chuck wrote:
dingus wrote:

i will be sailing from puerto vallarta mexico to hawaii in may. i just
purchased a yaesu FT100D all band radio and am currently trying to set
it up to receive weatherfaxes. I was wondering if i will be able to
receive the honolulu (station KVM-70) based radiofax transmissions
along my entire route? If not, do you have any suggestions for
weatherfax reception.

thanks!


Unfortunately, we're at the bottom of the sunspot cycle. That aside,
at least one of KVM-70's three frequencies should provide usable
propagation. There may be periods of insufficient signal strength, of
course.

If you're using a backstay or similar tuned antenna, there's a good
chance it will have some directivity. If you really need a weatherfax
and conditions are poor, changing the heading of your boat may provide a
noticeable boost in received signal strength. Try it out beforehand on
different headings while observing the S-meter.

Good luck!

Chuck
In addition to the good advice above, you should probably get set up to
receive Hawaii, Pt Reyes CA, and Kodiak AK. That way regardless of the
propagation conditions you'll get a weather fax of the pacific. I find
just relying on one station gets me limited info. Different stations
come in differently at different times of day. They all have useful info.

Gary