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  #17  
Old July 31st 05, 12:39 AM
Matt Barrow
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"Casey Wilson" N2310D @ gmail.com wrote in message
news:4BNGe.2746$Tk6.2417@trnddc02...

"Jose" wrote in message
...
I can't stand wading through an undecoded briefing where I have to

pick
through "Wind" and "Temperature" and all of that unnecessary verbal
nonsense in order to get the information.
Wind and Temp data is nonsense?


I think what he means is that the word "wind" and "temperature" is
nonsense if you already know which numbers they are. (He probably also
mistyped "undecoded" for "decoded into prose")

For example, once you really know the format,
FM0800 VRB03KT 3SM BR OVC040
is easier to read than


"from 8:00 Greenwich Mean Time until 14:00 Greenwich Mean time (2:00 pm

in
England), the winds will be variable at three knots, visibility will be
three statute miles in mist and the ceiling will be overcast at four
thousand feet above ground level."


That's not the format plain English would use.


This is especially true when you stack a bunch of them up to spot a

trend,
or are getting the METAR from a PDA or internet cell phone.

Bravo, Jose.... You made the point exactly
Let's keep the "shorthand" as is.


Are you willing to go back to 1200BPS modems and tet only web pages?

Why not?