NLC text alert

[Jay]

wouldnt it be cool to have some kind of text message either a pop up alert on the pc or a text to a mobile if any NLC are visible, i wonder if something like that could be started, i think there is something similar for aurora alerts although ive never been sure how that works because it may send a alert if aurora are visible in Norway for example, but i would not really want to be woken up for an alert here in southern England where the aurora probbaly would not be visible (not imposible though as i have seen it before!)

[heaven31]

Doesn't Space Weather phone do NLC alerts? Although I always wonder if that thing only covers America and Canada, have never really looked into it.

It would be great to have something like that tho.

Jo x

[trull]

We could have a RSS feed from a suitable point be updated from accredited NLC observers.

Alternatively Skype could be used - although we may find that we just spend the time chatting ;D

[André]

Hi

In Germany there is such a list from the AKM (http://www.meteoros.de/).
It is just a yahoo mailing list, and whenever someone spots NLC (or sees evidence on a webcam) he or she writes a message to the list. Most Members of the list forward this mail as a text to their mobile. This works quite fine for NLC, as well as for Aurora, for which there is a similar list.

This List will need a personal action, but It is quite save regarding to false alarms, and as members are only allowed manually, there is almost no risk of SPAM.

The advantage of this List is, you don't need to be online. You just need your mobile with you. With a Forum, Skype or whatever you always need a computer with internetconnection.

Until now, due to tropospheric conditions, I was never able to see if german/austrian/hungarian sightings could help spoting NLCs in southern UK, but I think, an additional List for UK + Ireland and maybe northern France could be a good idea.

[tmcewan]

Jul 25, 2008 8:58:21 GMT André said:

Hi

In Germany there is such a list from the AKM (http://www.meteoros.de/).
It is just a yahoo mailing list, and whenever someone spots NLC (or sees evidence on a webcam) he or she writes a message to the list. Most Members of the list forward this mail as a text to their mobile. This works quite fine for NLC, as well as for Aurora, for which there is a similar list.

I'm still unsure if this is such a good idea and worry that some observers may start to rely on a electronic alert being issued before even looking for NLC. However, that being said, email to sms would certainly be the simple way to set this up. I use the same method to receive geomagnetic and aurora alerts on my mobile. The only problem in the UK is that not all mobile networks offer an email to sms service (or at least, that was the situation last time I looked). Another potential problem is that a charge is made to receive each message and if spam ever became a problem it could be an expensive one!

Tom

[André]

Hi Tom

Maybe there will be a problem with a few observers who will never again watch the sky without a text warning.
But most of the serious observers look at the sky (or the forum) anyway. It's just a problem of time. When you have to get up early in the morning, you are not able to be alert all night. If there is a warning by textmessage, you will wake up and then decide yourselve if you have a look (if you really need your sleep, you can just switch of the mobile.).

I don't know the situation in the UK exactly, but you still can setup an e-mail with a provider that sends you sms. In earlier days there where some providers, that send you a couple of text for free every month. I use the service from www.directbox.com. There you can set up exactly which parts from the message should be forwarded to your mobile. One sms costs me approx. 3ct.
Ok, replying to this e-mail is a problem. You have to make sure, every user understands that this will be charged to the members. There are no problems like this in the german list.
SPAM is not a problem as long as you allow sending an e-mail only to members and you accept every new member by hand (thats just one klick, and if the address is really suspicious you ask before allowing). As long, as you don't know a spammer this is quite a safe method.

We never had a SPAM in the NLC list (137 members, online since 2003) and just one single in our Aurora list (800 members, online since 2000) and I think there were just a handfull of times, when people replied to mails from the list. And if they do more than once, you can just kick them out.

I really like this idea, and I think I can afford a few pence for a false alarm, when this means in return, that I might see a display when I don't have the time to watch the whole night by myself.

André

EDIT: I just see, that there is no translated version of the directbox page ... but I promis, it works with my english mobile as well as whith my german!

[tmcewan]

Certainly worth trying. All that's needed is a mailing list (yahoo! or similar) and a set of instructions for users. Once set up it can be promoted from here and the NLC Homepage. Any volunteers to do this?

Tom

[André]

Hi Tom

I can set up the mailinglist and moderate it (accept and verify new users), but as I am not a native english speaker, I think another person would do a much better job in setting up the instructions, or at least convert my text into propper english ;-)

I will see what I can do the next few evenings.

