While awaiting to cross over to the Bahamas last winter I spend
quite alot of time looking at WX data. I was pretty disappointed
with the GRIB data I was getting. It rarely matched the other
prediction products from NOAA and when doing a post-mordem
it rarely matched what actually happened. I quit using them. Perhaps
in the Pacific they are more accurate but I was dissapointed with
them in the FL/Bahamas area.

Another nice thing about Winlink is that the total connect time per
day is higher. I was able to download WX products several times
per day. Also, I was using a base station in Gaithersburg, MD much
of the time and it was almost always available and rock solid signal.
Unfortunally the OP lost his job and had to shut down. He, and several
other OPs increased my connect time quota since the WX systems
were so active and fast changing during early Jan.

Never tried the email FTP service. I did use the one Sailmail advocates
though (Sailinfo was it called?). The catalog in Winlink was better and
seemed to offer more products.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

"Paul" wrote in message
...
When I used both systems last summer, PACTOR III was running on Sailmail,
so
the throughput was very good. Receiving my daily GRIB file (a weather
file
format) was much quicker with P.III. I used Airmail 3 (a terminal/mail
program) with both Sailmail and Winlink, with the propagation model,
FAX/GRIB viewer, and station catalogs for both systems. I suppose that if
I
had searched a bit more I might have been able to find Winlink stations
that
were accessable, but I generally tried the top five or so from the
catalog,
depending on propagation details. The ham bands were just so full of QRM
compared to the marine bands used by Sailmail that it soon became apparent
that I wasn't going to be able to make or hold a connection with Winlink.

Have you tried getting email ftp weatherfaxes (etc) from the NOAA site
)? I could only get it to work occasionally, but
I
haven't debugged it -- ended up just receiving wfax via HF through my
PTC-II
Pro modem.

Finally, I can report that my Iridium satphone worked really well. I only
had one or two dropped calls between Hawaii and San Francisco, and the
equipment, activation, and per-minute expenses were better that the
competing full-coverage satphone systems. I occasionally used it for
medium-speed data connections, but mainly used it for voice.

-Paul - wb6cxc - s/v VALIS

"Doug Dotson" wrote in message
...
Winlink is pretty busy. The management team has been taking
steps to ease the congestion. I also had both Sailmail and
Winlink while in the Bahamas and up and down the ICW with
no real trouble with either. There are so many Winlink base stations
and many have multiple receivers so I rarely had much trouble
finding one. The catalog feature of Winlink is what I found the
most useful. Also, the propogation module made finding potential
stations a snap. At the time Sailmail was not supporting PACTOR III
so the superior speed of Winlink when downloading weather
products made life nice. I could reliably connect at 1400 baud and
occationally up to 3200 baud.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

Comparing the GRIB to the actual weather, I really couldn't tell you if it
was much better than random extrapolation from current conditions. It did
seem to predict general pressure movements, and on the way back to San
Francisco it did show the Pacific High being shoved south (allowing us to
turn east at Lat 40, rather than Lat 45 or 50 that we were afraid we would
have to do when we left Kauaii). We were cross-checking with the other WFAX
products, but didn't do a careful post-mortem comparison. Anyway, we had
enough fuel to motor across if we needed to (didn't need to). We only took
the GRIB predictions for 1-3 days out. The wind direction and speed
predictions in between the high and low systems weren't all that accurate,
but once we got out of the transition regions it wasn't too bad. And, as
they point out, GRIB won't show tropical storm activity very well. We were
watching the storms come out of Baja during August and Sept -- the WFAX
photos and charts were very useful, but the GRIB only showed a tiny ripple
in the isobars. GRIB by itself doesn't cut it for sure.

I really like the looks of the Winlink weather info catalog, and many of the
Winlink system features, but I just couldn't reliably (read "easily")
connect. SailMail was a solid performer for me, and I didn't have any
problems with connect time. Of course, I was using Pactor III and just
sending/receiving a few KBytes of email a day and receiving my daily 10KByte
GRIB file. I will keep trying Winlink, 'cause I would really like to be
able to use it. No doubt I can improve my results with better operating
procedure.

Best,
Paul - wb6cxc - s/v VALIS

"Doug Dotson" wrote in message
...
While awaiting to cross over to the Bahamas last winter I spend
quite alot of time looking at WX data. I was pretty disappointed
with the GRIB data I was getting. It rarely matched the other
prediction products from NOAA and when doing a post-mordem
it rarely matched what actually happened. I quit using them. Perhaps
in the Pacific they are more accurate but I was dissapointed with
them in the FL/Bahamas area.

