Hi captain . I have an icom 700 on board and works fine . For weather would you recommend just getting a weather fax or upgrade to an 802 and use the ssb . I like to keep things simple , I’m really only looking for weather . You’re a great resource for this sort of information. Thanks for sharing
An actual real answer is WELL beyond a youtube comment box. 😀All I can do here is just hit a few quick points, so please understand there are many variables in a choice for you (and these may be different than what myself and others may choose). First off, if you're sailing offshore (beyond VHF range), you should have a full MF/HF-DSC-SSB radio (such as an M-802 or M-803), as the GMDSS is now 25 years old and the M-700 will not allow you to message / contact shore stations, merchant ships, etc., so getting a new radio is an absolute here... If you desire to use the M-802 (or M-803) as your receiver for wefax reception, that is fine....you can use JVComm32, or GETFAX, or other such FREE programs with a laptop and get good wefax images on your screen. If you really wish to go nuts like me (I'm a longtime amateur weather geek, as well as an offshore sailor), and you really want to spend an extra $2000, then a Furuno FAX-408 is fine piece of kit, and will serve you well..although it is overkill for most cruising sailors. BUT... But, be fully aware that ALL of your HF comms reception success (whether wefax, SSB voice, data, DSC, etc.) is all about your signal-to-noise-ratio, which is almost entirely governed by your on-board noise / RFI....so, your success with new radios and/or new wefax gear will be determined by how RF quiet your boat is... As I wrote there is A LOT MORE to all of this....please look at the playlists I put together on my youtube channel as well as my stickies on the Marine Electronics page on cruisersforum.com I hope this helps? 73, John, KA4WJA
Hi John , yes this helps immensely!! I will upgrade my radio to an 802 and also get a wefax . I have played with my 700 a bit and did receive voice and some weather and that was in the marina . I’m sure offshore will be much better . The boat has a large copper plating under the aft cabin and an isolated back stay antenna . Also has a large dyna plate at the mast that I think is connected to the copper as well. I will get it all in and let you know how it goes . Thank you very much
Great video. Nice to see an actual WEFAX machine in operation. I live way inland, and decode these HF fax transmissions off my various radios just for the heck of it. Now I have a visual of what an actual mariner uses. You have a very impressive setup there.
Yeah I'd love to have an actually standalone decoder printer like that. Software sucks and is too buggy with alignments and autostop/start. I too live inland, but the surface forcasts and wind/cyclone forecasts are handy sometimes. Specially during monsoon season.
@@kishascape You're right. I've used a number of various decode software over the years, and some were better than others, but none were ever really good. It never bothered me too much, since it was just for fun, but it would be nice to have one of these!
Ryan, I have already done so....and those further videos are in the "Offshore Weather" Playlist ruclips.net/p/PLnN6ygtZ3h2mPZAx2vWzdjTJjHlChruyY Please watch videos in the playlist in-order, even if it might not seem to be logical, it is... :)
Nice video, thanks for posting. Strange that they send the charts starting at the top. If they started at the bottom, then it would be right side up when it comes out and would be easier to read. I would imagine most users have these mounted on a bulkhead like you do, and so would have the same inconvenience. Just curious: is this a standalone unit that just needs to hook up to an antenna, or does it need a separate radio receiver?
Poly, Thanks for the compliment and I'm glad you found this helpful. If you'd like more info, more details, etc. then please have a look at the Playlist for Offshore Weather... ruclips.net/p/PLnN6ygtZ3h2mPZAx2vWzdjTJjHlChruyY Also, to answer your question, the Furuno FAX-408 (like most HF WeFax units) is a dedicated, self-contained unit....it has its own receiver built-in, as well as many pre-programmed channels / memories, and a nice timer function that will turn the unit on at specific times, tune it to a specific freq/channel, and to receive and print out specific charts. Further, you may wish to have a look at other Playlists for HF-DSC comms, Maritime HF Comms (in general), Icom M-802 Instruction Videos, and Offshore Sailing, etc.... Have a look here: ruclips.net/user/captainjohn49playlists?disable_polymer=1
... yeah ... your nav-station is well sorted out ... impressed ...! hope you don't mind i "steal" your idea of installing the red led's at my nav-station ...? anyway, good vid ... thanks 4 posting ...
