Navtex, Weatherman... Anything else?

nickrj

nickrj

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I see the NASA Weatherman / DWD service is Europe-only - Is that correct? As for Navtex, how prominent are the transmission stations globally? Are there any other standalone weather receivers which offer worldwide coverage?

Thanks! n.
 
Navtex Weatherman provides very limited coverage. It is great in France where there are plenty of alternative sources of weather information. It is very patchy in southern Europe and the Med (by Madeira reception cannot be expected) , it cannot be received in most of Norway. It is difficult to decide which wavelength to choose. If a signal fades during a transmission, recording ceases and does not restart during that transmission even if the signal strength recovers. It is not an item of equipment I would recommend. However, I like the format of the forecasts (2-5 day) and have found them accurate.
 
I have both in the Med. The Navtex is the accurate daily one. The Weatherman two day bulletins are useful, but the five day fcsts can't really be reliable. If you're headed out of europe the Weatherman isn't going to be any use. Beter off with an SSB radio, certainly for the French fcsts in the Atlantic. Unless someones's going to tell me they've been discontinued!!
I've heard that Herb has retired, is this true?
 
Navtex reception is quite patchy even in Europe. Our Navtex aerial is mounted on the pushpit, and a marina wall or rocky bay can block transmission completely.

On the other hand in the open sea you can easily pick up transmissions from up to 1000 miles away, but these always seems to be about rubber dinghies adrift rather than the crucial forecast.

Some stations seem to be enormously powerful, eg Split (Croatia) - I see in the link above its range is given as 85 miles, but we were picking it up occasionally in Atlantic Portugal and quite often in the Balearics!

For maximum coverage I would look at putting the Navtex aerial as high as possible, I'm sure there must be other posts on ybw about the best location.
 
The problem with the DWD forecasts in the Med is that the sea areas are too big. e.g. we are wanting to go to Gib from Almerimar tomorrow and DWD are giving 5/6 gusting 8/9 during our planned period - no way would be sail into that. However, looking at the output of the GFS system and local Spanish forecasts, we will be lucky to have enough wind to sail by....the stronger winds are 100nm to the NE!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Navtex Weatherman provides very limited coverage. It is great in France where there are plenty of alternative sources of weather information. It is very patchy in southern Europe and the Med (by Madeira reception cannot be expected) , it cannot be received in most of Norway. It is difficult to decide which wavelength to choose. If a signal fades during a transmission, recording ceases and does not restart during that transmission even if the signal strength recovers. It is not an item of equipment I would recommend. However, I like the format of the forecasts (2-5 day) and have found them accurate.

[/ QUOTE ]

Strange! Might it have to do with aerial positioning? Mine is on top of one davit and I have the shield of the antenna cable connected to an grounding plate.
I used my Weatherman as a primary source of weather forecast during my cruise from Stockholm to the Med and back. I very rarely had any problems - mainly very far into a few Spanish rias and now and then in an area around rougly between Faro/Olhaõ and Cadiz.
I found the forecasts quite reliable - the 5 days slightly on the pessimistic side, mostly there was less wind than forecast.
But I agree that the forecast areas sometimes are too big, especially the Med and along Portugal.
It works fine at home in the Baltic as well (but not very far "inland" in the archipelago) and I can definetely recommend it if cruising European waters.
 
NAVTEX reception is usually more about location than about aerial siting. Having said that, it is worth trying different positions eg from one side of the pushpit to the other. For coastal sailing NAVTEX is more of a fallback than an essential tool given marine VHF broadcasts and the Internet. I think that its main value is for NAV warnings.

See my page on NAVTEX problems - http://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Navtex-Reception-Problems-And-Cures

Out at sea, within about 200 miles of the coast, NAVTEX may be your only source of weather information.

Weatherman is a RTTY broadcast from the DWD. Around German coasts it is an alternative to NAVTEX. Further afield, its main value is probably in the extended range forecasts to 5 days. Obviously very broad brush, they do give another opinion on such as Mistrals. However, the availability of GRIBs whether by email, FTP or on a browser has made the service virtually redundant. Ten years ago in the Med we used the DWD a great deal. By the time that we left the med in 2009 we never gave DWD a second thought.
 
We use Weatherman in Greece and find the two-day forecasts to be fairly reliable, although they are given for two locations only in the Aegean, often different by a wide margin, making extrapolation difficult. Reception was poor using only the standard antenna but connecting it to the backstay using the procedure given in the manual improved it enormously.
 
Last October off Portugal's west coast I noticed that my Weatherman was showing a storm warning to hit my area within 6 hours - I made it to Figueira da Foz at 1900hrs, 5 hours into that time period. By 2100hrs the wind picked up and we had a storm for the next 4 days with reportedly 9m waves off shore. Glad I had my Weatherman!

I also use the Weatherman in the Med but as mentioned the areas are large.

For further afield cruising I will also be installing a Navtex receiver.
 
vyv_cox said:
We use Weatherman in Greece and find the two-day forecasts to be fairly reliable, although they are given for two locations only in the Aegean, often different by a wide margin, making extrapolation difficult.
Click to expand...

Vyv

The DWD broadcasts on RTTY are probably best regarded as a check on the US GRIBs. If they look similar to the GRIBs can probably be relied upon. If the differ it implies uncertainty, so plan accordingly. I understand that the DWD forecast model is of comparable quality to the GFS.


Reception was poor using only the standard antenna but connecting it to the backstay using the procedure given in the manual improved it enormously.
Click to expand...

Weatherman only uses 4 of the 6 DWD frequencies. I wonder whether, at those distances, the 14467 kHz frequency, not available on weatherman, might have given better results using a normal HF/SSB radio and RTTY software.
 
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