Weather sources via Iridium phone

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mixmaster

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I'm going to be skippering our boat across the Biscay in a weeks time (weater and all else permitting). I've rented an Iridium phone (with data kit) for the occasion as a safety and weather source. It's my first time, there are only 2 of us crewing etc...
Now that i have this new toy, how can i utilise it best for weather updates. My current strategy is to use Marinecall forecasts alongside GRIB charts before I depart and then to switch to Grib over Iridium (using grib.us), Navtex and Radio 4 LW as a back up. I have thought I could ask a friend to type up something like the Marinecall forecast and then to e-mail it to us. Are there any better ways to receive non-grib forecasts via e-mail out there?

Thanks.
 
I am a very satisfied customer of http://www.mailasail.com and use their services to receive Gribs and txt weather forecasts. Have a dig around their site. You may not even have to subscribe, but I suggest that you do because their compression software works very well (compression reduces the size of the file and thus shortens the length of the satphone call).
 
Ocens is very expensive - all the mailasail downloads are for free.
 
This is not as daft as its going to sound.......my missus sends me an email to the phone!!
I text our lat/long. She looks on our computer at the usual weather sites and emails back with forecast/route suggestions. Easy.
She is a very experienced sailor, if yours isn't maybe a friend would be only to happy to help??
 
Glad this thread was started as a few of us live-aboards here in Marmaris had a very long conversation about this last night, coincidentally.

One thing that came out of it was the actual handset. Apparently the older Iridium handles data better - the 9505 is it?

Can anyone confirm that texting to the phone via the Iridium website is free, both to send and receive?

Getting a mate to send an email or txt to the phone is damn sensible, capnsensible.

Finally - can anyone confirm actual costs of these three packages
 
I have a 'pre-used' Motorola 9500 and an old Sony laptop. I approached the problem of getting one to talk to the other with some trepidation, not really wanting to get too involved with all the technicalities of the process. Upon recommendation, I contacted Mailasail.com I have to say that the help and guidance I received was superb. With a few keystrokes and downloads and querying and puzzling I can now email via Iridium. Go to Mailasail, they are the main provider for most of the ARC fleet and have supplied probably a thousand boats. They know what they are doing. Once you've bought the phone and the airtime which is expensive, the cost is minimal for what they do. Excellent service.
Just a satisfied customer.
Allan
 
I've just discovered that through Mailasail, you can get their email server to send you an SMS via your Iridium Satphone when you receive mail. Very handy, coz you don't have to dial in to check if there is mail and even better that the SMS is free!!!
 
I think for a Biscay crossing I'd be happy to rely on Radio 4 LW. It might be tricky near the far end, but it's only a 2/3 day sail and you'd have a pretty clear idea of the weather patterns before you left.
But, I've used Iridium and a Mac laptop combined with GPS NavX and got free and reliable gribs from mailasail. More effort than switching on the old radio, though.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. I've tried out the free mailasail stuff and looks like the ticket. I set up a new gmail account and then made it accessible through Outlook express via POP. This e-mail account is not known to anyone so should keep my costs/time down without any fancy compression packages wchich i don't think i need for a 2/3 night passage.

i hear you re relying on radio 4. I should also get decent forecasts via navtex (i get excellent reception on my furuno unit) but i'm a bit of a grib addict!
 
Worth remembering that gribs are untouched by human hand, and across Biscay there could be differences between grib and human-adjusted forecast. EG effect of low pressure over Spain may not be fully appreciated in gribs, whereas human forecaster would take account of that. Use as many sources as you can and compare them. Radio France has excellent detailed forecasts on radio.
 
[ QUOTE ]
across Biscay there could be differences between grib and human-adjusted forecast

[/ QUOTE ] GRIBs were absolutely spot on for us coming back across Biscay last year and allowed us to sandwich ourselves neatly between two gales, adjusting speed and course accordingly to stay in reasonable conditions in a relatively unstable weather situation on a 5-day passage from Camarinas to Waterford.

By then we had (as with the poster) become addicted to GRIBs . . . used R4 and Navtex on the way across the previous year with no problems.

- W
 
hi

Text to Iridium phone via web is free at Iridium.com. To receive said free text is about 30p. Still cheapish. We had weather texted (friend) to us daily crossing the Atlantic.

Use Mailasail free software (quicker than Iridiums) for downloading Grib file then request grib file via Mailasail web site.

Try astmail.net for free compressed emails.
 
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