VHF Weather

[ka4wja]

Kenomac,
I think you may be confusing me with the original poster, "kimden"???

'Cause I am an offshore sailor / voyager, made many offshore passages, starting in the 1960's, including multiple Atlantic crossings (first one was in the 1970's, and latest was just a couple years ago)....
And, I've made my living in hi-tech electronics / communications for the past 30+ years, and have a rep for being on the cutting edge of sat comm and microwave wireless (cellular, etc.)
(but, quite frankly I'd rather watch the sky, barometer, etc. as well as look at a weather chart prepared by a human, rather than look at a computer-generated model....)


The original poster (kimden), is the one who is a coastal sailor and seems to be unfamiliar with some forms of maritime communications, weather info/sources, etc...


{I'm well aware that the NOAA Weather stations are a US-only system....and while I do wish that NAVTEX had caught on here on this side of the Atlantic, it hasn't...but, since it is unlikely that the original poster is venturing to Europe anytime soon, it seemed prudent to actually address HIS particular issue rather then bring up other ideas....
Although, I personally appreciate being kept up-to-date on others experiences with various APPS, etc. it just seemed to be far off topic for his query...}


As far as being in the "stone age"??
Replacing an old non-DSC vhf radio with a modern Class D VHF-DSC radio is far from the "stone age" in my opinion...

And, specifically to the original poster's query, when you're 30 - 50 miles offshore, in the Gulf Stream, etc. and wanting some up-to-date info / T-storm warnings, etc.(which IS what we get on these NOAA Weather stations), I think most would prefer to use the "stone age" Marine VHF system rather than nothing at all (which is what his smart phone would give him, nothing...)
The NOAA VHF weather stations around here can be picked up clearly from more than 50-60 miles 100% of the time!!! (No special propagation) with even mediocre vhf systems on-board, and many listen to these from 75-100 miles away...
When further offshore / on the high seas / across the Atlantic / etc. we have HF WeFax (from multiple USCG stations, GYA in the UK, as well as from Greece, Germany, etc. and dozens of others)....and of course the HF SafetyNET SITOR broadcasts....and even the HF Voice weather broadcasts...
All of these are easily received from 1000's of miles away, offshore, in any weather, for free....
(and of course are considered the "gold standard" of offshore / hi-seas weather..)

Of course, you also have Sat Comm systems that can do much of the above, for various fees and airtime costs....

Okay, sorry about the digression.....
But, as you can easily start to see, none of that has any real bearing on the original posters query about his VHF radio...
Nor does telling him to scrap the radio and use his smart phone???
(not to mention that the ranges that you state for VHF radio range is seriously inaccurate....please have a look at the designed ranges of the various stations that I posted above, these are based on small handheld VHF weather radios, w/ 2' telescopic antennas indoors ....and take note that many can use these radios effectively in Bimini Bahamas....but when on-board with masthead antennas and good-quality marine VHF radios, the ranges for these NOAA VHF stations is much greater!!! 50-60 miles 100% of the time is typical, and 75+ miles is what I get, 100% of the time!!)

Kenomac, if you wish to get into a contest about sailing, weather info/forecasting, radio comms, etc. I have no interest at all...but, if you wish to read some info on these subjects, there is a plethora of info here on CF and the SSCA disc boards....please have a look...


I hope this helps clear up your confusion.

Fair winds..

John


Btw, I use the caps and bold-type to add emphasis, not to be rude or shout at anyone....not sure why that didn't come off correctly, but please accept my apologies...
If I could go back and remove all my comments to you in this thread I would, as it seems you took my sincere efforts as offense, and I did not mean any...
And, yes....sometimes I am a Blowhard....but I'm usually right with the info/facts...