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

[Truelove39@aol.com]

Hi, George -
 
VHF WX drives me nuts! Too many stations and too much information! So  does 
"Perfect Paul" on the SSB. The only one that's really  understandable is the 
female voice on WLO. But still, you have to  write it down or record it. Nor can 
I get all hot and sweaty over the XM  weather offering. And since we spend 
almost half a year in the Windwards, and  suspending services is a pain. 
 
We get our wx via the Web through a Verizon Wireless aircard while coastal  
and inshore cruising. The radar is only 15 minutes behind real-time, and you 
can  choose from many sources for wx, radar, Gulf Stream data, wave heights, 
500mB  forecasts, etc. With input and assistance from friends Jeff  Siegel and 
Jim Wright, we have recently installed a Wilson amplifier and  expect offshore 
reception to improve even more.  
 
I like to keep things simple and inexpensive. The sailboat uses  a Weatherfax 
95 demodulator connected to the audio output of the SEA 235R  SSB. We used it 
when we made passage to the VI from Norfolk in '98 and it worked  well with a 
small HP desktop printer. We don't use it anymore (because we don't  need to 
in the Windwards) but probably will when and if we bring Truelove  back to the 
States. Seahorse has the later version; Weatherfax 2000; we  used it, in 
conjunction with our old ICOM M710, on last year's voyage from  Beaufort, NC to 
Trinidad and it performed flawlessly. You simply set the  radio to the Boston or 
New Orleans WEFAX frequency, set the program to automatic  and the faxes are 
saved on the nav PC for viewing at any time. You get text  forecasts, weather 
maps, satellite images, wave heights and all predicted out to  72 hours and 
more as I recall. Learning to interpret wefax is a great way to  understand 
what's going to happen in the near term along your route. You might  want to look 
at the SkyEye system as well. _www.xaxero.com/_ (http://www.xaxero.com/) 
 
Regarding NAVTEX, I don't know anything about Furuno's FAX30 network; I'm  
not a fan of proprietary networking except for NMEA and AIS  data. Furuno makes 
a neat and inexpensive little receiver, the NX-300,  which will automatically 
download and display the latest forecast from the  nearest station. You simply 
scroll to read it. NAVTEX is world-wide.
 
If you are venturing out on the high seas, consider a Thrane  & Thrane 
TT-3022D Inmarsat-C transceiver. Although this model  was developed specifically for 
fishing fleets, we think it's "the  best" piece of electronic safety gear on 
the boat. The service is free, and  gives you position reporting, automatic 
reception of text forecasts  for any sea area, worldwide, as well as the SAT-C 
warnings of navaid  outages and hazards, distress calls, etc. You can also 
broadcast an alarm  from your vessel with a message tailored to your needs. No 
subscription cost for  this data -- it's free -- unless you want to use the email 
feature. 
_www.thrane.com/Maritime/Products/Satellite%20Communication/Inmarsat-C/TT-3022
D%20Inm-C%20non-SOLAS.aspx_ 
(http://www.thrane.com/Maritime/Products/Satellite%20Communication/Inmarsat-C/TT-3022D%20Inm-C%20non-SOLAS.aspx) 
 
Of course, you also have folks like Herb Hilgenberg and Chris Parker on  SSB. 
We don't usually check in -- in times of heavy weather we like to  listen to 
what's happening and is forecast to happen, and it's  occasionally 
entertaining when someone ticks Herb off!
 
No connection with any of the above companies...
 
Regards,
 
John
"Seahorse"
 
> Does anybody on the list have experiences or recommendations for  navtex and
weatherfax receivers?   I'm probably getting Furuno  equipment for the new
boat and am interested in their fax30 network  weatherfax simply because it
integrates with their equipment.     I'm considering anything, though, since
I will have a computer  display.

I know that you can subscribe to Sirus and XM weather, but I'm  not sure of
the benefits of that over a free service.   I'm not  planning to cross the
pacific (in the near term), but I do go to places where  the VHF weather
reception is spotty -- and I would like to look at the  weather maps instead
of rapidly scribbling reports onto a napkin.

I  also find the US weather to be painful, since it can take about 15 minutes
to  get to my area -- at which point the VHF usually cuts out!   I know  what
will happen in the mountains for the next week, though.

George  Rankin