water-fill points have been added. To edit an existing water fill point, click on it to open a dialog box that has places to enter the fill point’s ID and to enable or disable it. There are also boxes that specify the display level, the minimum a ude of the point. To change the latitude and tion. nd maximum ranges, and the latitude and longit longitude, click on the map at the new loca A water-fill point must be visible on the screen before it will fill water bodies with color. 15

Setting Up Your System FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 2.4 Fixing Floods with Anti-Fill Points (for clients without .psf mapping data) Som with water-fill points, you may accidentally place a point that makes the land area fill with the blue color. This is referred to as a flood. Since it can to u d to fix the problem. Anti-Fill Control dialog box on the left side of the display. 2. oded area. Notice that a small, green-filled point appears. 3. To remove a point, select Remove and click on the point you want to o4. Click OK, and seMg every re tracking severe weather, you do not want to miss the small communities that could be affected the most. The Setup > Map > ine the priority level (in miles) of every populated community in your area. In this manner, you determine eorm Track ETA Marqleft. You can also use the Places Database ommunity names from the database. he following steps describe how to customize your database: 1. Select the Setup > Map > Places Database command to open the Select State menu. etimes when filling a large body of water be difficult to find the particular fill point that is causing the flood, the Baron program allows youse Anti-Fill comman1. Select the Setup > Map > Advanced > Anti-Fill command to display the Select Add, and click on the map somewhere in the florem ve. elect the Setup > Map > Advanced > Water Fill n the Setup Water Fill panel on the left side of the screen. ap to see your adjustments. the Places Database As part of your system, we include every populated community instate. When you acommand to op5. Select Refresh 2.5 EditinPlaces Database command lets you determat what range various communities applisted in the Star on the map and when they are uees, such as the one displayed on the command to add or delete cT16

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Setting Up Your System 2. Click on a state name, and click OK to open the Place List for the selected state. Note that all the populated communities in the selected state alphabetically. are listed will on filled in. ameter: 3. Click Add to create a new place, or click an existing place name and click Edit to modify it. The Add Place and Edit Place menus have identical features, although a place you edit already have informati You can also select an existing place by clicking on the community name then pressing the ENTER key, or double-clicking on the community name. 4. Enter the desired parameters on the Add Place or Edit Place menu. The following paragraphs describe each par Name – Defines the full place name.  Abbreviation – Defines an abbreviation that can be displayed instead of the full place name.  County – Specifies the county in which the place is located.  Population – Defines the known population, in thousands.  Altitude – Defines the altitude, in feet, if known.  Latitude and Longitude – Specifies the geographical coordinates. You can automatically assign coordinates to the place by left clicking on the desired spot in your view.  Use abbreviation on map – Displays the abbreviated name, rather than the full place name, on views.  Use abbreviation on Storm Track – Displays the abbreviated name on storm tracks. This is a useful tool for managing the size of storm track boxes. For example, abbreviating Mahan Center Cross Roads to Mahan. Cen. results in a much smaller box.  Allow automatic scale adjust – Automatically adjusts the storm marquee to fit the displayed places. 17

Setting Up Your System FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003  Show Range – Defines the range, in miles, at which the place will display. For example, a place with a Show Range parameter of 1 will not display until your view range is one mile or less.  Show on maps – Displays the place name on views when it is in range.  Show on Storm Tracks – Displays the place name on Storm Track ETA displays.  Original Data – Reserved for future use. When adding places, do not start them with a number (e.g., 1st Street). The system functions best with all letters in the name, rather than numbers. Spell out the number if you want to use it. While your Places database contains thousands of place names, you need not adjust them all. The program defaults all of its communities to a Show Range of 1, which means that a community will never appear on a map unless your map range is one mile or less. By default, all communities appear in storm tracks, which is where community names are most powerful. The only thing you need to do in the Setup Places operation is to raise the Show Range value for the appropriate communities in your viewing area, as explained in the following subsection. This allows communities to appear in your maps when you are creating saved views or when you are moving around the map in a real-time situation. Changing the Show Range Parameter This function is one of the most powerful operations you will perform with your system. This subsection describes how to easily and efficiently prioritize the places that are already present on your system. The Places database includes every populated community in range of your radar, for approximately a 300-mile radius from your location. Use your discretion when you prioritize the database to meet the needs of your users. 1. Select the Map Pan hot button and click on the major city in your viewing area to center the map on it. 2. Select Views to activate the View Main panel, key in 250 in the Radius text box, and click the Update button to show a 250-mile view of the city. 3. Decide which cities you want to appear at this range. 4. Select Setup > Map > Places Database to open the Select State menu, select the state, and click OK to open the Place List for the selected state. 5. Select a city, and click Edit to open the Edit Place menu. 6. Key in 250 in the Show Range text box, make any other relevant changes, select the Show on Maps and Show on Storm Tracks options, and click OK. 7. Repeat steps 5 through 7 for each city that you wish to display at the 250-mile range. 8. Click Update on the View Main panel to refresh the map, and verify that the cities you want appear. You may end up repeating this process several times. 18

