After launching PSTC, you’ll need to connect to a GR2A site. Be sure to launch a GR2A window FIRST, otherwise PSTC will close. Select GR2A from the radio buttons and then using the site drop down to connect to a specific site. Press connect to use the selected site. You can use refresh to search for additional windows launched after PSTC that are not shown. Once connected the PSTC Advanced button will become enabled.
To use PSTC Advanced, press the Advanced button on the main window. Make sure the product/title window is visible in GR2A so PSTC can capture the product time. Once launched, the program will automatically start polling lat/lon coordinates from GR2A and will be indicated on the GR2A window by the “Drag me to storm marker". The position can be locked by pressing Alt+Z.
After locking a position, move back a few frames to a previous time and mark the position of the storm to calculate an SMV. A Storm track and polygon will automatically be displayed, the SMV can be locked by pressing Alt+X.
Once set, the storm track, polygon, and pathcast buttons will become enabled. Press the button once to have it displayed on the screen and then again to have it removed. Polygon vertices can be modified using the Number Pad keys Alt+Vertex (Ex Alt+NumPad1) and mousing over the point on the GR2A window.
Storm Track Specifications
- Storm Extent: lateral extent of the storm, range 1-100 nautical miles.
- Fan-out: angle of outward polygon line segment from initial position, range 5-90 degrees.
- Endurance: expected storm duration, range 20-90 minutes.