Beta versions
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What is beta software?

Beta software is an updated version of an existing program designed to either fix some particular problem, or to experiment with various new features which may, or may not be in the next version of the program.  
A full release of the program will have been widely tested (through the beta process), and will contain all the files required for running the program such as data files and, where applicable, update Help files.  A beta version, by contrast, may contain just the program and some basic release notes, and none of the other files required for the program to function.  Before using any beta software, you should have a full current version of the program installed, and it should be working correctly.

This beta software:

  • requires the current, released version to be installed and working
  • is updated without notice
  • has no support available
  • has features that may not be in the next released version
  • is not guaranteed to work
  • may have time-limited functionality
  • may crash or give false results
  • requires that you read the release notes
  • .. so use at your own risk!
  • .. and please keep a working backup!
     

How do I use beta software?

As opposed to a full installation, beta software may just contain just an updated executable file, and will therefore need some additional steps in installing.  If you are not comfortable following steps like those listed below, please be patient and wait for the next released version.  Be sure to have the current released version before applying a beta update!

Updating a typical program

  1. Make sure you have the most recent release version of the software installed and working properly.
  2. Visit my Web site, download and save the beta of the MSG Data Manager from the page.
  3. Right-click the saved file, Properties, and click the Unblock button if one is present.
  4. This Zip file contains an updated MsgDataManager.exe program file and an updated MsgDataManager.txt "read-me" file.
  5. Locate your existing installation of the MSG Data Manager.  Most likely this will be (for an English language install):
      C:\Tools\SatSignal\MsgDataManager\
  6. In the case of the MSG Data Manager, this folder will contain files named e.g. WaveletDLL.dll as well as the MSG Data Manager program file.
  7. Stop the MSG Data Manager and close the program down.
  8. Rename the existing executable file:
      MsgDataManager.exe
    to, for example:
      MsgDataManager-old.exe
  9. Copy the new MsgDataManager.exe from the Zip file you downloaded in step 1 to the folder you located in step 3.
  10. If there were more file in the beta download, copy those as well having backed up your working versions.
  11. Restart the MSG Data Manager.

Reverting to the original program

  1. Stop the MSG Data Manager and exit the program.
  2. Rename the new executable file:
      MsgDataManager.exe
    to, for example:
      MsgDataManager-new.exe
  3. Rename the previous executable file you renamed in step 6:
      MsgDataManager-old.exe
    back to:
      MsgDataManager.exe
  4. Copy any other files you backed up to the appropriate directory.
  5. Restart the MSG Data Manager.

The same general procedure is true for all my beta updates.  Please be aware of the limitations of beta software which are listed above.

What are these MD5 signatures?

They are a way you can check if you think your download might be corrupt - very unlikely, but...  Please see: http://www.fourmilab.ch/md5/
 

Current beta-test versions:

As I know that testing by users is far more likely to detect errors that just testing by me alone, I am making programs available here.  Please make a backup of your working version before installing these programs, and please only install them on top of a working version.  You will need a licence for the current release version of the software.

  • AVHRR Manager - V4.1.1.241 - Update for Metop-C, add Help|Support menu, recommend EUMETSAT Keplers to avoid excessively long files.
    MD5 signature: 74186BCB2B7F86B57B08394E56009A13
      
  • BUFR Viewer - V2.0.3.74 - Use Francis Breame's more recent converter, detect AMV files containing '-MSGAMV' in the name.
    MD5 signature: E26A722675F6512C48C8495A0DC67585
      
  • FastWXtrack - V1.1.2.15 - Experimental program for faster DDE tracking and Doppler updates.  Option to force Doppler text to upper-case, add setting of radio mode, freeze updates while mode list is dropped down, layout enhancements, issue with date/time display on Win-10 Creators noted and worked-round, honour Windows themes, reduce the frequency of some displayed data (makes it easier to read the values, but Doppler and pointing still calculated as fast as possible), high-precision DDE option.
    MD5 signature: AA81A4004B45486FDCCA5B74C135ED3A
     
