How often do you use the BBC Radio 4 shipping forecast?

[Conachair]

I looked at this a year or two ago and there were significant gaps in areas covered - including the West Coast of Scotland, which I was particularly interested in. This may have since changed.

You should be able to get dwd just using a laptop or netbook with a cheap ssb receiver like the excellent degen 1103 and something like jvcomm32 software. But mostly north sea based.
This just in..

WEATHERREPORT FOR GERMAN COAST

ISSUED BY MARINE WEATHER SERVICE HAMBURG

04.02.2013, QQPP UTC:


GENERAL SYNOPTIC SITUATION:

LARGE SEVERE STORM CENTRE 952 JUST SOUTHEAST OF

ICELAND, LATER WEAKENING, MOVING SOUTHEAST, IN THE NIGHT 960

SOUTH OF THE FAEROES. TROUGH 980 UTSIRA, QPQT ENGLISH

CHANNEL, MOVING EAST, IN THE EVENING 985 CENTRAL BALTIC SEA

1000 POLAND. AT NOON NEW SECONDARY LOW 980 OSLO-FJORD DEEPENING

MOVING NORTHEAST, TOMORROW MORNING 974 CENTRAL SWEDEN. LARGE

HIGH 1038 JUST NORTHEAST OF THE AZORES, SLOWLY MOVING

NORTHWEST. RIDGE 10:-;285"34)-,$, QPQUHTALKANS, WQQAGKARELIA,

WEAKENING, MOVING SOUTHEAST.



FORECAST VALID UNTIL TODAY MIDNIGHT:


COASTAL AREAS OF GERMAN NORTH SEA:

EASTFRISIAN COAST :

SOUTHWEST 5, SHIFTING WEST, INCREASING 7 TO 8, AT TIMES SEVERE

SHOWER SQUALLS.


ELBE ESTUARY :

SOUTHWEST 5, SHIFTING WEST, INCREASING 7 TO 8, AT TIMES SEVERE

SHOWER SQUALLS.


HELGOLAND :

SOUTHWEST 5, SHIFTING WEST, INCREASING 7 TO 8, AT TIMES SEVERE

SHOWER SQUALLS, SEA INCREASING 4 METRE.


NORTHFRISIAN COAST :

SOUTHWEST 5, SHIFTING WEST, INCREASING 7 TO 8, AT TIMES SEVERE

SHOWER SQUALLS.


ELBE FROM HAMBURG TO CUXHAVEN :

SOUTHWEST 4 TO 5, SHIFTING WEST, INCREASING 6, CUXHAVEN 7, SHOWER

SQUALLS.



GERMAN BALTIC SEA:

FLENSBURG TO FEHMARN :

SOUTHWEST 5, INCREASING 6 TO 7, FOR A TIME SHIFTING WEST, FIRST

POOR VISIBILITY, LATER SHOWER SQUALLS.


EAST OF FEHMARN TO RUEGEN :

SOUTHWEST 5, INCREASING 6 TO 7, FOR A TIME SHIFTING WEST, FIRST

POOR VISIBILITY, LATER SHOWER SQUALLS, NEAR RUEGEN LOCALLY SEA

ICE.


EAST OF RUEGEN :

SOUTHWEST 5, INCREASING 6 TO 7, FIRST POORVISIBILITY, LATER

SNOWSQUALLS, LOCALLY SEA ICE.

Same setup will get you weathefaxes.

 

[temptress]

I am a final year student at Plymouth University, studying Navigation and Maritime Science, and I am undertaking research into the current usage and public image of the BBC Radio 4 shipping forecast amongst yachtsmen, both professional and recreational.

.

I have completed your survey but the survey is flawed, the questions make un-disclosed assumptions and are asked to generate a pre-determined output.

Any research from this survey is biased.

 

[franksingleton]

As I have posted already, i hate my navtex- but that is probably my fault for buying el cheapo.

Several of my friends speak very highly of the NASA Weatherman. As I understand it, it receives German weathe rforecasts -Europe wide, I believe - and displays them in a really user-friendly way. I don't think it give nav warnings.

Any thoughts, Frank?

The NASA Weatherman is NOT NAVTEX although the technology is very similar. See http://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Radio-Teletype-Weather-Broadcasts.

It receives the DWD RTTY broadcasts. To see what is there look at http://www.seewetter-info.de/sendeplan_rtty_1prog.pdf and http://www.seewetter-info.de/sendeplan_rtty_2prog.pdf.

For waters around Germany there are inshore waters forecasts. It also has a German version of the shipping forecast. We found it most useful when in the Med because it gave forecasts for 5 days ahead at a few grid points from the DWD NWP model. See http://www.dwd.de/bvbw/appmanager/b...etterbericht__24__MM__w__node.html?__nnn=true.

Latterly I have not used this service mainly because the NOAA GFS has improved so much over the past 12 years.

While Weatherman can be a useful bit of kit, it is not an NAVTEX substitute. It is a question of NAVTEX and Weatherman not NAVTEX or Weatherman.