USGrib -- is it possible to get grib files via email?

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I'm not sure that Sailmail's gribs are always completely up to date -- sometimes they seem to be at least six and up to twelve hours old. I would like a second source. Can one get them on request from US Grib or some other source? I know how to get them with an Internet http access, and I think the ftp is possible but I am looking for an email access compatible with Sailmail, Winlink and mobile phone email systems.
 
Thanks, but I am struggling....the grb seems empty on the Airmail viewer. I then d/l their own viewer (trailware) and that was empty, too. Has the correct center, but no wind data? I sent, in the Subject line 41N:10E:200 3day and put the word test in the body as Airmail won't let you send an empty message.
 
You can pick them up over the internet, use the USGrib own software.

If you look at the menu lines, you'll find it provides for every type of transmission, from ADSL through to SSB, via analogue modem, "old" GSM etc.

I am regularly picking it up over GPRS or 3G connection.

With regard to timing. Analyses are done every 6 hours and availability varies between 3 and 12 hours later (the more "important" areas are done faster and more regularly).

I doubt you'll improve much on timing, but the USGrib software is faster, more stable and more versatile than anything else yet available.

I've been using it for just over 18 months, (since the beta came out) and find it the most useful weather source available. You do need a bit of meteorological nous, as the prognoses are straight computer models and get farther and farther from the mark as the horizon goes out (the maximum is 7 days).

The only drawback is that it only works on WinXP back to Win95. I believe they're trying to rewrite for Vista, but I suspect will abort when Win7, finally ships. Vista is a truly appalling OS. There is nothing for Linux, a pity, and no plans yet to re-write for Linux.

If you're staying in the Med; I'd recommend looking at downloading through the cellular network, nearly all Italy is covered by TIM G3 and their ALICE gets you 100 hours data for €25, Bouygues are reasonably priced in France but charge on data volume as do most networks. Currently roaming charges are exorbitant, but in July the network operators are going to be nailed by the E Commission directive.

I'm using Vodafone Greece 3G, (nearly as fast as ADSL) and GPRS, (about the speed of an old analogue V92 modem). That costs me €30/month for 5Gb on a one-month's rolling contract.
The Vodafone Live contract (which is what they'll try to fob you off with) of 500Mb/month sound great, until you find it only allows access to a limited # of sites, great for Facebook, Google and the like for teenies.
My usage works out at about 10Mb/day, so I'm desperately trying to get my money's worth by haunting BBs and looking at BBC News.

The problem is that on GPRS, bandwidth is inadequate for any high-end stuff, graphics and the like, and the Huawei modem I was forced into buying from Vodafone (I used my 5200 Nokia as an EDGE modem in Italy), drinks power and has halved battery life on the laptop.
Vodafone use a curious combination of, I deduced, a SLIP connection with a Win emulation. The EDGE modem was giving me 4.2Mb/sec on 3G and 114K on GPRS, that on HDSPA 3G goes up to 6.0Mb or thereabouts (haven't yet seen the 7.2Mb download speeds boasted about). Upload is significantly lower.

Enough..

Hope that gives you something to chew on.
 
The OCENS Explorer. I'll have a go with the standard format later, thanks.
 
The quickest we found was from Mailasail, the downloads were much quicker than directly from the USGrib site. Mailasail have the capacity for users to send an email with the parameters of the desired forecast set and the grib file comes back within a few seconds. I found this t o be much quicker than using US Grib direct and as we were downloading using a Sat Phone the duration of connection was critical. Mailasail have a description of the service on their webpage and you do not, I think, have to be a subscriber to use the service.
 
Thanks for the detailed reply. While it is possible (in theory) to connect to the Internet via Winlink (amateur network) it is not really a viable option; you could never rely on it and it is very slow. Sailmail doesn't give that option and is on the marine band, of course, not the amateur band. The only practicable way to get gribs via the SSB is via email. That was the whole point of gribs in the first place, of course! 'Gridded Binary" files, compressed so you can send them easily over slow connections.

Yes, I use 3G or GPRS where possible. In Italy I use Wind in an open Vodaphone PCMCIA adaptor, and in Spain I use Yoigo in the same adaptor. In the UK I use 3 via a USB dongle as I'm told it's a bit faster using their own dongle and they are not expensive. When we were last in France (Jan 2009) I investigated all the service providers for PAYG and none of them gave an acceptable deal. Most expire after 30 days (some after a week!), call cost is ridiculous as is the data charge. In Italy I pay €10 for a month's almost unlimited use from Wind, and in the UK it is £25 for a huge multi-GB block from 3 for the month, in Spain Yoigo is cheap but generally it is quite slow. Last summer I used Orange Wifi at anchor near certain Riviera harbours but it wasn't often available so we mostly stayed in touch by email via Sailmail or Winlink.

One day, maybe the French will do something about their rates but the last time I complained about the price in a phone shop the man said that they knew that they were the most expensive country in Europe for roaming and PAYG but the telecoms companies have it all sewn-up. So I avoid mobiles in France. Probably fine for residents with contract phones....that's different.

[ QUOTE ]
With regard to timing. Analyses are done every 6 hours and availability varies between 3 and 12 hours later (the more "important" areas are done faster and more regularly)

[/ QUOTE ] Twelve hours is a long time in weather. These files should be coded in such a way that you know when the computer run took place. Maybe they do.... e.g. one I am looking at now is 20090421_0000_GFS_081859.grb where the first part is the date, the second is midnight UTC, the third tells us that it is the GFS model, and the last part is presumably specific to the location (East Corsica to the Italian mainland) or the specific request? I downloaded that file at 0815 UTC so there should have been a computer run at 0600 UTC. This ties up with your statement that it can take three or more hours for the forecast to become available. I have been sitting here with quite heavy rain outside and no rain on any of the GFS forecasts!

It could be, then, that Sailmail gribs are as up to date as any, and if so they are convenient as the request syntax can be done automatically by Airmail, if you choose.

Thanks for your input.
 
"20090421_0000_GFS_081859.grb"

is it possible that the download took place at 08h 18m 59s UTC to explain the last set of digits "081859" ?

probably not...

at 1111 UTC , (a few minutes ago), I downloaded a grib and got 20090421_0000_GFS_101118.grb

which would be UTC-1 if 101118 meant 10h 11m 18s .

and still not updated from the midnight forecast, 11 hours later.... but it shows lots of rain over Italy at 0800 UTC?

Richard
 
Yes, it might be that. What we need to know is when the computer prepared the forecast. It's like those five day forecasts you see at marinas....they leave them up there for four days and when you complain the girl tells you that it's fine and doesn't run out until tomorrow! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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