Anyone use Navtex?

JABS · 14 May 2007, 10:56

I have recently bought a NASA Clipper Navtex receiver. My thought process being to keep it running at home to read the shipping forecast before trips.

I can only say that I am finding the menu so non intuitive that I am getting hacked off with it.

Also, reception is not good unless the aerial has a clear view of the sky.

Does any else have experience and how do they rate the value of the info available from the Navtex system?

Thanks

Tony

havener · 14 May 2007, 21:28

Info is good, I use it at home with the aerial mounted on the chimney - weather info is superb, but then I use it at sea all the time so get used to the format.

I use the ICS printed version, not had experience of the set you're talking about.

I suspect also that you may be a wee bit too inland to experience decent coverage...

Simon

jwalker · 15 May 2007, 12:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by JABS

Also, reception is not good unless the aerial has a clear view of the sky.

The info is good if it's what you need.

I'm using a Nasa active antenna on a McMurdo navtex and it's receiving everything from Reykjavik to Turkey. The antenna is on the boat roof. Like any antenna, the radio waves can be blocked by various things but, in general, navtex signals travel a long way easily.

My home Navtex is indoors and the antenna is sitting on a windowsill. It is set to receive from Norway, Portpatrick and Cullercoats. I'm on the east coast and the Portpatrick signal is a bit weak, it sometimes droxps chxraxters.

Daniel · 16 May 2007, 15:27

i have the same unit at home. the interface and data formatting is awful but the information it receives is good. My aeriel in up by the guttering and receives no problems. i am only 200 yards from the sea though.

Paul Beaurain · 16 May 2007, 19:01

Hi
Its good to see some Navtex users - even if from home.

My experience Navtex is very good info - but units are difficult to program and read when on board.

I notice that Raymarine has some form of Navtex interface. Does anyone know if this improves the functionality - ie can you effectively operate the Navtex and view the info on the bigger Raymarine screen?

Paul

havener · 17 May 2007, 08:30

Best to ask Raytheon - certainly on our units you can, but then we have an integrated bridge system which is a little more than you'd find on a rib....

Simon

JABS · 17 May 2007, 08:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by havener

Best to ask Raytheon - certainly on our units you can, but then we have an integrated bridge system which is a little more than you'd find on a rib....

Simon

Now that is a lot of toys!

havener · 17 May 2007, 11:25

Just a few...sometimes I even remember what they do

Poly · 20 May 2007, 22:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwalker

I'm on the east coast and the Portpatrick signal is a bit weak, it sometimes droxps chxraxters.

Are you sure that its the signal? Perhaps gArf is hiding out in Portpatrick typing the weather!

Pikey Dave · 10 March 2008, 18:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Beaurain

Hi
Its good to see some Navtex users - even if from home.

My experience Navtex is very good info - but units are difficult to program and read when on board.

I notice that Raymarine has some form of Navtex interface. Does anyone know if this improves the functionality - ie can you effectively operate the Navtex and view the info on the bigger Raymarine screen?

Paul

Two words, "don't bother!" I have just added a NASA navtex engine to my "E" series network. After visiting the Raymarine stand at the boat show & speaking to NASA on the phone I decided to spend the £100 quid or so & buy the NASA unit. What no-one tells you is that you have to leave your Raymarine display switched on to receive Navtex messages, not just the NASA receiver. Also the messages aren't stored, so if you switch off the display that the navtex is connected to, you lose all the info. The PC version "navtex pro" does store the messages locally in the Navtex unit until you download them onto your PC. The Raymarine version doesn't.
Not happy :>((

jwalker · 10 March 2008, 19:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

The PC version "navtex pro" does store the messages locally in the Navtex unit until you download them onto your PC. The Raymarine version doesn't.
Not happy :>((

It's easy to be a little confused...

The NASA Navtex Pro is a stand alone unit which stores and displays Navtex messages. I think it is only single channel. (518)
The NASA Navtex Pro Plus is a stand alone unit which stores and displays Navtex messages. It is dual channel.
The NASA Navtex engine is just that; a navtex receiver for feeding navtex data to a device. If the device isn't ready to receive data, tough.
The NASA MARINE PC Navtex Pro is a navtex engine with internal storage but it needs to hand shake with a PC to dump the messages to the PC program. It is dual channel. I may be wrong but wouldn't imagine your plotter would be able to handshake with it. It is supplied with a PC program for doing this.

MikeCC · 10 March 2008, 20:51

JW,

What Dave is referring to is a special version of the Navtex Pro engine for Raymarine kit. It was to do with the baud rate and interface IIRC. I have no idea why it was produced without 'offline' storage capability though.

The standard PC Navtex Pro is dual frrequency and offers storage while powered on but not connected to PC (or other unit if you can attach for serial data and interpret the Navtex stream, but not E Series). As far as I'm aware, the Navtex Engine and the PC Navtex Pro are one and the same thing.

It's easier if the other units are referred to as Target Navtex Pro and Pro Plus. The Pro has pretty well fallen of the end now.

jwalker · 11 March 2008, 00:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeCC

JW,

What Dave is referring to is a special version of the Navtex Pro engine for Raymarine kit. It was to do with the baud rate and interface IIRC.

OK. I wasn't aware of a special version. Thanks for that.

Pikey Dave · 11 March 2008, 08:15

According to NASA, the Raymarine equipment isn't capable of accepting the Navtex info as a "dump" which it would get if the info was stored in the Navtex unit & sent to the Raymarine display when it was switched on. The Raymarine implementation of Navtex, requires the raw data to be sent to the Raymarine kit as it is received, literally letter by letter. Basically the Raymarine version of the NASA Navtex is acting like a real time receiver / decoder & not a recorder. I asked Raymarine tech support if this flaw would be corrected in the upcoming V4 software release, they replied that it wasn't a flaw & that's how it was supposed to work. hmmm!

smartcom · 29 December 2009, 15:59

The NASA PC Navtex Pro also should not be confused with our PC Navtex software (www.pcnavtex.com), which pre-dates NASA's use of PC Navtex.

The problem with leisure marine NAVTEX units is that there is no standard for the data interface protocol, unlike commercial kit where there have been NMEA sentences for Navtex for a few years now. This makes it a problem to interface to. Most from McMurdo, Furuno, and the earlier NASA Navtex Engines just dump the data out to the serial port, but this doesn't work if you want the Navtex receiver to store messagesa for you - you either need a proper comms protocol, or you need to have the user press buttons on the kit (like with Furuno's NX-300).

Poly · 29 December 2009, 20:07

Smartcom - welcome to the forum. Can I suggest you take the time to find the guidelines on commercial posting though - unless you want the natives to chew you up and spit you out!