ccscott49
Active member
Thankyou Colin, I'll look out for that and getbintouch with NASA and get the bumpf.
About Target HF3mfrom NASA
- Thread starter Jerzys
- Start date
HaraldS
New member
Very interesting post!
I too have been using the Offenbach RTTY transmission, and their W-fax for some years now and never failed to receive it.
Got an interesting receiver three years ago, which quietly does all that in the background, it picks up the RTTY transmissions, the w-fax and NAVTEX and it turned out to be by far the best general SSB receiver I have on board, much better than the receiver in the Icom710. It also has a little printer which is good enough for a small weatherchart and fine to print some of the reports if you want to have them on paper, but usually I just read them on the display (also quite big). That is not enough, it also has a barographer built in. Wasn't cheap, but really worth it.
I add to this data pulled from wetterzentrale.de as you all seem to do.
This year I'll add the Grib files from Navcenter.com for weather rounting. Have been playing with this for a few weeks now and it is seems really great. The Grib files are also five days forecasts from the same computer model, except you can choose the area and what data you want. Loading a square from north of Scotland down to the Canary islands, west beyond the Azores and east covering the North Sea I get a Grib file sent that is 41k bytes. That is more than I need, so it should be fine to pick up via Iridium or SSB e-mail once a day.
I too have been using the Offenbach RTTY transmission, and their W-fax for some years now and never failed to receive it.
Got an interesting receiver three years ago, which quietly does all that in the background, it picks up the RTTY transmissions, the w-fax and NAVTEX and it turned out to be by far the best general SSB receiver I have on board, much better than the receiver in the Icom710. It also has a little printer which is good enough for a small weatherchart and fine to print some of the reports if you want to have them on paper, but usually I just read them on the display (also quite big). That is not enough, it also has a barographer built in. Wasn't cheap, but really worth it.
I add to this data pulled from wetterzentrale.de as you all seem to do.
This year I'll add the Grib files from Navcenter.com for weather rounting. Have been playing with this for a few weeks now and it is seems really great. The Grib files are also five days forecasts from the same computer model, except you can choose the area and what data you want. Loading a square from north of Scotland down to the Canary islands, west beyond the Azores and east covering the North Sea I get a Grib file sent that is 41k bytes. That is more than I need, so it should be fine to pick up via Iridium or SSB e-mail once a day.
ccscott49
Active member
Well, come on! what was the reciever? Please!
HaraldS
New member
ParaHandy
Active member
Re Fastnet Marine Ag
Ouch.....4300 euros......but it does do exactly what you want without any fiddling.
It's exactly what Vyv's Icom should have been capable of.
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by ParaHandy on Tue Apr 23 16:33:43 2002 (server time).</FONT></P>
Ouch.....4300 euros......but it does do exactly what you want without any fiddling.
It's exactly what Vyv's Icom should have been capable of.
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by ParaHandy on Tue Apr 23 16:33:43 2002 (server time).</FONT></P>
HaraldS
New member
It really does. This is how you set it up:
First you create "channels" by describing the receiver setup, which includes frequency, demodulation type, decoder type, IF filter, LF filter etc.
So you do that for your favorite stations, like Offenbach W-fax, RTTY forecasts etc.
Next, like on a VCR you tell it which channel to pick at what time, and if you want the reception stored in memory. (You later find files there with date and time, that you can look at or print, or print selected parts).
I usually check the setup once at the beginning of the season and then it usually works all by itself.
NAVTEX is separate from that VCR style stuff and is automatically monitored on the selected NAVTEX frequency. NAVTEX gets stored in it's private memory, and off course you get all the usual station and type selection options.
There is only one receiver, which means that while it is doing VCR type recording, it doesn't monitor NAVTEX. Usually not an issue since all NAVTEX messages get sent out several times, so it will see it sooner or later.
You also have to make up your mind on what frequency you want to receive on at what time. I usually pick two w-fax receptions per day, on two different frequencies. Same for the RTTY reports.
I have it on an active masthead antenna (RR) which seems to work brilliant and as I said definitely better than the Icom transceiver on the backstay.
There was only one day I didn't get a weather report and it was when we were anchored a few hundred meters away from Norways biggest AM station on the Kvitsoe Island, lovely anchorage, but the field was so strong, that it not only stuffed the RR-antenna, but also lit about all the LEDs in the DC panel. So I can't blame it for not getting Offenbach under those circumstances.
