Weather Fax on SSB

[transmitterdan]

According to the information found here the frequencies for Nova Scotia are 4416kHz and 6915.1kHz. If you are trying to listen to Boston (NMF) these are the frequencies the radio has to tune:

4233.1kHz
6338.6kHz
9108.1kHz
12748.1kHz

Unfortunately your radio can only be set for frequencies directly in 1kHz steps. Thus you have to use the fine tune to reach these "odd" frequencies. So for example, if you want to try 9108.1kHz then you would select 9108kHz and then fine tune slightly up a bit. For 12748.1kHz you would select 12748kHz and tune up a bit.

I listened to NMF on 9108.1kHz this weekend and it was strong and clear most of the time.

[CapSud]

Wow guess what? I took my radio up on the hill and wow i got it.

Port of St.John's is down in between high cliffs and hills so i presume that the signal does not reach period.

Thanks to everyone who particated in my education, now i know here i stand.

[jwcolby54]

It appears that CapSud has found some relief so please pardon me if I somewhat hijack the thread, though much of it may apply to him as well.

I am looking at buying a radio initially for receiving weather fax, though I will go get an amateur license. My question is how do the bands rate for distance at sea. Obviously one wants to be able to receive the weather fax signals in the middle of the ocean if possible.

Just as an example, I am looking at a kenwood R5000 or TS440 on EBay from Jahnke. These radios are 160M to 10M (30kHz-30MHz). This seems to encompass the frequencies mentioned in this thread. Although old, these units seem to be highly regarded for those of us on a budget. Any thoughts on these radios? Also, these don't get down to the 2 meter band. Are those bands useful enough that I should pass on these radios?

Assuming that these units receive weather fax at a long distance, can they interface to a PC?

ka4wja mentions interference from digital noise, do I need to keep my computer stuff away from the radio? I always assumed that the radio chassis itself was reasonably resistant to adjacent noise, and that it was more an antenna issue.

[El Pinguino]

Kenwood R5000s are nice radios but getting a bit long in the tooth...and big... my one has to be run off 12v (needs a bit of stuff in its insides ) as it became very noisy on mains. You don't need 2 metres.

Why not get a Sangean/Tecsun/Sony as mentioned before ( Tecsun 880 would be my pick)

With small radios you can get noise off the wallwart... batteries are best.

The R5000 has line out so, yes, it can be connected to your PC as can the Sony,Sangean and Tecsun 880. ( The Tecsun 660 and 680 don't ... you need to use the headphone jack which mutes the speaker which makes the business a bit 'fussy' )

Propagation/ reception distance involves both frequency and time of day...suffice to say I can get Japanese wefax in Patagonia....

Plenty of info on the net about how all that works...

[jwcolby54]

The techsun's you mention seem to be receive only. I suppose I could do that but it would be throwaway when I got my license and went out to get a transceiver.

My problem is that I really do not want to go spend a thousand or two or three for a ham radio.

And given that I too am getting a little long in the tooth, it seems appropriate that my radio might be as well.

Back in the 60s my first ham radios were old tube aircraft receivers and transmitters out of WWII airplanes.

They were given to me and it was the process of reading the ARRL manuals and getting them working that got me into electronics.

[El Pinguino]

The Kenwood R5000 is only a receiver...

The radios I mention only cost about $150ish... not going to break the bank

[jwcolby54]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

The Kenwood R5000 is only a receiver...

So I see. Guess I won't do that.

[srfrjim]

Originally Posted by Mark Zarley

Have used JV.com for over 10 yrs, IC 735 and Windows 7 currently. Great program and easy to set up. Go to JV.comm and download for free. For a one time small fee you can get a regeristered version without DEMO showing up on the download. If you do register make sure you make a copy of your application and the numerical key that is sent to you. Then when you replace your computor at a later date you can activate the new program with your old key. Enjoy

I've been trying to bring up JVcomm32. I have run several of the test files and have gotten meaningless bands as displays. Please help me set it up with HF SSB.

[transmitterdan]

What test files are you running?

[Ribbit]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

So... what I would do... buy another radio.... in your situation I would get either a Tecsun 660, 680, or 880.
The only failing of the first two is that they have no 'line out'. They work perfectly well using the headphone socket but that means you cant hear the signal while recording.
The 880 is the most expensive but would be the one I would choose ( I own all three so know their strengths and weaknesses - all receive equally well).

I really appreciate the recommendation, I've just ordered an 880. Many thanks.

Any recommendation on a connecting lead?

eta: in case it helps anyone else, after a lot of searching, the cheapest price I managed to find the 880 for was £125.90 inc batteries, delivery, VAT and Duty, from here (you do have the option of just going with a cheap delivery):

http://www.anon-co.com/product/pl880

This was about £80 cheaper than the NASA Marine SSB I was considering, and seems far more versatile, as well as more portable.

[El Pinguino]

A good choice of radio.

Any 3.5mm male/male lead would be fine. Same same this one... Amazon.com: 3.5mm Mono Male To Male Cable 2 ft Gold Plated: Electronics

[Ribbit]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

A good choice of radio.

Any 3.5mm male/male lead would be fine. Same same this one... Amazon.com: 3.5mm Mono Male To Male Cable 2 ft Gold Plated: Electronics

Sorted. Thanks again.

[Hoghead]

10 pages + my other Googling and now more confused than ever

I have:
Icom 802 radio
Pactor
Ships PC running Windows 7 or 8 (I cannot remember) with sound card and naturally USB
Open CPN on the ships computer
Android laptop for backup

I now have a Delorme Explorer tied to a handphone and considering dropping Sailmail

My area is the S Pacific and SE Asia so Sirrius is not an option

I want to receive weather faxes on both the PC and Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 (Android 5.0)

The Android seems straight forward enough using a Black Hat app, but not clear on the stereo/mono cable issue from the Icom 802 radio to the Samsung tab.
Is there a non-geek way to do this other than Black Hat?

JVComm seems the software of choice but it looks a bit geekey and I would prefer a simple solution if available - I do not mind to pay for KISS
Weatherfax keeps coming up in my searches but a lot of this software seems to stop at W7?

Auto scheduling would be nice

What is the current KISS preferred solution for Windows and what cabling do I need? I need to commission this in Fiji so have to go with all the bits in hand and would appreciate some guidance

[El Pinguino]

If you have Pactor and Sailmail is easy, just use the 'getfax' - 'weatherfax' drop down on the right of the 'toolbar' in Sailmail

[Hoghead]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

If you have Pactor and Sailmail is easy, just use the 'getfax' - 'weatherfax' drop down on the right of the 'toolbar' in Sailmail

I was going to let Sailmail go as it is slow and painful.
The new Delorme will let me send/receive 140 character text messages at will which is sufficient to keep family updated and reassured. Most other things can wait just like the dark days before email