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Gribs one or two times a day, Cruising.


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How best to get them?

Iridium go?

 Sat phone?

 delorme?

 I was surprised to be told at the boat show that iridium go does not work with laptops, that you need a tablet or smartphone. That doesn't preclude it, we have those .

 

 And a side question , how come you can't talk to a person at predictwind? Its all just website helpdesk.

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Thanks guys. I think that is the way to go , I was just surprised that the sat phone/ iridium go guys at the boat show were adamant that it doesn't work with a laptop. Absolutely adamant.

So I asked another electrical/ electronic guy on another stand and he said that ' it could be done with some trouble, but didn't know if it would work work with windows 10'!

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Predict Wind, ph 09 801 8058 hours 9am-6pm Monday-Sat... (From their website) Does it not work?

 

Also from the website;

 

"PredictWind Offshore App

With Built In GRIB Viewer
The Iridium GO! is fully integrated with the PredictWind Offshore App. Getting GRIB files, Weather Routing, GMDSS text forecasts and satellite imagery offshore has never been easier"
 
For Windows, Mac, and Ipad/Iphone
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Thanks CG, looks like I should do what Matt says . I'm thinking the best time would be Nov to cover next season's cruising.. I assume there is an annual fee  and or plan so that would cover it, plus learning time.

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Our Irridium Go is just a monthly fee plus $50usd to connect then you can stop anytime then restart for another connection fee

So when we got back to NZ I disconnected it but can start anytime

As per learning time just download the Offshore app onto your laptop and play with that, it gives you the option of connecting to the web normally or via the I Go

I also download gribs into the Weather Track app, you just send an email to query@saildocs.com with the Lat and Long and then open the reply in the Weather Track

This is the type of info you put in the email but put nothing in the subject line

gfs:15S,38S,160E,170W|2,2|6,12..96|PRESS,WIND

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if you download the sailmail app, it allows you to create the email to send to request the gribs - just draw around the area you want the forecast for, select the data you want (Wind temp pressure wave height etc) and push send. Simple and no worrying about or stuffing around with email format to get what you want. :-)

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On the Iridium Go speed: it's similar to a 2400 baud modem (that's very old), so that's 2.4Kbits/s. Note that your typical ADSL does 1Mbits/s. Or in kilobytes, it's about 0.3 KB/s versus 100KB/s. That's a pretty huge difference.

 

But you probably can use the internet, with special precautions: use a text based browser (such as lynx), or try browsing with images and javascript (and probably stylesheets) turned off. The actual page you are downloading is usually very small. For example the NZ Herald page, as just text, is just 47386 bytes, and would take perhaps 30 seconds. Annoying, but not insurmountable.

 

The text based browser is easiest, and fastest, but if you want to use FireFox/Chrome, install the Web Developer plugin, which gives you all the techie options to disable these things. It's made for developers, so you get a lot of options.

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Berend, like the old 2400 baud modems, that is the MAXIMUM speed it can do. In my experience (admittedly limited wth the irridum go) it virtually never acheives that, and is not practical for we browsing. Have you actually used one for this, or are you just reading the specs?

My experience is that a Pactor 3 over SSB is normally faster to download a grib or email, and the Pactor 4 MUCH faster....

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Berend, like the old 2400 baud modems, that is the MAXIMUM speed it can do. In my experience (admittedly limited wth the irridum go) it virtually never acheives that, and is not practical for we browsing. Have you actually used one for this, or are you just reading the specs?

My experience is that a Pactor 3 over SSB is normally faster to download a grib or email, and the Pactor 4 MUCH faster....

Unfortunately I'm old enough to have used 2400 baud modems, and yes, the good ones did basically give you close to that. And indeed, was just reading the specs. So if the 2400 baud is only true under rate circumstances, please disregard, I really was under the impression the 2.4Kbps was pretty guaranteed (given you can get 300Kbps satellite connections easily I thought the 2.4Kbps was just them limiting you, not an issue with the technology).

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My solution will not include GRIBS.  These are intepretations, and that's MY JOB.

 

So, this is my alternative for those who wish to predict their own weather.

 

I will be connecting a HAM modem to my computer, and downloading the GOES satellite images directly from the satellite.  No need for internet.  No need for sat phones.  No cost.  VERY reliable.  And I get to make the interpretations and not rely on someone whom I don't know and thus cannot fully trust.

 

And considering my experience with weather predictions (the NHC and I are in fisticuffs on their lax methodologies regarding the Eastern North Pacific) and especially the woefully innacurate GRIBS for the Sea of Cortez, I'll trust an IR satellite image over a GRIB file any day of the week.

 

 

The book I am using as a source for how to set this up is:

 

"Weather Satellite Handbook" by Taggart, 5th edition.

 

Unfortunately I don't have it set up yet and won't for some time.

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My solution will not include GRIBS.  These are intepretations, and that's MY JOB.

 

So, this is my alternative for those who wish to predict their own weather.

 

I will be connecting a HAM modem to my computer, and downloading the GOES satellite images directly from the satellite.  No need for internet.  No need for sat phones.  No cost.  VERY reliable.  And I get to make the interpretations and not rely on someone whom I don't know and thus cannot fully trust.

 

And considering my experience with weather predictions (the NHC and I are in fisticuffs on their lax methodologies regarding the Eastern North Pacific) and especially the woefully innacurate GRIBS for the Sea of Cortez, I'll trust an IR satellite image over a GRIB file any day of the week.

 

 

The book I am using as a source for how to set this up is:

 

"Weather Satellite Handbook" by Taggart, 5th edition.

 

Unfortunately I don't have it set up yet and won't for some time.