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Setting Up Your System 9. Repeat steps 2 through 8 to set up map displays for 200-, 150-, 100-, 75-, 50-, 25-, 10-, 5-, and 3-mile ranges. 10. Repeat steps 1 through 9 for each important city in your viewing area. 11. Verify that you have a good coverage of the cities you want to see by zooming in and out on relevant areas of your viewing area. Customizing the Places Database Many of our clients have gone beyond editing to customizing their Places Database. An example of this customization process is identifying important intersections. At times, some locations should be emphasized to stress the importance and location of weather phenomenon to your users. The Baron database is completely client-customizable. You can take advantage of the opportunity by creating identifiers for local features like schools, malls, churches, parks, and stadiums. To add places for this purpose, follow these steps: 1. Select Setup > Map > Places Database to open the Select State menu, select the state, and click OK to open the Place List for the selected state. 2. Click Add to open the Add Place menu. 3. Click on the appropriate location on your map display to have the longitude and latitude coordinates automatically generated, or key in the longitude and latitude coordinates. 4. Key in the text (for example, enter an intersection name) in the Name box, type in the range at which you want the place to display in the Show Range Text box, select the Show on Maps options, and click OK to return to the Place List. 5. Click Done. You will be asked if you want to save the new name to a file. Click OK. 6. Go to the Views panel on the left side of the display. Verify that the view is in the range specified in step 4, and click Update. Make sure that the new text is displayed. To further emphasize a customized place, you can use the Street Spotter feature to import an icon for it. See Section 3.5.5 for details. 19

Setting Up Your System FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 2.6 Adjusting the Color Palette The Setup > Colors command lets you adjust the color palette used by FasTrac Millennium. If you have access to the Advanced Baron Chart (via the Setup > Data > Baron Chart command, see section 6.3.3), you should use it rather than the Setup Colors menu to adjust radar colors. Also, you should use the Setup > Map > Map Layers command discussed in section 2.1 to adjust mapping colors. The following steps describe how to use this particular function: 1. Select Setup > Colors to open the Setup Colors menu. Note that a color value is assigned to each listed element. 2. Select an element, and click Edit to open the Choose Color menu. 3. Adjust the color, which changes as you edit the values. There are six options: Hue, Saturation, Lightness, Red, Green, and Blue. Enter a number from 0 through 255 in each of these spaces to specify the amount of that component to include. You can also move the sliding pointer below the rainbow colored bar to raise and lower the hue value. You can click anywhere on the large colored box to the left of the number boxes to automatically change the values of that color (this method affects every value except the hue). As you change the numbers, the rectangle below the number spaces indicates the color. Press ENTER or click OK when you have adjusted the color to the way you want. You can exit without making any changes by pressing the escape key (ESC) or by clicking Cancel. 20

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Setting Up Your System 2.7 Using the Baron Chart The Baron Chart lets you specify the colors used for the various NEXRAD products and your real-time radar data. All of these use the Baron Chart. To display it, select Setup > Colors to open the Setup Colors menu, and select Baron Chart. The square on the right shows all 256 colors in the color palette. When you move the mouse cursor over these colors, the text box lists the index number of the color to which the mouse cursor is pointing and specifies the color title. If appropriate, the text box describes the red, green, and blue values that define the color and the general classification, which is described in the following list:  MODIFIABLE indicates that the color is available for use in any product, and you can change its RGB components by double-clicking on it to open the Edit Color menu.  UNSTABLE indicates that the color is available for use in any product, but you cannot change it from this menu. We do not recommend that you use these colors since other features use them and they are subject to change.  FIXED indicates that you cannot change this color, but it is safe to use in your products since it will not change.  RESERVED indicates that you cannot use or change this color. Palette entries surrounded by white squares are the safest to use with Baron Chart, since they were originally reserved for radar. The left portion of the Baron Chart contains colors for the different NEXRAD product types. The numbers in the Reflectivity column indicate dBZ values, while the other columns indicate the levels (1 - 15). As you move the mouse cursor over these, the rectangle above the palette box 21

