Naftex

[vasko]

Hello All,

Is having a  Naftex still worth in the MED ? 

I'm changing my sailing area from Alicante to Gulf of Lion and I'm seriously thinking about a Navtex hence the Gulf of Lion weather...


but I'm not sure if it will be any  good - useful at all ?


Any suggestions welcome 

[Zanshin]

If you anchor out and aren't at a marina (where they post the NAVTEX report) then I believe the additional information on weather and potential hazards that are posted by NAVTEX are pretty useful. I've got a NASA NAVTEX aboard and the device doesn't use much energy and is always on. In my area there's only one broadcaster for the whole Caribbean but it is still good to get that additional data when heading out.

[lateron]

Hi.....I have a portable Navtex box made by Morer and called 'weather nfobox WIB2D' which can be charged up from 12v supply. In my travels around the Med and Caribbean on charter boats and on my own boat it has proved invaluable. It tunes in to all local Navtex weather sources and gives warnings of weather several times a day for all relevant sea areas in your locality.
So I would say Navtex is a worthwhile tool to have onboard, it also doesn't need wi fi or satellite connections.

Regards Ron

[dublin]

The iPad has a NAVTEX app which reads the message from a radio tuned to the correct frequency
Works ok but obviously Unlike a dedicated navtex it cannot record the message for later use.
Worth trying if your radio can tune to the required frquency

[Zanshin]

I think that the iPad app needs a SSB radio, as normal VHF radios won't let you tune to that frequency band. I'm not sure about the Med, but in the Caribbean one of the standard VHF weather band stations broadcasts the computer-generated voice transcription of the NAVTEX messages on a round-the-clock basis, alternating between English and Spanish.

[dublin]

The app does not Ned SSb. I have a small portable radio which I use. The important thing is to get one with the adequate tuning range. They can be difficult to find as most radios don't tune far enough on the extremities so you need to check the NAVTEX broadcast setting for the ara you are in and make sure the radio can tune to that setting. For example I use portpatrick and Marin head which are 528 and 490 respectively

[ianpowolny]

Dublin, which radio to you have? I've tried to find one in the past but no success. Ian

[dbostrom]

Something that works for us is the NASA "USB"* Navtex receiver engine attached to a Bluetooth adapter, allowing messages to be buffered on a smart phone or tablet. 

This little gizmo does the trick with sending to Bluetooth:

www.dx.com/p/db9-rs232-wireless-bluetooth-serial-module-104301#.VJPhxAT1I

*USB version is just RS232 serial connected to a serial-USB converter dongle. 

[vasko]

BTW: Has someone try : Garmin GDL40 Weather Receiver

seems if you have a Garmin NMEA 2000 compatible chart-plotter and not far from shore ( or at least starting from shore ) will do e very nice job... 

[vasko]

Another thing that I've discovered is : www.zygrib.org/

Free and if you have some form of internet a great tool for forecast and sea condition etc.

[sitara]

Hi Vasko,
Thanks for the zygrib link. I have just loaded it on my mac running OS 10.6.8 and it runs perfectly. This will be a very valuable tool.

[vasko]

yep, Thanks  

I love the tool too.. very nice for planing ... my current struggle is how to make  Garmin GDL40 to take the internet not from the 3G/GPRS modem that is build in but from my local wifi on the boat... as it incredibly useful to have the grid files actually mapped the chart-plotter  but with the GDL40 you need to pay about £4 every day that you use it.. and this very annoying for me as I al;ready have internet on board..