Old sat / weatherfax equipment

[Dunx]

A new to me boat has the following kit installed

Thrane and Thrane TT3064a Capsat satellite phone

Furuno 207 weatherfax

im struggling to work out if either system is still usable today or whether to remove them. Any views from the forum?

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Both still usable. Thinking of going off shore?

 

[Dunx]

Yes, but I’m debating whether to modernise the kit as I’m sure things have moved on since they were first installed.

 

[Laser310]

Both still usable. Thinking of going off shore?

will anyone sell a voice/data plan for that sat phone?

I think the Thrane and Thrane were on the Inmarsat system,, but Thrane and Thrane have been gone for 10 years or so.

 

[Rappey]

With the ever expanding starlink and oneweb it's possible the days of any sat phone is numbered?
All Starlink customers get the same deal: advertised speeds of 50–150 Mbps and unlimited data. There are no different plans to choose from, and no need to decide if paying more is worth a bump up in speed or data.
It's just a matter of time before its readily available.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

will anyone sell a voice/data plan for that sat phone?

I think the Thrane and Thrane were on the Inmarsat system,, but Thrane and Thrane have been gone for 10 years or so.

Took me 30 seconds on google to find one before I posted the reply ;-)

 

[Buck Turgidson]

With the ever expanding starlink and oneweb it's possible the days of any sat phone is numbered?
All Starlink customers get the same deal: advertised speeds of 50–150 Mbps and unlimited data. There are no different plans to choose from, and no need to decide if paying more is worth a bump up in speed or data.
It's just a matter of time before its readily available.

Agreed but that's not what the OP asked.

 

[Roberto]

Yes, but I’m debating whether to modernise the kit as I’m sure things have moved on since they were first installed.

I have not read the manual, does the Furuno need paper? That might be a drawback, depending on your personal usage of weather charts, complete reception of some sets may use meters of paper.
Besides this, there is a wealth of weather products/techniques available today; I suggest you first decide what weather information makes you feel comfortable, then decide the technical means to get it, the choice can be very wide.

With the ever expanding starlink and oneweb it's possible the days of any sat phone is numbered?
All Starlink customers get the same deal: advertised speeds of 50–150 Mbps and unlimited data. There are no different plans to choose from, and no need to decide if paying more is worth a bump up in speed or data.
It's just a matter of time before its readily available.

So far, it needs and antenna which is not compatible with boats underway. At the moment, satellite/satellite forwarding is not enabled, if your satellite hasn't got a land station in sight it becomes useless.

 

[KevinV]

If the weather fax is properly installed I'd be awfully tempted to keep it - when all the fancy kit has packed in it'll still be doing it's thing.

 

[Roberto]

If the weather fax is properly installed I'd be awfully tempted to keep it - when all the fancy kit has packed in it'll still be doing it's thing.

Also, being a standalone equipment there is no need to physically be at the radio/pc, in particular for the early morning charts

 

[Minerva]

I just installed a Nasa SSB weather fax radio last winter. It's been brilliant - useless for weekend jaunts obviously. Over the main cruise of the year when internet cannot be relied upon it was wonderful. Plugged into a win10 tablet which is permanently turned on with SeaTTy silently chugging away running and each day get multiple auto downloaded isobar charts for the coming days. Never got caught out by weather at all this year, which was a first.

I was even getting ice charts for Svalbard and the Labrador Sea. Not much use for the Minch mind...

If you were just sailing in the Solent then weather fax would be pointless