T&T: Any experiences good or bad with Navtex and Weather fax

[Peter Pisciotta]

I believe Steve Dashew's very comprehensive (and
informative) website noted some difficulty with the
Furuno FAX 30, and they returned to a dedicated paper
fax (the Furuno FAX 30 is their "black box" receiver -
theoretically, it's the same electronics as the
dedicated wxfax, but it integrates into a NavNet
system and/or PC and feeds the images electronically).
Personally, I have had difficulties settting-up the
FAX 30 on a couple boats that had them installed, but
they were new boats and could have suffered from poor
antenna installations (a common problem).

There have been some rumblings that wxfax
transmissions will be discontinued in favor of other
technologies. Many long distance sailors use SSB or
Ham radio to connect to saildocs (via a special
modem), a service from Stan Honey and Jim Corenman's
free "SailMail" service. Basically, raw wx data GRIB
files are downloaded and viewed on a PC. The key term
is "raw data." The traditional wx fax is an
interpreted product - meaning someone has compiled the
data and rendered an informed opinion on the result.
MaxSea and OCENS are fee-based services of similar
result.

For the most part, there is no easy AND cheap way to
weather forecast products outside the reach of VHF.
GRB files via Saildocs is cheap (free, after a hefty
equipment purchase), and satellite radio is
convenient, albeit carries a hefty monthly nut. Wxfax
is free, though can be a little spotty to set-up, and
can really tear at your heart if you miss a scheduled
forecast for some reason. Any of the systems will
require many, many hours of study and tinkering to get
functional. But it's the only way to self sufficiency.

Like Bob Austin, I like the old fashioned Furuno
dedicated wxfax, but that era is probably coming to a
close. If I started from scratch today, I'd probably
invest the time/money in the SSB system which also
provides access to various cruiser's nets - including
very good weather forecasts in many parts of the
world.

Peter
www.SeaSkills.com


 
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