Nasa Navtex

[poter]

I have an old Nasa Navtex on board Shady Too, in the med. & I am not very impressed with it. As I will have a new laptop onboard soon, I am thinking of getting a Nasa PC navtex with 518 and 490kHz message reception.

Any Good?
Has anyone had any results from this set up in the Med, or anywhere?


poter

 

[Koeketiene]

Friends got it on his boat (UK based).
Not pleased with it - bad reception - if at all.

Had an earlier model on my 2nd boat - not impressed either.
Quite like NASA instruments (sounder/log,...) but their Navtex is a POS.

Installed a Furuno NX300 on previous & current boat -, very, VERY pleased with it.
Good reception, let's you filter out what you don't want, if you link it to a GPS you can set it up to receive only msgs relevant to your area.
Have not done this yet, so at the moment I also get msgs from Split, Algiers, Haifa & some place in Russia.

 

[poter]

thanks for that,
saved me 100 quid. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

ta.

poter

 

[charles_reed]

Displease a customer and they'll tell 20 people, meet their expectations and they MIGHT tell 2.

In fairness to the NASA Navtex (of which I've had two) they're perfectly serviceable pieces of kit.

I'd guarantee that those who complain about the performance of their units gave insufficient thought to positioning the active antenna which, for the NASA is very critical. It must be away from any parallel guys and with a complete unbroken view of the horizon.

The antenna-box does leak but if you seal it with silicone, before mounting it, it can last for 9 years as my 1st Navtex Pro did. The greyscale screens on the earlier units was poor quality, lost definition when they overheated, but could be adjusted. The screen on the Clipper is quite adequate, doesn't compare with hi-definition LCD screens, but is legible in anything but bright sunlight. It was still working perfectly when it was replaced by a dual-frequency unit.

Reception is good, unless you're surrounded by high mountains, and compares favourably with many vastly more expensive units I've owned, picking up UK and French broadcasts well outside the official reception distances.

What you must not lose sight of is that NASA gear is at the bottom end of the price bracket and you do get what you pay for, tho' with such legacy technology your premium prices give you little improvement

 

[Guest]

Re: Nasa Navtex .... Bah !! I like mine !!

Despite all - I just wedged my whip aerial up under the toe rail in cabin .... fitted bracket, clipped it in, gave it power and switched on. Fine ..... what's problem ?

It's now quite a few years old .... and only trouble I had was when Niton changed it's Letter .....

I do wish I had spent a little more on the Pro set though - as mine is the eal cheapo that doesn't separate the text ... but still - worth every penny.

I don't understand those who berate Nasa gear .... it's cheap and cheerful - has put gear on many boats that otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford it .... probably made other company's review pricing etc. etc. ......

I think that Nasa should have produced a printing one as well ... that way a print could have been pulled of for sticking in the log !! But that's MHO ....

 

[Koeketiene]

Re: Nasa Navtex .... Bah !! I like mine !!

I have nothing against NASA - some (echo sounder & GPS repeater) of my instruments are NASA ones. On the previous boat log was a NASA too.
Cheap, cheerfull & did what it said on the box.

Alas, I (personal experience) can not say this about their Navtex. It may be just me, but if I compare it with the Furuno NX300 which I've got now, there is no contest.

Agreed, it comes at twice the price - bit it works far better - always.

 

[actionoptics]

Bought the Nasa PC pro earlier this year and apart from the problem of getting the correct lead to connect to my Toshiba lap top, the unit has worked perfectly ever since. Just back from five weeks on board from the Solent to The Scillies and got perfect reception all the way. Nice neat unit tucked away in a saloon locker with just the connecting lead visible. Filters to get rid of every thing you don't want. Minimal power requirement. Thoroughly recommend it.