Access to Thredds and Opendap data

[James Burn]

Hi

I'm wondering if it is possible to use Grads 2.0 to access data via an
Opendap server such as
http://nomads.ncdc.noaa.gov/thredds/catalog/gfs4/catalog.html

I've not seen any mention of Thredds here on the Grads list so am guessing
its not the done thing. I've Windows XP here and Opensuse Linux at home.

When I try to sdfopen one of the Grib2 files eg
http://nomads.ncdc.noaa.gov/thredds/dodsC/gfs4/200901/20090108/gfs_4_2009010
8_1800_171.grb2

I get gaopnc error and "Can't ingest SDF Metadata".

I've also tried making the appropriate .inv and .idx files locally and
opening a local .ctl file which seems more promising, but seems to fall
over when accessing the binary file via http.

Is what I am trying to do possible? Or is data access limited to dods and
local servers?  My feeling is that I'm missing a trick or two.

This is my first post, although I've been hacking together scripts for a
year now and would like to thank all those who contribute to this list for
the tips I've picked up so far!

Thanks
James Burn