This is a little perl script I wrote to allow me to use SpotterNetwork while storm chasing with my laptop running Linux. Unfortunately most storm chase tools today are Windows-centric. I hope this tool will help bridge a gap for other folks who run Linux on their chase setups, and that it will encourage more Linux-based software to be deployed for these purposes.
The script depends on gpsd, the Linux gps daemon, to read NMEA commands from a serial- or USB-based GPS device. Gpsd allows multiple applications to have access to the data at the same time and provides a user-friendly command set for NMEA data. The software configuration is currently done by setting various variables at the top of the program. By default it will only log your position to the screen and a log file. The log file is named GPS-date.log, where date is the current date and time that the script was started on. In order to send updates to SpotterNetwork, you will need to enter your PERSONAL ID found in your account information on the SpotterNetwork page, and enable updates with the flag in the script. Do not set the update interval to less than 120 seconds at the request of the folks at SpotterNetwork, or you may be banned. I am not responsible for how this software is used, so please be courteous and cautious while getting it set up. I would appreciate a report if you encounter any problems.
This is released as free software under the Creative Commons License. You are free to use it and modify it however you want. If you have feedback, enhancements, bug fixes you would like to have added to the release, please send them to me. Thanks, and enjoy!
(Right-click on the link and select "Save Link As" if it comes up in your browser window instead.)