Thanks for the complements! I don't mind if you steal any of my ideas here! BTW, not sure if you watched this video thru my Playlist, but if not...Please have a look at the entire Offshore Weather playlist... ruclips.net/p/PLnN6ygtZ3h2mPZAx2vWzdjTJjHlChruyY There is a LOT more! Fair winds. John
think you could do a couple videos on your antenna setups and information on how you ground if you do? There's a thousand videos on putting a hf antenna on a house you'd be the first for a boat.
Alec, thanks! That's a great idea....I just need to find the time... :) Maybe this summer? :) FYI, I use an insulated backstay (approx. 60' long) for my primary HF antenna, and an insulated aft lower shroud (approx. 22' long) for my HF-WeFax and HF-DSC receive antenna...and since I have Marelon thru-hulls, I have two Super (18" x 6") Dynaplates as my external ground plates, using 6" wide copper strapping, approx. 8' long, to attach the tuner "ground" to the Dynaplates, allowing a low-induc connection to the sea water, which is the antenna ground/rf ground (aka "counterpoise").
Ocala Breeder's Sales Company Thanks for the reply, sea grounds always confuse me with different surface areas and what not. Great setup too! Don't see to many people actually using a WEFAX machine. All laptop based now days unfortunately.
Heaven forbid an ipad? I'm here to learn. I think the ipad could be as popular as a dedicated MFD these days. Would you explain your comment? I do have a lot to learn. Cheers.
I don't know about Captain John, but I personally can't imagine having a consumer laptop aboard a ship that I have to rely on. I'd rather have a dedicated machine for a dedicated purpose, and if that fails I can just forget it.
Hi captain . I have an icom 700 on board and works fine . For weather would you recommend just getting a weather fax or upgrade to an 802 and use the ssb . I like to keep things simple , I’m really only looking for weather . You’re a great resource for this sort of information. Thanks for sharing
An actual real answer is WELL beyond a youtube comment box. 😀All I can do here is just hit a few quick points, so please understand there are many variables in a choice for you (and these may be different than what myself and others may choose). First off, if you're sailing offshore (beyond VHF range), you should have a full MF/HF-DSC-SSB radio (such as an M-802 or M-803), as the GMDSS is now 25 years old and the M-700 will not allow you to message / contact shore stations, merchant ships, etc., so getting a new radio is an absolute here...
If you desire to use the M-802 (or M-803) as your receiver for wefax reception, that is fine....you can use JVComm32, or GETFAX, or other such FREE programs with a laptop and get good wefax images on your screen.
If you really wish to go nuts like me (I'm a longtime amateur weather geek, as well as an offshore sailor), and you really want to spend an extra $2000, then a Furuno FAX-408 is fine piece of kit, and will serve you well..although it is overkill for most cruising sailors.
BUT...
But, be fully aware that ALL of your HF comms reception success (whether wefax, SSB voice, data, DSC, etc.) is all about your signal-to-noise-ratio, which is almost entirely governed by your on-board noise / RFI....so, your success with new radios and/or new wefax gear will be determined by how RF quiet your boat is...
As I wrote there is A LOT MORE to all of this....please look at the playlists I put together on my youtube channel as well as my stickies on the Marine Electronics page on cruisersforum.com
I hope this helps?
73,
John, KA4WJA
Hi John , yes this helps immensely!! I will upgrade my radio to an 802 and also get a wefax . I have played with my 700 a bit and did receive voice and some weather and that was in the marina . I’m sure offshore will be much better . The boat has a large copper plating under the aft cabin and an isolated back stay antenna . Also has a large dyna plate at the mast that I think is connected to the copper as well. I will get it all in and let you know how it goes . Thank you very much
Great video. Nice to see an actual WEFAX machine in operation. I live way inland, and decode these HF fax transmissions off my various radios just for the heck of it. Now I have a visual of what an actual mariner uses. You have a very impressive setup there.
