# Usage Questions

**URL:** https://discourse.obspy.org/c/usage-questions/6.md

[Latest](https://discourse.obspy.org/latest.md) · [Categories](https://discourse.obspy.org/categories.md) · [Tags](https://discourse.obspy.org/tags.md)

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## [About the Usage Questions category](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/about-the-usage-questions-category/16)

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**Author:** [@megies](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/megies)\
**Replies:** 0

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Any usage question around ObsPy go here Need help using ObsPy? Then this is the place for it. Whenever applicable, please include a Short, Self Contained, Correct (Compilable), Example. Depending on the problem, stating…

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## [problem with rotated components with rotate(method="NE-\>RT", ...) ](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/problem-with-rotated-components-with-rotate-method-ne-rt/2393)

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**Author:** [@Sonia\_Bazargan](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/Sonia_Bazargan)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [June 5, 2026, 11:02am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/problem-with-rotated-components-with-rotate-method-ne-rt/2393 "2026-06-05T11:02:20Z")

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Hello everyone, I have 20 seismic nodes with channels DP1 (North), DP2 (East), and DPZ (Vertical) recording continuous data. I want to rotate the horizontal components (DP1, DP2) from NE to RT frame relative to a refere…

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## [Download teleseismic events from data center](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/download-teleseismic-events-from-data-center/2390)

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**Author:** [@benben](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/benben)\
**Replies:** 0\
**Last updated:** [May 11, 2026, 6:36am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/download-teleseismic-events-from-data-center/2390 "2026-05-11T06:36:14Z")

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Dear all, I am looking for a template to be able to download teleseismic events between 30 degrees and 90 degrees epicentral distance from Earthscope and GFZ Postdam for a travel time tomography study. Cheers

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## [Xcorr\_pick\_correction number of samples error](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/xcorr-pick-correction-number-of-samples-error/2386)

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**Author:** [@xiansch1](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/xiansch1)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [April 20, 2026, 10:24am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/xcorr-pick-correction-number-of-samples-error/2386 "2026-04-20T10:24:54Z")

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Hi, I’m trying to use obspy.signal.cross\_correlation.xcorr\_pick\_correction to adjust (mostly P) picks for microseismic data that was detected using template matching. I am getting an error saying “Exception: Less than …

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## [Instrument Response Reomoval](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/instrument-response-reomoval/2371)

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**Author:** [@Muhammad\_Awais](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/Muhammad_Awais)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [March 21, 2026, 12:20pm UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/instrument-response-reomoval/2371 "2026-03-21T12:20:04Z")

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Hi there, I have an XML file for my station and am trying to convert counts to displacement (m) using obspy. I also did separate counts to velocity (m/s), and integrated to displacement (m). After simulating to WA seism…

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## [Intermittent MDL errors around "split lines"?](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/intermittent-mdl-errors-around-split-lines/2366)

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**Author:** [@timcraig01](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/timcraig01)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [March 14, 2026, 6:47pm UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/intermittent-mdl-errors-around-split-lines/2366 "2026-03-14T18:47:03Z")

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Hi - I’ve recently started getting intermittent (and hence hard to predictably reproduce, and/or actually track down) errors when using the Massdownloader to access data from Earthscope. The MDL returns the exception ‘C…

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## [Obspy generates invalid QUAKEML](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/obspy-generates-invalid-quakeml/2365)

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**Author:** [@spara](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/spara)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [March 12, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/obspy-generates-invalid-quakeml/2365 "2026-03-12T14:50:40Z")

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I want to write a catalog to a file: client = Client("USGS") catalog = client.get\_events( starttime=UTCDateTime(2014, 7, 17), endtime=UTCDateTime(2014, 7, 19), latitude=46.2, longitude=-122.19, maxradius…

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## [Using build\_taup\_model for some models takes infinite time](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/using-build-taup-model-for-some-models-takes-infinite-time/2359)