Setting Up Your System FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 displays text that identifies the colors used. The following steps describe how to change a particular level in a product: 1. Select a color for a particular level from the palette by clicking on a color on the Baron Chart. 2. Click on the level that you want to change (for example, level 7 of VIL). 3. Click OK to save your edit and to return to the Setup Colors menu. You can change any MODIFIABLE color on the palette. To do so, double-click on the color to open the Color Edit menu, which is described in section 2.5, Adjusting the Color Palette. Changing a color in the palette will affect everything that uses that color. Clicking OK saves any changes you have made. You must, however, select OK Save on the Setup Colors menu to effect the changes. For example, if you click OK on the Baron Chart menu and then click Cancel on the Setup Colors menu, you cancel the changes to the palette. The changes to the color representations of product levels stay the same. To avoid confusion, it is best either to click OK in both places or to click Cancel in both places. 2.8 Editing Colors for 256-Color Palettes There are several new data products that utilize a 256-color palette rather than the normal 16 colors. These products can be edited with a separate menu called the Edit full color radar palette menu. To access this menu, select Setup > Data > BaronChart256. The box in the upper left corner displays the names and product codes of the currently existing 256-color palettes. The product highlighted in this box displays its palette in the center area. The box to the right of the box containing the product names and codes displays the level number and RGB values of the palette entry over which your cursor is currently positioned. For reflectivity palettes, the dBZ value corresponding to that level also appears. The Edit Color button below the palette area allows you to edit the colors for the palette entries. See section 2.5, Adjusting the Color Palette, for information on using the Choose color menu. The Add button lets you create a new 256-color palette. The palette will be black by default. 256-color palettes will not display properly if a precipitation type map is currently displaying (see section 3.5.17, Displaying Precipitation Type Maps). 22

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Setting Up Your System 2.8.1 Creating Gradients The Normal Gradient and HSL Gradient buttons let you automatically create a smooth scale of colors between two entries on a palette. 1. Manually edit the colors of the palette entries that you wish to be the starting and ending points of the gradient, using the Edit Color button. 2. Select the range of palette entries for the gradient by left-clicking on the starting entry and dragging the mouse to the ending entry. The entries in between the two entries will be highlighted, as shown in the example to the right. 3. Click either the Normal Gradient or HSL Gradient button to create the gradient. You should experiment with both options to find which one you prefer. 2.8.2 Duplicating Palettes You can use the Duplicate button to apply the color scheme of an existing weather product to the currently selected product. This process is intended to replace the colors of the currently selected palette with the colors of another palette, not to create a copy of a palette. If you wish to create a palette with the same color scheme as an existing palette, you should first create a blank palette with the Add button, then use the Duplicate button to copy the colors of the original palette into the blank palette. When you click the Duplicate button, the Duplicate product palette menu appears. The pull-down list labeled Source product indicates the product whose color palette you wish to duplicate. Product names with an asterisk at the beginning are 16-color palettes. The area labeled Destination product indicates the product to which you are copying colors. If this is not the palette you wish to change, click Cancel to exit the menu. 23

$Setting Up Your System FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 You only need to use the Level mapping area if the palette you are duplicating is a 16-color palette. In the text boxes, type the number in the 256-color range that you wish each of the 16-level colors to appear. The Use reflectivity mapping button automatically assigns reflectivity values and colors to the target palette. To assign the new color scheme, click OK. To exit without changing the palette, click Cancel. 2.9 Customizing Font Displays The Setup > Fonts command lets you customize the font displays for Places, Storm ETA displays, Storm Marquees, Temporary Text, Street Names, NexRad products, Pixel Query Point text and Metar data. All of the menus opened by the Setup > Fonts command have the same components, which are described in the following list:  s or t list will then be updated.  e Round Outlines option gives anti-aliasing to the font outlines.  n lor. You may select any color you wish by varying the amounts of red, green, and blue.  Extrude Direction specifies the direction of your drop shadow.  o save the changes you made, or click Cancel to discard your changes and close the menu. The Font pull-down list lets you choose any font installed in Windows. The listed fonts are true type fonts that are available in the \Windows\Fonts directory. You can add new fontdelete existing fonts in this directory. The FonThe Effects area lets you define, in pixels, the size of the letters, the extrusion or degree of shadowing, and the width of the outline. The Bold option doubles the width of the font. The Italic option angles the font forward. The Anti-Alias option eliminates the blocky appearance of computer fonts. ThThe Colors area lets you define color values for both the font and the shadow. We suggest that black outlines have an RGB value of at least 12 - 12 - 12. True black, 0 - 0 - 0, is oftethe default key coPreview displays the changes you have made and have not yet saved. Click OK t When you change fonts, they change only for that time forward. The new fonts not affect saved views. When changing fonts for Storm Track ETA boxes, you do must select Update at the bottom of the storm track panel to enact your changes. 24$

