grabbing weather faxes inexpensively on passage
 

A few people have emailed asking how, on our budget, we can afford to
pull down weather faxes while on passage.
The system is detailed in this little article:

http://www.micoverde.com/articles/articles_wx.html

grabbing weather faxes inexpensively on passage
 

On 15 May 2006 13:56:19 -0700, "
wrote:
A few people have emailed asking how, on our budget, we can afford to
pull down weather faxes while on passage.
The system is detailed in this little article:

http://www.micoverde.com/articles/articles_wx.html

That's all true but if you are cruising offshore you should really
have 2 way SSB capability, and with the addition of a PACTOR modem you
get EMAIL, GRIB files, and error free transmissions of the fax data
via EMAIL attachments. There are really significant quality benefits,
and for far less cost than satellite internet.

grabbing weather faxes inexpensively on passage
 

anyone getting weather information directly from satellite ? i've seen
a number of stationary satellite antennas for sailboats so someone must
be using them. how do you do that, are you using your laptop to
receive and convert the data into weather maps or do you have some kind
of a dedicated satellite weather device for doing it ?

by the way, great article warrenj, thanks for sharing.

agree wayne, pactor modem and radio look like a terrific solution for
email. i don't like that the code for the mail program is so closed,
that is, that there's only a windows version of it and the protocol
doesn't seem to be published, but otherwise it great stuff.

Wayne.B wrote:
On 15 May 2006 13:56:19 -0700, "
wrote:
A few people have emailed asking how, on our budget, we can afford to
pull down weather faxes while on passage.
The system is detailed in this little article:

http://www.micoverde.com/articles/articles_wx.html

That's all true but if you are cruising offshore you should really
have 2 way SSB capability, and with the addition of a PACTOR modem you
get EMAIL, GRIB files, and error free transmissions of the fax data
via EMAIL attachments. There are really significant quality benefits,
and for far less cost than satellite internet.

grabbing weather faxes inexpensively on passage
 

Please, please, please do not depend on free GRIB files for weather,
and FAX files are too large for sailmail, and probably large enough to
be impratical on Winlink. Anyway, the free GRIBs are mostly GFS
(because NOAA gives them away), and while they are better than nothing,
the model is wrong, often wildly wrong, often. The people who draw
weather fax charts are looking at several wx models (typically the EU,
the navy (NGP) and (GFS)) as well as getting bouy repots and space
immaging. They are also typically professional meterologists with a
great deal of experience in the part of the world for which they are
responsible. I have been looking at GRIBs on my boat for years (first
AVN -- hopeless at sea leve -- and now GFS models) and have just
finished over a month at sea working with them and they are wrong so
often that I stopped looking at them by the end of this passage.
Weather faxes (where available) are a far, far better source of
information, and you can download them with a recieve only SSB cabable
radio and a computer, plus, perhaps a small opAmp.

-- Tom.

grabbing weather faxes inexpensively on passage
 

For direct satelite reception, all you need is the HF frequency of the
satelite, a 'quadrafiliar' antenna, a laptop and a decoding program. I
use "multimode" for both WeFAX and Sat downlink in real time. I dont
know what software to use on a Windoze box as this is for a Mac.

The benefit is instant 'real time' data, so you dont have to wait for
NOAA, etc. interpretation. Of course you need to make you own weather
predictions. The best weather forecasting manual is probably Dashews':
"Mariners Weather Handbook".


In article .com,
purple_stars wrote:

anyone getting weather information directly from satellite ? i've seen
a number of stationary satellite antennas for sailboats so someone must
be using them. how do you do that, are you using your laptop to
receive and convert the data into weather maps or do you have some kind
of a dedicated satellite weather device for doing it ?

by the way, great article warrenj, thanks for sharing.

agree wayne, pactor modem and radio look like a terrific solution for
email. i don't like that the code for the mail program is so closed,
that is, that there's only a windows version of it and the protocol
doesn't seem to be published, but otherwise it great stuff.