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**Author:** [@Lorp\_Lorp](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/Lorp_Lorp)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [February 22, 2026, 9:52am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/using-build-taup-model-for-some-models-takes-infinite-time/2359 "2026-02-22T09:52:47Z")

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build\_taup\_model for kks21\_insight-constrained\_mars\_model, TAYAK\_Mars\_velocity\_model work fast correctly, but using models from Updated interior structure models of Mars with a liquid silicate layer atop the Martian core…

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## [Detecting glitches in waveforms](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/detecting-glitches-in-waveforms/2314)

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**Author:** [@Tubbetay](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/Tubbetay)\
**Replies:** 4\
**Last updated:** [February 10, 2026, 8:11am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/detecting-glitches-in-waveforms/2314 "2026-02-10T08:11:50Z")

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Hi, I’m quite new to Obspy. I’m currently trying to make a program to detect distortions in the traces’ waveforms like the following: The problem is, I have no idea how to identify and isolate them correctly. I’ve…

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## [Modifying Instrument Sensitivity in stationXML](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/modifying-instrument-sensitivity-in-stationxml/2334)

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**Author:** [@aubercor](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/aubercor)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [January 23, 2026, 3:25pm UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/modifying-instrument-sensitivity-in-stationxml/2334 "2026-01-23T15:25:01Z")

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Hello, I would like to modify the InstrumentSensitivity value without using the response.recalculate\_overall\_sensitivity() method. From what I understand, this value should be a combination of all gains (sensor, ADC), …

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## [Reading mseed file with bad timestamp](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/reading-mseed-file-with-bad-timestamp/2346)

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**Author:** [@cpaitor](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/cpaitor)\
**Replies:** 7\
**Last updated:** [January 23, 2026, 3:18pm UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/reading-mseed-file-with-bad-timestamp/2346 "2026-01-23T15:18:00Z")

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Hi Unfortunately there seems to be a bug in the software of one of our digitizer that resulted in a timestamp 2025-366 (year-julday) for the the first day of this year. Trying to read this file using obspy fails with t…

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## [Troubleshooting connection to RASPISHAKE FDSN server](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/troubleshooting-connection-to-raspishake-fdsn-server/1791)

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**Author:** [@sdg](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/sdg)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [November 4, 2025, 11:26am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/troubleshooting-connection-to-raspishake-fdsn-server/1791 "2025-11-04T11:26:30Z")

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Hello, I am trying to download RaspberryShake data using Obspy’s FDSN interface. I am having trouble connecting to the RaspberryShake client. I believe this is something specific to the server which I am trying to connec…

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## [Sensor\_keys and datalogger\_keys syntax](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/sensor-keys-and-datalogger-keys-syntax/2304)

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**Author:** [@jfonseca](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/jfonseca)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [September 26, 2025, 2:02pm UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/sensor-keys-and-datalogger-keys-syntax/2304 "2025-09-26T14:02:05Z")

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Dear Forum, my first attempt at creating stationxml stations with Obspy, please bear with me. I am having trouble finding guidelines on the syntax of the sensor\_keys and datalogger\_keys. I am using NRLvl2 offline. In …

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## [Libmseed warnings: a hack to to help identify problem data?](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/libmseed-warnings-a-hack-to-to-help-identify-problem-data/2287)

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**Author:** [@filefolder](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/filefolder)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [August 7, 2025, 12:43pm UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/libmseed-warnings-a-hack-to-to-help-identify-problem-data/2287 "2025-08-07T12:43:49Z")

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Something that has been nagging at me for a while is the common warning InternalMSEEDWarning: readMSEEDBuffer(): Not a SEED record. Will skip bytes … …when trying to read a malformed miniseed file (seems to happen if…

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## [Trace's arrival individual amplitude (also TauPyModel)](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/traces-arrival-individual-amplitude-also-taupymodel/2280)

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**Author:** [@sostenuto95](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/sostenuto95)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [July 28, 2025, 8:13am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/traces-arrival-individual-amplitude-also-taupymodel/2280 "2025-07-28T08:13:20Z")