Disperser considering that most shipping traffic relies on GRIBS, that is a huge call you are making.  I've found them to be very accurate in the majority of cases and getting better all the time.  

 

Also I'd have to say the pain of using a Ham / SSB getting good propagation and the time make this tech on the decline.  The initial investment cost of a SSB/Ham is higher than an Iridium, the extra abilities to actually call anyone in the world, suppliers of parts, pre planning and entry into countries I think make it a no brainer.  

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Disperser considering that most shipping traffic relies on GRIBS, that is a huge call you are making.  I've found them to be very accurate in the majority of cases and getting better all the time.  

 

Also I'd have to say the pain of using a Ham / SSB getting good propagation and the time make this tech on the decline.  The initial investment cost of a SSB/Ham is higher than an Iridium, the extra abilities to actually call anyone in the world, suppliers of parts, pre planning and entry into countries I think make it a no brainer.  

 

 

I am not most shipping traffic.

 

Allow me to convey how I decided never to rely on anyone else or any entity or product to predict weather for me.  And anyone who, in the past 4 years, has traversed the coastal reach off the Oregon, USA coast, can likely attest to what I experienced.

 

In 2013, I arrived in Bodega Bay after a 3 day voyage, my absolute first time on my ship on the ocean (after only two hours acquanting myself with sailing on my 67' ketch rather than the 24' sloop I had learned on).  I had just experienced gale conditions for the entire day, conditions which had been predicted by NOAA to be "small craft advisory" of winds between 20-25 knots.

 

At 9am, the wind was 35knots.

 

Halfway to Bodega Bay, I and my green crewman were toss to the side as my 48 ton ship was swamped from 2 points off the bow by a freak breaking wave.  I was forced to run from the subsequent waves as my hydraulic steering, which I had installed, proved inadequate (it was immediately upgraded to 100% additional capacity), and consequently, I was pooped and lost my dinghy.

 

Aside from realizing that I had learned to sail without ever setting sail on my ship, and that my hydraulic steering was inadequate (which I had suspected but could not remedy, I later found a replacement Teleflex Capilano system cylinder in Bodega Bay), I learned not to trust NOAA predictions.

 

But, it would be a full year at Bodega Bay which seared the message into my brain as sailboat after sailboat arrived from northern shores with the same exact story: the weather was far, far worse than NOAA predicted.  The highlight was some months after my arrival when two men on a 27 foot sailboat arrived under Coast Guard escort on a particularly blustery evening.  They had sat down with NOAA in Eureka for 3 hours going over every possibility for the weather, upon which they decided to go ahead with their sail with the NOAA predictions showing nothing close to what they encountered.  By the time they were within range of Bodega Bay, they were under 60knots of wind.

 

 

And it didn't end there.  I have since been in Mexico at the southern end of Baja California, for two years.  Here we know that the GRIB files are useless.  The rule of thumb (after "dont' trust the damn GRIB files) is that you can easily add 5-10 knots to their wind predictions; which cannot account for supposedly unusual (yet strangely regular and recurring) events such as chubascos and small storms which usually include strong downdrafts (which they recently discovered as the source of the mystery of the "Bermuda Triangle."

 

And my own predictions and tracking of hurricanes as almost always proved more accurate than the National Hurricane Center's predictions.

 

 

I am not most shipping traffic.  I am a survivor.  I am self-sufficient.  I have learned how to read and predict weather, and as I have done so on my own, I am not bound by the preconditions and prejudices of trained weather professionals.

 

Predicting the weather is merely a matter of understanding the underlying physics and fluid dynamics.  While I am still working on the fluid dynamics and hoping like hell to find a way to create my own three-dimensional satellite imaging using multiple satellite views in order to better view the fluid dynamics which define our weather, I am quite sufficiently well versed in meteorology in order to safely navigate the seas.  I also understand my limitations in my understanding and thus my limitations for predicting weather, and will not act upon what I am not sure of.

 

Since my first voyage, I have NEVER been caught in weather.  My cruise down the California Coast for example, had me sailing past Point Conception, solo, without autopilot, on 5 knots of wind and almost no swell.

 

GRIBS make you lazy.  They do for you what you should be doing for yourself.  If you understand what conditions create what weather and what causes what kinds of winds, you are far, far better placed than someone with a GRIB sheet which may, or may not, be accurate for you that day.

 

 

As to HAM. I paid $250 for all the equipment I need to be able to use HAM for all forms of communications, including connecting to my computer, with the noteable exception of "aluminum," that is, antennae.  However; I have since come across the insulators I need to erect at least a triatic and a backstay antenna, more than sufficient for all bands I would need.

 

No, it is not "modern" equipment with all the fancy gadgets.  This eqiupment works, reliably, and will forever.  It is not subject to the education of a bunch of geeks who don't even have the common decency to tell us what they are doing inside our machines (software.)

 

And best of all, I don't have to pay for ANY of the time I use HAM, not for talking with someone halfway around the world, and not for downloading satellite images as often as they are available.

 

Oh, and I can also receive Weather Fax as well, which includes one product I do use (but not rely on) and that's the isobar (?) maps.

 

 

The problem with relying on GRIBS, downloads, and even weather fax, is that they require someone to maintain a system to provide those downloads.  If war breaks out or budgets are cut or something else happens, I will ALWAYS be able to get satellite images.  And while they may not contain isobars, they can certainly be interpreted.  After all, I have predicted hurricane strength and movement based solely on IR Satellite loops - only!

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All I'll say is a 35kts wind gust is normal for a 20-25kt forcast

Gusts to 150% plus peaks to 200% the forecast is predicting the average,

I'd suggest you don't head down to the Southern Hemisphere then

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