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Setting Up Your System 2.10 Manipulating the Automatic Legend Use the options under the Legend menu to control the automatic legend, shown below.  DISPLAY lets you toggle the automatic legend on and off. When the legend is on, a check appears next to this option.  RAIN MODES lets you display rain, snow, and mixed weather in the legend.  RESIZABLE BORDER lets you adjust the size of the legend for the best fit on maps. When selected, a Windows-style resizable frame appears around the legend. Use normal Windows techniques to resize the legend.  OPTIONS opens the Legend Options menu, which lets you change the configuration and location of the legend display. Radar Levels specifies the levels for your radar products. The legend will not display color bars for the higher levels that do not apply to your radar. It can take some trial and error to get the results you want with this setting, so it will help to test it before using it in a real-time situation. This option does not affect the NEXRAD display mode. The colors on the legend automatically change when you display a different type of radar product. If you are in velocity mode, the legend says TOWARD on one side and AWAY on the other; for intensity modes, it says LIGHT on one side and HEAVY on the other. One interesting thing to note about the automatic legend is that any level with a color set to transparent in the Baron Chart does not appear in the legend. The other bars expand to fill the gap. This is possibly a more flexible technique than the Radar Levels command in the Legend Options menu. The legend is actually a separate window, and is always on top of everything else in the display. You can move the legend to any position on the screen while it is active by left-clicking and dragging it. You may want to adjust the legend’s size off air, and then turn off the RESIZABLE BORDER option before going on air. This prevents you from accidentally resizing the legend while trying to move it. 25

Setting Up Your System FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 2.11 Using Overlays The Tools-1 > Overlay > Add Overlay and Tools-1 > Overlay > DragDrop Overlay commands let you bring logos, customized legends, or other kinds of pictures into your system, and then place them on your map at a specific pixel location. Overlays retain their screen position, no matter how you switch your views. 2.11.1 Creating new Overlays 1. The Setup > Overlays/Icons > Overlays command lets you associate a bitmap in your /fastrac/Overlays subdirectory with a meaningful mnemonic. Select the command to open theOverlay List menu. 2. Select the Add option to create a new overlay, or select Edit to modify an existing overlay. Either way, a menu labeled Overlay appears. 3. In the text box labeled Name, type the name you want to appear in the Overlay List. 4. In the Filename textbox, enter the filename of the picture you wish to use for your overlay (or click the Browse button to select it from a menu). 5. Click the Preview button to verify that you have selected the picture you want. 6. Press ENTER or click OK to save the overlay and return to the Overlay List. To permanently remove an overlay name from the Overlay List, left-click on its name, then click the Delete button. When you are finished working with overlays, click Done. 2.11.2 Adding an Overlay to a View There are two methods for adding an overlay, using the commands Tools-1 > Overlay > Add Overlay and Tools-1 > Overlay > DragDrop Overlay, respectively. Add Overlay allows you to apply the overlay to a fixed screen position with a single click. DragDrop Overlay lets you add the overlay, then move it by clicking and dragging before fixing its position. 26

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Setting Up Your System For the Add Overlay procedure, follow these steps: 1. Select the Tools-1 > Overlay > Add Overlay command to open the OVERLAY LIST. 2. Select the overlay you want to place on screen from the list by left-clicking it. 3. overlay to move behind other screen elements (0 is least and 100 is most). 4. Press ENTER or click OK to close the menu. 5. he view where you want the upper-left corner of the overlay to appear. 6. Left-click to add the overlay to the screen. For the DragDrop Overlay procedure, follow these steps: 1. Overlay > DragDrop Overlay command to open the OVERLAY LIST. 2. Select the overlay you want to place on screen from the list by left-clicking it. 3. overlay to move behind other screen elements (0 is least and 100 is most). 4. se the menu. The overlay will appear in the upper-left corner of the screen. 5. To move the overlay, left-clickIn the text box labeled Transparency, select the amount that you want the Move the cursor to the point on tSelect the Tools-1 >In the text box labeled Transparency, select the amount that you want the Press ENTER or click OK to clo and drag it with the mouse. 6. When the overlay is in the position you want, right-click it to fix it in place. Use the View > Save As command to permanently associate an overlay with a view. 27

Setting Up Your System FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 2.11.3 Removing Overlays When you wish to remove a fixed overlay from the screen, follow these steps: 1. Select the Tools-1 > Overlay > Remove Overlay command to open the Remove Overlay menu. 2. Left-click on the overlay you wish to remove. 3. Press ENTER or click OK to close the menu. The overlay will then disappear. mount You cannot remove an overlay that you add using the DragDrop Overlay command until you fix its position by right-clicking it. 2.11.4 Setting Overlays for Data Products With the Setup > Overlays/Icons > Product Overlays command, you can assign an overlay to appear whenever you display a data product. Select this command to open the Setup Product Overlay menu.  The Display product overlays checkbox toggles the display of overlays for all products.  The pull-down list labeled Product Information lets you select the data product that you want to associate with an overlay. When you select a product, the Product Number area changes to reflect the new product.  In the list under Overlay Information, select the overlay you wish to associate with the data product.  In the text box labeled Transparency, select the athat you want the overlay to move behind other screen elements (0 is least and 100 is most).  The Upper Left X textbox determines how far to the right from the upper left corner (in pixels) that the overlay will appear, while the Upper Left Y textbox determines how far below the upper left corner (in pixels) that the overlay will appear.  The Preview Overlay button allows you to look at the overlay you selected, to ensure that it is the one you want. Click OK to save your changes and exit the menu, or Cancel to exit without saving changes. 28

