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
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,534
Check with Starlink. Their plans are in flux. They are changing as the monetization evolves based on the users of the service, user location, and traffic analysis.
When I first got Starlink, my plan was the roaming plan at $75 per month. Pretty competitive with any broadband Internet service. A couple years later they realized folk were using it off shore and they sent out emails saying that we had to switch to a different plan. A lot of folks switched to a plan that was $150 per month and $2 per gigabyte once the 50 gigabytes were surpassed (I think). They also offered the $200 per month plan that had the 50 gigabyte limit but unlimited geography. The $150 plan worked well in the Atlantic but wouldn't work everywhere. I don't recall the details.
They now have several plans - you'll have to check. If you have limited space on your boat you should look at the new mini antenna they have - supposed to work quite well. If you need to do conference calls you should look at the high speed antenna they sell - that works really well. If you are planning to sail to Pacific islands, you need to be aware of local regulations as there are some Pacific islands that don't permit you to have Starlink.
It all depends on what you need and where you are going to sail. That original RV plan was a great bargain until they started to geo locate where you were...
dj
There are a couple of factors at play. Each country has the right to regulate the radio frequencies within its borders. Some countries have not allowed Starlink to operate within their borders and thus, you can't use it. There are several Caribbean nations that do not permit StarLink to operate with in its borders.
The other factor is bandwidth. In crowded areas, StarLink may not have enough bandwidth to support all the devices that want to use it. They appear to use pricing as one means of limiting use. In crowded areas transmission speeds are degraded because there is not enough bandwidth.