HF3 Weatherfax printing?

peteandthira

peteandthira

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Does anyone know of a way of printing out weatherfaxes from an HF3 without having to have yer laptop on all the time? Eg, a fax printer of some sort which you can power up on a timer at the required times, while leaving the HF3 on?

Ta

Pops
 
Just a question:- How...

...would you get around not having the software to interpret the data?

The receiver just receives the raw data, surely?

Steve Cronin
 
Re: Just a question:- How...

Dunno! I am rather hoping for a brainy forumite who may have sorted this one! The HF3M has a "WEFAX" output at the back, but I think it's just audio since it plugs straight into the mic input on the 'puter.

Great faxes, but if you ignore them coming in, the next one to arrive overwrites the first one without auto-saving. Smeg, guess I'll just have to stay up all night...
 
Re: Just a question:- How...

Brilliant idea! Never thought of that!

I don't think its that simple. Judging from the schedules, many of the faxes I would like to store overnight come in at different times. I'm trying to work on a way of having the 2 or 3 charts I need just waiting for me in the morning without the current drain of a laptop on all night.

Ah well
 
Re: Just a question:- How...

Try using different weatherfax software. I used SeaTTY and this (like most others) can automatically detect the start and end of the faxes and save them into seperate files. You have to leave the laptop running, but at least you don't have to be there.
 
Re: Just a question:- How...

The JVComm32 free wefax software also has this facility, though I would still want a way of turning the laptop off and on to save power.
 
Re: Just a question:- How...

You can get software that will put a Mac Powerbook to sleep and wake it up again at certain times to recieve faxes, Iam sure there must be simillar software for the PC.

Mark
 
Re: Just a question:- How...

It's built into latter OS's like XP. The system sleeps but wakes when it receives fax calls. You don't have to tell it when, it wakes when the call is received. This is true of land line fax or phone calls (into modem), but haven't tried it with weather fax software which often plugs into mic socket.
 
One way could be this

Microphone is allowed for in the API for wakeup, I believe, but don't know if it is a PME event - worth a try but expect would have to be lucky for it to be so (and would need to ensure the appropriate event wakeup enabled in the motherboard CMOS setup)

I have not tried this but mention it in case anyone wishes to experiment. This is based on time (and Pops indicates time would be OK), so relies on waking up in accordance to the fax station's transmission schedule (which are known), not on waking up to an event such as audio into the sound board.

Do not see why one could not just set alarms in Outlook's Calender (comes with MSWord) or any other similar time management/appointment software (am sure there will be free ones) to the desired transmission times and see if they wake the computer up (may have to enable Resume by Alarm in the motherboard's CMOS setup, but probably not have to on a notebook).

Set in Power Setup in Control Panel (assuming using Windows, but whatever does the same if using another OS) the time for computer to go back to sleep/standby long enough to just cover the normal fax transmission slot for each facsimile (slots are normally 15 mins but sometimes consecutive slots are used for large ocean areas, etc).

So, alarm goes in Outlook's Calender (or whatever app one chooses to use), wakes computer (computer was left with fax application running before it went to standby), fax app starts copying fax to file on start tones, end of fax fax application stops copying on stop tones, standby period on no activity time in Power Setup expires and computer goes to sleep again until next alarm.

Let us know if it is tried and works, I suspect that it will.

I have found no need to try to do this myself as I usually only copy a couple of charts a day so just turning the PC on shortly before is no problem.

John
 
Re: One way could be this

I suspect that waking on Lan type os calls won't resond to Mic inputs. Waking on alarm calls won't capture all eventualities? as fax calls tend to be at irregular times, so if you managed to receive by this method, you'd have to set a broad spectrum of wake and sleep. Far easier to wake on call if available.

I don't know if you can do this, as never tried, but have experimented with wake and run on schedule, and many programmes don't do this well.
 
Re: One way could be this

Bracknell starts transmitting weather fax from around 0700 and stops around 2300, with only seconds between faxes, so a non starter really.

Best bet would be, if possible, use windowz maintenance to wake up the laptop from hibernation. I am sure this must be possible.

Though, your other problem is going to be how to centre the chart remotely, they do shift occasionally and unless you do it during receive it will come out in two halves so to speak.

The absolute best option is bribe a child to get the faxes you want, or the wife for that matter, human remote mkI.
 
Re: One way could be this

The only way I know of using the BIOS or Windows to bring a PC out of standby at a preset time is use of the "Resume on Alarm" option in CMOS setup (on most modern desktop motherboards but maybe not in notebooks). Is very inconvenient and only allows setting one time for one day or same time everyday.

However, from a quick Google search there are plenty of applications which claim to bring computers out of standby to a time schedule, start programs when they do, etc, so would seem to be easily possible that way.

John
 
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