Setting Up Your System FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 4. Either way, a menu labeled Icon appears. Enter the name you wish to associate with the icon in the Name text box. 5. Enter the filename for the picture you wish to use for the icon, or click the Browse button to select it from a menu. 6. Click the Preview Bitmap button to verify that you have selected the picture you wanted for the icon. 7. In the Transparency text box, enter the degree to which you want the icon to move behind other screen elements (0 is lowest, 100 is highest). 8. Check the box labeled Above radar if you wish the icon to display over radar data. 9. If you know the latitude and longitude of the location where you want to display the icon, key in the coordinates in the Lat and Lon text boxes. Alternatively, you can click on the desired map location, and then click Map Edit. 10. In the Start Range text box, type in the maximum range (in miles) at which the icon displays. 11. In the End Range text box, type in the minimum range (in miles) at which the icon displays. Upon completion, select OK to return to the Icon List. You will need to change or refresh the view before the icons display. To permanently remove an icon name from the Icon List, left-click on its name, then click the Delete button. When you are finished working with icons, click Done in the Icon List menu. If you set an icon to appear at both long and short ranges, you may run into problems due to the latitude and longitude data not always matching up at different ranges. If this happens, try adding additional screen coordinates for the icon to appear for multiple subsets of the desired total range. 30

$FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Setting Up Your System 2.13 Points to Remember  Before you make any major changes, back up your \fastrac directory and subdirectories.  One of the most important commands is the Setup > Map > Map Layers command, which controls the roads and bodies of water that appear on your map display.  For systems without .psf mapping data, the Display Levels, Water Fill, and Anti-Fill commands control the appearance of roads and water.  Use the Setup > Map > Places Database command to specify which locations (places) display on your map.  Use the Setup > Colors command to adjust the colors on your views.  Use the Legend commands to control the automatic legend.  Use the Setup > Fonts command to customize the display of various font types.  You can insert bitmap images into your system as overlays and icons, then display them on views. 31$

3. Adjusting Views This chapter describes how to control the display of your weather map displays, or views. Views control how your weather data is presented. This chapter addresses such functions as:  Using the View Main Panel  Setting Map Parameters  Editing Topographical Data  Saving and Organizing Views  Using the View Options 33

Adjusting Views FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 3.1 Using the View Main Panel The View Main window is the first panel available upon opening the program. (The name of the current view window is always at the top of thewindow.) Buttons for the four other windows appear in the More Settingsarea at the bottom of the panel. If you are currently viewing another panel, the Views button is always availabl e in the Select Panel area. The following paragraphs describe all the controls available on the View Main panel:  Saved Views identifies all views that you have saved. Click on the down arrow to display available views and click on a name to open that view. Note that there are two temporary views, Temporary 1 and Temporary 2, which are the last two updates you have made.  Previous recalls the view that was active before you switched to the current one. This option lets you toggle back and forth between two views. You can use this option to recover from mistakes.  Radius is the vertical distance, in miles, between the center of the screen and the top of the screen.  Lat-Lon are the center coordinates for the map display.  Quick Settings allows you to toggle the display of Radar, Lightning, and Topography data, as well as whether the lightning data icons Blink.  Smooth Transitions lets you perform dynamically smooth pans and zooms when you zero in on areas of interest. Checking Active activates the feature, while checking Include radar causes radar data to smoothly transition as well.  More Settings lets you activate the other panels.  Update renews the map display after you have changed display parameters.  Undo returns the view parameters to those existing when Update was last selected. You will use the View Main commands often to adjust your display. For example, if you want to change the size of your viewing area, key in the new range in the Radius text box and click Update. The Previous command is particularly helpful in moving rapidly from one storm to the next while maintaining your bearings, as shown in the following scenario: 1. Show the base view that has all the storms of interest. 2. Give your users an overview of the current weather situation. 3. Select the Zoom hot button to display your area of concern. 34

