Printer

[kaerou]

I've seen pictures of printers connected to HF radios to print weather faxes. Being of the kind who prefers paper to picture, I wonder if anyone knows where I can find such printer?
Thanks

[Sailmonkey]

Either get a Furuno fax printer, or use software like Xaxero to receive the fax then print it on a normal printer.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[capngeo]

I just bought a with a cigarette lighter plug for 12V use... I'll let you know how it works out

[kaerou]

Hi Capngeo,
Thanks for the follow up. Is that a Brother printer? I have found (did not buy yet $$$) the Brother PJ series (in 12V). But, as Sailmonkey writes, it'd have to be connected to my laptop from which I would download the weathermaps. Could be the thing to do.
Cheers
Jean-Marie

[kaerou]

Thanks for the advice, Sailmonkey.
I did not know Xaxero and it looks attractive. What sort of equipment/antenna do I need to receive? I already have an HF antenna as well as a Inmarsat for satelite telephony. I cannot find detailed explanations on Xaxero, their site does not really show how it works..
cheers

[Suijin]

If you have a HF antenna does that mean you have an SSB or HF radio on board? If so, one option is to wire an audio output from it to the audio input of your laptop (you'll need a mono cord, not a stereo cord) and run software (like BlackCat or Mscan Meteo) that renders the Weatherfax charts. Then you'd simply print it out on a standard printer. You don't even need to print it out, you can just view it on your computer screen.

The Furuno system with a dedicated thermal printer for printouts is great if you have the money and space. They are reliable and programmable so they are pretty much automated

[kaerou]

Hi Suijin (some beautiful names out there:-)
Thanks for your input. Indeed I have an iCom-802 (is that an SSB or HF, by the way?) connected to that Hf antenna. So I can rig that audio cable. I'll have a look at those two softwares you mention.
Be well
jm

[ka4wja]

JM,
Sorry I didn't read your question yesterday, since it was titled "Printer", I skipped over it....
(if it were titled "WeFax Printer", or "Weather Fax Printer", I would've responded straight away...)



There are a couple of easy answers to your question...

Originally Posted by kaerou

I've seen pictures of printers connected to HF radios to print weather faxes. Being of the kind who prefers paper to picture, I wonder if anyone knows where I can find such printer?
Thanks

1) You can spend about $2200 USD for a NEW Furuno FAX-408 (or JRC JAX-9b, or Alden, etc.) WeFax receiver, which is a dedicated HF WeFax receiver, with built-in printer, memories, timer, etc....
And, connect it to just about any external antenna, scrap piece of wire, a shroud or stay, etc....and have excellent, hi-quality, weather fax charts and satellite images, anywhere in the world, almost 24 hours a day...
Understand that this is a complete stand-alone unit, all it needs is 12vdc and an antenna....it is very reliable, works tirelessly, and like all HF WeFax units, it requires NO subscription, nor fees paid to work...
The HF Wefax system is FREE for all to use!! 24/7/365....no fees, ever....

And unlike old fax paper of years gone by, the paper images printed here last a LONG time...
(I have wefax charts that I printed out 3 - 4 months ago, and they look like brand new charts....after 6 months - a year, they will start to fade-out and loose contrast, and after a couple of years, they will be almost unusable....but who needs/keeps old weather charts!!)

{this is what I've been using for many years....actually started decades ago, but upgraded to my new Furuno FAX-408 just about 5 - 6 years ago...and I just use one of my aft lower shrouds as my antenna, works great!!}

Don't be mislead by the advertised "MSRP", as the regular "street price" of about $2200 - $2500, for the Furuno FAX-408....
Product Detail - FAX408



Here are some photos of my Furuno FAX-408, operating in my Nav Station...















2) Now, if you do not desire a separate dedicated WeFax receiver / printer (or if the price of these things is beyond your budget), you can easily use your Icom M-802 as an HF radio receiver, and receive the WeFax transmissions, for free, worldwide...
But, all you get is some warbles and tones out of the radio's speaker.....so you need something to interpret / decode them into a usable chart/image....
So, you connect a simple audio cable from the M-802 (either the headphone jack or a fixed audio output from the ACC or AF/MOD jacks), to the sound-card input of a computer....and using some free software (or very inexpensive software), you will get the images on your computer screen...
And, if you desire to have a hard copy, you can have a simple computer printer attached and you're good-to-go!!
(note that some have even had success doing this without the audio cable, and just using the radio's speaker and computer's microphone....and I believe there is an iPad App just for this, which some have also used successfully....but a hard-wired approach will always work better...)

As for the free, or inexpensive, software....
You have a few choices...

One of the best WeFax receive software packages is, JVcomm32...many have great success with this...(and actually many use this with just a simple portable SW rec, and have good results too...)
JVComm32 - FAX SSTV RTTY SYNOP NAVTEX program


But, GetFax, is just as good.....and it comes with the whole Aimail program, so many that have Sailmail use GetFax very successfully...
Airmail weather fax


Also SEATTY is very popular, and many use it successfully as well...
Weather messages decoder - RTTY, NAVTEX, WEFAX (HF-FAX), NWR SAME software





3) HF-WeFax has been around a long time, and is still being used today, and will still be with us for quite a while (at least another 10+ years)!!
(according to the 2012 IMO/Jcomm survey, a large majority of vessels plying the oceans, still use HF WeFax daily, for their ocean meteorological info....i.e. "weather info/forecasts")


If you are sailing the N. Atlantic, Caribbean, Eastern Pacific, Central Pacific, or Tropical Pacific....the US NWS/NOAA provides (via USCG transmitters) very detailed weather charts / satellite images....including upper air charts, as well as forecasts out to 96 - 120 hours....

For the eastern Atlantic, North Sea, Med, etc. the UK and German Met offices, as well as Greece, transmit charts for these areas...

And, for the S. Atlantic, rest of the Pacific, Southern Ocean, Indian Ocean, the Arctic, etc...there are Aus, NZ, Chile, S.
Africa, Brazil, Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, Canada, Russia, etc.


Click here for detailed schedules and more info...(depending on where you are sailing, print out the detailed schedules of some of the stations...)
Marine Radiofax charts
NWS Radiofax

For example the Boston and New Orleans stations are the ones that I use for Atlantic crossings, etc...
Boston Radiofax Schedule with Links
New Orleans Radiofax Schedule with Links


And, here is a NEW, updated World-Wide WeFax Schedule! (from just 2 weeks ago!)
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/rfax.pdf
(save it....or better yet, print it out...)





I hope all the above info helps you out!

Fair winds..

John

[kaerou]

Hi John,

Strewth ... you got me home reading for days here :-) Thanks a million for all this information. I will go through all this and see. I don't intend to sail due South (from France to S.Africa) and onward to either Australia or S.E. Asia before next year. But I'd rather start working things out early.
Again than you and good winds

Jean-Marie s.v "Kaerou"

[ka4wja]

Jean Marie,
You're very welcome!
Or, maybe....I'm sorry I've got you spending time reading!

BTW, you may find this series of videos useful....regarding offshore weather and accessing the weather forecasts..

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...zdjTJjHlChruyY


Fair winds...

John