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posted to rec.boats,rec.boats.cruising
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Short wave/SSB receiver for cruising
On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 09:26:23 -0800 (PST), "Katie O'Hara"
wrote: I am considering buying a portable short wave/ssb receiver for when I am cruising the Bahamas. My thinking is that I might be able to get weather forecasts. Can anybody comment on this? Can you get the usual NOAA weather channels on VHF in out islands? Am I correct in thinking one can get weather an shortwave/SSB? There are a number of different ways to get weather in the Bahamas. With a good antenna you can pick up the NOAA VHF broadcasts from Miami in the north western islands. If you are near Marsh Harbour in the Abacos you can tune into the cruisers net at 0815 on channel 68 VHF. There is also a lot of other good information available on the cruisers net. Next best is an internet connection where you can access all the usual sources, too many to list here, but weatherunderground is usually decent. http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/hdfForecast?query=bahamas&searchType=WEATHER There are various strategies for getting on the internet but most people in the Bahamas are using some sort of extended range WiFi adapter. The ones from Island Time PC are excellent: http://www.islandtimepc.com/marine_wifi.html Last but not necessarily least is shortwave SSB radio. US National Weather Service provides so called High Seas weather broadcasts in voice on various frequencies. These are wide area forecasts and somewhat cryptic to the uninitiated. Practice before you go and consider recording the broadcasts so you can replay them as needed. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/hfvoice.htm The HF Radio service that I consider most useful are the weather FAX transmissions but these are the most complicated to receive. You will need a patch cord between the audio output of your receiver, and the audio input of your PC. You will also need some special software on the PC: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=pc+weather+fax+software Some of these are better than others, and some are free. They all require a fair amount of setup and practice however. Don't wait until the last minute. Two of the oldest and most popular are JVCOMM32 and PC HF Facsimile 8.1 For Windows: http://www.jvcomm.de/index_e.html http://www.ssccorp.com/products.htm There is another solution he http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Produc...tid=MFJ-1214PC When you get it all working you can tune into the NWS FAX transmissions from New Orleans and get very detailed weather information: http://weather.noaa.gov/fax/gulf.shtml The best frequencies in the Bahamas for New Orleans weather FAX are typically 4317.9, 8503.9, or 12789.9 KHz depending on time of day and propagation conditions. Here are some other resources: http://windom.cybox.com/ssb.html |
#2
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Short wave/SSB receiver for cruising
On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 14:56:20 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote: On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 09:26:23 -0800 (PST), "Katie O'Hara" wrote: I am considering buying a portable short wave/ssb receiver for when I am cruising the Bahamas. My thinking is that I might be able to get weather forecasts. Can anybody comment on this? Can you get the usual NOAA weather channels on VHF in out islands? Am I correct in thinking one can get weather an shortwave/SSB? There are a number of different ways to get weather in the Bahamas. With a good antenna you can pick up the NOAA VHF broadcasts from Miami in the north western islands. If you are near Marsh Harbour in the Abacos you can tune into the cruisers net at 0815 on channel 68 VHF. There is also a lot of other good information available on the cruisers net. Next best is an internet connection where you can access all the usual sources, too many to list here, but weatherunderground is usually decent. http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/hdfForecast?query=bahamas&searchType=WEATHER There are various strategies for getting on the internet but most people in the Bahamas are using some sort of extended range WiFi adapter. The ones from Island Time PC are excellent: http://www.islandtimepc.com/marine_wifi.html Last but not necessarily least is shortwave SSB radio. US National Weather Service provides so called High Seas weather broadcasts in voice on various frequencies. These are wide area forecasts and somewhat cryptic to the uninitiated. Practice before you go and consider recording the broadcasts so you can replay them as needed. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/hfvoice.htm The HF Radio service that I consider most useful are the weather FAX transmissions but these are the most complicated to receive. You will need a patch cord between the audio output of your receiver, and the audio input of your PC. You will also need some special software on the PC: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=pc+weather+fax+software Some of these are better than others, and some are free. They all require a fair amount of setup and practice however. Don't wait until the last minute. Two of the oldest and most popular are JVCOMM32 and PC HF Facsimile 8.1 For Windows: http://www.jvcomm.de/index_e.html http://www.ssccorp.com/products.htm There is another solution he http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Produc...tid=MFJ-1214PC When you get it all working you can tune into the NWS FAX transmissions from New Orleans and get very detailed weather information: http://weather.noaa.gov/fax/gulf.shtml The best frequencies in the Bahamas for New Orleans weather FAX are typically 4317.9, 8503.9, or 12789.9 KHz depending on time of day and propagation conditions. Here are some other resources: http://windom.cybox.com/ssb.html for whatever its worth. A friend cruised for a few years between Singapore and the Philippines using a "yacht boy", I believe its called. A smallish transistorized radio that received Am-Fm and some of the shortwave channels. It had a BFO so it would receive SSB also. He had it connected to a laptop and received both voice weather and weather charts He may be still using it :-) Cheers, Bruce |
#3
posted to rec.boats,rec.boats.cruising
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Short wave/SSB receiver for cruising
On Nov 27, 11:56*am, Wayne.B wrote:
On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 09:26:23 -0800 (PST), "Katie O'Hara" wrote: I am considering buying a portable short wave/ssb receiver for when I am cruising the Bahamas. *My thinking is that I might be able to get weather forecasts. *Can anybody comment on this? *Can you get the usual NOAA weather channels on VHF in out islands? *Am I correct in thinking one can get weather an shortwave/SSB? There are a number of different ways to get weather in the Bahamas. With a good antenna you can pick up the NOAA VHF broadcasts from Miami in the north western islands. * If you are near Marsh Harbour in the Abacos you can tune into the cruisers net at 0815 on channel 68 VHF. There is also a lot of other good information available on the cruisers net. Next best is an internet connection where you can access all the usual sources, too many to list here, but weatherunderground is usually decent. http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/hdfForecast?query=bah.... There are various strategies for getting on the internet but most people in the Bahamas are using some sort of extended range WiFi adapter. * The ones from Island Time PC are excellent: http://www.islandtimepc.com/marine_wifi.html Last but not necessarily least is shortwave SSB radio. * US National Weather Service provides so called High Seas weather broadcasts in voice on various frequencies. * These are wide area forecasts *and somewhat cryptic to the uninitiated. * Practice before you go and consider recording the broadcasts so you can replay them as needed. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/hfvoice.htm The HF Radio service that I consider most useful are the weather FAX transmissions but these are the most complicated to receive. *You will need a patch cord between the audio output of your receiver, and the audio input of your PC. * You will also need some special software on the PC: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=pc+weather+fax+software Some of these are better than others, and some are free. * They all require a fair amount of setup and practice however. *Don't wait until the last minute. *Two of the oldest and most popular are JVCOMM32 and PC HF Facsimile 8.1 For Windows: http://www.jvcomm.de/index_e.html http://www.ssccorp.com/products.htm There is another solution he http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Produc...tid=MFJ-1214PC When you get it all working you can tune into the NWS FAX transmissions from New Orleans and get very detailed weather information: http://weather.noaa.gov/fax/gulf.shtml The best frequencies in the Bahamas for New Orleans weather FAX are typically 4317.9, 8503.9, or 12789.9 KHz depending on time of day and propagation conditions. Here are some other resources: http://windom.cybox.com/ssb.html Excellent post Wayne B: Thank you. This is worth archiving Bob |
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