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Adjusting Views 4. Click the Previous button on the Main View panel to return to your base view, and then zoom in to the next area of interest. Once you are comfortable with using this sequence to present storm views, you will want to use it often. Many broadcast clients use the Previous button as a quick map switch, as shown in the following example. Assume that you are doing a short cut-in before going on the air. 1. Zoom into the area of concern, then click the Previous button to return to the overview so that you are ready for your cut-in. 2. When your cut-in starts, show the overview, and then say something similar to, “Let’s zoom into the area of concern.” 3. Select Previous to have the system instantly zoom into that location. You can now discuss the situation and even place a storm track. 3.2 Setting Map Parameters The View Map Features panel controls the map display. To activate it, click on the Map button in the More Settings area at the bottom of the panel. After you save all parameters for a view, any other manipulation of that view keeps those same parameters. Topographical and texture mapping is also saved as a parameter. This lets you have specialty backgrounds for instantly displaying news graphics. Your most often used parameters should be on your default view. (You can activate Views 1 through 4 by using the hot buttons at the top of the screen.) The system will use those parameters when the view is activated. The following paragraphs describe each option on the panel.  Boundaries lets you turn both state and county lines on or off individually.  Roads lets you display roads at the specified level. Show controls whether any roads appear. Lock sets the display of roads at the specified level. (The higher the level, the more roads will be posted.)  Waters/Rivers functions are similar to the Roads functions. Show lets you turn on and turn off displays of rivers and other bodies of water. Lock sets the display of bodies of water and rivers at the specified level. If rivers are turned off when you update the view, subsequent zoom or pan operations result in a view with no river features. Fill automatically fills in empty water features. When selected, Fill bolds the river water lines. Thus, if a river is narrow enough, it will be filled.  Bold Map Lines doubles the size of all map lines. While it usually is inappropriate at large distances, this option can be quite useful at close ranges. 35

Adjusting Views FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003  Places controls the display of city names. Show turns on and turns off the display of community names. Normally, the system uses the default settings you established with the Setup > Map > Places Database command (see section 2.4, Editing the Places Database). To override the default settings, key in a new level in the Level text box, and click Update. Click Lock to set the specified priority level for future pans and zooms.  More is reserved for future enhancements.  Undo returns all parameters to their previous settings following the last Update command. While you can select Update after changing each map feature, we designed the system so that you can change as many mapping parameters as you like and then click Update one time to effect all of your desired changes. 3.3 Editing Topographical Data Click on the Topo button under the More Settings panel area to activate the View Topo panel. While all Millennium systems have actual topographical capability out to a specific distance, you can supplement displays by using texture maps. If the topographical data is inappropriate for any reason, the system reverts to a backup, generalized texture bitmap that approximates topographical features. Background Bitmap lets you display a single background that is loaded from a graphic file. Although the display of roads and rivers changes when zooming or panning the map, the bitmap will not change in perspective. The background bitmap may also be a customized 640 x 480 pixel-sized file developed specifically for your weather presentation.  Enable displays the background graphic supplied by the specified file. If you do not select Enable, the background is a solid gray.  Keep on Move lets you keep the bitmap displayed as you zoom or pan around the map. Select this option unless you want a gray background.  Filename specifies the bitmap. You can use any bitmap as a background. It must be 24-bit (full color) file. The mandatory bitmap size is 640 x 480. The bitmap displays only when the topography is oof range. ut e Topo Data allows you to toggle your real topographical data on and off with the Enable checkbox. In addition, you can set the range in miles at which the topographical data will appear with the Min Range and Max Range textboxes. When zooming in to a very close range, the real topographical data can cease to appear properly, at which point it would ba good idea to switch over to the background texture map. You should experiment at different ranges to find the appropriate range at which to set this threshold. 36

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Adjusting Views 3.4 Saving and Organizing Views This section describes how to save and organize your views. 3.4.1 Saving Views Once you have all the parameters defined for a given view, you will want to save it. When saving a view, you have the option of just saving the view or of saving the view as a bitmap file. For most purposes, the liquid databases are such powerful tools that there is little need to save a large number of views. The first four views you create correspond to the four numbered hot buttons. Traditionally, the first view is your overview map; the other four views are those that you use the most. Therefore, you should try to only save views that you know you will use many times. You may also save views specifically for SEQUENCER use. 1. Select the View > Save As command to open the Save View As menu, which has a pull-down list labeled View Name. 2. Select a view from the pull-down list, or key in a new name. If you use an existing view name, the old view will be overwritten. Use descriptive names that will help you identify them later. 3. Click the Use Bitmap button to save the view to the bitmap file specified in the Bitmap Filename text box, as described below. The bitmap name should be eight or less letters, followed by the .bmp extension. If you do not add an extension, the system automatically adds the .bmp extension. If you save the view as a bitmap, you save everything except the background and logos as a .bmp file. Your system stores views as full color images; therefore, the number of actual colors used is quite small. One advantage is that recall may be somewhat faster for bitmap views saved with this approach, depending upon your hardware configuration. In addition, you can export a view’s bitmap to a paint program. You can then add features, and return the finished product to the system. The only restrictions pertain to the set of colors used by map features. If you choose not to save the view without using a bitmap, you store the data with the saved view, but not as part of it. In other words, the system knows which background to put with a foreground but does not save both as a single view. It can also save all the mapping parameters, such as rivers and roads, as a data file. The result is that when you call up a view, the system first opens the background map and then draws all the rivers, roads, communities, radar, and lightning (if available), as required. It then displays the finished map. There are three advantages to this approach. First, it uses less room on the hard drive because it stores fewer bitmaps. Second, if you choose to change fonts or backgrounds at some point, it will use the latest choice in putting your view together. Finally, the system does not have to create a foreground bitmap. 37

