User's Guide

FasTrac Millennium User’s Guide – May 2003
Controlling Your Radar
 Linear Intensities controls which format of reflectivity data the radar uses when it is in
one of the Doppler modes. Typically, early RDACS controllers leave it off and later
controllers leave it on. On the early RDACS controllers (HDDS.EXE), both linear and log
reflectivity data are available and the log data is usually of higher quality, so leave the
Linear Intensities option unselected. On the newer RDACS controllers (H250S.EXE),
only linear data is available during Doppler modes, so you must select Linear
Intensities.
The Linear Intensities option is set in later versions. Once activated, it
will remain set, even if you exit and reload the program.
 Load Settings loads a saved RDACS configuration. You can create and save up to 10
configurations (labeled 0 to 9) using the RDACS control program, the H250C.EXE or
HDDC.EXE file. Configuration 0 is the loaded whenever you restart RDACS. The other
configurations can be whatever you desire. For example, Configuration 1 could use a
different color level table to implement a clear air mode. By convention, Configurations 8
and 9 are temporary "saves" of test configuration. Load Settings opens up a menu that
lets you select the numbered configuration to load.
6.3 Manipulating NEXRAD Data
The system’s functionality allows direct manipulation of NEXRAD radar data.
6.3.1 Using the NEXRAD Main Panel
Click the NexRad button on the Select Panel to open the NEXRAD Main
panel. You can use this panel to display any NEXRAD product (such as a
reflectivity or velocity sweep) on any view. You may also show several
products at the touch of a button to create a time-lapse effect.
The Status > Nip status command allows you to quickly
ensure that your NEXRAD data is arriving properly.
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Site lists the current NEXRAD site that you are monitoring. One to four
sites are available to the typical NEXRAD client.
Lapse lets you view a specified number of frames when viewing
products.
You can create a continuous Lapse of current radar
data by toggling the Tools-3 > Nexrad Loop active
command. When this feature is checked, the system will
automatically create Lapses of the specified product,
with a 10-second delay between each lapse.
You can edit the length in seconds between lapses by
adding the following line into your omninet.ini file:
RadarLoopPeriodInSeconds=(desired #)
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