Short wave/SSB receiver for cruising
 

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?

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

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?

you can get wx on ssb. the USCG broadcasts this regularly, and we hams
do so, generally at the bottom of the hour during the day on 14.3 MHz.

look for a used sony IC 2010 on ebay (about $150). that's one of the
best around. almost any decent shortwave receiver that has SSB
capability will pick up wx broadcasts.

Short wave/SSB receiver for cruising
 

"W1TEF" wrote in message ...
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?

Yep on the shortwave, nope on the VHF.

Wayne and Bob have already explained it, but there is one receiver
that I've used when traveling that I like a lot and it's fairly cheap.

http://www.etoncorp.com/upload/conte...7/G_G3spec.pdf

It has an external antenna input also so you would get a better
signal.

The Sony Bob mentioned has a really hot receiver - they do a trick
with the signal detector which really works. It is a good one and
relatively cheap.


I believe Noaa weather is adjacent to marine on VHF

--
Ziggy®

Short wave/SSB receiver for cruising
 

On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 23:52:15 -0500, Ziggy® wrote:

I believe Noaa weather is adjacent to marine on VHF

The problem is that the nearest NOAA transmitter is in Miami which is
over 200 miles away in the eastern Bahamas. That's too far away for
reliable VHF even with a good antenna (high gain, 30 ft off the
water).

Short wave/SSB receiver for cruising
 

On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 18:08:31 -0500, W1TEF 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?

Yep on the shortwave, nope on the VHF.

Wayne and Bob have already explained it, but there is one receiver
that I've used when traveling that I like a lot and it's fairly cheap.

http://www.etoncorp.com/upload/conte...7/G_G3spec.pdf

It has an external antenna input also so you would get a better
signal.

The Sony Bob mentioned has a really hot receiver - they do a trick
with the signal detector which really works. It is a good one and
relatively cheap.

Amazon has the Grundig on sale for $140.

http://www.amazon.com/Grundig-G3-Sho.../dp/B001QTXKEW
--

Hope you're having a great day!

John H

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