# Storm Chasers on TDC: what's on their laptops? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-chasers-on-tdc-whats-on-their-laptops/469720 "2008-10-27T03:18:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-chasers-on-tdc-whats-on-their-laptops/469720/1 "2008-10-27T03:18:38Z")
I love this show. Guys tear around tornado alley in SUV’s (and other, more exotic, [vehicles](http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/storm-chasers/vehicles/vehicles.html) looking for tornadoes to tape and record wind speed, etc. (Although the show focuses on just a handful of teams, apparently there are dozens, if not hundreds, of people who do this.) On their laptops, they have some kind of super weather radar/map software. Does anyone know what this is? Is it something I could find on the internet? How the heck would you get the internet in a fast-moving SUV, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-chasers-on-tdc-whats-on-their-laptops/469720/2 "2008-10-27T03:23:40Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > How the heck would you get the internet in a fast-moving SUV, anyway? Hi speed wireless, duh. 😃 Haven’t had a chance to see this but I might give it a look. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-chasers-on-tdc-whats-on-their-laptops/469720/3 "2008-10-27T03:28:55Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > How the heck would you get the internet in a fast-moving SUV, anyway? Its probably done with cellular wireless, edge or evdo. declan ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-chasers-on-tdc-whats-on-their-laptops/469720/4 "2008-10-27T04:03:29Z")
Are you sure the data’s coming from somewhere else and _not_ being generated by the gear on their rig? ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-chasers-on-tdc-whats-on-their-laptops/469720/5 "2008-10-28T05:28:06Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > Its probably done with cellular wireless, edge or evdo. > > declan I’m no troglodyte, but those are three things outside of my range of experience. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-chasers-on-tdc-whats-on-their-laptops/469720/6 "2008-10-28T05:35:09Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > I’m no troglodyte, but those are three things outside of my range of experience. I probably worded that wrong. Cellular wireless is just a way of connecting to the internet through a cellular modem. If you had the data cable, you could plug your cell phone into your computer and connect to the internet. Edge and evdo are networks that cell phones operate on depending on your provider. ATT and Tmobile would be on Edge and Verizon would be evdo. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-chasers-on-tdc-whats-on-their-laptops/469720/7 "2008-10-28T05:42:41Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Are you sure the data’s coming from somewhere else and _not_ being generated by the gear on their rig? On the SUV’s, it is most likely external as they don’t have the big dishes. On the DOW/TIV team, it could be an internal network, I suppose. But the Reed Timmer team is not part of the DOW/TIV team and may not have access to their data. ---
**Author:** ![pipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pipper)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-chasers-on-tdc-whats-on-their-laptops/469720/8 "2008-10-28T15:33:54Z")
I heard them mention “Threat Net”. Here’s a link to the software/service. It seems to look like what they were using. [http://www.wxworx.com/ground/index.php](http://www.wxworx.com/ground/index.php) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-chasers-on-tdc-whats-on-their-laptops/469720/9 "2008-10-28T20:12:40Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > On the SUV’s, it is most likely external as they don’t have the big dishes. On the DOW/TIV team, it could be an internal network, I suppose. But the Reed Timmer team is not part of the DOW/TIV team and may not have access to their data. I’ve not seen the show, do any of the vehicles have basketball sized spheres on them? If so, that could very well be a satphone link up. (Or it might be some kind of minature radar unit.) ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-chasers-on-tdc-whats-on-their-laptops/469720/10 "2008-10-28T22:53:06Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > could very well be a satphone link up. ) A satellite phone link? I can’t get Direct TV to work in a moderate shower. Couldn’t see trusting my life to a satellite link near a tornado. I’d even have a hard time with cell hookups, what if the storm took out a cell tower near you. ---
**Author:** ![Mike.V](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Mike.V](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike.V)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-chasers-on-tdc-whats-on-their-laptops/469720/11 "2008-10-28T23:28:37Z")
From **pipper** ’s link: > [@](#): > > Whether your passion is public safety or storm chasing, you’ll never again have to rely on spotty cell phone Internet or radio chatter to know where the weather is. > > \ > > The system employs a continuous signal from XM WX Satellite Weather, the nation’s leading satellite-delivered weather service. Because XM’s dual-redundant satellites transmit in the powerful S-Band frequency, you’ll always have a data-rich signal, no matter where the storms take you. > > The only hardware that’s necessary besides your mobile PC is a small XM antenna and the XM WX data receiver. The receiver is available in either plug-and-play or wireless Bluetooth® configurations, and can be moved between vehicles with ease. So it sounds like they are using commercial satellite radio. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storm-chasers-on-tdc-whats-on-their-laptops/469720/12 "2008-10-29T01:17:04Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > A satellite phone link? I can’t get Direct TV to work in a moderate shower. Couldn’t see trusting my life to a satellite link near a tornado. I’d even have a hard time with cell hookups, what if the storm took out a cell tower near you. Satphones operate on a different set of frequencies than Direct TV does, and IME are less affected by harsh weather than Direct TV/Dish/etc. (The military uses the same satphone units as civilians [just with scramble chips installed], so I doubt they’d be using them if the signal could get easily screwed up by bad weather.)