Adjusting Views FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Whenever you are saving views, it is very important to use a consistent naming convention. We recommend the name (or abbreviation) of the community closest to the center of the view and the range of the view. For example, you could save a 150-mile view that is centered over Huntsville, Alabama as HSV 150. This naming convention makes it easy to identify what the saved views represent.  Save All Graphics saves the current view with the current data, such as radar sweep, lightning, and storm tracks. (This is particularly useful in creating a static view of a severe-weather event. Later, you could use the saved image for such events as promotions.) New radar data will not paint over a view saved with all graphics, and the system warns you if you select a saved view that includes graphics. 3.4.2 Organizing Your Views Several commands are available for you to arrange your views: Arrange View, Delete View, and Export View. If you are creating numerous views to cover every region, county, and city in your area, it is important to use a structure that facilitates the easy access to them. One method is to start with a view of the region. Under that region, you should place every associated county and, under each county, place every associated city. This lets you easily find important locations quickly. Some clients have arranged all of their views first alphabetically and then by range. Following this method, every view of the city appearing first alphabetically from 200 miles to 3 miles would be grouped together, from the farthest to the closest, followed by all other cities in alphabetical order.  View > Arrange lets you move views to the desired location in your Recall List. When selected, the Arrange Views menu opens, listing the saved views. To move views, scroll through the saved views until you find the view you wish. Click on the view, and press the Move Up or Move Down buttons until the view is where you want it. When you finish arranging, select OK. To cancel your changes, select Cancel. The first four views in the Recall List correspond to the hot buttons labeled 1 though 4 across the top of the screen.  View > Delete lets you remove the current view. When you select the command, a small warning appears in the left corner of the control screen, telling you which view you will delete. To delete, click OK. 38

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Adjusting Views  View > Export saves the current view to a floppy disk or your hard drive. You may then transfer the view to your IRIS computer and post the view on the Internet. When you select this option, the menu to the right appears, which contains instructions on preparing views for exporting. Follow these instructions, then select the number of views you wish to export and the destination folder for the view files (either a floppy disk or a specified folder on your hard drive). When these parameters are set, click OK to export the views. 3.5 Using the View Options This section covers other features used in connection with views. All of these involve manipulating the current view. 3.5.1 Adding Text to a View The Temporary Text hot button lets you quickly add additional text of user-specified size and color to a view. Some example messages are "Tornado Warning until 6:00 p.m.," or "Ferry Capsized Here." Click the Temporary Text hot button, key in the text on the menu that appears, and then click on the map where you want the text to appear (it will be centered around the cursor). Left-clicking on the Temporary Text button adds text and right-clicking on it removes text. See section 2.8, Customizing Font Displays, to adjust the font. 3.5.2 Zooming In and Out From a View 1. Click on the Zoom hot button, and then move the Zoom tool (the magnifying glass) over the area of interest. If you have any Telestrator graphics, they disappear. 2. Click and hold on the center point of the desired new view. As you move the Zoom tool, a red rectangular box that delineates the boundaries of your zoom appears. The zoom range in miles appears in the Cursor Status Area. 3. Release the mouse button at the desired range. The system automatically redraws the view to your specifications. Right-click on the Zoom hot button to zoom out to double the current range. 3.5.3 Pointing to Features on a View Use the Map Pointer hot button when you do not wish to make any changes to the map but want to point out a feature. You can activate Pixel Query Mode, which is described in section 3.5.15, by right clicking on this hot button. 3.5.4 Panning on a View The Map Pan hot button lets you maintain the same radius while moving your map to the right, left, up, or down. Select the Map Pan button, move your cursor around the map, 39

