Station position

[xairbusdriver]

I got the following from "Richard Coffman" today:

Looking at other stations near me, yours appears to have location error of about 0.1 miles. Your APRS location differs from where your site location shows.
I'm EW0090.

Zooming in on the CWOP "Position" map does, indeed, show a discrepancy compared to my actual location. Probably close to the 528 feet mentioned in the email.

My first reaction was "Who is 'Richard Coffman' and why is he concerned about this detail?

My second reaction was: What difference does it make? First of all, the exact location of the ISS is different than the anemometer. And the location is less than ideal for valid weather data, anyway; too many nearby trees could affects rain measurements; our house could affect temps because of blocking winds and their cooling effects at the ISS. If this amount of "error" is unacceptable, I'll gladly remove my 'membership' from CWOP.

Frankly, I chose from among at least half a dozen "locations" found at the same number of sites purporting to provide that kind of data. I don't have access to the Lat/Long data verified by GPS. Lastly, I'm not keen on marking the exact location of my house and family to the world. I have one Google map that marks my location at the intersection of two nearby roads, I thought that was what I used at one of the "partner" sites). Two "partners" seem to have my location within a few yards of the ISS, so I'm not sure why the CWOP location is so far off.

Bottom line: Which is more important; my location (within a tenth of a mile) or the data (within the tolerances required by CWOP)?

Secondarily, how did Mr. "Coffman" determine that my CWOP location is incorrect? It could be because it appears to be in a private golf course rather than in the 'neighborhood' just to the north. OTOH, how did he decide on the "0.1 miles" figure when the ISS could be within ~40 meters of the point shown at CWOP? Paranoid enquirers want to know!

[Blicj11]

Ha ha ha. This a fine example of something. I'm not sure what, but definitely something. I googled your Mr. Coffman, to discover that in addition to being quite concerned about nothing, he is either a dentist in Indianapolis, an attorney in Texas, or a former member of the CIA. Stand your ground and don't move that .1 miles. Keep us posted on further developments and re-watch your old VHS tape of the movie Neighbors (1981).

[xairbusdriver]

Well, he does claim to have a weather station near Hernando, MS (EW0090). If his <CWOP map> location is correct, he is probably a pilot, <that location> shows a couple of short dirt/grass strips with most houses having a hanger. Would easily explain his interest in weather... However, according to <this page> there is an "S. E. Bennett", a Mechanic License- Airframe, at the address. His CWOP email address seems to indicate his name is connected to that CWOP ID.

If he's just collecting email addresses , his method is not very efficient, but he now has one of mine.  

[dfw_pilot]

Is Coffman a pilot? SAY IT ISN'T SO!

P.S. I like the new banner image.

[elagache]

Dear X-Air, Blick, dfw, and WeatherCat Spam Sieves

I got the following from "Richard Coffman" today:

Looking at other stations near me, yours appears to have location error of about 0.1 miles. Your APRS location differs from where your site location shows.
I'm EW0090.

Zooming in on the CWOP "Position" map does, indeed, show a discrepancy compared to my actual location. Probably close to the 528 feet mentioned in the email.

  . . . I see your problem X-Air, your email spam filters are not nearly strict enough!! . . . . . 

Cheers, Edouard 

[xairbusdriver]

Is Coffman a pilot? SAY IT ISN'T SO!

Hard to tell! He must not be a Captain or he would have told me, already!

'banner' Thanks! It's quite easy to change the image! And all the text stays the same! Even I can make these kinds of changes! Biggest problem was to get the right amount of light so I could use a slow shutter speed!

[xairbusdriver]

Got a message from "Mr. Coffman", he answered all my questions in a human way. (or he has an amazing AI app!) Most lmportantly, he linked to a page at CWOP that I had not visited in months. There was the red text explaining why they think my registered location is incorrect. What it says is a bit confusing, I'll have to read it more closely when I get my computer back (I'm attempting to move my 1.67+ BG TM backup to a new drive).

Please check which location is correct. If the registered location is incorrect, then you can correct it by dragging the marker above and using the 'send the updated information link'. If the APRS location is incorrect, then you must enter the correct coordinates into your software which generates the weather report (APRS) messages.

I can't seem to select or move the incorrect (APRS) marker while using my iPad, but I may also need to check the location WC has, if I understand the above text, WC includes Lat/long info when sending data to them.

[Bull Winkus]

I got my location data from the Google Earth software. I also got a similar email not long after joining CWOP. Must be something they do to massage the data periodically.

 

[xairbusdriver]

Using the CWOP map, which is actually Google, one can 'massage' the Lat/Long numbers to put a marker anywhere you want. But Google maps is only one of the eight places I got my info. How am I supposed to know which of the eight different values is the closest or, more importantly, the most accurately?

Apparently, CWOP doesn't care as long as you use Google. I'm not sure any of the other sites do any checking/comparisons, so I think everyone is now happy.

[Bull Winkus]

?so I think everyone is now happy.

That includes me!

 

[Felix]

When I set up my original weather station, I pulled the location (and elevation) off a USGS Topo Map (1:24,000) and it turned out to be remarkably close to where the later Google Earth overhead shows the visible anemometer pole.

[xairbusdriver]

I fear the Topo maps would be out of date since so much grading occurred before the land was 'developed'. And I ran a tractor with a blade leveling things before the house was finished! I'm sure the altitudes would be off by several inches!!