KB3HHA Screen Saver

A Windows screen saver that displays animated weather radar, weather forecast, space weather, and satellite images.

What is the KB3HHA Screen Saver

KB3HHA Screen Saver is a Windows screen saver that can display the current local weather, weather forecast, space weather conditions, and satellite imagery. It can display five different panels. The panels are:

An animated National Weather Service weather radar display and current weather conditions for your location
The current National Weather Service forecast for your location in 7-day format
The current National Weather Service forecast for your location in hourly format
The current space weather conditions that affect radio propagation along with animated images of either
- The sun
- Coronal Mass Ejections (CME)
- An aurora forecast for the Earth
An animated satellite view of the Earth along with some some basic astronomical events for your location.

My apologies to non-US users as my source for current weather and weather forecast information (the US National Weather Service) only includes data for the US. The space weather and satellite information and images apply to a wider audience.

Some of the features of the KB3HHA Screen Saver

Multiple cycling display panels
- Animated weather radar and current local weather conditions
- 7-Day Weather forecast
- Hourly Weather forecast
- Animated corona, aurora, or UV images and current space weather conditions
- Animated satellite images
Multiple monitor support
Scale images up or down to better fit your display
Display weather alerts in a scrolling marquee
Configuration options for
- Controlling the animation speed
- Managing how frequenly the display panels change
- Managing how frequently that new images and data are downloaded from the web
Static or moving display with configurable movement speed
Select location by US zip code or latitude/longitude
Limit the number of images downloaded for slow or metered connections

The Screen Saver Panels

The screen saver can display several panels with different images and information. If you select multiple panels in the configuration dialog the screen saver will cycle through them. If you have multiple monitors each monitor will display one of the selected image panels.

Weather Radar Panel

Weather Radar Image

The weather radar panel displays the current weather conditions for the specified location (US only). It also show an animated image of the weather radar.

Weather Forecast Panels

7-Day Forecast

Hourly Forecast

The weather forecast panel shows the current National Weather Service forecast for the selected location. The display can be in either of two formats. The panel can show the 7-day forecast or an hourly forecast for the next 12 hours.

Space Weather Panel

Aurora Image

Corona Image

Ultraviolet Image

The space weather panel shows the current space weather conditions that relate to HF propagation. It also displays one of three animated images of either the sun or aurora predictions for the Earth.

Satellite Panel

Satellite Image

The satellite panel shows an animated satellite view of the Earth. If you choose the GOES satellite the images are taken approximately every 5 minutes, creating a smooth animation. OpenGIS images are taken once a day so the animation can be choppy.

The configuration dialog

The configuration dialog has 5 tabs. The first tab has general settings that apply to all of the other tabs. The rest of the tabs relate to the individual screen saver panels.

General Settings Tab

The general settings tab lets you specify your location by either entering a US zip code or specifying a latitude and longitude. You can select which panels to display. The screen saver will cycle through each selected image panel based on the refresh interval you specify. If you have multiple monitors, each monitor will display one of the selected image panels. You can also specify whether units of measure will display using metric or US customary units.

The Weather Radar Tab

The weather radar configuration tab lets you select what type of radar image to display, as well as how large the image will be and how much of the map is shown in the image. The radar image is centered on whatever latitude and longitude you have selected in the general settings tab.

The Space Weather Tab

The space weather configuration tab lets you select which type of image to display. You have the choice between an aurora view, a corona view or an ultraviolet view of the sun.

The Satellite Tab

The satellite configuration tab lets you choose which satellite image to display. You may select one of the NOAA GOES satellites or the OpenGIS images. GOES images display mainly the Americas and the surrounding areas. OpenGIS images are available for any part of the world, but the images are only provided on one image per day basis. This means that the animation will not be as smooth as the GOES satellite images.

Satellite configuration tab

The Weather Forecast Tab

The weather forecast tab lets you choose settings for the 7-day and hourly forecast format. It also allows you to specify how many weather icons to display across the panel as well as the number of detail lines for the 7-day forecast.

Weather forecast configuration tab

For additional information see our FAQ page

Want to try it out first?

We offer a 14 day free trial of KB3HHA Screen Saver so that you can confirm that it has the features you are looking for and that it works with your hardware and software

Request a 14 day trial license for KB3HHA Screen Saver

I'm ready to buy the program.

The cost of KB3HHA Screen Saver is $9.99 USD. To make a purchase, please use the link below.

Purchase a permanent license for KB3HHA Screen Saver

Download KB3HHA Screen Saver

The latest version of KB3HHA Screen Saver is 1.0.18.0 which was released on Jul 12, 2024. This release includes the following changes.

Updated parsing of URL for weather icons

You can download the screen saver here.

I have submitted this application to an online virus scanner and will continue to do so for each new release. You can view the results of this scan using the link below.

www.virustotal.com scan results for KB3HHA Screen Saver.

How To Install the Screen Saver

Once you have downloaded the screen saver file, there are two ways you can install it

The easiest way to install the screen saver is to right click on the file and select Install from the context menu. The only down side to this type of installation occurs if you switch to a different screen saver and then attempt to switch back to this screen saver using the control panel. This screen saver will no longer appear in the control panel screen saver list. You will need to re-install by repeating the process of right clicking on the downloaded file again and selecting Install.

The other way to install the screen saver requires that you copy the .scr file to the proper Windows folder. Which folder you copy to depends on whether you are running a 64 bit or 32 bit version of Windows. For 32 bit, you copy the file to your Windows\System32 folder. For 64 bit Windows you will need to copy the .scr file to your Windows\SysWOW64 folder. Then you can select the KB3HHA screen saver using the Windows control panel.

Once the screen saver and a valid license have been installed you can configure the screen saver using the standard Windows screen saver control panel. In order to properly display the weather you must put your location in the general settings tab of the configuration dialog. You can enter either your US zip code and look up the latitude and longitude, or you can enter the coordinates directly. To display the weather radar you need to select a radar station on the weather tab of the configuration dialog. To display OpenGIS satellite images your latitude and longitude are required.

How To Install a License

For a New Install or an Expired Trial License

The first time you run or configure the screen saver you will be prompted to enter a license file. If you are using an expired trial license you will also see this same prompt.

If you already have a license, select the "Enter a License File" button and choose the appropriate license file. If you do not already have a valid license, choose "Start Free Trial" or "Purchase a License" to be directed to the web site to obtain either a trial or a permanent license.

Once the license has been installed you can configure the screen saver using the standard Windows screen saver control panel. In order to properly display the weather you must put your location in the general settings tab of the configuration dialog. You can enter either your US zip code and look up the latitude and longitude, or you can enter the coordinates directly. To display the weather radar you need to select a radar station on the weather tab of the configuration dialog. To display OpenGIS satellite images your latitude and longitude are required.

Trial License (not expired) to Full License

If you are using a trial license that has not yet expired and wish to install a permanent license, open the screen saver configuration dialog and select License/Install from the menu bar. The File Open dialog box will appear. Browse to the location of the license file and open it. This will install your license file.