Belfort Instruments Digiwx Voted Most Unreliable AWOS by AOPA for second year running!
asos...@yahoo.com
U.S. marketplace according to a recent poll of pilots from AOPA.
Pilots reported that:
1) Digiwx unable to consistently transmit weather data
2) rampant Digiwx outages (that pretty scary)
3) incorrect wind direction and wind speed readings
4) incorrect temperature and dewpoint readings
5) Digiwx AWOS systems that aren't even FAA commissioned
6) non-existant tech support from Belfort Instruments
7) Digiwx that doesn't broadcast over Unicom using mic clicks
8) Digiwx that doesn't broadcast over Unicom using voice reco
9) several airports that have replaced Digiwx with SuperAWOS
10) Belfort Instruments lies about it's involvement with Wright
Brothers
And one commercial pilot offered up these indisputable facts:
Belfort Instruments ancient ceilometer is being retired.
http://www.arm.gov/instruments/instrument.php?id=blc
Belfort Instruments unreliable ASOS wind anemometer is being
replaced.
http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/69268.pdf
Belfort Instruments faulty Universal 5-780 rain gage is being
retired.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/wrir034167/toc.html
Belfort Instruments problem-prone Bendix Aerovane is being replaced.
http://ice.ssec.wisc.edu/databook/dtbk95.doc
Belfort Instrument Type F Naval wind system being phased out.
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/04/01/story...
ml
Belfort Instruments Model 6000 visibility sensor will no longer
be a part of the U.S. Air Force's OS-21/FSB program come early 2007.
About Belfort Instrument Company
Belfort used to be a leading provider of weather instruments to the
government, professional meteorology and aviation markets. Key
words: "use to be." They never provided any wind sensors to the
Wright
Brothers despite their fantastic assertion that they did! Historical
archives available at the U.S. Air Force National Museum (1100 Spaatz
Street, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433) tells a very different story
and
specifically mentions a "Richards" anemometer which Wilbur Wright
held
as pictured at: http://www.exn.ca/FlightDeck/Aviators/wright3.cfm.
The
Belfort aerovane wind system on U.S. Naval aircraft carriers are
currently being replaced with ultrasonic wind sensors from QPI (11207
Single Oak Road, Fredericksburg, VA 22407) which just won a $94
million
dollar contract for the Moriah Wind System. Belfort wind speed and
direction anemometers found on the ASOS platform are now being
replaced
with ultrasonic sensors from the Vaisala Group. Belfort Instruments
Model 6000 visibility sensor will no longer be a part of the U.S. Air
Force's OS-21/FSB program come early 2007. And despite a $500,000
U.S.
government grant from NASA's Small Aircraft Transportation System
(SATS)
program in 2004 to build a low-cost ceilometer, Belfort didn't
possess
the technical smarts nor the engineering know-how to accomplish the
task. So now they're importing the Eliasson CBME 80A laser ceilometer
from Muir Matheson. As one can readily see, Belfort is no longer
setting
any standards of measurement in the weather instrumentation world.
And
now Belfort is propagating lie after lie about their fabled company
history while trying to steal thunder from the accomplishments of the
Wright Brothers. According to the National Museum of American History
(12th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20560),
Belfort founder Julian Friez never made it to Baltimore to set up
shop
until sometime in the 1890s even though Belfort officials fradulently
claim the company was founded in 1876. Thus, there was no 125th
anniversary for Belfort to celebrate in 2001 even though they hosted
a
party to which no one came! Belfort's proclamation that it is
the "Oldest Weather Company in the World" is simply yet another
Belfort
lie as Thomas Romney Robinson invented the first wind anemometer in
1846, six years before Julian Friez was born in 1852. Belfort doesn't
even know it's own company history so they just make it up! You
should
wonder what other crap (eg. Digiwx AWOS) they also make up! For more
information about Belfort Instrument and DigiWx, visit dogsh*t.com
ldavis
>
> < typical anti-Belfort drivel deleted >
>
In case you're new to alt.airports newsgroup, here are some facts:
Mark Kukucka has been posting this anti-Belfort garbage for years.
Mark Kukucka was sued in Baltimore County Circuit Court for posting
these anti-Belfort rants.
(See the article in The Baltimore Record for more details.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4183/is_20051128/ai_n15872662/)
Briefly, the suit said,
"A Baltimore manufacturer of weather instruments is suing a fired
employee it claims is on an anonymous Internet rampage.Belfort
Instrument says Mark A. Kukucka has been harassing current Belfort
employees via e-mail, calling the company's customers and partners
alleging unethical business practices, and posting trade secrets on
the Internet.Defendant Kukucka has an alarming history of engaging in
such 'anonymous' Internet attacks against those who he believes may
have slighted him (including past employers), and, absent a TRO, will
continue his historical pattern of making outrageous and harmful
attacks against the material business interests of Belfort Instrument,
reads Belfort's complaint, filed earlier this month in Baltimore
County Circuit Court."
It is safe to ignore all these anti-Belfort, anti-Shimadzu,
anti-Ryland, even anti-Baltimore Convention Center rants.
They aren't even entertaining any more ... they are just noise.