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Directory OrganisationInstalling TelliCastNormally, programs are installed in C:\Program Files\. Because there are user editable files in the TelliCast structure, plus the data received which needs to be deleted after access, I recommend that you install the TelliCast software outside C:\Program Files\. Create a directory such as C:\EUMETCast\, use the right-click, Properties, Security tab, to set the access to that directory to Everyone, Full Control. You may need to use the Advanced button to get the dialog to allow you to add the user "Everyone". Install the TelliCast software to C:\EUMETCast\. On one dual-disk system, I ended up using F:\EUMETCast\ for the received data where I had already installed the TelliCast software into its default location. Split your dataAs supplied, the TelliCast software puts all the data received into a single directory. Not only is this difficult to follow for you, it is inefficient for the software as well! Using the wildcard [*] means that you are trying to receive all the data you are licensed for whether you want it or not, and this may overload your PC. Data control is set in the recv-channels.ini file: As supplied: [*] target_directory=received Split for Meteosat full-scan service data: # [*] # target_directory=received [EUMETSAT Data Channel 2] target_directory=received\Data Channel 2 [EUMETSAT Data Channel 3] target_directory=received\Data Channel 3 Be sure to remove the [*] entry and its associated target directory! You can do this by commenting it out with the hash character (#) as shown above. There is a list here showing which channels carry which data. If you don't need a channel, you can comment it out or rename it. For example, to stop reception of data channel 3, you could insert "xx" in front of the section header. As soon as you save the recv-channels.ini file, TelliCast will recognise the change. [EUMETSAT Data Channel 2] target_directory=received\Data Channel 2 [xxEUMETSAT Data Channel 3] target_directory=received\Data Channel 3 Sample for receive-only PCThis is a sample for a PC with a single hard disk. The stored data is kept in sub-directories in the C:\EUMETCast\ directory, and if this were a receive-only PC, the C:\EUMETCast\ directory could be shared as "EUMETCast" , with the share providing both read and delete access to the files. How you set this depends on which version of Windows you are running, but it may be to check a box "Allow users to alter my files" in the sharing dialog, or use the right-click, properties, security tab to add "Everyone" with "full control".
For clarity, you may want to remove all the comments from the recv-channels.ini file, leaving just the lines in the box above. This makes the file easier to read by us humans! Sample for PC with two hard disksIf your PC has two hard disks (and I mean two physical disks, not two separate partitions), you may have configured the disks as one smaller system disk with your operating system and software installed, and one larger data disk. To avoid unnecessary copying of data between the two disks, it makes sense to direct TelliCast to store the received data directly on the data disk. In the example below, the data disk is drive F: and, for historic reasons, the directory where I capture the data is F:\EUMETCast\. You will see that the data selection and ordering of the entries is different to the single-disk example above. Nothing sinister in this - different requirements on different systems.
Please note that these are just suggestions, and the channels
selected and file locations specified will differ for your particular PC. Performance tipsUse a RAMdiskSee the recent information
here, and Arne van Belle's article (387KB
PDF file) for the background. The current recommendation is for a 300 MB
or greater RAMdisk. Set the temporary directory for all dataOnce you have decided on the location of your \received\ directory, you can improve performance by allowing the TelliCast software to build up the data in a different directory on the same disk, and only move it to the final "received" location once it is complete. To do this you add an entry to the [parameters] section of recv.ini. You only need to add one line. Don't alter any existing lines! If you have the received data scattered over different disks, you can also set the temporary directory on a per-channel basis, but this is not normally required. See the TelliCast HTML shell, Help, File Formats page for more information. Edit recv.ini thus: Before: [parameters] interface_address=192.168.238.238 . . After: [parameters] tmp_directory=temp interface_address=192.168.238.238 . . Note that if you set up the tmp_directory outside the \received\ directory tree, you may need to set its security to Everyone:full control, if the received directory is to be shared on a network in a two-PC configuration. Only process the minimum data you needAlways set your processing software to handle only the data
you want. For example, with the MSG Data Manager, you can use the Setup,
Channel Selection page to enable or disable processing on individual channels of
the various data streams. Perhaps you don't use all the HRIT data?
If you take HRIT data, do you have any need for the LRIT data? You will
reduce memory, processor and disk usage by selecting the minimum amount of data
to be processed. You can use the Setup, Options, File controls, RX disk
space control setting to remove any old, unprocessed data from the TelliCast
system. Set the Auto-clean days to a non-zero value. Normally
one day is fine. Only receive the minimum data you needCheck which data channels
carry which information, and then editing the recv-channels.ini file, only
enable the channels you actually want. By minimising the number of
channels, you can reduce the load on the TelliCast software, your processor, and
your disk space. Oh, and your RAMdisk required for the FSY files may be
less, as well. This is particularly important with the Metop data, where
the IASI and GOME files can be large and frequent! Keep the minimum data you needTry to minimise the amount of data you keep, so the your disk
does not become too full. You can do this by setting the Retention
values for each processed channel to a non-zero value. Keep your hard disk in good conditionUse a disk defragmenter, but be careful which one you choose,
as a lot of disk activity can interfere with TelliCast reception. We have
found the mst Defrag program to be one
which lived well with EUMETCast reception, at least until the TelliCast 2.5.17
client came out. I have also found that this program interferes with Adobe
software updates on Vista. Therefore we are now looking at two alternative
free defrag programs: Smart
Defrag from IObit, and Auslogics
Disk Defrag program, both of which have been tested at least on Windows-7
64-bit (and should work on other versions of Windows as well). Watch out for the Windows Media Player Network ServiceIt may be a peculiarity of my setup, but on a Windows-7 RC system I noticed an increasing CPU usage with time. I traced this down to the Windows Media Player Network Service and, as I was unable to stop whatever caused the service to run and eat up all the CPU, I simply used the Administrative Tools, Services, to set that service to Startup Disabled, and I stopped the current running service. |
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