Email At Sea

[delatbabel]

After the boat show I have updated my file, here:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/21366000/com...comparison.pdf

The newer satellite systems such as the KVH and the iSatPhone Pro are starting to compare quite favourably with the older HF/Pactor systems.

I'm still waiting on local pricing to come in on a few of the units so keep looking for updates in the next few days.

[Captain Ludd]

I realise this is an old thread but that is exactly why I'd like an update, things seem to move forward year on year at a very fast pace.
Any thoughts on a sensible sat system and what is the cost.

[haiqu]

Cap'n Ludd,

We used a satphone on Chiara Stella on the way to NZ. For phone calls it seemed to do quite well (if expensive) but the automatic email function used to send position reports failed. They're getting cheaper but for my money I'd still stick with ham radio if you have - or can easily acquire - a licence for it.

GRIBs and weather reports aren't much of an issue, that's reception only.

Rob

[Captain Ludd]

Originally Posted by haiqu

Cap'n Ludd,

We used a satphone on Chiara Stella on the way to NZ. For phone calls it seemed to do quite well (if expensive) but the automatic email function used to send position reports failed. They're getting cheaper but for my money I'd still stick with ham radio if you have - or can easily acquire - a licence for it.

GRIBs and weather reports aren't much of an issue, that's reception only.

Rob

Thanks
I have an MCA Long Range ticket and I am a radio ham.
Do you receive weather etc via radio or do you use a Navtex ?

[haiqu]

We got the weather via radio using some free software. I think Del was using JWX to decode it.

[Captain Ludd]

Originally Posted by haiqu

We got the weather via radio using some free software. I think Del was using JWX to decode it.

Thanks, do you get a weather map or just the data ?

[haiqu]

I didn't use this personally but JWX displays a map. We also had some kind of neato animated grib thing that you could step through predictions at 4 hr intervals, dunno what that was but I believe Del grabbed those files off the satphone.

[delatbabel]

The satphone is what I used to get the weather data. I did in fact have JWX installed as a backup but never ended up using it -- I experimented with it and it worked fine. The problem with HF weatherfax is that we got one weather broadcast per day (from VMC) giving a useful synoptic chart for the area we were travelling in, and it meant leaving the HF, laptop and JWX running during that time of the day which seemed to always coincide with when I was cooking lunch so I just never got around to using it.

The satellite phone plan I bought from Cytech communications was the same one used by Auzzee I believe -- 500 minutes over 12 months for US$675. I used the GRIB files which are delivered via email from the GMN service which is free to use, you just pay for the minutes used to connect to the email system. In addition I used the XGate software from GMN which provides a local mail relay with compression over the satellite network, which costs about $30 per month. I also experimented with UUPlus which does the same thing but I never got it working.

Getting the satellite phone positioned correctly seems to be critical. There is an external antenna provided with the phone, that needed a clear and uninterrupted view of the sky. The phone itself must also be able to see the sky because the GPS antenna is inside the phone and GPS doesn't work via the external antenna, however that view of the sky from the phone does not need to be uninterrupted.

Attempting to get GRIB files via HF was a no-go without a Pactor modem, the Pactor setup being more expensive than what I paid for the satellite phone + airtime so I went without it. Basically all you get via HF weatherfax is a synoptic chart which you can interpret yourself. Getting the GRIB files to load into the nav software (I used OpenCPN) is much more useful. I also picked up a RedPort optimizer from GMN which turns the sat phone into a wifi hotspot, I don't use this but I keep it as a backup in case the laptop with the XGate software dies and I have to use my android tablet to get GRIB files instead. I can use PocketGRIB on the android phone, I've tested it once over satellite/wifi and it works well.

It all sounds fiddly but once you get it set up it's not rocket science. I'll put together a more in depth blog post on it shortly.

[haiqu]

Thanks Del, I was hoping you'd pipe in with some details.

Cap'n Ludd: Another alternative, since you have a ham licence, is to use Winmor for the grib files.

[redbopeep]

We don't yet have a pactor modem nor a sat phone and we have used our HF radio to download weatherfaxes but note it takes a LONG time to get each file downloaded and they come at really weird times (who wants to get up at 2 am to turn on the computer and HF and babysit that...)

NOAA weather radio is dismal here on the Pacific coast--sometimes the same forecast for 48 hours to 72 hours but yet you can see a weather system moving through the forecast areas which looks nothing like what the're saying and they don't change the story. Once when we were anchored outta cel phone range for a week in the channel islands with access to VHF NOAA weather radio only and we were then heading north up the coast of California (where the prevailing winds are coming from the NW down at us) the weather was so totally different than what the NOAA radio was stating that we diverted (oh, 6 hours outta the way) to get close to Port San Luis just so we'd be able to pick up a cel phone signal and download a grib file to ascertain what was "really" going on with the weather. The HF weatherfax I needed wasn't going to be broadcast in that 6 hours as I recall.

