Doppler Wars Rage Between TV Stations
by March 5, 2001 12:00 am 80 views
We don’t know Doppler radar from our doppelgangers. But we believe Gary Darnell, TV news director for NBC 24/51 in Fayetteville, has a point.
Darnell said KFSM, Channel 5, the local CBS affiliate, has been touting its weather radar system as “live Doppler,” when in fact the station uses NEXRAD radar, or Next-generation radar. NEXRAD is operated by the federal government’s National Weather Service, is available on the Internet and is six minutes slower than live Doppler, which NBC 24/51 has, Darnell said. A storm can travel 60 miles in six minutes, he added.
Darnell said he first heard about this from a viewer who was watching the television show Survivor on KFSM. Darnell said the station put a radar image on the screen and said, “You’re watching live Doppler 5 radar.” He said the image was actually from NEXRAD, not live Doppler radar.