Weather Star III
Encyclopedia
The Weather Star III is one in a series of systems from The Weather Channel
that use data from satellite systems and organize it for broadcasting. Introduced in 1986, it was a major hardware upgrade over the Weather Star II. The majority of production work on the Weather Star III was done by Texscan-MSI|Compuvid, which had also done work on the previous two Weather Stars.
When a Weather Star unit is hooked up at a cable headend, it receives data via baseband on a subcarrier feed. This data includes the page data (a common misconception is that actual weather data is sent to the unit over satellite), background color, and other various formatting.
The Weather Network
and MétéoMédia
in Canada used Weather Star III hardware until 1991-92, when a sweeping upgrade to the Weather Star 4000 was made. The Canadian III units had metric measurements, a tweaked layout and color scheme, and (for MétéoMedia STARs) full French localization. Unlike TWC in the US, TWN/MétéoMedia replaces local forecast machines for each cable company (today, a completely different system called PMX
is used).
.) The features include:
Example:
SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY
FLURRIES SHOWERS CLOUDY
HI: 33 HI: 45 HI: 29
LO: 32 LO: 30 LO: 27
Also, until the mid 1990s, The Weather Channel sold an optional sensor package that could be connected to a Weather Star to display weather conditions at the headend office on the LDL, including the current temperature, the highest and lowest temperatures recorded since midnight, relative humidity, wind speed, direction, and gusts, and current daily and monthly precipitation totals. These appear to have been very common up until the late 1980s.
wiki software, while discussions about the project occur the forums and on freenode
#weatherstar.
The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel is a US cable and satellite television network since May 2, 1982, that broadcasts weather forecasts and weather-related news, along with entertainment programming related to weather 24 hours a day...
that use data from satellite systems and organize it for broadcasting. Introduced in 1986, it was a major hardware upgrade over the Weather Star II. The majority of production work on the Weather Star III was done by Texscan-MSI|Compuvid, which had also done work on the previous two Weather Stars.
When a Weather Star unit is hooked up at a cable headend, it receives data via baseband on a subcarrier feed. This data includes the page data (a common misconception is that actual weather data is sent to the unit over satellite), background color, and other various formatting.
The Weather Network
The Weather Network
The Weather Network is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts weather-related news and information 24 hours a day....
and MétéoMédia
MétéoMédia
MétéoMédia is a 24-hour Canadian French language Category A specialty channel and web site, which provides weather information 24 hours a day. It primarily serves viewers in Quebec, although some cable TV systems in Ontario and New Brunswick carry the channel as well. It is available nation-wide...
in Canada used Weather Star III hardware until 1991-92, when a sweeping upgrade to the Weather Star 4000 was made. The Canadian III units had metric measurements, a tweaked layout and color scheme, and (for MétéoMedia STARs) full French localization. Unlike TWC in the US, TWN/MétéoMedia replaces local forecast machines for each cable company (today, a completely different system called PMX
PMX (technology)
PMX refers to the technology developed by Pelmorex to generate local weather information on The Weather Network. PMX consists of computers, typically installed at a cable headend, that takes data fed to it and packages it for broadcast...
is used).
Standard features
The Weather Star III is similar to the Weather Star Jr, but with a pixelized font that only uses capitalized letters. (The Weather Star Jr uses the font of the Weather Star 4000Weather STAR 4000
The Weather Star 4000 is the first graphic-capable model of the WeatherStar line manufactured for The Weather Channel. It was first introduced in December 1989 and was designed by Canadian electronics company Amirix . The WeatherStar 4000 was manufactured by Northern Telecom...
.) The features include:
- Current Conditions - Displays the current weather, winds, barometric pressure, temperature, visibility, dewpoint, heat index/wind chill, and current monthly precipitation for your area.
- Latest Observations - Shows the current weather, temperature, and winds in seven nearby cities.
- Regional Observations - Shows the current temperature and weather conditions in seven major cities in the region.
- 36 Hour Forecast - The forecast for your area over the next 36 hours. Provided by the National Weather Service until 2002. Provided by TWC from 03-04.
- Almanac - Shows the local sunrise and sunset times for your area, as well as the average high and low temperatures and average precipitation for the month.
- (day of the week)'s Air Quality Forecast - Found only in Southern California. Shows the next day's forecast air quality level (Good, Unhealthy, Very Unhealthy, or Hazardous) for two to three locations on the right of the screen, with the overall Pollutant Standard Index values on the left. Data was provided by either the US or California State Environmental Protection Agency. Brought over to the Weather Star 4000Weather STAR 4000The Weather Star 4000 is the first graphic-capable model of the WeatherStar line manufactured for The Weather Channel. It was first introduced in December 1989 and was designed by Canadian electronics company Amirix . The WeatherStar 4000 was manufactured by Northern Telecom...
and Weather Star XLWeather STAR XLWeather Star XL is the fifth system designed for The Weather Channel's local forecast. At its rollout in 1998, it came months after a major update to the channel's presentation. The Star XL was a major leap over the much older Weather Star 4000 system, featuring advanced capabilities such as...
for California only and then made nationwide upon the rollout of the IntelliStarIntelliStarIntelliStar is the fifth generation successor to the WeatherStar systems used by the American cable TV and satellite TV channel The Weather Channel , for inserting local forecasts and current weather information into TWC's programming...
