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20050302: A few questions about GEMPAK...



Jacob,

Unidata software is available free of charge, however we have
limited resources for supporting users. For your home use, you would
be directed to the support email lists and web pages as your primary
avenue.

Gempak runs under Unix and linux. There are some packages that allow a guest OS
such as Linux to run under windows, such as VMware etc, but I 
do not have specific experience with those options. Cygwin is
not currently a supported option but I have explored it (generally
the ipcs2 interface was too slow for reasonable use). I will
continue to follow this as cygwin develops.

IDV does run under Windows, and may be more easier for a Windows user since
the webstart allows for installation etc in a familiar environment.
Moreover, IDV can obtain many of its data set types from
remote data servers which may be more suited to home use.
GEMPAK is used operationally at National forecast centers, and
therefore has many decoders, configurations, and data display
options that are specifically targeted- though the focus is on 
locally held data, so you would have to have a setup to
retrieve data sets from NWS ftp servers, or somewhere else.

GEMPAK may run under slightly less macho hardware as the IDV 3-D visualization 
does require significant memory (generally 512MB as you probably know).
128 MB RAM is probably the minimum suggestable configuration to run GEMPAK.

Steve Chiswell
Unidata User Support


>From: "Jacob" <address@hidden>
>Organization: UCAR/Unidata
>Keywords: 200503022047.j22Kl7v2016429

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>     Hi, I have a few questions about the GEMPAK program you offer.   I =
>am currently a freshmen at a Community College in North Carolina, and =
>plan on transferring to NC State to get a degree in Meteorology.  First, =
>I was wondering, are there are any costs to this program, such as =
>subscription or any kind of fee involved, or is the program absolutly =
>free?  The next question I have is that I know you have a program called =
>the Integrated Data Viewer also available, what is the difference =
>between the Integrated Data Viewer and GEMPAK?  Does GEMPAK offer alot =
>more than the IDV?  The reason I ask is because I already have IDV =
>installed on my system, but I seem to get alot of errors and displays =
>simply do not show up on the map sometimes.  Is GEMPAK easier to use and =
>all around better than the IDV?  Also, what are the system requirements =
>for running GEMPAK, because if I plan to use GEMPAK, I think I may have =
>to build my own computer for it.  I already know that GEMPAK requires =
>the Linux Operating System, which I do not have.  Could I install the =
>Lunix operating system on the computer I already have?  By the way, I =
>currently have a Compaq Presario 6000, AMD Athlon(tm) XP 1800+ Processor =
>with 1.53GHz, and 512 MB of RAM.  I am not familiar with Linux or =
>anything related to it, but it would be really great to be able to use =
>GEMPAK because I have a strong passion for weather and always have, so =
>it would be great to be able to have this program. Do you feel it would =
>be best to build my own computer system for this program and install =
>Linux, or is there a cheaper way of doing it?  Again, I really do not =
>know how I would go about installing the program, but I feel there is =
>nothing else out there like this program, and it would be very great to =
>be able to use this program to further my study of weather.  Thank you =
>very much for your time.   
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><DIV><FONT face=3DTahoma>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Hi, I have a&nbsp;few =
>questions=20
>about the GEMPAK program you offer.&nbsp;&nbsp; I am currently a =
>freshmen at a=20
>Community College in North Carolina, and plan on transferring to NC =
>State to get=20
>a degree in Meteorology.&nbsp; First, I was wondering, are there are any =
>costs=20
>to this program, such as subscription or any kind of fee involved, or is =
>the=20
>program absolutly free?&nbsp; The next question I have is that I know =
>you have a=20
>program called the Integrated Data Viewer also available, what is the=20
>difference&nbsp;between the Integrated Data&nbsp;Viewer&nbsp;and =
>GEMPAK?&nbsp;=20
>Does GEMPAK offer alot more than the IDV?&nbsp; The reason I ask is =
>because I=20
>already have IDV installed on my system, but I seem to get alot of =
>errors and=20
>displays simply do not show up on the map sometimes.&nbsp; Is GEMPAK =
>easier to=20
>use and all around better than the IDV?&nbsp; Also, what are the system=20
>requirements for running GEMPAK, because if I plan to use GEMPAK, I =
>think I may=20
>have to build my own computer for&nbsp;it.&nbsp; I already know that =
>GEMPAK=20
>requires the Linux Operating System,&nbsp;which I do not have.&nbsp; =
>Could I=20
>install&nbsp;the Lunix operating system on the computer I already =
>have?&nbsp; By=20
>the way, I currently have a Compaq Presario 6000, AMD Athlon(tm) XP=20
>1800+&nbsp;Processor with 1.53GHz, and 512 MB&nbsp;of RAM.&nbsp; I am =
>not=20
>familiar with Linux or anything related to it, but it would be really =
>great to=20
>be able to use GEMPAK because I have a strong passion for weather and =
>always=20
>have, so it would be great to be able to have this program.&nbsp;Do you =
>feel it=20
>would be best to build my own computer system for this program and =
>install=20
>Linux, or is there a cheaper way of doing it?&nbsp;&nbsp;Again, I really =
>do not=20
>know how I would&nbsp;go about installing the program, but&nbsp;I feel =
>there is=20
>nothing&nbsp;else out there like this program, and&nbsp;it&nbsp;would be =
>very=20
>great to be able to use this program to further my&nbsp;study of =
>weather.&nbsp;=20
>Thank you very much for your =
>time.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
>
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