Can someone tell me whats the norm and associated costs? I've heard people use a Starlink subscription and somehow getting satellite info via Iridium sat phone? What do you rely on?
What Do People Use To Get Weather Info While At Sea?
- Thread starter GeneraiT001
- Start date
There are multiple possible methods. If you have SSB with a Pactor modem, you can download GRIB files. This is essentially free, you do have to have a the equipment and installation which if you are starting from scratch is not trivial but once installed, it has no monthly fees.
There are several satellite systems, iridiumGo, Garmin inreach, those sort of solutions. these have various costs for both the equipment and monthly fees. The market for these is getting hit hard by Starlink. Starlink provides high speed internet pretty much anywhere. There are several plans with Starlink and pricing depends upon what your home address is. Different parts of the world have quite different pricing. In the US, there are a couple plans. A worldwide coverage entrance plan is $200 per month. The equipment is about $1000 - I think - I may be not remembering this one correctly and as I have older equipment, I'm not up to date with the newer antennas. that's in a nutshell... I'm sure I've missed things..
dj
There are several satellite systems, iridiumGo, Garmin inreach, those sort of solutions. these have various costs for both the equipment and monthly fees. The market for these is getting hit hard by Starlink. Starlink provides high speed internet pretty much anywhere. There are several plans with Starlink and pricing depends upon what your home address is. Different parts of the world have quite different pricing. In the US, there are a couple plans. A worldwide coverage entrance plan is $200 per month. The equipment is about $1000 - I think - I may be not remembering this one correctly and as I have older equipment, I'm not up to date with the newer antennas. that's in a nutshell... I'm sure I've missed things..
dj
Predict Wind is a provider that is focused on weather forecasts and trip planning. Windy.com is another weather forecasting service. Both of these services require a broadband connection. At the moment Starlink is about the only choice, although there are other broad band satellite systems in development. PredictWind.com used to have a deal with a slower satellite service, check their website for more information.
We used Starlink and Predictwind when we were out cruising.
We used Starlink and Predictwind when we were out cruising.
This is true if you have a ham license. If you don't have a license, then there is a yearly fee. Used to be $250 years ago, but that has probably gone up some.
The OP needs to describe exactly what he is looking for, and if off-shore or coastal.
For coastal, cell phone is one option that hasn't been mentioned. Also, a Starlink subscription can be put on standby for $5/month and still receive enough data to easily get weather off the internet. This standby data service is not available offshore, but I think it still works near coast.
We have Starlink, phones, SSB, and Iridium Go. Haven't used the SSB since we got Starlink, and have never used the Iridium Go. We have never had Starlink fail offshore, but carry a spare mini anyway. With Starlink, the failure will be hardware, not network. The mini version costs $200 for the equipment. This is compared to several thousand dollars for SSB, $1,000 for Iridium Go, $400 for an Inreach, and whatever your phone cost (although this isn't really a cost because you have it anyway). Subscriptions to use all of these are in addition to the equipment cost.
Subscription prices for us are: SSB is free, Starlink $100/month unlimited high speed data, Iridium Go $65/month for very basic and limited (very)slow data, cell phone $25/month for unlimited highish speed data.
Mark