Adjusting Views FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 and click on the new center. 3.5.5 Labeling Streets with Street Spotter The Street Spotter feature allows you to locate and label important streets and landmarks. Basic Operation 1. To activate Street Spotter, click on the Street Spotter hot button. The cursor icon will then change to a small arrow above a two-lane street. You will use this cursor to perform Street Spotter operations. 2. Right-click on the desired street and its name should appear in the Cursor Status Area. 3. Label the street by left-clicking on it, dragging the line in the direction that you want your text to appear, and releasing the mouse button where you want the line to end. 4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for every street you want to label. 5. Erase all the Street Spotter labels by right clicking on the Street Spotter hot button. Editing Street Spotter Text Displays Select Setup > Street Spotter to open the Street Spotter menu, which lets you adjuappearance of Street Spotter text. st the  The options in the upper-left area control text color. These buttons have no effect if you select the Anti-Alias option; in that case, you must the select the color using the Setup > Fonts > Street Spotter command.  Anti-aliased fonts eliminate the blocky appearance of computer fonts.  Dynamic sizing changes the size of Street Spotter text proportionally to the view’s range when you zoom. This option works for both anti-aliased and non-anti-aliased fonts. If you do not select Dynamic Sizing, you must select the font size to use. For anti-aliased text, you must use the Setup > Fonts > Street Spotter command to change the font size. For non-anti-aliased text, you can change the text size by clicking the up and down arrows just below the Dynamic Sizing checkbox, and view the result in the adjacent sample text viewer.  Text to display lets you enter a message to display instead of a street name. If you select a street, its name will appear in this textbox when you open the Street Spotter menu. 40

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 Adjusting Views  Undo last removes the most recently placed Street Spotter text. You can use this option as many times as there are blocks of text, even if you change the view after placing text.  Clear all removes all Street Spotter text from the view.  Find opens the Locate Street or Intersection menu, as explained in the next section.  OK saves changes and closes the menu.  Cancel closes the menu without saving changes. Locating Streets or Intersections The Locate Street or Intersection menu helps you find a street or intersection that appears in your database. 1. Set up your view to include the streets or intersections that you wish to find. 2. Select Setup > Street Spotter to open the Street Spotter menu. 3. Click Find to open the Locate Street or Intersection menu. 4. Select Strict and/or Bound w/view to facilitate finding the desired street(s). Bound w/view causes only the streets appearing in the current view to appear in the list. Strict causes the extensions of streets (St., Rd., etc.) to appear, making it easierdetermine the right street if there are multiple streets with similar names. to 5. Enter the zoom range in the Zoom range text box. 6. Set Color 1 and Color 2 to the desired color for your streets. Color 1 is used for the street selected from the left box, and Color 2 is used for the street selected from the right box. 7. From the list of letters below each box, click the first letter of the name of both streets (or the same letter for both boxes if you are looking for a single street) to list all the streets that begin with that letter. 8. If you are looking for an intersection, select one of the intersecting streets from the left list box and the other street from the right list box. If you are looking for a single street, select it in both boxes. 41

$Adjusting Views FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003 9. Click OK when you have made your selections. After a few seconds, a new view at the specified zoom range will appear, centered either on the intersection or on some point on the street. The streets will be shown in the colors that you selected for them. 3.5.6 Controlling Display of Radar Data There are several commands located in the Radar Main Menu that allow you to control the appearance of live radar data on a view, as well as replay recorded data from past weather patterns. The Radar > Radar Levels command opens the Levels menu, which lets you toggle the real-time radar display levels on and off. For instance, should you decide not to show radar data for the lowest level of intensity, open the Levels menu and click the square labeled "1" to remove the selection. • Drop specific levels deletes the selected radar levels from your real-time radar. • Cut off reflectivity levels below DBZ value specified displays only levels that are above the specified dBZ value. This option is useful for dropping data from both real-time and NEXRAD radars. It also automatically removes the dropped colors from the on-screen legend. The Radar > NEXRAD Levels command works similarly to the Radar > Radar Levels command except that the command controls the display levels of your NEXRAD products and is product-specific. The Radar > Log to File command records real-time radar data to a log file in the C:\fastrac\Logs\Radar directory. The file then can be used to display for use in time-lapse sequences. The radar log files are purged every 24 hours. By default, this command is selected. The Radar > Play File and Radar > NEXRAD File commands allow you to display stored real-time radar and NEXRAD radar data, respectively. These commands are mostly used for troubleshooting. For real-time data, the system will also ask you to specify the number of radar sweeps to display, as well as whether to show wind velocity and intensity data, if applicable. 3.5.7 Utilizing TeleTrac The TeleTrac feature lets you draw freehand lines on your view with a graphics tablet and pen. These lines are used mostly to emphasize data currently on the screen. To begin drawing TeleTrac lines, left click the TeleTrac hot button. The cursor will change to a marker-like icon and the Cursor Status Menu will indicate with which color you are drawing. To draw a line, left click on the view where you wish to start the line, 42$