Weather Star XL: Difference between revisions

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Added a gallery for the different graphics revisions of the XL.
m (→‎Technical: Fixed a overlooked grammar error.)
(Added a gallery for the different graphics revisions of the XL.)
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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.
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==
[[File:Weather Channel Latin America Local Forecast.png|thumb|Screenshot of a Weather Star XL in its Latin America configuration.]]
The Weather Star XL is a Silicon Graphics O2 computer within a custom built rack-mountable chassis, featuring a custom I/O board (Moosehead/TWC INTERFACE, SGI P/N: 030-1171-003) for audio, video and other relays that are essential to the XL's operation. Within the chassis, there is a separate SatScan interface to capture weather data from The Weather Channel's satellite transponder.
The Weather Star XL is a Silicon Graphics O2 computer within a custom built rack-mountable chassis, featuring a custom I/O board (Moosehead/TWC INTERFACE, SGI P/N: 030-1171-003) for audio, video and other relays that are essential to the XL's operation. Within the chassis, there is a separate SatScan interface to capture weather data from The Weather Channel's satellite transponder.


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 $[[Wikipedia:United States dollar|US]]6,500. {{Citation needed}} 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. The Weather Star XL receives raw video data from The Weather Channel and weather statements from the National Weather Service. 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 ad crawl manager is accessible via a modem and terminal/terminal emulator.
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 $[[Wikipedia:United States dollar|US]]6,500. {{Citation needed}} 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. The Weather Star XL receives raw video data from The Weather Channel and weather statements from the National Weather Service. 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 ad crawl manager is accessible via a modem and terminal/terminal emulator.
==Graphical Revisions==
The Weather Star XL has received three different graphical revisions throughout its lifespan, as well as different graphics sets for Latin America units.<gallery widths="240" heights="183">
File:WeatherStar XL V1.png|The initial graphics set.
File:WeatherStar XL V2.png|The second graphics set.
File:WeatherStar XL V3.png|The third and final graphics set.
File:Weather Channel Latin America Local Forecast.png|Screenshot of a Weather Star XL from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
</gallery>


==Timeline==
==Timeline==
{| class="wikitable" width="100%" style="background-color: #FFFFFF" text-align: center;
{| class="wikitable" style="background-color: #FFFFFF" width="100%" text-align: center;
|- style="color:white;"
|- style="color:white;"
! style="background-color: #8B0000" |Date
! style="background-color: #8B0000" |Date
! style="background-color: #8B0000" |Notes
! style="background-color: #8B0000" |Notes
|-
|-
|'''September 2001'''<ref>{{cite web|title=US 1.6.5 Release Notes|publisher=The Weather Channel|archivedate=2009-07-31|url=http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us165_rel_notes.pdf|format=PDF|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090731113625/http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us165_rel_notes.pdf|date=September 2001}}</ref>||
|'''September 2001'''<ref>{{cite web|title=US 1.6.5 Release Notes|publisher=The Weather Channel|archivedate=2009-07-31|url=http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us165_rel_notes.pdf|format=PDF|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090731113625/http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us165_rel_notes.pdf|date=September 2001}}</ref>||  
*The Weather Channel and the Star XL receive new graphics. Some XL systems receive this upgrade in March 2002, and at least one XL unit only received the update partially until July 2002, intermittently losing Vocal Local and retaining the old regional forecast animation and maps.
*The Weather Channel and the Star XL receive new graphics. Some XL systems receive this upgrade in March 2002, and at least one XL unit only received the update partially until July 2002, intermittently losing Vocal Local and retaining the old regional forecast animation and maps.
*The date and time are repositioned to allow room for larger title bars.
*The date and time are repositioned to allow room for larger title bars.
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|-
|-
|'''March 2002'''<ref>{{cite web|date=March 2002|title=US 1.6.6 Release Notes: Weather Star XL|publisher=The Weather Channel|archivedate=2009-07-31|url=http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us166_rel_notes.pdf|format=PDF|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090731113630/http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us166_rel_notes.pdf}}</ref>||
|'''March 2002'''<ref>{{cite web|date=March 2002|title=US 1.6.6 Release Notes: Weather Star XL|publisher=The Weather Channel|archivedate=2009-07-31|url=http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us166_rel_notes.pdf|format=PDF|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090731113630/http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us166_rel_notes.pdf}}</ref>||
*A daypart forecast and seven-day extended forecast known as the "Week Ahead" is introduced. The three-day extended forecast still displays during the 90-second forecast flavor.
* A daypart forecast and seven-day extended forecast known as the "Week Ahead" is introduced. The three-day extended forecast still displays during the 90-second forecast flavor.
*On the one-minute flavor, the regional conditions map is replaced by the daypart forecast.
*On the one-minute flavor, the regional conditions map is replaced by the daypart forecast.
*The radar has been repositioned from the end of the forecast to the middle, right after the current conditions. This applies to all flavors except the 60-second forecast flavor.
*The radar has been repositioned from the end of the forecast to the middle, right after the current conditions. This applies to all flavors except the 60-second forecast flavor.
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|-
|-
|'''April 2003'''<ref>{{cite web|date=April 2003|title=Domestic 1.7.2 Release Notes: Weather Star XL|publisher=The Weather Channel|archivedate=2003-12-04|url=http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us172_rel_notes.pdf|format=PDF|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20031204010929/http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us172_rel_notes.pdf}}</ref>||
|'''April 2003'''<ref>{{cite web|date=April 2003|title=Domestic 1.7.2 Release Notes: Weather Star XL|publisher=The Weather Channel|archivedate=2003-12-04|url=http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us172_rel_notes.pdf|format=PDF|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20031204010929/http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us172_rel_notes.pdf}}</ref>||
*The "AM," "PM," and "FEW" variations to the weather icons are introduced to the forecast maps; live national broadcasts also received this upgrade.
* The "AM," "PM," and "FEW" variations to the weather icons are introduced to the forecast maps; live national broadcasts also received this upgrade.
*The "AM" and "PM" variations to the weather icons on the lower display line have been modified, and are now rendered in lower-case white text instead of the previous uppercase styling and white-to-light blue gradient. The national broadcasts, as well as weather.com, however, received this upgrade one or two months earlier.
*The "AM" and "PM" variations to the weather icons on the lower display line have been modified, and are now rendered in lower-case white text instead of the previous uppercase styling and white-to-light blue gradient. The national broadcasts, as well as weather.com, however, received this upgrade one or two months earlier.
*The 36-hour forecast segment has been modified so it is easier to understand. Previously, if the forecast for a time period were to split into two pages (due to its length) it would split in a middle of a sentence. Now, whenever possible, it would split to two pages in between each sentence. A line break was added between each time period.
*The 36-hour forecast segment has been modified so it is easier to understand. Previously, if the forecast for a time period were to split into two pages (due to its length) it would split in a middle of a sentence. Now, whenever possible, it would split to two pages in between each sentence. A line break was added between each time period.
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