I am thinking of buying a Navtex receiver - out of date ?

S

STATUE

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 May 2010
Messages
634
Location
S. Dorset
Visit site
I am thinking of going to the Soton Boat Show and buying Navtex.

Am I out of date?

Does it work off the normal VHF or do I need some sort of satellite dish?

Will I get info anchored in an out of the way anchorage or must I be near some WIFI or Cellnet aerial - you know, the technology that slips in that little catch-all 'ASSISTED... " like I and many others got caught out with the early iPhones and AGPS etc.

Please, bring me up to date before I spend. !
 
We've just got one recently and use it loads. Saves listening out for the inshore forecast, although we invariably get that too. There is a small aerial which needs to be located somewhere (we put ours on the pushpit), 12v power and that is it. Doesn't use the VHF aerial at all. The reception is supposed to be poor when in marinas and such like, but so far, we have received all the messages no matter where we are. We have set the filters to only save the messages we care about (certain message types and transmitters), otherwise it is a constant stream on navigational warnings from North of Scotland to South Biscay!
 
I'm on the west coast of Scotland and fitted one s while back. Often there is no mobile signal and equally often I miss the excellent Stornoway Coast Guard forecast on VHF.
The navtex always has a back up forecast of varying vintage which is better than nothing.

I too was unsure if I should buy it but I'm very glad I did.

the aerial for mine is stuffed behind the panelling if the aft cabin which doesn't seem to affect the reception...
 
If you feel happier having one then buy one ,
I have not looked at mine Nav 6 for over three years to be honestly , I don't know if it still have the right station program into it . Internet is our first port of call these day .
Even if your in a very poor signel area you can always download two of three days in advances .
If you read the forums you find people having problems picking up station at time .

Good luck what ever you decided .
 
I have one. Was persuaded to get one by the guys commissioning Angele when I bought her 10 years ago. I wanted an instrument repeater at the nav station (like a Raymarine Tridata). The chap told me that a Navtex was only marginally more expensive than the repeater and for that marginal cost I would get all the weather info I wanted.

It certainly delivers. Rarely do I not receive the transmissions, even up rivers or anchored in small, enclosed bays. And it is free to receive. No data roaming charges.

Aerial mounted on the pushpit.

Edit: I'm not sure I would bother fitting one if I already had a instrument repeater that my Navtex can also mimic. These things aren't cheap.
 
Last edited:
Update
Just looked at mine , it is set to pick up from station in the area I am at the moment , Greece , last weather report , can't tell you it's set to delete messages after two weeks .
Last nav warning , a four days a ago .
Hey but I did get a weather warning from niton yesterday . .
Shame I'm over 1500 miles away in a straight line for it to be useful .

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?439310-Navtex-on-the-Portugese-Coast
 
Last edited:
U
sailaboutvic said:
Update
Just looked at mine , it is set to pick up from station in the area I am at the moment , Greece , last weather report , can't tell you it's set to delete messages after two weeks .
Last nav warning , a four days a ago .
Hey but I did get a weather warning from niton yesterday . .
Shame I'm over 1500 miles away in a straight line for it to be useful .

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?439310-Navtex-on-the-Portugese-Coast
Click to expand...

There does seem to be a problem with Greek Navtex at present. Ours is normally super-reliable, picking up Limnos always and Heraklion mostly, although some transmissions from there are cut off when a Turkish station commences its transmission (lost signal). In the past week or more transmissions rarely come through, today we received one line from Limonos, first at all for three days.

Otherwise, we find Navtex to be a good guide, used all over Europe, but in Greece there is so much geographic variation within sea areas that some interpretation is needed. Well worth buying for the money and should receive up to 500 miles offshore, usually erratic in ports.
 
wully1 said:
I'm on the west coast of Scotland and fitted one s while back. Often there is no mobile signal and equally often I miss the excellent Stornoway Coast Guard forecast on VHF.
The navtex always has a back up forecast of varying vintage which is better than nothing.

I too was unsure if I should buy it but I'm very glad I did.

the aerial for mine is stuffed behind the panelling if the aft cabin which doesn't seem to affect the reception...
Click to expand...
 
Right, that settles it, off I go with my money in my grubby little hand to buy one.

Thanks everyone for your good guidance.
 
I have had a navtex in my boat for over 10 years. Last year I ripped it out as old technology that I never used. So I am afraid my vote goes with SteveSarabande.
 
I use to use it when cruising France and not in a Marina. I couldn't translate the French on the VHF very well.
Now with 'Feel at Home' from 3 I don't have any fears of a huge roaming bill. Hence the Navtex is redundant.
Makes me wonder if I should remove it and make a new panel or keep it just in case I go off cruising to some remote part of the world.
 