So in short, this is a set up once and don't care any more type of device.
First you create "channels" by describing the receiver setup, which includes frequency, demodulation type, decoder type, IF filter, LF filter etc.
So you do that for your favorite stations, like Offenbach W-fax, RTTY forecasts etc.
Next, like on a VCR you tell it which channel to pick at what time, and if you want the reception stored in memory. (You later find files there with date and time, that you can look at or print, or print selected parts).
I usually check the setup once at the beginning of the season and then it usually works all by itself.
NAVTEX is separate from that VCR style stuff and is automatically monitored on the selected NAVTEX frequency. NAVTEX gets stored in it's private memory, and off course you get all the usual station and type selection options.
There is only one receiver, which means that while it is doing VCR type recording, it doesn't monitor NAVTEX. Usually not an issue since all NAVTEX messages get sent out several times, so it will see it sooner or later.
You also have to make up your mind on what frequency you want to receive on at what time. I usually pick two w-fax receptions per day, on two different frequencies. Same for the RTTY reports.
I have it on an active masthead antenna (RR) which seems to work brilliant and as I said definitely better than the Icom transceiver on the backstay.
There was only one day I didn't get a weather report and it was when we were anchored a few hundred meters away from Norways biggest AM station on the Kvitsoe Island, lovely anchorage, but the field was so strong, that it not only stuffed the RR-antenna, but also lit about all the LEDs in the DC panel. So I can't blame it for not getting Offenbach under those circumstances.
So in short, this is a set up once and don't care any more type of device.
vyv_cox
Well-known member
As Parahandy says, that's what the Xaxero in conjunction with the Icom was supposed to do. The fault was not with the Icom, it was the Xaxero software that would not take over control of the radio. Maybe it's time to have a go with another system.
HaraldS
New member
That re-iterates what I have been saying about PC's all along:
Most PC based solutions seem to never leave the stage of a good prototype. Add to this the fact that PC's get loaded with so many different things, that nobody can really check if things don't interfere.
I use PC's for about everything, but hesitate to make them an essential part of board life and rely on them.
That's why I'm willing to spend money on well made and well tested dedicated equipment. While I can get better images and can process them in any way I like when I use JVFAX on my laptop, I much prefer this box that I setup once to do what I want everyday and then let it do it's job without bothering me.
Unfortunately some things you can only get through a PC, like right now good weather rounting. I'm testing this right now, to use in the summer and sure enough, it works 95% of the time, but certainly not 99.99999% like I would want.
Add to this that my laptop looks like a sputnik with several cables and dongles, USB hub, wireless lan and so on sticking out of it on three sides. It doesn't take much imagination to see this fly across the chart table and break half of that stuff. If I break the USB dongle for the MaxSea software, then the other two laptops would not be of much help.
Most PC based solutions seem to never leave the stage of a good prototype. Add to this the fact that PC's get loaded with so many different things, that nobody can really check if things don't interfere.
I use PC's for about everything, but hesitate to make them an essential part of board life and rely on them.
That's why I'm willing to spend money on well made and well tested dedicated equipment. While I can get better images and can process them in any way I like when I use JVFAX on my laptop, I much prefer this box that I setup once to do what I want everyday and then let it do it's job without bothering me.
Unfortunately some things you can only get through a PC, like right now good weather rounting. I'm testing this right now, to use in the summer and sure enough, it works 95% of the time, but certainly not 99.99999% like I would want.
Add to this that my laptop looks like a sputnik with several cables and dongles, USB hub, wireless lan and so on sticking out of it on three sides. It doesn't take much imagination to see this fly across the chart table and break half of that stuff. If I break the USB dongle for the MaxSea software, then the other two laptops would not be of much help.
vyv_cox
Well-known member
The Fastnet looks a super piece of kit. Not sure I want weather charts quite enough to justify that kind of money, though. There are cheaper alternatives, though. Cruisermart used to sell one, not sure if they still do.
ccscott49
Active member
Do cruisermart still exist?
vyv_cox
Well-known member
They are Marine Force now. Telephone numbers unchanged. The old catalogue is still quite useful for reference.