Wayne.B wrote:
On 15 May 2006 13:56:19 -0700, "
wrote:
A few people have emailed asking how, on our budget, we can afford to
pull down weather faxes while on passage.
The system is detailed in this little article:

http://www.micoverde.com/articles/articles_wx.html

That's all true but if you are cruising offshore you should really
have 2 way SSB capability, and with the addition of a PACTOR modem you
get EMAIL, GRIB files, and error free transmissions of the fax data
via EMAIL attachments. There are really significant quality benefits,
and for far less cost than satellite internet.

grabbing weather faxes inexpensively on passage
 

purple_stars wrote:
anyone getting weather information directly from satellite ? i've seen
a number of stationary satellite antennas for sailboats so someone must
be using them. how do you do that, are you using your laptop to
receive and convert the data into weather maps or do you have some kind
of a dedicated satellite weather device for doing it ?

by the way, great article warrenj, thanks for sharing.

agree wayne, pactor modem and radio look like a terrific solution for
email. i don't like that the code for the mail program is so closed,
that is, that there's only a windows version of it and the protocol
doesn't seem to be published, but otherwise it great stuff.

Wayne.B wrote:

On 15 May 2006 13:56:19 -0700, "
wrote:

A few people have emailed asking how, on our budget, we can afford to
pull down weather faxes while on passage.
The system is detailed in this little article:

http://www.micoverde.com/articles/articles_wx.html

That's all true but if you are cruising offshore you should really
have 2 way SSB capability, and with the addition of a PACTOR modem you
get EMAIL, GRIB files, and error free transmissions of the fax data
via EMAIL attachments. There are really significant quality benefits,
and for far less cost than satellite internet.


I receive the Polar Orbiting satellites. I use a Hamtronics R139
receiver which outputs the decoded signal to the sound card input on the
laptop. There are several software packages, but the best I have found
is WXtoimg. An circular polarized egg beater antenna works best but I
found the my 5/8 wave 2 meter antenna mounted on a stainless plate on my
arch works almost as good. I to get a few fade lines occasionally.
Currently NOAA 15,17,and 18 have operational VHF downlinks. See
http://www.oso.noaa.gov/poes for information.
krj

grabbing weather faxes inexpensively on passage
 

On 15 May 2006 20:24:32 -0700, "purple_stars"
wrote:

pactor modem and radio look like a terrific solution for
email. i don't like that the code for the mail program is so closed,
that is, that there's only a windows version of it and the protocol
doesn't seem to be published, but otherwise it great stuff.

I'm very happy with mine. I've even figured out how to retrieve stock
quotes, news headlines, and buoy reports via EMAIL

grabbing weather faxes inexpensively on passage
 

I have been using the R139 for several years and it is a good receiver.
Traded it to Skip for use on Flying Pig so I am without right now. Found a
highly recommended version built by a guy in the Czech Republic named
Miroslav Gola. For $100 it looks like an excellent deal so I am going to
try it with my new stainless QFH antenna.

I am on my 4th generation of homebrew antennas now and think it is
outrageous what they charge for "marine" QFHs. I can build one in under 4
hours for about $50 and they want $500+. You just have to be very careful
with the measurements. At 137MHZ a millimeter or two makes a huge
difference in frequency response. Shape has a lot to do with it too. I
have the tuning down very good. Now I am working on the proportions so I
can get horizon to horizon with no dead spots. Right now I can get from
Hudson Bay to the Mona Passage from Macon but I think I can make it all the
way to the Virgins with a little tweeking.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"krj" wrote

I receive the Polar Orbiting satellites. I use a Hamtronics R139 receiver
which outputs the decoded signal to the sound card input on the laptop.
There are several software packages, but the best I have found is WXtoimg.
An circular polarized egg beater antenna works best but I found the my 5/8
wave 2 meter antenna mounted on a stainless plate on my arch works almost
as good. I to get a few fade lines occasionally. Currently NOAA 15,17,and
18 have operational VHF downlinks. See http://www.oso.noaa.gov/poes for
information.
krj

grabbing weather faxes inexpensively on passage
 

Hmm, why exactly must I have an SSB? I've just made 10,000 miles from
Seattle to Fiji and haven't needed one yet. Am I missing something?

grabbing weather faxes inexpensively on passage
 

You don't need a marine SSB radio to get wxFax, only a receiver that
can tune in SSB broadcasts -- ie not an AM only shortwave. Of course,
you don't need wxFax. I stopped bothering with them on this trip up
from New Zealand to Honolulu 'cause the two faxes that I wanted decided
to take a week off...

Have fun in Fiji -- say "hi" to my buddies in "tiny bubbles" if you see
them.

Bula!

-- Tom.