SteveSarabande said:
Waste of time unless your way offshore and out of VHF range
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I'd go that far, but I'd certainly add a note of caution to take alongside all the positive posts.

I have an ICS Nav6, IMHO the best leisure navtex, which I originally bought because the display was offered cheap on the for-sale forum. For a year just the display made a useful configurable data repeater at the chart table, and was definitely a good buy. Then I bought the receiver box and aerial, brand new but via a dealer's eBay shop, so that I receive the weather and navigation warnings. I don't regret buying this, because I'm always curious about what's flying through the air around me (same mentality as people who listen to scanners I suppose) and it's still fun to see the little LED start blinking and a new page of stuff appear on the screen. But in a season's use so far I don't remember ever seeing a nav warning that actually affected me, and although it's undoubtedly convenient to have the latest Inshore Waters or Shipping forecasts virtually pasted up at the chart table, in practice it's rare for me not to have mobile signal at an overnight mooring and the only time I had no Internet and also no Coastguard VHF, I also had no Navtex (the notorious River Yealm blackspot). I do like to look at the table of actual reports that comes in on 490KHz, to see what the wind's doing up and down the Channel, but I'm sure these are available online and they're not exactly critical.

How useful Navtex is to you will depend a great deal on where you sail. I have a soft spot for it because I first encountered it in the Baltic before the advent of mobile Internet - not speaking Danish or Swedish, Navtex 518KHz was our only source of forecasts. Bear in mind that several of the people who responded are sailing in other countries and have a similar perspective (now with Internet access, admittedly, but perhaps not regular voice broadcasts they can easily understand). You don't say where you are, but for coastal sailing in the Channel, if I'm honest, it's of questionable usefulness. By all means buy it as a toy though, I did :)

(If you do buy, I'd still recommend the ICS Nav6.)

Pete
 
I installed one last year and its a very good back up when anchored in out of the way places, or places with poor vhf reception. Costs nothing to run, minimal battery drain and it's always there. Suspect those who don't use are marina hoppers.
 
basic said:
Suspect those who don't use are marina hoppers.
Click to expand...

That's a vile slur :)

Here on the South Coast and the corresponding bit of France, we do generally have pretty good VHF and mobile coverage across the whole area. Whether the boat is tied to a piece of metal in the seabed or a pile of wood with a luxury shower block attached actually makes little difference to the ability to download (or listen to) forecasts.

Pete
 
prv said:
(If you do buy, I'd still recommend the ICS Nav6.)
Click to expand...

Agree that the ICS product is by far the most sensible choice. I don't have navtex, but if I were to buy I'd go for the ICS Nav6plus, as it has very good NMEA repeater capability, ideal for the chart table.
 
First thing I do when I get up in the morning, when aboard, is to look at the Navtex and consider the forecast. So simple! Then, if necessary I'll look at the internet sources after I've had a p**.
 
At the risk of thread drift, over the last couple of years I have found the inshore forecast gradually taking less and less part in informing me of the expected weather conditions over a typical weekend's cruise. For this reason I found that my Navtex was largely being ignored so when I changed boats recently I decided against fitting a new receiver.

That said, the difficulties in getting mobile data reception to work in the Channel Islands this year did make me wonder if that was the right decision given the vagueries of wifi at St Peter Port and St Helier!

(The days of when listening to the morning and evening updates of the inshore forecast on VHF were part of the routine aboard seem a long time ago for me)
 
prv said:
That's a vile slur :)

Here on the South Coast and the corresponding bit of France, we do generally have pretty good VHF and mobile coverage across the whole area. Whether the boat is tied to a piece of metal in the seabed or a pile of wood with a luxury shower block attached actually makes little difference to the ability to download (or listen to) forecasts.

Pete
Click to expand...

Not a slur at all, nor was it intended to be. It's just a statement of fact that most do hop from one marina to the next. If thats their idea of sailing so be it. Others (myself included) spend most of their cruising time anchoring in places where VHF reception can be poor, and you wont know until you listen for the forecast on vhf and 'nothing heard'. Also not everyone (myself for one) has the benefit of a smartphone for latest weather info. For people like us Navtex is a lifesaver. It also beats getting up at 0645 to listen to the forecast.
 
Last edited:
pvb said:
Agree that the ICS product is by far the most sensible choice. I don't have navtex, but if I were to buy I'd go for the ICS Nav6plus, as it has very good NMEA repeater capability, ideal for the chart table.
Click to expand...

It also has a built-in logging function (programmable) for position reporting (and if you are so inclined, an RS232 thermal printer can be connected)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top