André

[tmcewan]

Jul 28, 2008 10:55:06 GMT André said:

Hi Tom

I can set up the mailinglist and moderate it (accept and verify new users), but as I am not a native english speaker, I think another person would do a much better job in setting up the instructions, or at least convert my text into propper english ;-)

I will see what I can do the next few evenings.

André

Hi André,

That's fantastic and much appreciated. I'm quite happy to take a look at your instructions for any editing that may be required. It may be late to establish this for the 2008 season but it does give us time to thoroughly test it out for 2009. We could also, meantime, use it for aurora alerts but given the current level of solar/auroral activity it may not be used that much!

Tom

[Jay]

I havnt looked here since last year, glad to see my idea has sparked so much interest, and hopefully we can get something up and running for this season!

[markt]

Would be good if something happens from it! It's only a couple of 3 months till we're hopefully getting some nice NLC!

[André]

Hi Guys

The e-mail is already set up. I just hadn't had the time to write the rules and some manual about how and when to use it.
I will do this as soon as possible.

Has anyone here and acount with yahoogroups? Would be good to have at least one more moderator for the list!

Sorry for the delay,
André

[tmcewan]

Hi André,

Thanks for setting this up. I have a Yahoo account but would rather see someone else share the moderator tasks on this. What is the name of the Yahoo group?

Tom

[André]

The group is called nlcuk: tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/nlcuk/

[André]

Hi J.

Yes it will probably be cost you some money. As far as I know there are no more free e-mail to text services anymore. I use a German service called www.directbox.com, where you need to charge your acount with a few Euros and can than forward e-mails as text by any criteria (subject, sender or whatever, ...). I know that this is also possible with most mobile network providers in Germany, and probably in the UK as well.

I just wrote the following guidelines. Maybe this explains it.

Guidelines for the use of the NLCUK text message / e-mail alert list

The main reason for this list is to warn observers if NLCs are visible over any part of the UK or in neighbouring regions by forwarding an e-mail to a mobile.
To get the most out of this service, it is recommended to set up a text alert for this address. This is possible with some mobile phone providers, and with a few e-mail services[1].
Therefore an e-mail to the list needs to be as short and precise as possible. Sometimes Yahoo! puts adverts in the main part of the e-mails, making it necessary to have the information in the subject as well. A message might look like this:

London 22h UT weak 10deg
or
Leeds 2h UT strong 25deg

showing subscribers that at 22h UT (23h BST) there was a sighting of weak NLCs in London about 10deg above the horizon. The same information should be put in the subject and the main part of the e-mail. In the main part of the e-mail, additional information like a link to the forum, or to some images is OK.
As these e-mails are intended to be forwarded as a text message to a mobile every message will cost money to a lot of people. NEVER WRITE ANYTHING ELSE TO THE LIST AS A SIGHTING OF NLC IN THE UK! If you do, you will be permanently banned from the list!
To avoid unwanted members, please write a personal application when you register for the list, just enough to let us know there is a person on the other end and not a robot.

[1] A very good (and as far as I can tell reliable) service is www.directbox.com, where you can have an e-mail forwarded to a mobile for a couple of cents (it’s a German site).

To put it in a nutshell:

• This service is completely free.
  
• You may only send sightings of NLC by yourselve, or confirmed sightings by others which might be of interest to people observing in the UK.
  
• It is a good idea to forward these e-mails as text to your mobile at your own expences. Than you will be warned whenever there are NLC and wherever you are i.e. you are asleep and outside is the best display ever. Your mobile will receive the text and wake you up. You just have to go to the window.
  
• As this service is done from amateurs for amateurs, there might be false alarms, and there might be no alarm if there are NLCs.
  

Finaly:
We used a similar service in Germany in the last couple of years and it worked really good. Many people look for NLCs from their home and are able to send a warning to the list. Others use their mobile to send an e-mail to the list, or call people on a computer to do so. I can't think of any falsealarm over this list in Germany.
In a normal year there were about 10 warnings during NLC season. Even if they cost a few p, I am willing to spend this money for a quite decent chance of seeing a NLC display which otherwise I would have missed.

Kind regards,
André

PS:
You might notice, I am not a native english speaker/writer. It would be really good if someone could change the above to propper english and repost it in a new topic.