.
- Regional Forecast - The forecast temperatures and weather conditions for seven cities in the region.
- Travel Cities Forecast - The forecast for the top cities across the country. This segment was never discontinued on the III or the Junior.
- Extended Forecast - A weather forecast for the next three days (when shown on a Monday, the forecast would be for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday). Originally a 1–2-page, often incomprehensible paragraph directly from the National Weather Service, this was later simplified into one page with three columns.
Example:
SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY
FLURRIES SHOWERS CLOUDY
HI: 33 HI: 45 HI: 29
LO: 32 LO: 30 LO: 27
- Outlook - A prediction from the National Weather ServiceNational Weather ServiceThe National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
of temperatures and precipitation over the next 30 days (above normal, average, or below normal). Discontinued in 1995 by the NWS.
- Tides - Showed the high and low tide times for two locations, as well as local sunrise and sunset times in selected coastal areas.
- Radar Insert - The Weather Star III had a BNC jack on the back of the unit allowing a doppler radar video feed input. The radar input (LOC VID IN) would be activated during certain sections of the local forecast (such as the almanac), and during some commercials where a local video advertisement would normally take its place.
Also, until the mid 1990s, The Weather Channel sold an optional sensor package that could be connected to a Weather Star to display weather conditions at the headend office on the LDL, including the current temperature, the highest and lowest temperatures recorded since midnight, relative humidity, wind speed, direction, and gusts, and current daily and monthly precipitation totals. These appear to have been very common up until the late 1980s.
Backgrounds
From 1986 to 1988, The Weather Channel would air decorative backgrounds during their local forecasts. Then, depending on the cable company, the Weather Star III unit would either output only text or override the national feed and use its standard blue/purple background. Occasionally, the national feed would be accidentally knocked out, in which case the STAR would go back to its purple background. In 1988, The Weather Channel discontinued the decorative backgrounds. At this time, the satellite forecast had not yet been created, so satellite viewers would see only the backgrounds (or a black screen) with music.Timeline
- 1986: After several hardware upgrades, the Weather Star II is re-dubbed the Weather Star III. The Weather Channel begins broadcasting its decorative backgrounds for the local forecast.
- 1988: The decorative backgrounds are discontinued.
- 1989: The first version of the satellite forecast, an interrupted-scrolling Travel Cities Forecast on a black background, is created.
- Early 1990: The Weather Star 4000Weather STAR 4000The Weather Star 4000 is the first graphic-capable model of the WeatherStar line manufactured for The Weather Channel. It was first introduced in December 1989 and was designed by Canadian electronics company Amirix . The WeatherStar 4000 was manufactured by Northern Telecom...
debuts in select cable systems. Also at the same time, the Weather Star III began being unofficially dubbed as the "Weather Star 3000", though its official name remains the same. - February 20, 1991: The L Flavor Local Forecast is born.
- July 1991: Dan Chandler re-records the narration for the Weather Star III.
- 1992: The STAR III is discontinued in Canada as part of a major upgrade to the Weather Star 4000Weather STAR 4000The Weather Star 4000 is the first graphic-capable model of the WeatherStar line manufactured for The Weather Channel. It was first introduced in December 1989 and was designed by Canadian electronics company Amirix . The WeatherStar 4000 was manufactured by Northern Telecom...
. It is reported that some units remained in service several more years. Timmins, ON, Canada apparently kept its WeatherSTAR 3000 for way longer, receiving a graphical update only in 1996. Ironically they were the first to get the PMXPMX (technology)PMX refers to the technology developed by Pelmorex to generate local weather information on The Weather Network. PMX consists of computers, typically installed at a cable headend, that takes data fed to it and packages it for broadcast...
system. - Fall 1992: Dan Chandler does one final set of narration for the Weather Star III. The 36 Hour Forecast is now narrated to have come from The National Weather Service.
- Fall 1993: The Extended Forecast becomes simplified; the text forecast from the National Weather Service is replaced with a tri-column quick glance 3 day forecast. The page title for the 36 hour forecast changes from "NWS 36 HOUR FORECAST
- Early 1994: The Weather Channel begins broadcasting regional commercials that can be blocked by Weather Star-generated local forecasts of lengths 1:30 and 2:30. The STAR output overrides the commercial; those with non-narration audio would hear any commercials after the forecast.
- April 1995: Dan Chandler's narration is discontinued.
- November 2002: The page title for the 36 hour forecast changes from "NWS 36 HOUR FORECAST" on the first page to "YOUR TWC FORECAST" on all 3 pages. This is due to The Weather Channel's discontinuation of using NOAA's text forecasts in place of The Weather Channel's own text forecasts.
