Weather fax and radio iCom IC-R6?

[Segelplaner]

Hi!
Looking for a weather fax receiver, and don't know so much about that.
Is the receiver iCom IC-R6 good enough to receive weather fax offshore, all around the world?

[Excalibur5]

Any decent shortwave receiver with a headphone out can do it. My sony icf series does, especially with a random wire antenna clipped to it and run up a halyard. You then just use a cord to connect the headphone output into a laptop with appropriate decoding software and you have weatherfax.

[Kelkara]

Originally Posted by Excalibur5

Any decent shortwave receiver with a headphone out can do it.

Don't you need SSB mode? This looks like it's just an am/fm receiver.

[Excalibur5]

ICF-SW7600GR to be specific. You do need ssb reception capability.

[stormalong]

IC-R6 does not support SSB. And that rubber ducky antenna would do you no good even if it did.

Any decent general coverage shortwave receiver will work BUT you need to set up a good antenna.

My experience with analog weatherfax over HF has been spotty. The image gets distorted by atmospheric noise and signal fading. Do you intend to have any other HF communications on board? Where are you cruising? There are much better alternatives, unfortunately they are more expensive.

Some alternatives:

NAVTEX - short range for coastal use.

Ham radio WINLINK - License required but Ham radio offers so much more.

Marine SSB sailmail - pricey and requires a marine SSB radio and expensive modem.

Satellite phone - also pricey but costs have come down.

[Gypsyjon]

I have no dog in the fight, but I do have two of these SSB receivers.

I highly recommend them. Inexpensive and great SSB reception, you do need a clip on antenna, the built in extendable antenna is not great for SSB. It does have a head phone jack so you can connect to your laptop.

https://countycomm.com/collections/radio

This site lists several free weather fax decoding software packages.

https://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Softw...ather_and_FAX/

[Segelplaner]

Thank you all, very appreciated!
Jonas

[conachair]

Another one to add to the list - Degen 1103, had one for years doubling up as onboard fm radio going through a little class t amp.

Degen DE1103 Product Reviews

Received clear wfax Caribbean - Europe even through just an fm antenna, before I knew anything about sw radio.

[Segelplaner]

I ordered the cheaper Degen!

[Auspicious]

The Degen DE1103 and Kaito KA1103 work great. The only downside is the power input is 8VDC which means for most of us an inverter to feed the wall wart.

My KA1103 finally died after many years of delivery work and I replaced it with a Tecsun PL-880. Very happy with that so far.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

The Degen DE1103 and Kaito KA1103 work great. The only downside is the power input is 8VDC which means for most of us an inverter to feed the wall wart..

I use a DC buck converter, cost of a beer off ebay though some are a bit RF noisy.

[Auspicious]

RF noise is bad for HF. *grin* So far the Tecsun PL-880 I bought to replace the Kaito is serving well. I've already dealt with low noise 5 VDC supply.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

RF noise is bad for HF. *grin* So far the Tecsun PL-880 I bought to replace the Kaito is serving well. I've already dealt with low noise 5 VDC supply.

Never had a problem with the 1103 receiving wfax, some ebay buck converters can be noisy, I've cleaned up a few just with random capacitors on the in/out or just used another one. Cheap analysis is actually quite easy =>
https://www.rtl-sdr.com/spektrum-new...yzer-software/

[Auspicious]

I've used an 1103 for years and dealt with the 8VDC power supply requirement with a very small inverter. The 1103 finally failed due to accumulated corrosion and likely too much baggage handling by airlines. My new Tecsun PL-880 (it appears either Kaito owns Tecsun or vice-versa) works as well and has the advantage of running on 5VDC (so any USB connection is power).

As a delivery skipper I have to be portable and easily connected.

[felicityloncar]

Hi just joined and looking for a good weather fax software to use on windows laptop and with SSB Icon. Glad for the advice and see you posted recently.