  • GOES ABI Manager - 2019.3.2.37 - Accept "-start" for auto-start, "-log" for log page display, add Close button, set defaults for save type and bands, save logging across invocations, add image display, remember form position between runs, add short image filename option, add hand icon to thumbnails, add descriptive hint to thumbnail label, add date & time hint to thumbnails, add right-click GeoSatSignal process to thumbnail and image views, remove gamma-correction for B02 & B03, pressing Esc (escape) or right-click "Quit" closes the image view, prepare for band B01 (blue) data, treat B03 (SWIR) as visible, make the space region for thermal channels white, add Clear Images option (at start of new data), allow image path to have spaces, add choice of NetCDF save path, notify MSG Animator after an image is saved, delete files which failed to process, accommodate mode-3 and mode-4 operation (without any notice, as far as I know), prepare for mode-6 operation (ten-minute scans), accept single files on the command line, add satellite name to window caption, change log file name to reflect the executable name (allows multiple .EXE in one directory, remember to rename your existing log if required!, daily save of active log file after midnight, updated read-me (twice), update for GOES-17 (including notify MSG Animator), much reduced memory consumption, higher quality thumbnail images, preload any existing images at start-up if clear images not checked, stop processing when Windows shutdown requested, more details in image pop-up hints, add Support button, cosmetic changes.
    MD5 signature: 007D0D34DBBA7E1ECED5B438EE550CE7
     
  • GOES-15 netCDF Manager 2019.1.2.42 - updated the read-me, scroll the log file to the end on start-up, go directly to Setup if directories are undefined, make visible channel gamma adjustment optional, always scroll to bottom of log when selected, update icon, if "Clear images" isn't checked, restore last saved full-disk images, enhanced application title, handle failure to decompress BZ2 better, reduce memory requirements, notify MSG Animator, add image size note to detailed image, centre detail image on first view, reduce disk/network traffic, more protection against bad files, make NH and SH updates saving optional (corrected and logging improved), stop processing when Windows shutdown requested, delete files which are too small  or don't have a valid filename, add Support button.
    MD5 signature: 0B35D993EFE4C55A0BE3FCF91A64398C
     
  • GeoSatSignal - V8.2.3.1167 - Support ppag50bw.gif overlay (1728 x 1100 pixels), restore support for boundary data with spaces in the file name, update Himawari RGB naming to 16-channel B01..B16, Start RGB support for Himawari ("H-Pure RGB" correct, "H-Airmass" useable, "B03" accepted as well as "vis"), add XL world remapping (11000 x 5500), add GeoTIFF output for World View, update EUMETCast browser for GOES-E/W being GOES-16/17, remove Met-7, update GOES-16 mapping for non-standard American projection, including in World View, increase the GOES-E coverage in World View, try to optimise World View for missing or partial GOES-W, support native GOES-17 in World View, temporary fixes for GOES-15 at 128° W including world view, added 128° W land/sea mask, start GOES-17 at 137° W support, add GeoTIFF output for Plate-Carreé projection, extend allowed latitude and longitude spans when remapping.
    MD5 signature: 32F3DD6C2688F47110E8B3B5B6F3EE0C
     
  • HRPTreader - V3.0.9.817 - Start Metop-C support (no thermal data yet), decode more Metop-C filenames, support some COA-format AAPP files, handle evening pass FY3 data better (for overlays), recognise satellite ID 1 as MY-3C, add Help|Support menu item.
    MD5 signature: 88FD8FCF16D1F9003295CA8C77BFB403
     
  • Map-to-GEO - V2.0.5.56 - Support PNG input interactively, support TIF input interactively, support NESDIS GOES-E and GOES-W subsets (will look for .TFW file in the same directory, but provide defaults if .TFW is not present, batch operation supported, remapping to EUMETCast GOES-E/W projections), add GOES-16 (as GOES-E) segment (typical output filename: GoesEast04I22530245.bmp), move GOES-W to 128° W, add GOES-17 (as GOES-W).
    MD5 signature: 5E8C0B4C6A529FABEF7BB65B76BD28EF
     
  • Metop Manager - V3.0.3.350 - Try to handle "Another copy..." better across restarts, accept -LOG parameter - starts with Event Log tab, handle GAC failures more elegantly, accept GSHHG V2.3.7 shorelines & boundaries, add 4-bit spacecraft ID for Metop-C - to be confirmed.
    MD5 signature: 9797BCEE52EB56ADE8EDC5BB69CB057C
      
  • MODIS L1 Viewer - V4.0.3.158 - Set up/down text colour to blue for blue channel, prevent one variable not being initialised, more choice in the File, Open dialog, accept "Australian" MODIS file names.
    MD5 signature: B719CB47FAFD930C3AF0B1846248475F
     
