Hamilton Time-Temperature-Weather telephone number restored

The Hamilton Time-Temperature-Weather Forecast number is up and running again after being unavailable since last Thursday.   Ever since 1991, area residents have been able to call a local number, (816) 583-7770, for the exact current time, official outside temperature, and complete weather forecast for the Hamilton & Cameron areas.  To date, the local phone number has received over 2 million calls.

"I installed this system in 1991 after writing the computer software program that would run on a computer with special circuitry and computer boards added," explained David Sandy, owner of the telephone service.  "It's hard to believe that this computer has been running 24-hours a day for nearly 28 years!"

As most electronics eventually do, the computer finally developed a problem last week which caused the service to become unavailable for a period of time.  Callers would hear either a busy signal or a telephone company error message when dialing (816) 583-7770.  Sandy took immediate action by shipping the computer off for repair as quickly as possible in order to restore the service to local residents with minimal delay.

"The biggest problem was locating parts for a computer that was state-of-the-art 28 years ago," added Sandy.  "Computers and electronics have changed so much over the years, the needed parts to make the repair just weren't being made anymore."

Sandy went on to explain that the computer that operates the system and delivers the information to callers runs on a very early computer operating system (MS-DOS 3.3) and uses a 20 megabyte hard drive.  At the time, 20 megabytes of hard drive space was considered an abundance of storage.  By today's standards, 20 megabytes is extremely small.   Most computers today come standard with hard drives that hold 25,000 times as much information as what the time and temperature computer uses. 

"I found the necessary part in the Los Angeles area and had it FedEx'd to my computer technician in Kansas City, who installed it this past Sunday," said Sandy.  "The repaired computer went back online today (Tuesday) so callers could once again get the information they're looking for."

Surprisingly, even though this information is readily available on most smartphones, between 150-200 people still call (816) 583-7770 each and every day on average.  During extreme temperatures and severe weather, the call volume increases.

Sandy concluded, "That's actually my own voice giving the weather forecast on every call.  I personally update the system with a new weather forecast 2 or 3 times each day, or more if the weather dictates an update.  Because of this, I always have a good sense on whether or not it's going to rain, snow or be a beautiful day!"

Cameron Regional Medical Center has sponsored the free service to area residents ever since it was installed in 1991.