Yeah I'd love to have an actually standalone decoder printer like that. Software sucks and is too buggy with alignments and autostop/start. I too live inland, but the surface forcasts and wind/cyclone forecasts are handy sometimes. Specially during monsoon season.
@@kishascape You're right. I've used a number of various decode software over the years, and some were better than others, but none were ever really good. It never bothered me too much, since it was just for fun, but it would be nice to have one of these!
Can you make a video on how to print that chart? Thanks
Ryan, I have already done so....and those further videos are in the "Offshore Weather" Playlist ruclips.net/p/PLnN6ygtZ3h2mPZAx2vWzdjTJjHlChruyY Please watch videos in the playlist in-order, even if it might not seem to be logical, it is... :)
captainjohn49 thanks captain john
How to troubleshoot
Not sure what you need help troubleshooting? Please ask specific questions on cruisersforum.com. And, I'll try to help.
Nice video, thanks for posting. Strange that they send the charts starting at the top. If they started at the bottom, then it would be right side up when it comes out and would be easier to read. I would imagine most users have these mounted on a bulkhead like you do, and so would have the same inconvenience.
Just curious: is this a standalone unit that just needs to hook up to an antenna, or does it need a separate radio receiver?
Poly,
Thanks for the compliment and I'm glad you found this helpful.
If you'd like more info, more details, etc. then please have a look at the Playlist for Offshore Weather...
ruclips.net/p/PLnN6ygtZ3h2mPZAx2vWzdjTJjHlChruyY
Also, to answer your question, the Furuno FAX-408 (like most HF WeFax units) is a dedicated, self-contained unit....it has its own receiver built-in, as well as many pre-programmed channels / memories, and a nice timer function that will turn the unit on at specific times, tune it to a specific freq/channel, and to receive and print out specific charts.
Further, you may wish to have a look at other Playlists for HF-DSC comms, Maritime HF Comms (in general), Icom M-802 Instruction Videos, and Offshore Sailing, etc....
Have a look here:
ruclips.net/user/captainjohn49playlists?disable_polymer=1
... yeah ... your nav-station is well sorted out ... impressed ...! hope you don't mind i "steal" your idea of installing the red led's at my nav-station ...? anyway, good vid ... thanks 4 posting ...
Thanks for the complements! I don't mind if you steal any of my ideas here!
BTW, not sure if you watched this video thru my Playlist, but if not...Please have a look at the entire Offshore Weather playlist...
ruclips.net/p/PLnN6ygtZ3h2mPZAx2vWzdjTJjHlChruyY
There is a LOT more!
Fair winds.
John
think you could do a couple videos on your antenna setups and information on how you ground if you do? There's a thousand videos on putting a hf antenna on a house you'd be the first for a boat.
Alec, thanks! That's a great idea....I just need to find the time... :) Maybe this summer? :) FYI, I use an insulated backstay (approx. 60' long) for my primary HF antenna, and an insulated aft lower shroud (approx. 22' long) for my HF-WeFax and HF-DSC receive antenna...and since I have Marelon thru-hulls, I have two Super (18" x 6") Dynaplates as my external ground plates, using 6" wide copper strapping, approx. 8' long, to attach the tuner "ground" to the Dynaplates, allowing a low-induc connection to the sea water, which is the antenna ground/rf ground (aka "counterpoise").
Ocala Breeder's Sales Company Thanks for the reply, sea grounds always confuse me with different surface areas and what not. Great setup too! Don't see to many people actually using a WEFAX machine. All laptop based now days unfortunately.
Heaven forbid an ipad? I'm here to learn. I think the ipad could be as popular as a dedicated MFD these days. Would you explain your comment? I do have a lot to learn. Cheers.
I don't know about Captain John, but I personally can't imagine having a consumer laptop aboard a ship that I have to rely on. I'd rather have a dedicated machine for a dedicated purpose, and if that fails I can just forget it.