Another nice thing about Winlink is that the total connect time per
day is higher. I was able to download WX products several times
per day. Also, I was using a base station in Gaithersburg, MD much
of the time and it was almost always available and rock solid signal.
Unfortunally the OP lost his job and had to shut down. He, and several
other OPs increased my connect time quota since the WX systems
were so active and fast changing during early Jan.

Never tried the email FTP service. I did use the one Sailmail advocates
though (Sailinfo was it called?). The catalog in Winlink was better and
seemed to offer more products.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

Comparing the GRIB to the actual weather, I really couldn't tell you if it
was much better than random extrapolation from current conditions. It did
seem to predict general pressure movements, and on the way back to San
Francisco it did show the Pacific High being shoved south (allowing us to
turn east at Lat 40, rather than Lat 45 or 50 that we were afraid we would
have to do when we left Kauaii). We were cross-checking with the other WFAX
products, but didn't do a careful post-mortem comparison. Anyway, we had
enough fuel to motor across if we needed to (didn't need to). We only took
the GRIB predictions for 1-3 days out. The wind direction and speed
predictions in between the high and low systems weren't all that accurate,
but once we got out of the transition regions it wasn't too bad. And, as
they point out, GRIB won't show tropical storm activity very well. We were
watching the storms come out of Baja during August and Sept -- the WFAX
photos and charts were very useful, but the GRIB only showed a tiny ripple
in the isobars. GRIB by itself doesn't cut it for sure.

I really like the looks of the Winlink weather info catalog, and many of the
Winlink system features, but I just couldn't reliably (read "easily")
connect. SailMail was a solid performer for me, and I didn't have any
problems with connect time. Of course, I was using Pactor III and just
sending/receiving a few KBytes of email a day and receiving my daily 10KByte
GRIB file. I will keep trying Winlink, 'cause I would really like to be
able to use it. No doubt I can improve my results with better operating
procedure.

Best,
Paul - wb6cxc - s/v VALIS

"Doug Dotson" wrote in message
...
While awaiting to cross over to the Bahamas last winter I spend
quite alot of time looking at WX data. I was pretty disappointed
with the GRIB data I was getting. It rarely matched the other
prediction products from NOAA and when doing a post-mordem
it rarely matched what actually happened. I quit using them. Perhaps
in the Pacific they are more accurate but I was dissapointed with
them in the FL/Bahamas area.

Another nice thing about Winlink is that the total connect time per
day is higher. I was able to download WX products several times
per day. Also, I was using a base station in Gaithersburg, MD much
of the time and it was almost always available and rock solid signal.
Unfortunally the OP lost his job and had to shut down. He, and several
other OPs increased my connect time quota since the WX systems
were so active and fast changing during early Jan.

Never tried the email FTP service. I did use the one Sailmail advocates
though (Sailinfo was it called?). The catalog in Winlink was better and
seemed to offer more products.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

As I mentioned before, the Winlink team has been making
some changes to releive the conjestion. For example, connects
used to be made in P1 mode, then switched up to
P2 or P3 depending upon what was available. Now connections
are made at P2 so negitiating the connection is faster. A number
of other of changes were made as well. I haven't used it since
last summer since we are out of the water for repairs until next
summer sometime (hopefully). Sailmail has alot fewer users so
it is definitely superior in that regard. I wish they would implement
the catalog feature like Winlink though.

Glad I wasn't imagining the problem with GRIB files.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Comparing the GRIB to the actual weather, I really couldn't tell you if it
was much better than random extrapolation from current conditions. It did
seem to predict general pressure movements, and on the way back to San
Francisco it did show the Pacific High being shoved south (allowing us to
turn east at Lat 40, rather than Lat 45 or 50 that we were afraid we would
have to do when we left Kauaii). We were cross-checking with the other
WFAX
products, but didn't do a careful post-mortem comparison. Anyway, we had
enough fuel to motor across if we needed to (didn't need to). We only
took
the GRIB predictions for 1-3 days out. The wind direction and speed
predictions in between the high and low systems weren't all that accurate,
but once we got out of the transition regions it wasn't too bad. And, as
they point out, GRIB won't show tropical storm activity very well. We
were
watching the storms come out of Baja during August and Sept -- the WFAX
photos and charts were very useful, but the GRIB only showed a tiny ripple
in the isobars. GRIB by itself doesn't cut it for sure.

