On Sat, 6 Jan 2001, Gilbert Sebenste wrote:
> LDM-users,
>
> I am a little torqued this morning, and I think for just cause.
>
> The National Weather Service promised us unencrypted NIDS on
> NOAAPport on January 1, but it never happened! Just a "well, we hope to
> have it up by January 12!". After hyping it up everywhere for months and
> months, now they fall silent! I'm sorry, I am slamming the NWS, because
> this really does damage their integrity on when we can expect products
> from them. Sure, there have been lots of last-minute delays, but they'd
> always send out a statement in the past about it. I cancelled the NIDS
> portion of my WSI contract on 1/1/2001, expecting unencrypted data by
> 1/2/2001! Now I'm left hanging, and no peep from the NWS on a solid
> date. This is just terrible. Even a simple message of something
> like "delayed indefinitely due to technical problems" on December 31 would
> have frustrated me, but made me happy to know what to expect and adjust
> for it.
>
> Sorry, but I am NOT happy this morning...
>
Well, I'm not too happy about it either, but, in defense of the NWS, I can
find no reference to any documentation stating the encryption would be
removed "on" the 1st of January. Most (all?) of the docs I've seen say
"after the January 1, 2001 termination of the NIDS contract...."
(Granted, it is a very subtle distinction, but it is different
none-the-less.)
If someone can point to a document that "promises" removal of encryption
by a specified date, I'd love to see it!
Now, my understanding of the NOAAPORT system may be flawed, but I think
the NWS's primary mission with NOAAPORT is AWIPS. If the software at each
NWS site is not ready for unencrypted products, then we'll just have to
wait. I believe they have no direct obligation to universities and other
private entities who have the resources to receive these data streams.
BUT: I also believe that Gilbert's desire for even a simple explanation
is well-founded, and maybe the folks at Unidata can help us out here?
Regards from Yet-Another-NOAAPORT-User-In-Waiting,
Bryan
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Bryan C. Hahn (KB0LYA) | University of North Dakota
Research Associate/Systems Manager | Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences
Email: bryan_hahn@xxxxxxxxxxxx | Regional Weather Information Center
Voice: 701 777 4891 | Odegard Hall, Room 257
Pager: 877 628 1213 | P.O. Box 9007
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