WeatherStar 4000

Infobox generic
style0 = class="infobox bordered" style="width:20em;"
color = darkorange
name = "WeatherStar 4000"
img1 = WS4000.jpg
lbl1 = Manufactured:
row1 = Amirix
lbl2 = Family:
row2 = WeatherSTAR
lbl3 = Hardware:
row3 = Proprietary
lbl4 = OS:
row4 = None
lbl5 = Graphics:
row5 = Vector
lbl6 = Release Date:
row6 = 1989 - 1990
lbl7 = Category:
row7 = Satellite Transponder Addressable Receiver
lbl8 = Status:
row8 = Used in select cable systems

The WeatherStar 4000 was the first graphic-capable model of the WeatherStar line from The Weather Channel. It was introduced around 1988 and was designed and manufactured by Canadian electronics company Amirix (then the Applied Microelectronics Institute). It had an improved display font over its predecessor, the WeatherSTAR 3000. The first 4000s that were placed in service were programmed to operate text only like its predecessors (using its improved font instead). However, the 4000 used slightly different flavors [ [http://www.twcclassics.com/localforecast/weatherstar/4000/ twc classics :: local forecast :: flavors ] ] (screen lineups) that included, beginning in April 1990, a graphical radar page at the end of the local forecast. During most of the 90s, the 4000 was widely used, but many cable companies began to replace the 4000 with the newer Weather Star XL in 1998 and 1999 and later the IntelliStar in the next decade. The Weather Channel has not discontinued the 4000 and it is still in use by some (mostly smaller) cable companies today. Fact|date=August 2007

tandard Features

When the WeatherStar 4000 was first introduced in 1990, it operated in a text-based, mixed-case format on a plain blue background similar to the WeatherStar 3000, but with a cleaner font. In April of that year, the Current Radar feature was added to the end of each flavor. The WeatherStar 4000 later received its first facelifts in mid 1990, with the first additions being an orange and blue background with gradient, The Weather Channel's logo, and icon-based Regional Forecast maps. In 1991, more changes were made, including the addition of a graphic-based Almanac segment featuring moon phases and the graphic-based Current Conditions and Extended Forecast segment which feature a set of medium-sized icons, which were pre-shrunk and later became part of the Regional Conditions, and Regional Forecast which replaced, and were replaced by more realistic icons featuring sun icons with ripples, as well as puffy white clouds with shades of gray. Rain storms were represented by slanted bars that have alternating shades of blue. The moon icons on the regional maps are represented as crescent moons on the Regional Conditions page. The text-based Regional Conditions list was replaced with the icon-based Regional Observations map in 1992. The radar segments are/were not available on the Weatherstar 4000 in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico or the United States Virgin Islands. In Alaska, a repeat of the Latest Observations segment is used in place of the radar segments [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsuDL5uxe7g YouTube - Anchorage Local Forecast ] ] . In Hawaii, there was a radar segment for Seattle, Washington permanently displaying "Radar Data Temporarily Unavailable" [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXyo16bc1O0 YouTube - Local Forecast-Honolulu ] ] . The Extended Forecast displays the forecast for three days at a time. Another standard feature that is exclusive to the WeatherStar 4000 systems in Southern California is the Air Quality data segment, which never received a full scale roll out outside of California until it was introduced nationwide on the Intellistar.

egments found on the WeatherStar 4000

Source: Product Guide for the WeatherStar 4000 [ [http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_4000/star4000_prod_gde.pdf Product Description ] ]

*Marine Forecast - found only in select coastal areas (mainly New Orleans and points west near the Gulf of Mexico, also found in Hawaii) & displays wind and wave conditions on a purple/black gradient background. Also had the ability to display one marine advisory, ranging from "Hurricane, Tropical Storm & Small Craft Watch, Warning & Advisory".
*Air Quality ________ (Sunday through Saturday) - Found only in Southern California. Displayed the next day's air quality forecast, main pollutants and measurements. The PPM (parts per million) measurements for three locations were given as numbers on the left of the screen, with a bar graph on the right extending into four colored and labelled background sections (yellow: good, orange: unhealthy, red: very unhealthy, dark red/maroon: hazardous), which gave the next day's air quaity level at the three locations (for some reason, the 'moderate' level, between 'good' and 'unhealthy', was taken out). Data comes from an outside source (presumably either the US Environmental Protection Agency or California Environmental Protection Agency). [http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c231/superbadmoose/airquality.jpgA screen capture of the "Air Quality" segment.]

1995-1999

References

External links

* [http://www.angelfire.com/film/a_b/001.html Photos of a WeatherStar 4000 system]
* [http://www.amirix.com Amirix Systems Inc., the designer/manufacturer of the WeatherStar 4000]
* [http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/Index.cfm?fuseaction=Star_4000 WeatherStar 4000 support page at support.weather.com]