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I’m new to Obspy and I’m trying to get amplitude of different phase arrivals. I have a trace that I can plot in time domain and in spectrogram which is nice to visualize where has the highest amplitude over time, but wh…

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## [Output is velocity or acceleration](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/output-is-velocity-or-acceleration/2262)

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**Author:** [@Nas94](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/Nas94)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [July 28, 2025, 7:49am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/output-is-velocity-or-acceleration/2262 "2025-07-28T07:49:47Z")

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I used the following code to retrieve data. If some stations in my study area have been equipped with accelerographs or seismographs, it does affect the output. I wrote “output velocity” because I need velocity data; how…

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## [Trouble reading this SEED file](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/trouble-reading-this-seed-file/1525)

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**Author:** [@filefolder](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/filefolder)\
**Replies:** 11\
**Last updated:** [July 15, 2025, 9:10am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/trouble-reading-this-seed-file/1525 "2025-07-15T09:10:55Z")

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Hi all, possibly more of a puzzle than a question but I wonder if anyone is able to crack open this slightly deformed SEED file. It is event data recorded in 1996 that would be quite valuable to have. Obspy (1.3.1) is n…

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## [Some warning about data process](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/some-warning-about-data-process/2246)

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**Author:** [@Simon202121](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/Simon202121)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [June 23, 2025, 8:01am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/some-warning-about-data-process/2246 "2025-06-23T08:01:57Z")

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I have preprocessed my seismic wave, but there are a few warnings like these. 1.UserWarning: Input sampling rate of stage 4 is inconsistent with the previous stages’ output sampling rate 2.WARNING (norm\_resp): computed…

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## [Build accelerometer response from values in m/s2](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/build-accelerometer-response-from-values-in-m-s2/2218)

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**Author:** [@yap](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/yap)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [May 3, 2025, 9:31am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/build-accelerometer-response-from-values-in-m-s2/2218 "2025-05-03T09:31:09Z")

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I am trying to build the response for a piezoelectric accelerometer for which I have a csv file with 8192 values given as “total response for the instrument at 2ms, including sensor and high pass filter at 0.5Hz” - I bel…

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## [perform moment tensor inversion using ObsPy](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/perform-moment-tensor-inversion-using-obspy/2222)

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**Author:** [@GGX](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/GGX)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [April 28, 2025, 8:48am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/perform-moment-tensor-inversion-using-obspy/2222 "2025-04-28T08:48:44Z")

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“Hello everyone, I’m a beginner in seismology. I’d like to know how to perform moment tensor inversion using ObsPy—are there any open-source packages or code examples? For instance, if I have waveform data from 30 seismi…

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## [using NRL to add station response without datalogger information? ](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/using-nrl-to-add-station-response-without-datalogger-information/2219)

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**Author:** [@kespinal](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/kespinal)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [April 28, 2025, 8:47am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/using-nrl-to-add-station-response-without-datalogger-information/2219 "2025-04-28T08:47:43Z")

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Hi there, I am hoping to add sensor information to new stations, and the get\_response\_ function requires the datalogger information with their associated voltages, though I unfortunately don’t have the datalogger voltag…

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## [unit problem,what unit it is after removing instrument response](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/unit-problem-what-unit-it-is-after-removing-instrument-response/2220)

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**Author:** [@GGX](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/GGX)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [April 28, 2025, 8:03am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/unit-problem-what-unit-it-is-after-removing-instrument-response/2220 "2025-04-28T08:03:27Z")

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“Hello everyone, I’d like to ask about the unit of waveforms after removing instrument response with ObsPy. Is it meters, nanometers, or some other unit?”

