Tempest Storm Chasing’s Equipment
Setup
This is a detailed list of what equipment I use for storm spotting and
storm chasing purposes. It’s no TIV, but my hope is that it will
certainly serve its purpose!
The gallery of images above shows the interior setup of the vehicle. I
will detail each piece of equipment inside.
The Car:
The car is a 2007 Toyota Camry. Nothing much to say, the car is the
choice of the driver, the real goodies are below.
The Laptop:
The laptop is a 13 inch MacBook running Parallels to run Windows
XP. Details about Parallels can be found here. I run Windows XP
alongside the Mac OS in order to use GRlevel3 and GRlevel2, two
very useful radar programs that I would recommend to everyone
interested in weather. I use GRlevel3 when chasing in the car
because of its low bandwidth use. However, the sacrifice is lower
resolution data. When observing and forecasting/nowcasting from
home, I use GRlevel2. This program is significantly better in
resolution, but the sacrifice is higher data use. More information
about GRlevelX products can be found here. Just for fun, I have
provided a side by side comparison of the programs.
The Mount:
The laptop mount was bought off of ebay from a vendor. The mount
is installed by mounting to the seat bolt without drilling, and holds
very steady. I had to modify a few things in order to optimize it for
my car, but it was worth it for the great price compared to other
mounts.
The Internet:
The internet is provided by rooting my android smartphone. When
rooted, you can take the unlimited data plan that you pay to use on
your phone and extend it to your computer. If you would like
information on rooting your particular android phone, do some
google searching. I highly recommend rooting, it’s a lot more fun!
The Navigation:
I navigate storms with Microsoft Streets and Trips, which came with
it’s own GPS receiver. The GPS receiver displays my position on
GRlevel3/2, and also splits the data to SpotterNetwork in order to
show others my position.
The Radio:
The radio is a Yaesu FT-60R, an Amateur radio (license required)
operating on 2M/70cm frequencies. I use this to report to my local
SKYWARN network here in Nashville. I highly recommend getting
your radio license for storm spotting or storm chasing. For more info,
go to the ARRL.
Hopefully this equipment listing is useful to someone out there! I’ll
try to keep this updated as I acquire new equipment.
