Using Laptops to get Wx
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Using Laptops to get Wx
Hey Everyone!
Just wondering if anyone uses a laptop to check weather etc.
I also wondered how expensive it is to get internet access through a mobile phone either using bluetooth or some other means??
.... basically I’m looking for an excuse to buy one!!
Cheers everyone,
S
Just wondering if anyone uses a laptop to check weather etc.
I also wondered how expensive it is to get internet access through a mobile phone either using bluetooth or some other means??
.... basically I’m looking for an excuse to buy one!!
Cheers everyone,
S
High Flying Bird
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I use a laptop to check the weather, but I think you have mis-worded your question. My laptop sits on my desk 90% of the time, plugged into broadband.
I suspect you're asking if anyone uses a laptop as a mobile device to check weather... in which case my answer is no. I would like to, but for some reason my infra-red port doesn't recognise my mobile phone.
I suspect you're asking if anyone uses a laptop as a mobile device to check weather... in which case my answer is no. I would like to, but for some reason my infra-red port doesn't recognise my mobile phone.
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for some reason my infra-red port doesn't recognise my mobile phone
But not for checking flying weather; I do that before I leave home, and if I think it's going to have changed by the time I get to the airport I use the club's PC to check again.
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I also have a P900 and use it for posting on here, getting weather and general googling (such as finding numbers for PPR when wanting to drop in somewhere).
It saves carrying a few kg of laptop around too.
My fav for weather on the phone is TAFs and Metars from www.activitae.com/airbase/mirror.htm
It saves carrying a few kg of laptop around too.
My fav for weather on the phone is TAFs and Metars from www.activitae.com/airbase/mirror.htm
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You can get tafs & metars on any wap enabled phone at "wapmx.com"
Doesn't help you justify buying a laptop though
Data can be expensive to download over a mobile phone. It's something like €7 per mb here in Ireland. It can be slow too. It's certainly cheaper to talk to a forecaster here!
dp
Doesn't help you justify buying a laptop though
Data can be expensive to download over a mobile phone. It's something like €7 per mb here in Ireland. It can be slow too. It's certainly cheaper to talk to a forecaster here!
dp
Yes! I use a Dell laptop for absolutely everything! Weather from http://secure.metoffice.com/aviation/index.jsp is fine, also NOTAMs from http://www.ais.org.uk as well as everything else from the Internet. I connect at home through a wireless router to Virgin.Net 1Mbps broadband and anywhere else through 802.11b wi-fi. Or, as a last resort, through a Vodafone Mobile Connnect GPRS PC card.
Also use GPRS on my Nokia 6310i for TAFs and METARs, or GSM to Heathrow FBU to file flight plans.
Also use GPRS on my Nokia 6310i for TAFs and METARs, or GSM to Heathrow FBU to file flight plans.
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I have a Sony Ericsson P910i; it's the bees knees. It can do almost anything a laptop can as far as the internet goes, but it is limited by its small screen. Use sites that particularly tailor their output to PDAs. I also recommend getting the Opera browser for any small screen PDA - it can format for the small screen.
I bought my P910i cheaply off Ebay (Useful if you already have a phone contract)
Access TAFs and METARS via YAWS (Yet Another Weather Service) at http://activitae.com/airbase/mirror.htm as well as the Met Office's Form 215/214. (Activitae makes the login and page selection faster and saves wading through the numerous Met Office login screens directly.)
Also a graphic depiction of winds aloft for Europe, Africa and USA suited to the PDA is available.
World Notams too are accessible for a PDA from activitae.com. However, Notam data is by its very nature voluminous - expect to scroll down quite a lot!
A WAP version - without graphics - is available for readers with a plain vanilla phone. Also the WAP version has an ICAO code and decode function - useful if away and unsure of a destination code - at http://activitae.com/wx.wml - this is a WAP address and will not work in most web browsers - so bookmark it to your phone.
I created YAWS for my own use, especially when away from home, after being somewhat less than satisfied by other web offerings.
Why anyone would want to pay subscriptions for data that is freely available is beyond me! But I suppose there will always be people who think paying £2 for a 20p cabbage makes it a better cabbage.
Angela
Got YAWS yet?
http://activitae.com
I bought my P910i cheaply off Ebay (Useful if you already have a phone contract)
Access TAFs and METARS via YAWS (Yet Another Weather Service) at http://activitae.com/airbase/mirror.htm as well as the Met Office's Form 215/214. (Activitae makes the login and page selection faster and saves wading through the numerous Met Office login screens directly.)
Also a graphic depiction of winds aloft for Europe, Africa and USA suited to the PDA is available.
World Notams too are accessible for a PDA from activitae.com. However, Notam data is by its very nature voluminous - expect to scroll down quite a lot!
A WAP version - without graphics - is available for readers with a plain vanilla phone. Also the WAP version has an ICAO code and decode function - useful if away and unsure of a destination code - at http://activitae.com/wx.wml - this is a WAP address and will not work in most web browsers - so bookmark it to your phone.
I created YAWS for my own use, especially when away from home, after being somewhat less than satisfied by other web offerings.
Why anyone would want to pay subscriptions for data that is freely available is beyond me! But I suppose there will always be people who think paying £2 for a 20p cabbage makes it a better cabbage.
Angela
Got YAWS yet?
http://activitae.com
Last edited by angelacr; 29th May 2005 at 12:27.
