WSR-88D Communications Documentation Notebooks

The NWS HQ delivered the National Weather Service Observing Handbook (WSOH- 9) to all NWS field sites having WSR-88D capabilities during the Fall of 1998. Chapter 2 of the Handbook, Administrative Policies and Procedures, establishes policy for maintaining the WSR-88D Communications Documentation notebook. Chapter 6 of the Handbook, Telecommunications, references use of the WSR-88D Communications Documentation notebook for troubleshooting WSR-88D narrowband communications.

The WSR-88D Hotline has compiled complete site-specific WSR-88D Communications Documentation into a notebook that contains the documentation referenced by the WSOH-9 and shipped the notebooks to all field sites during the Spring-Summer of 1998. The documentation contained in the notebook provides additional information to pre-existing documentation on site, and contains the most up-to-date information available. Information in the notebook should be carefully cross-referenced against any pre-existing documentation on site to ensure no differences exist. Any differences should be reported to the WSR-88D Hotline and once verified, incorporated into the circuit information in the notebook.

The Notebook will include a Hotline-originated WSR-88D Telecommunications form and Communications Outage Log, and current copies of each site's most recent NBComm database output, including an NBComm Trouble Shooting Info Sheet for each PUP. Also included will be updated copies of your site's NEXRAD RPG Narrowband Circuit Report, copies of your RPG narrowband Reconfiguration Control screen, and a new Sprint NEXRAD Jack Layout. The new Jack Layouts contain a CIS# (Customer Identification Service Number) referencing number intended to replace the old "FMS" referencing. It was found that "FMS" numbering was subject to change, whereas CIS# referencing remains tied to the circuit in all cases.

Also included in the Notebook are the following two Procedures Guides are from the Sprint Service Management Center (SMC):

  1. Severity Code Table
  2. Ticket Escalation Table

The WSR-88D Telecommunications form is included on a 3.5" floppy disk to enable WSR-88D system managers to locally update this document to include site-specific circuit information not available to the ROC. This may include wideband circuit information, and narrowband communication circuit information which is not part of the NEXRAD-CS (Sprint) configuration. The documentation should also be updated to reflect changes to existing telecommunication configurations that occur after the receipt of your notebook. Necessary changes might include additions/deletions of both dial and dedicated lines, which will occur primarily with non-NEXRAD-CS (non-Sprint) Telco circuits. Changes to the initially delivered communication configurations will/may include area code changes on commercial dial lines, Telco service-provider changes, addition/deletion of circuits and circuit number identifiers, trouble-logging procedures (Telco vendor call-back phone numbers), and so on.

The WSR-88D Communication Documentation notebook should be posted at the UCP, where it is readily accessible to WSR-88D operators, and at the RPG for non-collocated systems.

The WSR-88D Hotline is at your service 24-hours a day should you have any questions relating to this documentation.


Please send any comments or inquiries relating to this documentation to:

Mark Albertelly
WSR-88D Hotline Operations Specialist