Installing SOS Explorer®

Download the SOS Explorer® (SOSx) Installer:

Run the SOS Explorer® Installer by double clicking the downloaded executable and granting administrator privileges.

SOS Explorer® Installer will open. Click Next until the Configure Shortcuts menu appears.

We recommend keeping the default setting with all the options checked and clicking Next.

Click Browse to choose the folder where you want to install SOS Explorer®. You can keep this setting by default if you don’t need a custom location.

We highly recommend you leave this option checked. This will ensure the real-time datasets you install will update every Tuesday at 9 AM local time. Leaving this option checked will also run the synchronizing script at the end of the installation. Press the Next button when done.

Choose the Datasets you want to include in your installation.

This software program, SOSx, is able to pull datasets from the vast SOS Dataset Catalog that serves NOAA’s Science On a Sphere. If you’re not familiar with this catalog, you may want to browse it before you choose which datasets you would like to download. In the catalog, be sure to set the Platform filter on the right to SOS Explorer® so that you are viewing the datasets available for SOS Explorer®.

• Essential: Installs a curated list of our favorite Datasets but only includes a few single frame real-time datasets and no real-time animations. A list of the Essential datasets can be found here.
• Custom: Choose which Datasets you want to install. This install already includes Essential datasets by default.
• Complete: Includes all of our 115+ Datasets. If you chose the Complete install, it may take from an hour to more than a day to finish, depending on your internet connection.

The Dataset Management menu will pop up. This menu will give you the option to select the specific Datasets you would like to install.

• Reset Resets the datasets selected to the default Essential install.
• Space Needed Displays an overview of the disk space available on your system, as well as the space required to install the selected datasets on your system.
• Next Continues with the SOS Explorer® installation.

This menu lets you select an option that will optimize your computer for exhibiting (e.g. a display in a public setting, like a museum). By default, we leave this option unchecked.

• Hide SOSx Exit Button: This will disable the Exit Button within the Settings of SOSx. This can be reverted by opening the SOSx Configuration App (go to your Desktop > SOSx Utilities > SOSx Configurator).

In this screen, the Installer will download, install, and make the necessary changes to your system. Please be patient as this process can take a while.

Before finishing the install, there are a few more options to consider. Make your selections and then click Finish. Depending on what you have selected, you will see some additional pop ups, as described in the points below.

• Launch SOS Explorer®: SOS Explorer® will launch after you click Finish.
• View Quick Start Guide: The URL to the Quick Start Guide file will be opened.
• Install LAV Filters (Recommended): LAV Filters are recommended for optimal playback in SOS Explorer®. Click this link for more details.

If you opted to install LAV Filters, you will see a pop up to begin that process. We recommend keeping the default options.

After completing the LAV Filters installation, please press Finish to close it.

If you chose to Sync Real-time Datasets, the installer will automatically run a command-line window after the install is done (the window will be minimized when running). Going through the sync process will take some time the first time, so we recommend leaving it running until it automatically closes.

The command-line window will look like the following:

This sync script, when enabled, will run weekly every Tuesday at 9 AM local time. You can manually update real-time datasets anytime by double-clicking “SOSx Real-time Dataset Sync” shortcut icon in your SOSx Utilities folder on your Desktop.