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Weather Channel Onboard Radar System
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On Saturday 09 October 2004 8:06 pm in rec.boats.electronics Joseph wrote:
Anyone see this weather system yet - any good? Real-Time radar: http://onboard.weather.com/ Looks OK if you never leave USA coastal waters. Otherwise a bit useless. -- My real address is crn (at) netunix (dot) com WARNING all messages containing attachments or html will be silently deleted. Send only plain text. |
Only problem is all those annoying popup ads appearing on your radar.
"Joseph" wrote in message om... Anyone see this weather system yet - any good? Real-Time radar: http://onboard.weather.com/ |
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"Joseph" wrote in message om... Anyone see this weather system yet - any good? Real-Time radar: http://onboard.weather.com/ Seems way too pricey for what is essentially all free information (to a vessel that already has satellite internet connection). The quick access to data bases in useful format provides a lot of the product's value. I have always thought that commercial weather products might eventually eliminate the need for the US government to duplicate and compete with the private market in this area. But the price of this package, using information that the provider has little if any cost in obtaining, is not competitive in my opinion. Jack |
On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 10:05:07 -0400, "Jack Painter"
wrote: Seems way too pricey for what is essentially all free information (to a vessel that already has satellite internet connection). =========================================== That's my initial reaction also but when you stop and do the math it might make sense. Assume you spend 10 to 15 minutes a day downloading the information with your satellite internet connection which seems about right in my experience. If your satphone connection is costing anywhere from $1 to $3 per minute, $60 to $70 per month might turn out to be a bargain. You also get the information stored in what appears to be a very convenient format which is constantly being updated. |
Jack Painter wrote:
snip I have always thought that commercial weather products might eventually eliminate the need for the US government to duplicate and compete with the private market in this area. But the price of this package, using information that the provider has little if any cost in obtaining, is not competitive in my opinion. Who is duplicating who? I don't know where that weather data on that system comes from but if it is generated with data from government systems funded by tax Dollars it would seem that the extra costs are for getting the data embellished, packaged, and delivered. If there is reasonable (i.e., free or cheap) public access to the same basic data the "private market" is using, I wouldn't want the government to abdicate to the private market product. That would be a disservice to the taxpayer who does not want to pay for the various bells and whistles and/or alternate delivery paths that make it attractive to others. As far as competitive, if you want to use that every day and amortize the hardware and subscription costs over three years, that service would add a little less than $4.00 per day to the operating costs of a boat. And I assume you can use it all you want for that. Four bucks a day is a drop in the bucket compared to the other operating costs in a boat that would typically want something like this. And if you want to run from bad weather, it could easily be worth $4 a day to know which way to run. Jack -- Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jacker at midmaine dot com |
I stopped by their booth at Annapolis. It looks pretty but VERY expensive
and only covers coastal US waters. They are "thinking about" expanding to the Caribbean but no promises. Their major source of information is the NOAA doppler radar system so there is no information more than 150 to 200 miles offshore. That means that in most of the area you can use a cellphone modem to get the same thing for free. I believe I will stick with my $200 polar orbiting weather satellite image rig, WEFax, Sailmail GRIBB downloads and Herb. All free. "Joseph" wrote in message om... Anyone see this weather system yet - any good? Real-Time radar: http://onboard.weather.com/ |
On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 21:03:28 -0400, Glenn Ashmore wrote:
I believe I will stick with my $200 polar orbiting weather satellite image rig, WEFax, Sailmail GRIBB downloads and Herb. All free. Would you be kind enough to elaborate? What's the rig, what are GRIBB downloads and what's Herb? Thanks, Glenn. -- Larry email is rapp at lmr dot com 10/11/04 10:58:34 AM |
"Larry" wrote in message ... Would you be kind enough to elaborate? What's the rig, what are GRIBB downloads and what's Herb? Thanks, Glenn. I built a Quadrafillar Helix antenna from 1/4" stainless tube. Cost about $60, very rugged and looks very professional. The reciever is a Hamtronix R139 for about $120 but I may upgrade to a RIG receiver for a little more. With WXtrack, Satmon and Satsignal shareware I automatically receive about 6 usable real time polar satallite pictures a day. From home in Macon I get coverage from Hudson Bay to Trinidad and Colorado to the mid-Atlantic. Got some great pictures of Frances just before she blew my antenna down. :-) Anchored at Anegada I got much clearer coverage from Long Island to the Amazon and Southern California to the Cannaries. GRIB (sorry only one B) is GRidded Binary weather files. It is the standard format for weather information. They are mathematical models of the weather that you can use for animated forcasting using Digital Atmosphere and several charting programs like Raytech and MaxSea. You can get full files over the web or download chunks for the area you are interested in covering 3 to 7 days on Sailmail. Herb is Herb Hilgenberg. aka "Southbound II". Guardian angle of all Atlantic passagemakers. Provides free individual weather and routing advice to cruisers from England to the Panama Canal broadcasting out of Canada on SSB 12359.0 at 2000 UTC every day. Glenn |
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