weatherfax range
 

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!

weatherfax range
 

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

weatherfax range
 

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

weatherfax range
 

All great advice, I did the same trip a year ago and we were only able
to receive the Pt Reyes station reliably, and did so on the entire
passage. We used the same station on the return trip to the NW.
I used a similar radio, the ICOM 702MKGII and used the MSCAN METEO
software to downloaded directly to my laptop. I also kept in touch with
the others making the same passage.
I am sure you are aware of Don of Summer Passage. If you get his
check in schedule, he does a pretty good job of weather routing.
My son just reminded me to suggest that you keep a fishing line out
every day. We caught fish all the way across and even more coming back.
Any big green lure and the biggest cable you can through out the back.


John

weatherfax range
 

Sorry, I have an 706MKIIG, not the non existent 702
John

weatherfax range
 

john, could you talk more about the setup you have, how you have your
radio connected to your laptop for receiving weatherfax. do you just
have audio cables plugged in one to the other or do you have any kind
of level converters, amplifiers, or anything else in between ? thanks.


wrote:
All great advice, I did the same trip a year ago and we were only able
to receive the Pt Reyes station reliably, and did so on the entire
passage. We used the same station on the return trip to the NW.
I used a similar radio, the ICOM 702MKGII and used the MSCAN METEO
software to downloaded directly to my laptop. I also kept in touch with
the others making the same passage.
I am sure you are aware of Don of Summer Passage. If you get his
check in schedule, he does a pretty good job of weather routing.
My son just reminded me to suggest that you keep a fishing line out
every day. We caught fish all the way across and even more coming back.
Any big green lure and the biggest cable you can through out the back.


John

weatherfax range
 

If you go to the web site for Mscan Meteo you will see there is nothing
too it. I was in La Cruz a year ago and downloaded all the software at
Philos bar. There is no need for anything in between the radio and
computer other then a wire from the headphone jack on the SSB to the
Mic jack on the computer.
When you start up the program there is a graph in the upper right
corner of the screen showing the incoming signal. It auto adjusts for
the input strength and you just have to adjust the fine tune on your
freq to get the test signal to be lined up with the marks on the graph.
The test signal precedes the broadcasts for the weather fax. The only
thing you will need to do is a one time adjust for your computer clock
speed vs. the incoming signal clock. There are instructions on how to
do it in the set up, but your first picture will be slanted. It took me
about an hour to set it up and be comfortable with the whole thing.
If there is a down side, it is that it takes a long time to download
all the weather fax info. I found the 72 hour wind wave forecast to be
the most helpful and the 50 milbar (sp) good, and the kids liked the
sat photo. So during the crossing I would check in with a couple
cruisers every day, then check in with Don and download fax on
alternating days.
Bring a bottle to through a message out half way!
Have a great trip.
John
S/V Pangea (although we sold her last month, we will never forget all
the great things she did for us)

weatherfax range
 

Should be fine. Once you get w/in about 200 miles you will likely be
in the skip zone of the Hawaii faxes. However, you'll get VHF weather
the next day, so it usually is no big thing. If you are a Ham (I
presume you are with that rig) then you might check in with the pacific
seafarer's net -- 14300 @ 0300Z. If you are in a jam or need special
wx info someone (often Don N6HG) will probably be willing to troll the
net for what you need.

Have fun!

-- Tom.