Getting Grib from Sat Phone

[jbinbi]

Taking a 10 day trip where we won't be close to land for internet service. We are renting a sat phone.

I would like to be able to get grib files to put into opencpn.

I figure making my phone into a hotspot and sending an email from opencpn and then receiving all emails isn't the way to do this. I have a little used gmail account where I get no mail normally, so was thinking to do this?

Never used a sat phone, assuming you don't get email on the phone itself?

Any help here is appreciated. Last threads on this were 3+ yrs old so not sure what is good to do.

[Breaking Waves]

well with our iridium phone - the phone acts sort of like a modem.

You cable your laptop to the phone (there are wifi options but I have always used a physical cable) - send out the grib request e-mail from the laptop, and receive back the e-mail containing the grib. For all the laptop knows you are connected to the internet - just really slowly.

[hpeer]

We do this via SailMail.

There is a $250 (IRC) annual charge. But they do a lot of data compaction and provide a great service. So they save something in the air time charges, provide support, and make things easier.

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by hpeer

We do this via SailMail.

There is a $250 (IRC) annual charge. But they do a lot of data compaction and provide a great service. So they save something in the air time charges, provide support, and make things easier.

If you can get email via satphone, why subscribe to SailMail? One can use Saildocs to request grib file. Comes compacted. No cost. (Saildocs is part of Sailmail, but free to anyone.)

[jbinbi]

Originally Posted by Breaking Waves

well with our iridium phone - the phone acts sort of like a modem.

You cable your laptop to the phone (there are wifi options but I have always used a physical cable) - send out the grib request e-mail from the laptop, and receive back the e-mail containing the grib. For all the laptop knows you are connected to the internet - just really slowly.

Thanks. I am renting an Iridium phone with a $50 plan, $1.79/min. We just need to get a grib every other day 3x. Also asking a friend to check predictwind and text us wind forecast for the next 3 days each day. Phone is an emergency use, will turn on just to get text and grib 1x a day, and hopefully not again.

[jbinbi]

Originally Posted by sv_pelagia

If you can get email via satphone, why subscribe to SailMail? One can use Saildocs to request grib file. Comes compacted. No cost. (Saildocs is part of Sailmail, but free to anyone.)

Yes. That was my question. Opencpn creates a message to saildocs, and comes back. I just didn't know how to connect sat phone to computer. Also, I normally use my regular email account, but this is constantly getting email and I don't want that to happen. I figured I would use a gmail account I normally don't reguarly use; it should just send that email out to saildocs, and the return should be the only email back.

[sv_pelagia]

Note you can also get OCENS weather services (addons to satellite service) :

Spotcast:
https://www.ocens.com/spotcast

Or their more inclusive
https://www.ocens.com/wnWeather.aspx
Weathernet (where a charge for individual item occurs)

[donradcliffe]

One word of warning. Connecting the computer to the phone without really understanding windows can get VERY expensive. On a past delivery, the race navigator assured me that windows was under control, then the laptop decided to download a windows update via the satellite. It blew through well over $1000 of data in an hour, and we had to call another boat on the VHF and have them ask the owner to add more $$ to his account.

The windows based email programs have high overhead--1kb of text can take 10kb to download or upload. Sailmail eliminates this issue.

[jbinbi]

Haven't used a sat phone. Is it possible to get email directly on the phone. Is there a browser. If I could just login to gmail, download the grib, then somehow transfer to the computer, that works without any concerns of the computer doing other things. I am in IT, so I know computers, but simple and easy is best. Or is it only that the sat phone acts as a modem and isn't like a smartphone.

[fogmachine]

Most common around here is to use saildocs to request gribs via e-mail; after sending the request wait a few minutes, call back and download the reply. There are various satellite e-mail services available but you're probably using the basic one from Iridium.


Make sure you test everything thoroughly before you leave. And as suggested above, if using windows make sure all Microsoft Updates are as disabled as you know how.


Besides gribs, saildocs can send some of the OPC (NOAA Ocean Prediction Center) graphics. Here are some saildocs requests used for California to Hawaii:

send gfs:20N,50N,160W,120W|0.5,0.5|0,3..180|PRMSL,WIND, WAVES
send https://ocean.weather.gov/shtml/irp1.gif
send https://ocean.weather.gov/P_e_sfc_color.png
send https://ocean.weather.gov/shtml/P_24hrsfc.gif
send https://ocean.weather.gov/shtml/P_48hrsfc.gif
send https://ocean.weather.gov/shtml/P_72hrsfc.gif
send https://ocean.weather.gov/shtml/P_96hrsfc.gif

[waterman46]

I have to emphasize the point about testing this several times before leaving port. I got an Iridium 9555 satphone used (my bad) and apparently the modem function would not work. We really didn't need it as I subscribe and use Sailmail on HF SSB, but no matter how much I tried I could not get the satphone modem to work with the Windows laptop.

The Sailmail website has complete instructions on how to make the modem work with PC:
https://sailmail.com/category/satell...dium-handsets/

[Shoalbay]

I used an Iridium 9555 and a 9505 to get GRIB files. The airtime cost per report was ~U$15.

But we had an Inreach (now Garmin) aboard and over a period of time got into a routine of getting a weather report for where we expected to be in three days.

It came to be a text-based, good-enough, substitute for GRIB weather maps (which show the shapes of systems). Global texting is a bonus.

The net cost including buying a phone, accessories, airtime for a year, might be U$1000 if you re-sell the phone afterward.

I would opt for both, especially if you can accept that the Inreach is a reasonable substitute for an EPIRB.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by waterman46

I have to emphasize the point about testing this several times before leaving port. I got an Iridium 9555 satphone used (my bad) and apparently the modem function would not work. We really didn't need it as I subscribe and use Sailmail on HF SSB, but no matter how much I tried I could not get the satphone modem to work with the Windows laptop.

The Sailmail website has complete instructions on how to make the modem work with PC:
https://sailmail.com/category/satell...dium-handsets/

I har some difficulty with receiving GRIBS the phone. I had to work with the sailmail support staff to rectify the problem. I forget what it was, some setting had gotten out of wack. It took a few days hut they stayed with it until we had success.

Take away:
It helps to have a life line when dealing with technology
You need to check and test gear sufficiently before departure

[Dsanduril]

Another option is UUPlus, an e-mail service designed specifically for e-mail over satellite. It isn't free, but you might save the monthly rate just in phone minutes.

You might also check with whomever is renting the phone, they may be able to provide UUPlus along with the phone. That and Saildocs and you're good to go.

[Dockhead]

Don't rent a phone for this; rent an Iridium Go! For $139 per month you get unlimited internet (extremely slow, but plenty fast enough for GRIBs). Can also be used as a phone. Go! plus Sailmail or the proprietary Iridium email program via Saildocs is absolutely problem free GRIBs.


The Go! is cheap; you can even just buy one and then sell it when you're done (if you can stand to give it up).