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i use a vodafone gprs and 3g data card which plugs into my laptop. when you have 3g coverage it transferres data real quick nearly as fast as broadband. worth getting if you have the real use for it.
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I have an Orange 3G/GPRS data card but the data charges outside of the UK are prohibitive. Orange charge £10 per Mb in France for example. And that's on top of my 65Mb/month data allowance in the UK. Vodaphone will be much the same.
Low bandwidth PDA sites are the best bet in this situation IMHO.
Thank you, kind Sir! But you lost the link to my website!!!! What on earth came over you? 
Angela
______________
if it's not on YAWS
it won't be on
anyone else's!
______________
http://activitae.com
Low bandwidth PDA sites are the best bet in this situation IMHO.
Ahh, angelacr I had lost your details and the link to your website, great to see you post. Brilliant website.
Angela
______________
if it's not on YAWS
it won't be on
anyone else's!
______________
http://activitae.com
Last edited by angelacr; 29th May 2005 at 15:24.
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Also note that a lot of "GPRS" access isn't open internet. It is often just WAP, and a lot of it allows access only to the network provider's POP server for email so basically useless when on the move.
The one PAYG GPRS network I know is wide open is Voda, but it's expensive and when roaming abroad there is still no knowing what limitations one will get; e.g. in the channel islands on C&W one gets WAP only.
There's a long way to go before we have a really reliable solution to all this that works through Europe, and that's forgetting 3G completely (poor coverage).
The other basic thing is that one cannot do useful WWW browsing (for weather charts and notams) with less than 640x480 and that rules out most PDAs.
The one PAYG GPRS network I know is wide open is Voda, but it's expensive and when roaming abroad there is still no knowing what limitations one will get; e.g. in the channel islands on C&W one gets WAP only.
There's a long way to go before we have a really reliable solution to all this that works through Europe, and that's forgetting 3G completely (poor coverage).
The other basic thing is that one cannot do useful WWW browsing (for weather charts and notams) with less than 640x480 and that rules out most PDAs.
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I use my own POP3 email server on my phone - so avoiding the problems justsomepilot speaks off. You can do the same just setup your mobile to collect email from your home PC's ISP. Alternatively, you could also access hotmail or Yahoo for web based mail.
I agree about 3G coverage - I have been completely conned by Orange for buying into a fledgling service!
As for 640x480 screen size - I too thought PDA screens would be useless and actually posted elsewhere saying so - I changed my mind after actually trying one out. On my Sony Ericsson P910i the screen resolution is brilliant. O2's XDA screens are also excellent. I wouldn't use my smartphone as my web browser of choice BUT for being connected on the move without having to carry 3.5Kg of laptop around, it suffices well enough.
Flexible polymer roll-up screens are just around the corner! I personally can't wait.
Angela
________
You found
YAWS
yet?
________
http://activitae.com
I agree about 3G coverage - I have been completely conned by Orange for buying into a fledgling service!
As for 640x480 screen size - I too thought PDA screens would be useless and actually posted elsewhere saying so - I changed my mind after actually trying one out. On my Sony Ericsson P910i the screen resolution is brilliant. O2's XDA screens are also excellent. I wouldn't use my smartphone as my web browser of choice BUT for being connected on the move without having to carry 3.5Kg of laptop around, it suffices well enough.
Flexible polymer roll-up screens are just around the corner! I personally can't wait.
Angela
________
You found
YAWS
yet?
________
http://activitae.com
Last edited by angelacr; 29th May 2005 at 16:42.
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I use an XDA2i - it is a superb piece of equipment. I can access weather websites using GPRS connection (costs about £1 for every 1meg downloaded).
Website I use is www.avbrief.co.uk where I can get TAFs, METARs and F214/215.
To get METARs and TAFs and F214/215 takes about 80k of bandwidth in total.
In contrast and using the fancy cumbersome Met Office site it takes about 250k to get the same data !
I've had an XDA/XDA2/XDA2i in it's different guises for about 4 years now and swear by it.
O2 used to be dreadful, but I stayed with them on the strength of the XDA ! I have to say their customer service is getting better.
You would probably need a minimum 12 month contract, £30 a month would get you 200 free minutes of airtime, and you could probably get an XDA2i for about £200 - if you haggle you might get more.
Or ....if you are already with O2, ask to speak to the 'retention' team - play hard to get and say you are changing provider ... see what you can squeeze out of them by way of an upgrade.
Or ..... you could buy an unlatched XDA2 off eBay for about £110 and stick with your current provider ..... (ps might have unlatched XDA2 going cheap in next two weeks
)
Website I use is www.avbrief.co.uk where I can get TAFs, METARs and F214/215.
To get METARs and TAFs and F214/215 takes about 80k of bandwidth in total.
In contrast and using the fancy cumbersome Met Office site it takes about 250k to get the same data !
I've had an XDA/XDA2/XDA2i in it's different guises for about 4 years now and swear by it.
O2 used to be dreadful, but I stayed with them on the strength of the XDA ! I have to say their customer service is getting better.
You would probably need a minimum 12 month contract, £30 a month would get you 200 free minutes of airtime, and you could probably get an XDA2i for about £200 - if you haggle you might get more.
Or ....if you are already with O2, ask to speak to the 'retention' team - play hard to get and say you are changing provider ... see what you can squeeze out of them by way of an upgrade.
Or ..... you could buy an unlatched XDA2 off eBay for about £110 and stick with your current provider ..... (ps might have unlatched XDA2 going cheap in next two weeks
)