Twister_Ken
Well-Known Member
Following my slagging off of Nasa Navtex in another thread, anyone got a Navtex receiver they love and admire, and didn't pay silly money for?
Best Navtex receiver (without being silly)
- Thread starter Twister_Ken
- Start date
Magnum
RIP
We've chosen a Furuno NX-300. Good, reliable unit, although it is paperless, which doesn't concern me.
FullCircle
Well-Known Member
I believe they usually come out top, with ICS coming second because they cost more.
I have a NASA Navtex engine into the Netbook these days. Seems to work.
Lucky Duck
Well-Known Member
There have been reports of poor reception with the ICS unit while the Furuno kit appears to be better on this score. However it needs to be manually switched between the 518 and 490 frequencies rather than being able to monitor both continously which the ICS is capable of. Not a major problem but you effectively need to choose between the inshore forecast and the shipping one + navigation warnings. Plenty of nav warnings on 490 but there are all in French
Why can't they put the local naviation warnings on the Niton transmitter?
chanelyacht
Well-Known Member
Our Navtex in the MRCC is all though the comms system now, but we do have an ICS backup in the shape of an old one I bought off ebay. Brilliant piece of kit, but from personal experience on the boat as well, if you're getting reception problems it's the aerial - the coax does seem to break easily.
Furuno of course is bombproof - especially the older units.
Furuno of course is bombproof - especially the older units.
Fr J Hackett
Well-Known Member
Wetterbox used with laptop.
Ex-SolentBoy
Well-Known Member
I second that. If you have a computer on board it is the way to go.
- Doesn't need another aerial
- Gets its power from the computer
- Excellent user interface
- You can take it home which means you can get it up and working well before you leave on a trip rather than waiting for the next transmission.
srm
Well-Known Member
Furuno - try Dave at Swale Marine as he was offering a good discount in Sept when I finally gave up on the NASA set. Incidentally Furuno was working well while the ICS set on the boat alongside couldn't get anything. His antenna was somewhat boxed in by metalwork though.
mortehoe
Well-Known Member
Best navtex ....
Furuno DX-300. Period.
Furuno DX-300. Period.
jerrytug
N/A
McMurdos haven`t been user friendly either,Furuno is the best yachty one. When you join a yacht and you see a Furuno you know it`s not going to be too much of a a slog dicking around with it, McMurdo`s are a pain and Nasa is not to be taken seriously because they were designed by Mr M Mouse. Since you asked.The wetter dongle sounds brilliant good tip thank you,will pass it on Jerry.
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pagoda
Well-Known Member
The Nasa Clipper Navtex may be at the non-diecast end of the market, but as far as I am aware, does exactly what it is designed to do. I generally leave it powered up as it uses about 50mA. When I arrive on board I have the last 2 or 3 inshore forecasts to look at, station reports etc. It's pretty simple to use. I'd agree nice solid diecast boxes with grey crackle paint look more the part, but the info you are receiving is no different. If you fancy paying £300+ go for it. Laptops are rather too greedy for extensive use on board away from mains connections I reckon. Overkill?
Sadlermike
Well-Known Member
Navtex
I have had Nasa (for 6 years), ICS (2 years) and now Furuno (3 years). No comparison: Furuno wins hands down.
I have had Nasa (for 6 years), ICS (2 years) and now Furuno (3 years). No comparison: Furuno wins hands down.
Lucky Duck
Well-Known Member
Fair enough, my Navtex unit is the first bit of kit to be switch on and the last to be switched off at the end of the weekend and sits there quietly hoovering up the weather forecasts etc. If you are using a computer does this not mean that it has to be left on for most of the time or you have to remember to fire it up when a transmission is scheduled (usually after pub closing time)?
Twister_Ken
Well-Known Member
My reason for asking was, from a previous post...
"NASA Clipper Navtex receiver. The first aerial succumbed to water ingress. The second aerial was waterproofed with self amalgamating tape, but broke, I suspect because the plastic had become UV weakened. The third aerial was mounted below decks and worked.
However the receiver kept losing its programmed settings and would revert to the default state, which is everything on, so finding any useful weather info involved trawling through screens of sub warnings from the Adriatic, buoys out of position in Iceland, and icebergs on the Grand Banks. In the end, I never bothered to turn it on.
Hopefully Indigo's new owner will love it."
So, I'm not spending money on another one.
AngusMcDoon
Well-Known Member
I agree too.
AngusMcDoon
Well-Known Member
Mine receives unreliably. Sometimes it works, and then it decides to do nothing. Couldn't get the Portpatrick signal sitting in Portpatrick harbour. Wandered up the hill to ask the man typing it in, but could only find a building full of geeky grey boxes.
DipperToo
Well-Known Member
Nasa Navtex gives horrible HF interference via the aerial lead.
Bought an ICS NAV6+ from JGTech.
This unit also acts as an NMEA repeater which saves the cost of additional instruments at the chart table. I also bought of EBay a small thermal printer which works with the NAV6A+
I did manage to use the old active NASA antenna by building a small 5v regulator to power it (sits inside the Nav6A 'white box'). By default the Nav6A+ outputs +12v if an active aerial is selected. I also bought an active antenna from VTronix (AA20) to install over the winter (This is the same as McMurdo used to supply).
Very pleased indeed with the unit.
Bought an ICS NAV6+ from JGTech.
This unit also acts as an NMEA repeater which saves the cost of additional instruments at the chart table. I also bought of EBay a small thermal printer which works with the NAV6A+
I did manage to use the old active NASA antenna by building a small 5v regulator to power it (sits inside the Nav6A 'white box'). By default the Nav6A+ outputs +12v if an active aerial is selected. I also bought an active antenna from VTronix (AA20) to install over the winter (This is the same as McMurdo used to supply).
Very pleased indeed with the unit.
AliM
Well-Known Member
Our Navtex NASA works fine.
There have been problems with it when another aerial (or anything vertical) is within about a metre of it, it won't pick up anything - move it away and it's fine. It lost its memory when about 2 years old, but NASA replaced a part, efficiently (can't remember the cost). The aerial bracket got broken - we made a wooden one which does the business and looks smart.
There seem to be better ones about, but it is cheap, and it works - well, ours does!
There have been problems with it when another aerial (or anything vertical) is within about a metre of it, it won't pick up anything - move it away and it's fine. It lost its memory when about 2 years old, but NASA replaced a part, efficiently (can't remember the cost). The aerial bracket got broken - we made a wooden one which does the business and looks smart.
There seem to be better ones about, but it is cheap, and it works - well, ours does!
Cloven
Well-Known Member
Looks like I'm the odd one out. I have a NASA Navtex bought new from eBay five years ago and I have had no problems at all with it. Am I just lucky?
BlueChip
Well-Known Member
I have got an ICS Nav6+ that I have had for many years, it just sits by the chart table and works, no switches need to set reception between frequencies and because you can set it to 'local' mode you can choose to filter out transmissions that are not relevant, so you only get those of interest.
Also doubles as a Nav station repeater and its handy having the lat/lomg in big digits by the VHF in case of mergencies.
Someione said they werent sensitive, well I have never had any problem with mine.
I'd buy another one tomorrow.