  • MSG Animator - V3.1.5.303 - Support for GEOS-16 at 75° W, files to be in the short-name format (e.g. 201711131730-g16-b13.jpg), in the images\FSD\yyyy\mm\dd\ directory, updated for 15-minute animations, mapping is the -75 ° GOES-E location and Land/Sea palettes are available, start 10-minute Himawari-8 support, sooner start for Himawari, more natural frame rates for 60 Hz monitors (you may need to rebuild your animations) - experimental, support GOES-15 at 128° W including 30-minute updates and land/sea mask (copy mask to GeoSatSignal directory), experimental support for GOES-17 at 137° W,  use F5 key to trigger an animation update.  GOES-E mask updated 2018-Nov-09.
    MD5 signature: 025DCC5B4A2C901D4B34CBBA8630B7C5
     
  • MSG Data Manager - V3.1.11.1296 - Add decoding of Alert and Weekly Schedule XML messages, support KNMI OSI SAF ScatSat data, support new H-SAF file names, start 10-minute, 16-channel Himawari-8 support, new Himawari tab, add bands B01 and B02, can be saved as .PNG, determine Him-8 cycle directly from filename, add "Reset all retentisons" option (useful when configuring multiple instances), update reporting (skip GOES-15 after 2018-Dec-31, remove some obsolete stuff, skip 02:40 & 14:40 Himawari-8 "unloading" routine events, 16-channel support), save logs hurly on Himawari-8-only instance, support GOES-15 at 128W including boundaries on both thumbnails and saved images, faster response for MSGSCANEND notification for RSS (15 seconds rather than one minute), update program's title when Himawari data received (then to MSG if present), reduce housekeeping frequency.
    MD5 signature: 1DF77AA52634BEFAE25B22A581E379DA
      
  • SatSignal - V6.0.1.567 -  Restore some missing items from the Overlay options dialog.
    MD5 signature: F106F9846ED310814B58961A1A859E08
     
  • Sentinel2 to JPEG - V1.4.1.30 -  Right-click on image to invoke Options dialog.  Experimental features: accept two .TIF files for drag-and-drop or command-line, accept Landsat-7 data (blue file name - must end B1.TIF, green file name - must end B2.TIF, red file name - must end B3.TIF, file names must start "LE07" or be 8011 (W) x 6911 (H) images).
    MD5 signature: 765951FF1807A734D37EAA3BE002DAB4
     
  • Solar Outage SNR (for BDADataEx and solar outage periods) - Experimental programs to record and plot SNR values from BDADataEx during the forthcoming solar outage periods.  Set the expected earliest outage start (minus 5 minutes, say) and the latest expected finish (plus 5 minutes).  Check the Device 1 box to add "1" to the SignalEx.exe command.  Add control of sampling interval, default 5 seconds.  Error message if SignalEx.exe is not found.
    The plotting program takes a filename wildcard as its parameter, choice of smoothing, display value under cursor, text and graphical display of actual maximum SNR reduction date and time, accept one predicted maximum time in the log file and display it.  Sample plots included.
    MD5 signature: F5CEF60F6C649A3F0952024201551F2D
     
  • SweepGen - V3.8.1.39 - Remove initial set of RHS-trigger, UI enhancements.
    MD5 signature: 098FD313F50FD97945952DA3ED79DB12
     
  • Sea-Ice & SST Viewer - V1.5.5.72 - Update for mixed DMI/NOR sea-ice data.
    MD5 signature: A1B271AD2CC2C0FECA91BEB2F6F42500
      
  • WXtrack - V3.8.45.1067 - Add pass-box for Sentinel 3A in ScanOffsets.ini (treat as being in the "weather satellite" class), in View|Radar plot add Galileo satellites, add count of navigation satellites visible (you will need the Keplers from e.g. CelesTrak - galileo.txt), enlarge View|Radar plot display, provide hints for long satellite names in the Available list, use 10 GHz as default for geostationary Doppler, restore SPID half-degree support.  Temporarily: display DDE RX mode in the tracker status box (for debugging).
    MD5 signature: F31E2A0D0955DA70B0DE738807787394
     
 
If you wish, you can register for free, automatic e-mail notifications from the Watch That Page service when this page is updated.  This is convenient as you won't need to keep checking my Web site to see what new beta versions are available.  Click the button below to register for update notification.  You may need to register with WatchThatPage first.

I recommend Fred van den Bosch's software DownloadPrograms - which will help to keep an eye on the version numbers and updates for you!

 

 
Copyright © David Taylor, Edinburgh   Last modified: 2019 Mar 11 at 12:23