weather

[lawriegubb]

I have an Icom pro 700 on board and whilst not needy for email do want weather predictions.Here in Australia they only give a 24 hour high seas forecast.And there is no longer anyone to radio for the weather prediction.
So the question is... is there a simple system to down load forecasts onto the laptop.As I only spend about 4 months a year offshore I'm loath to spend a lot!
thanks
Lawrie

[camaraderie]

lawrie...you can feed the audio output from your radios headphone jack into your PC mic jack/soundcard and with weather fax software download:
weather faxes
navtex forecasts
grib files
and other text forecasts to your screen.
For info on the software required try one of these:
http://www.hffax.de/html/xaxero.htm
http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=6100
http://www.waypoints.com/mscan.html

[lawriegubb]

That's exactly the answer I was hoping for.
Thank you
Tropicali is a Cavalier 37 in Australia and in New Zealand a Davidson 37.

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by lawriegubb

I have an Icom pro 700 on board and whilst not needy for email do want weather predictions.Here in Australia they only give a 24 hour high seas forecast.And there is no longer anyone to radio for the weather prediction.

Lawrie, what gives you the idea there is no-one to call for a weather forecast (not that they're correct anyways)?

In Oz, local coastguards monitor 27meg and VHF 24/7 and give local forecasts announced on 27.88 and VHF 16 at regual intervals depending upon exactly where you are.

..and there's always http://www.bom.gov.au/marine/

[lawriegubb]

You will note I mentioned high seas forecasts.I sail off shore (south western Pacific) only hf works.
Thats why.

[SimonV]

Lawrie, They still broard cast but you can't talk to them.
HF Marine Radio Services (Voice and Fax)
The Bureau of Meteorology broadcasts its marine weather radio services for high seas and Australian coastal areas from transmitters at Charleville in Queensland and Wiluna in Western Australia. Identifiers are VMC (for services from Charleville) and VMW (for services from Wiluna).
VMC (Australia Weather East) broadcasts for the following areas:
Coastal Waters between Cape Don in the Northern Territory and Eucla in Western Australia, including all Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia zones.
High Seas for the Northern, North Eastern and South Eastern high seas areas.

VMW (Australia Weather West) broadcasts for the following areas:
Coastal Waters between the South Australia - Victoria border and Torres Strait in Queensland including all South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory zones.
High Seas for the Northern, Western and South Eastern high seas areas.

Best Frequency to Use
The Bureau advises users to test which frequencies best suit their particular listening requirements for time of day, month and season. Recommended Bureau frequencies are available on-line from the Ionospheric Prediction Services (IPS)

VOICE FREQUENCIES
Transmitting on four frequencies. If using an SSB receiver, tune on these frequencies.

VMC broadcasts on the following frequencies (kHz):
Times here relate to local time (EST) at the transmitter. Voice Schedule
Voice broadcast provide bulletins of warnings (using a program repeated every hour) and forecast (using a program repeated every four hours). The full schedule is available at
Voice broadcast schedules (html version)
Voice broadcast services (pdf version)

Daytime (7am-6pm)
Night-time (6pm-7am)
Anytime 4426 and 16546
2201 and 6507
8176 and 12365


VMW broadcasts on the following frequencies (kHz):
Times here relate to local time (WST) at the transmitter. Technical characteristics of Voice & Fax transmissions: Click here to see


Daytime (7am-6pm)
Night-time (6pm-7am)
Anytime 4149 and 16528
2056 and 6230
8113 and 12362

NOTE: The Bureau has agreed to allow State maritime authorities to transmit navigation warnings for a few minutes each hour on 8176 kHz. These transmissions by state authorities will commence at three minutes to the hour and must complete within 2-3 minutes, before the next 'weather' message is due to transmit (on the hour).

[lawriegubb]

Thanks for that.I'm up to speed and use a tape to make sense of Charleville.BUT.... unlike the coastal they only give 24 hour forcasts (updated 4 hourly). This year I'm planning on New Caledonia and because of prevailing wind its a beat all the way. I'm in Qld. And would be greatly helped if I knew a few days out whilst at sea. I could alter tactics on passage. I find the coastal forecast excellent and use them to give an idea but it gets a bit vague once you are a few hundred miles out. Ahh for the days of Penta Comstat, and Townsville radio eh?

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by lawriegubb

Thanks for that.I'm up to speed and use a tape to make sense of Charleville.BUT.... unlike the coastal they only give 24 hour forcasts (updated 4 hourly). This year I'm planning on New Caledonia and because of prevailing wind its a beat all the way. I'm in Qld. And would be greatly helped if I knew a few days out whilst at sea. I could alter tactics on passage. I find the coastal forecast excellent and use them to give an idea but it gets a bit vague once you are a few hundred miles out. Ahh for the days of Penta Comstat, and Townsville radio eh?

Yeah.. times have certainly changed! ...but if you call up to submit your Travel Plan (a good idea) they are usually quite happy to give you forecasts along the route.

Nowadays, the majority of the world's shipping has Internet access (Inmarsat C generally) so radio broadcasts are only really needed for pleasure craft. It it was me, I'd be investing in a portable satellite terminal 'cause the BOM Web Site has everything you need - and that way you can stay on Sailnet in the comfort of your own boat.

http://www.bom.gov.au/marine/marine_weather_radio.shtml