Navtext any good in Caribbean?

[CharlesM]

Hello all

Is Navtext worth installing on a boat in the Caribbean? I believe weatherfax is only good for the EU area(??) and was wondering if Navtext is any use outside this area (ie any good on a circumnavigation)

Cheers
Charles

 

[TigaWave]

Weatherfax is great in the Caribbean, but comes from stations on that side.
ssb receiver and a laptop are essential kit.
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/rfax.pdf
Thats a full worldwide listing of radio weather fax and rtty.
Navtex I've always found lacking, and prefer the German rtty forecasts and charts myself.

 

[Sea Devil]

I think navtext is not too useful in the Caribbean because most of it is 'run' bu the Americans and they do not use navtext - having said that on a circumnavigation it is useful - details of floating containers - logs - EPIRB bleating away etc. A NASA navtext is really not that expensive and is probably worth while.

 

[AndrewB]

Navtex is almost useless in the southern Caribbean. I remember there being an excellent station at Miami with a range of 200+ miles covering Bahamas etc, plus small stations on Puerto Rico and Curacao good only for those islands.

 

[snowleopard]

i have my navtex switched on permanently. in the caribbean it received only miami which covered a big area and was very difficult to interpret. without a printing set it is next to useless.

for weatherfax, NOAA have a downloadable schedule of all transmissions worldwide. there are plenty for that side of the atlantic.

the most popular weather service specifically for the caribbean is www.caribwx.com which transmits on 8104usb every morning. i haven't heard it since its founder david jones died but i believe it is still operating.