Adding a new station to the Station file

[Dave Exton]

Hi everyone,
I wonder if you can help me... I know this is probably written down somewhere, but I'm getting old, and get bogged down by too much detail. I just want to add ALMONDSBURY, UK, to my plotted synoptic reports and I'm not sure how to go about it. I know the co-ordinates viz 51.551, -2.558, (I'll need to look up the station number) but I'm unfamiliar with the process of adding it to the date base. Would anybody be able to clue me in?
Thanks anyway, and regards to all.

Dave Exton, Bristol, UK.

[Dave Exton]

Hi to all, any takers? I don't want to mess with the .stn file, but I could do with some help...
The station I want to add is:
MWO 03930, 51.55156, -2.55941, 89 m AMSL, Station name, Almondsbury

Grateful for any help.

Regards,
Dave.

[Phil Layton]

Dave,
With the current version V3.50, I cannot get it to import a MLID station table in any case. The only way you can get Almondsbury to plot is a manual entry in a data file, and pretend it's a ship. You will need to go into Ogimet and get the synop, as this station is not available on the GTS.

https://www.ogimet.com/display_synops2. ... &send=send

which gives

03930 47958 0//01 10036 20035 30139 40233 710// 90810
333 91002==

Then make it. a 'ship' position 51.6N 2.6W and add BBXX ahead of the report

ie
BBXX
03930 16/// 99516 70026 47958 0//01 10036 20035 30139 40233 710// 90810
333 91002==

Almondsbury does not report wind.

Good Luck.

[Dave Exton]

Thank you, Phil, I will give that a go!

Regards,
Dave.

[Dave Exton]

Thanks again, Phil... I couldn't get it to work but it was worth a try

Regards,
Dave.

[Phil Layton]

Strange as I can this morning with V3.50a

Import:

BBXX
ALMS 16/// 99516 70026 46/// /1103 10087 20071 40100=
TIBN 16/// 99525 10012 46/// 31606 10072 20050 40130=

into Notepad and save as a file 'reports' into the data directory. Then go 'File'
File , import specific file, reports and they both should plot.

Almondsbury and Tibenham. And correction, Almondsbury does sometimes report wind.

Check Data Window in 'Workchart' is for all.

[Dave Exton]

Thanks again, Phil. I have noticed the inconsistency as far as reporting wind is concerned. I think it reports wind on the hour but not on the half hour. I will try again, it's not unusual for me to fail on the first couple of goes, but I never give up! I have seen the plot for Almondsbury appear on other synoptic charts, so I think it is in regular operational use. i'm not sure if you know, but it replaced the age old Filton (03628) when that airfield closed, and is now part of the air-ambulance site to the North of Bristol. Just out of interest, I've located the weather station plot on Google Earth, and you can actually see the shadow of the anemometer mast on the satellite photograph
Anyway, thanks again, Phil, I'll keep playing with it until I get it right.

[Dave Exton]

Hi Phil, POST SCRIPT... I followed your instructions, and bingo! Thanks again, Dave.

[Dave Exton]

Phil, are you able to give an example of a full report, with wind data. i am still getting confused about what to edit of the original report, and where to insert the ship details. I understand the latitude and longitude parameters, and I understand the globe quadrant data but I'm struggling with where to place the wind data. If you could show me an example of, say, 1800, i'm sure it will pave the way for success in my future efforts. Apologies for being a bit slow - call it old age.

Dave.

[Phil Layton]

OK. This is the 1800 synop from yesterday

AAXX 07184
03930 05578 81306 10125 20080 30003 40093 54000 60002 88///
333 10141 20071 55300 20031 60005 88/22 91011 90710 91117=

You will need to make it a ship report thus,

BBXX
03930 07184 99516 70026 05578 81306 10125 20080 30003 40093 54000 60002 88///
333 10141 20071 55300 20031 60005 88/22 91011 90710 91117=

Its interesting that on the half hour, it is:

AAXX 07181
03930 45/77 8//04 10122 20080 30003 40093 91830
333 88/24 91006==

No wind, but the method of reporting it has changed from knots to MPS!! ie 07184 on 18Z to 07181 on 1830Z

So you would need
BBXX
03930 07181 99516 70026 45/77 8//04 10122 20080 30003 40093 91830
333 88/24 91006==

to plot without wind. You need the 5 figure group between the time/type of obs and cloud/wind on the land synop as that includes the vis and other parameters.

Thank for the info on the Almondsbury site. I still miss Farnborough, my local being downgraded to a climate from a synops station a year or so ago.