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## [Technical Discuss PSD Graphics](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/technical-discuss-psd-graphics/2146)

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**Author:** [@Bagus10](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/Bagus10)\
**Replies:** 4\
**Last updated:** [March 6, 2025, 1:21pm UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/technical-discuss-psd-graphics/2146 "2025-03-06T13:21:00Z")

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Hello, Good Afternoon I want to ask about my project use obspy python. I have silicon audio sensor. I have made Dataless PDCC IRIS for silicon audio. Then, I try use obspy python for display PSD’s graphic. I also use S…

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## [Artefact in PPSD](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/artefact-in-ppsd/2097)

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**Author:** [@Damien](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/Damien)\
**Replies:** 6\
**Last updated:** [February 20, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/artefact-in-ppsd/2097 "2025-02-20T15:39:30Z")

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Hi everyone, I have searched on this forum but didn’t see any topic related to this. I noticed there is always an artefact in the PPSD results, close to the max frequency. For example, it shows around 70 Hz when the sa…

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## [Reading large mseed file at once](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/reading-large-mseed-file-at-once/2145)

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**Author:** [@NAMAN\_HARISH\_NASRA](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/NAMAN_HARISH_NASRA)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [February 11, 2025, 5:10pm UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/reading-large-mseed-file-at-once/2145 "2025-02-11T17:10:13Z")

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I am trying to read a 25gb mseed file using obspy.read(). But it shows “ObsPy can currently not directly read mini-SEED files that are larger than 2^31 bytes (2048 MiB). To still read it, please read the file in chunks …

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## [How to convert response file from resp to polezero? There is a software to do that?](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/how-to-convert-response-file-from-resp-to-polezero-there-is-a-software-to-do-that/2147)

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**Author:** [@BRAHIM\_OUJANE](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/BRAHIM_OUJANE)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [February 10, 2025, 12:36pm UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/how-to-convert-response-file-from-resp-to-polezero-there-is-a-software-to-do-that/2147 "2025-02-10T12:36:30Z")

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How to convert response file from resp to polezero? There is a software to do that?

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## [Should/Does obspy write stats.processing into the mseed header?](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/should-does-obspy-write-stats-processing-into-the-mseed-header/2098)

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**Author:** [@mth](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/mth)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [January 24, 2025, 6:38pm UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/should-does-obspy-write-stats-processing-into-the-mseed-header/2098 "2025-01-24T18:38:57Z")

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I ask because it does not appear to do this. I tested on mac os with 1.4.0dev and on linux with 1.3 I tried trimming a stream, writing to disk and then reading back in. The processing attribute is present after the tr…

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## [Stream.plot - can I not plot the text box with SCNL](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/stream-plot-can-i-not-plot-the-text-box-with-scnl/2130)

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**Author:** [@dormant](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/dormant)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [January 22, 2025, 7:54pm UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/stream-plot-can-i-not-plot-the-text-box-with-scnl/2130 "2025-01-22T19:54:12Z")

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Is it possible to do a stream plot that doesn’t add the SCNL text box in the top left corner of each panel?

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## [Dayplot traces being cut off on right-hand side of plot at certain image sizes](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/dayplot-traces-being-cut-off-on-right-hand-side-of-plot-at-certain-image-sizes/1948)

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**Author:** [@CerpRem](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/CerpRem)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [January 7, 2025, 8:34am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/dayplot-traces-being-cut-off-on-right-hand-side-of-plot-at-certain-image-sizes/1948 "2025-01-07T08:34:34Z")

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Hi everyone! I’m trying to create a dayplot, but I’m running into an issue where the data on the right-hand side of the plot is being cut off. This only seems to happen with certain output sizes; e.g., starting at a res…

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## [Seeking TauP tvel and model building advice](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/seeking-taup-tvel-and-model-building-advice/2118)

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**Author:** [@SquirrelKnight](https://discourse.obspy.org/u/SquirrelKnight)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [January 7, 2025, 8:07am UTC](https://discourse.obspy.org/t/seeking-taup-tvel-and-model-building-advice/2118 "2025-01-07T08:07:48Z")

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I am working on a 1D locator that simply uses TauP and Scipy’s minimization function. Currently, I am using the ‘ak135’ model, but it is not entirely suitable for my study region, which is located offshore near a spreadi…

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