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Weather Star XL: Difference between revisions
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}}'''Weather Star XL''' was the fifth generation of the [[WeatherStar]] systems used by [[The Weather Channel]] (TWC). At its rollout in 1998, it came months after a major update to the channel's on-air presentation. The Star XL was a major leap over the much older [[Weather Star 4000]] system, featuring advanced capabilities such as transitions, moving icons, cloud wallpaper backgrounds and reading the local forecast contents. The WeatherStar XL first appeared in a beta roll out on select cable systems in November 1998 and appeared briefly on [[The Weather Channel Latin America]] until that channel's demise.<ref>{{cite web|title=Latin America 1.6.4 Patch Release Notes: Weather Star XL|publisher=The Weather Channel|archivedate=2003-05-25|url=http://rhino.twc.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/la164_rel_notes.pdf|format=PDF|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030525085804/http://rhino.twc.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/la164_rel_notes.pdf|date=July 2001}}</ref> | }}'''Weather Star XL''' was the fifth generation of the [[WeatherStar]] systems used by [[The Weather Channel]] (TWC). At its rollout in 1998, it came months after a major update to the channel's on-air presentation. The Star XL was a major leap over the much older [[Weather Star 4000]] system, featuring advanced capabilities such as transitions, moving icons, cloud wallpaper backgrounds and reading the local forecast contents. The WeatherStar XL first appeared in a beta roll out on select cable systems in November 1998 and appeared briefly on [[The Weather Channel Latin America]] until that channel's demise.<ref>{{cite web|title=Latin America 1.6.4 Patch Release Notes: Weather Star XL|publisher=The Weather Channel|archivedate=2003-05-25|url=http://rhino.twc.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/la164_rel_notes.pdf|format=PDF|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030525085804/http://rhino.twc.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/la164_rel_notes.pdf|date=July 2001}}</ref> | ||
On June 26, 2014, The Weather Channel discontinued broadcasting its analog satellite feed, thus officially retiring all Weather Star units prior to the [[IntelliStar]], including the XL. | On June 26, 2014, The Weather Channel discontinued broadcasting its analog satellite feed, thus officially retiring all Weather Star units prior to the [[IntelliStar]], including the XL. To address the need for a low-cost replacement, The Weather Channel developed the [[IntelliStar 2 Jr]]. platform in 2013, which is capable of operating natively on both analog and digital cable systems. | ||
==Technical== | ==Technical== | ||
The Weather Star XL is a rack-mounted rendering computer, manufactured by [[Silicon Graphics, Inc.]], containing a modified [[SGI O2]] computer. The O2 is an entry-level Unix workstation introduced in 1996 by SGI to replace their earlier Indy series. Like the Indy, the O2 used a single MIPS microprocessor and was intended to be used mainly for multimedia purposes; the O2 was SGI's last attempt at a low-end workstation. The Weather Star XL utilizes the SGI [[IRIX]] Operating System with custom written software for The Weather Channel. Because of the proprietary SGI hardware and software, the Weather Star XL remains the most expensive STAR system, having a manufacturing cost of $[[United States dollar|US]]6,500. As a result of the XL's high price, many smaller cable headends retained their [[Weather Star 4000]] or [[Weather Star Jr.]] units until the [[IntelliStar]] was released, skipping the XL altogether.[[File:Weather Star XL Latin America.png|thumb|right|The Weather Star XL on TWC Latin America.]]The Weather Star XL receives raw video data from The Weather Channel and weather statements from the National Weather Service, as well as forecasts from an Internet connection. It sends back monitoring data to The Weather Channel.<ref>{{cite web|title=Weatherscan Local by The Weather Channel: Installation and Instruction Guide|publisher=The Weather Channel|archivedate=2007-01-10|edition=2nd ed.|date=September 2000|url=http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/weatherscan_local/weatherscan_plus_install.pdf|format=PDF|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070110004659/http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/weatherscan_local/weatherscan_plus_install.pdf}}</ref> Its crawl controller (which manages the text for local advertising) is accessible via a modem and terminal/terminal emulator. In Latin America, TWC only used satellite to deliver the service.<ref>{{cite web|title=Weather Star XL Installation and Instruction Guide|publisher=The Weather Channel|archivedate=2005-08-15|url=http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/XL_install.pdf|format=PDF|edition=1st ed.|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050815154217/http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/XL_install.pdf|date=February 1999}}</ref> | The Weather Star XL is a rack-mounted rendering computer, manufactured by [[Silicon Graphics, Inc.]], containing a modified [[SGI O2]] computer. The O2 is an entry-level Unix workstation introduced in 1996 by SGI to replace their earlier Indy series. Like the Indy, the O2 used a single MIPS microprocessor and was intended to be used mainly for multimedia purposes; the O2 was SGI's last attempt at a low-end workstation. The Weather Star XL utilizes the SGI [[IRIX]] Operating System with custom written software for The Weather Channel. Because of the proprietary SGI hardware and software, the Weather Star XL remains the most expensive STAR system, having a manufacturing cost of $[[United States dollar|US]]6,500. As a result of the XL's high price, many smaller cable headends retained their [[Weather Star 4000]] or [[Weather Star Jr.]] units until the [[IntelliStar]] was released, skipping the XL altogether.[[File:Weather Star XL Latin America.png|thumb|right|The Weather Star XL on TWC Latin America.]]The Weather Star XL receives raw video data from The Weather Channel and weather statements from the National Weather Service, as well as forecasts from an Internet connection. It sends back monitoring data to The Weather Channel.<ref>{{cite web|title=Weatherscan Local by The Weather Channel: Installation and Instruction Guide|publisher=The Weather Channel|archivedate=2007-01-10|edition=2nd ed.|date=September 2000|url=http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/weatherscan_local/weatherscan_plus_install.pdf|format=PDF|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070110004659/http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/weatherscan_local/weatherscan_plus_install.pdf}}</ref> Its crawl controller (which manages the text for local advertising) is accessible via a modem and terminal/terminal emulator. In Latin America, TWC only used satellite to deliver the service.<ref>{{cite web|title=Weather Star XL Installation and Instruction Guide|publisher=The Weather Channel|archivedate=2005-08-15|url=http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/XL_install.pdf|format=PDF|edition=1st ed.|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050815154217/http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/XL_install.pdf|date=February 1999}}</ref> | ||