Flavor lineups
A flavor is a certain lineup of information and forecast products.| Flavor | Added | Length (Minutes and Seconds) |
Segments Featured (Original Version) |
Segments Featured (Southern California) |
Modified? | Discontinued |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 0:50 | Current Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Latest Observations | Current Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Latest Observations | April 1990 | ||
| B | 0:50 | Latest Observations, Almanac or Local Tide Information, Extended Forecast | Latest Observations, Almanac or Local Tide Information, Extended Forecast, Air Quality | April 1990 | ||
| C | 1:00 | Regional Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Regional Forecast | Regional Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Regional Forecast | April 1990 | ||
| D | 1:00 | Latest Observations, Almanac or Local Tide Information, 36 Hour Forecast, Regional Conditions | Latest Observations, Almanac or Local Tide Information, 36 Hour Forecast, Regional Conditions | |||
| E | 1:00 | 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast, Latest Observations | 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast, Air Quality, Latest Observations | |||
| F | 1:00 | Current Conditions, Regional Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Almanac or Local Tide Information | Current Conditions, Regional Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Almanac or Local Tide Information | February 1992 | ||
| G | 0:30 | 36 Hour Forecast | 36 Hour Forecast | 1989 | ||
| H | 1:00 | 36 Hour Forecast, Regional Forecast, Almanac or Local Tide Information , Latest Observations | 36 Hour Forecast, Regional Forecast, Almanac or Local Tide Information , Latest Observations | |||
| I | 0:30 | Current Conditions, Regional Conditions, Regional Forecast | Current Conditions, Regional Conditions, Regional Forecast | 1990 | 1989 | |
| I | 0:30 | Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Regional Conditions | Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Regional Conditions | December 1992 | ||
| J/LL | October 1987 | 3:00 | Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Regional Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Almanac or Local Tide Information , Regional Forecast, Travel Cities Forecast, Extended Forecast, 30 Day Outlook | Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Regional Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Almanac or Local Tide Information , Regional Forecast, Travel Cities Forecast, Extended Forecast, Air Quality, 30 Day Outlook | 1998 | |
| K | October 1987 | 1:30 | Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Regional Conditions, Regional Forecast, 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast | Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Regional Conditions, Regional Forecast, 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast, Air Quality | June 1990 | March 1989 |
| K | June 1990 | 1:30 | Current Conditions, Almanac or Local Tide Information, Regional Forecast, 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast, Latest Observations | Current Conditions, Almanac or Local Tide Information, Regional Forecast, 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast, Air Quality, Latest Observations | September 2004 | |
| L | February 1991 | 2:00 | Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Regional Conditions, Regional Forecast, Almanac or Local Tide Information, 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast | Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Regional Conditions, Regional Forecast, Almanac or Local Tide Information, 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast, Air Quality | ||
| M | 2:00 | Current Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast, Travel Cities Forecast | Current Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast, Air Quality, Travel Cities Forecast | |||
| N | 5:00 | Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Regional Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Almanac or Local Tide Information, Regional Forecast, Travel Cities Forecast, Extended Forecast, Current Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast, 30 Day Outlook | Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Regional Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Almanac or Local Tide Information, Regional Forecast, Travel Cities Forecast, Extended Forecast, Air Quality, Current Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast, Air Quality, 30 Day Outlook | 1991 | ||
| O | 6:00 | Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Regional Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Almanac or Local Tide Information, Regional Forecast, Travel Cities Forecast, Extended Forecast, 30 Day Outlook, Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Regional Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Almanac or Local Tide Information , Regional Forecast, Travel Cities Forecast, Extended Forecast, 30 Day Outlook | Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Regional Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Almanac or Local Tide Information, Regional Forecast, Travel Cities Forecast, Extended Forecast, Air Quality, 30 Day Outlook, Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Regional Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Almanac or Local Tide Information , Regional Forecast, Travel Cities Forecast, Extended Forecast, Air Quality, 30 Day Outlook | 1988 | ||
| P | 1:00 | Current Conditions, Almanac or Local Tide Information, 36 Hour Forecast, Regional Conditions | Current Conditions, Almanac or Local Tide Information, 36 Hour Forecast, Regional Conditions | April 1990 | ||
| Q | 0:50 | 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast | 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast, Air Quality | April 1990 |
Reverse Engineering Project
In April 2011, a project to reverse engineer and document the hardware and software aspects of The WeatherStar III launched, known as The Weather Star III Reverse Engineering Project. The project documents its findings using the MediaWikiMediaWiki
MediaWiki is a popular free web-based wiki software application. Developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, it is used to run all of its projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Wikinews. Numerous other wikis around the world also use it to power their websites...
wiki software, while discussions about the project occur the forums and on freenode
Freenode
freenode, formerly known as Open Projects Network, is an IRC network used to discuss peer-directed projects. Their servers are all accessible from the domain name [irc://chat.freenode.net chat.freenode.net], which load balances connections by using the actual servers in rotation...
#weatherstar.