Anyway--that experience was last summer and made me decide to do two things--first talk more on the radio to passing mariners who might have the weather info I needed! And more important--go ahead and get a sat phone or pact0r modem.

Time flies along and we haven't picked up the modem nor the sat phone and here we are leaving in less than a month for a 1200 nm- 2000 nm journey. I just looked online at pactor modem prices and will be going ahead and buying one in the next couple days. We can get grib files via email using that and I'll be one happy sailor.

Fair winds,

[delatbabel]

If the WINMOR coverage is viable then it's certainly an option for getting GRIB files. I did find a few useful bits of information on the weatherfax that wasn't contained in the GRIB file, for example the (more-or-less) exact location of the center of a high pressure system, which I could only guess from the GRIB data. Since it doesn't cost anything to use the weatherfax system (just run an audio cable from the speaker output of your HF radio to the mic input of your laptop, and load up the free software) I certainly plan to keep it as a backup.

I have no HAM license and not enough time in the day to study for one, so WINMOR isn't an option for me. I have an older model ICOM HF radio which works perfectly well but doesn't have an adapter for a PACTOR modem so I would have to replace my entire HF setup to get PACTOR installed, so the PACTOR cost including the replacement HF radio was roughly 4x the price of the sat phone and call time.

Anecdotal evidence from the last time I sailed the Sydney to Hobart was that getting connected via PACTOR was much less reliable than using a sat phone -- from a selection of the skippers I spoke to who had one or the other. The HF is useful for chatting to folks, and given the reliability or lack thereof of various weather agencies world-wide, it's certainly worth calling someone and asking "what's the weather *really* like out there?".

[GoneTroppo]

I use the HF radio with a Pactor and it has been excellent. Did the training for my Ham via email with the Radio & electronic school associated with WIA in Oz back in 2004. Have sailed around the world and not a problem with coverage.
I think if you are only going for a short time the satphone may be right, but if going for years I would recommend the Pactor and a Ham licence.

[Captain Ludd]

I'm beginning to think HF radio with a Pactor might be the way forward for me. I can't say I like the costs of a Sat phone tbh.
Does anybody know if I can use an Apple Mac ?
Any of you guys use Navtex ?

Thanks all by the way.

[GoneTroppo]

I have used the weatherfax/rtty/navtex part in Airmail to get Navtex via the HF& Pactor. I used Navtex mainly in the Med along with the HF rtty weather broadcast out of Hamburg, in conjunction with the Gribs. Navtex using this method was not as good as having a dedicated Navtex receiver, as it required me to remember to set it up in time for the broadcast and I did not get any emergency messages.
With the improvement in internet access, the internet became my main means of getting weather info in the Med.
Besides Grib files there are a lot of other files available from the catalog section in Airmail. If you don't have the program, download it and have a look. You can use it over the internet, not just the HF.
As an example, I found Bob's weekly weathergram excellent on our Pacific crossing.
Not sure about using it on a Mac, if you are a Ham have a look at the Winlink site for more info or the Airmail site.

[redbopeep]

Boy buying that Pactor modem stings! I hope it's worth it. Ours will show up in the mail in about a week.

[Hamsailor]

Hi Guys,

RMS Express with ingrained WINMOR is really working well at the price (free, unless you want to make a small donation to the developers.)
Yes, you need any international HF ham radio license for this.
But the WINMOR speed is way up there in between Pactor 2 and Pactor 3.
More and more of the WINMOR-enabled RMS's (land station servers), are coming on line.
Recently we set up a few in Southern Africa, and South America.
We are working on more.
If you are a ham, and you want to run an RMS, I can point you in the right direction, other than fully support you through the setup.
BTW, any hamming yacht in a marina with WiFi, can be an RMS too....Pactor or WINMOR, or BOTH. - A roaming RMS....think about it. Populating the world with cruising RMS's...
Search WINMOR on these forums for my other posts.

Hamsailor

[delatbabel]

OK folks, sounds like we need a wiki page for all of this. I'll have a poke around the wiki and see where it will fit in.

[delatbabel]

Here's the starting point, let's beef it up:

Email at Sea - a Cruising Guide on the World Cruising and Sailing Wiki

[Auzzee]

Great work Del...and Hamsailor, your input is valuable indeed! Thank you.

[delatbabel]

OK I've started filling in some of the information, in particular the stuff about connecting via satphone. I need help from others -- Hamsailor et al about how to get WINMOR working and perhaps someone else on how to get the PACTOR modem set up.

The starting point is here:

Email at Sea - a Cruising Guide on the World Cruising and Sailing Wiki

I've put the setup instructions into separate pages, e.g.

Modem - a Cruising Guide on the World Cruising and Sailing Wiki

Satphone - a Cruising Guide on the World Cruising and Sailing Wiki

I have links to a WINMOR page but I haven't created it yet.