I really like the looks of the Winlink weather info catalog, and many of
the
Winlink system features, but I just couldn't reliably (read "easily")
connect. SailMail was a solid performer for me, and I didn't have any
problems with connect time. Of course, I was using Pactor III and just
sending/receiving a few KBytes of email a day and receiving my daily
10KByte
GRIB file. I will keep trying Winlink, 'cause I would really like to be
able to use it. No doubt I can improve my results with better operating
procedure.

Best,
Paul - wb6cxc - s/v VALIS

"Doug Dotson" wrote in message
...
While awaiting to cross over to the Bahamas last winter I spend
quite alot of time looking at WX data. I was pretty disappointed
with the GRIB data I was getting. It rarely matched the other
prediction products from NOAA and when doing a post-mordem
it rarely matched what actually happened. I quit using them. Perhaps
in the Pacific they are more accurate but I was dissapointed with
them in the FL/Bahamas area.

Another nice thing about Winlink is that the total connect time per
day is higher. I was able to download WX products several times
per day. Also, I was using a base station in Gaithersburg, MD much
of the time and it was almost always available and rock solid signal.
Unfortunally the OP lost his job and had to shut down. He, and several
other OPs increased my connect time quota since the WX systems
were so active and fast changing during early Jan.

Never tried the email FTP service. I did use the one Sailmail advocates
though (Sailinfo was it called?). The catalog in Winlink was better and
seemed to offer more products.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

As I mentioned before, the Winlink team has been making
some changes to releive the conjestion. For example, connects
used to be made in P1 mode, then switched up to
P2 or P3 depending upon what was available. Now connections
are made at P2 so negitiating the connection is faster. A number
of other of changes were made as well. I haven't used it since
last summer since we are out of the water for repairs until next
summer sometime (hopefully). Sailmail has alot fewer users so
it is definitely superior in that regard. I wish they would implement
the catalog feature like Winlink though.

Glad I wasn't imagining the problem with GRIB files.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Comparing the GRIB to the actual weather, I really couldn't tell you if it
was much better than random extrapolation from current conditions. It did
seem to predict general pressure movements, and on the way back to San
Francisco it did show the Pacific High being shoved south (allowing us to
turn east at Lat 40, rather than Lat 45 or 50 that we were afraid we would
have to do when we left Kauaii). We were cross-checking with the other
WFAX
products, but didn't do a careful post-mortem comparison. Anyway, we had
enough fuel to motor across if we needed to (didn't need to). We only
took
the GRIB predictions for 1-3 days out. The wind direction and speed
predictions in between the high and low systems weren't all that accurate,
but once we got out of the transition regions it wasn't too bad. And, as
they point out, GRIB won't show tropical storm activity very well. We
were
watching the storms come out of Baja during August and Sept -- the WFAX
photos and charts were very useful, but the GRIB only showed a tiny ripple
in the isobars. GRIB by itself doesn't cut it for sure.

I really like the looks of the Winlink weather info catalog, and many of
the
Winlink system features, but I just couldn't reliably (read "easily")
connect. SailMail was a solid performer for me, and I didn't have any
problems with connect time. Of course, I was using Pactor III and just
sending/receiving a few KBytes of email a day and receiving my daily
10KByte
GRIB file. I will keep trying Winlink, 'cause I would really like to be
able to use it. No doubt I can improve my results with better operating
procedure.

Best,
Paul - wb6cxc - s/v VALIS

"Doug Dotson" wrote in message
...
While awaiting to cross over to the Bahamas last winter I spend
quite alot of time looking at WX data. I was pretty disappointed
with the GRIB data I was getting. It rarely matched the other
prediction products from NOAA and when doing a post-mordem
it rarely matched what actually happened. I quit using them. Perhaps
in the Pacific they are more accurate but I was dissapointed with
them in the FL/Bahamas area.

Another nice thing about Winlink is that the total connect time per
day is higher. I was able to download WX products several times
per day. Also, I was using a base station in Gaithersburg, MD much
of the time and it was almost always available and rock solid signal.
Unfortunally the OP lost his job and had to shut down. He, and several
other OPs increased my connect time quota since the WX systems
were so active and fast changing during early Jan.

Never tried the email FTP service. I did use the one Sailmail advocates
though (Sailinfo was it called?). The catalog in Winlink was better and
seemed to offer more products.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista