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Thread: gribs at home

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Vancouver British Columbia, Canada
    Posts
    133

    Default gribs at home

    HELP......

    Would like to tell someone (who is not a sailmail member) how to order and view grib files on their own computer. I have absolutely no idea how to do this as just a non-subscriber...

    It is dead easy to do within sailmail, but have no experience or idea how to do so otherwise..

    I recall Stan Honey telling us about it at pre-race weather seminar, but of course, paid no attention whatsoever at the time.

    Simple step-by-step instructions would be most helpful...using windows XP

    All suggestions gratefully accepted.

    Thanks

    Jim/Haulback

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Capitola,CA
    Posts
    3,338

    Default

    Jim,
    If you have internet access and don't want to turn on the SSB, the easiest is to go to
    http://www.passageweather.com/

    Another option is to register at http://www.grib.us/

    Or were you asking how to obtain GRIB files offshore via SSB? This will require either SailMail or Winlink.
    Last edited by sleddog; 09-27-2008 at 05:44 AM.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Vancouver British Columbia, Canada
    Posts
    133

    Default

    Skip:
    Thanks for the response... No, I am not trying to figure out free way to get gribs onboard - I am, as you know, aready a sailmail member.

    Discussion over coamps gribs was with towboat skipper while we were 'waiting weather' up in Prince Rupert area.

    What I would like to find is a way to get access to coamps model for coastal gribs via internet connection. Appears that neither gribsUS or passageweather website offers these - GFS only, it looks to me.

    Plan is to see how the coamps model works as a prediction tool in real life on this coast.

    Must be a simple way to get at it somehow.....

    Bye for now.....Jim

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Capitola,CA
    Posts
    3,338

    Default

    Jim,

    Saildocs provides COAMPS grib files at no charge. Simply send an e-mail to query@dsaildocs.com with similar text in the format:
    send coamps:32N,34N,124W,122W|0.2,0.2|0,6...48

    If you use a spam filter you may have to take steps to accept the
    responding e-mail from query-reply@saildocs.com.

    You should check the info files available from saildocs.com to see
    whether the coamps grib files are available for the area you wish
    to cover.

    You may be confusing methods that can be used to obtain the grib
    files with methods or software that can be used to display the data
    contained in the grib files. As you know, the Airmail software
    includes software for displaying the data, although only rather crude
    outlines of the coast are displayed in the Airmail software.

    Expedition software can overlay the wind arrows onto any
    of the charts that you download (for free) and install in
    Expedition. Although the Airmail display of the coastline is crude and
    not attractive, it is perfectly usable for orienting the wind arrows
    relative to the landmarks.

    Hope this helps.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    134

    Default

    You don't need to be a Sailmail member to use the Airmail and Viewfax software, only if you want to send/receive email. What I often do is to use Airmail to set the grib area I'm interested in and to format the message to be sent to Saildocs. Then instead of sending the email request via sailmail, I cut the message out and paste it into another email message which I send to query@saildocs.com using Iridium and Google's (free) gmail, which has no size limits on the grib files I get back. Then I just drop the grib file attachment onto Viewfax to see the gribs, or drop into my Maxsea application for doing weather routing. No sailmail membership required. This is similar to what Stan Honey described at his TransPac seminar.

    This works just as well ashore, without the Iridium part.

    - Mark
    Last edited by Alchera; 09-28-2008 at 11:07 AM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Fresno, Boat in Mexico until Spring
    Posts
    37

    Default

    Hi Jim
    Here is another source of gribs at sea and at home with internet connection.

    GRIBs from Global Marine
    email: gmngrib@globalmarinenet.net.

    GMN Phrases into SUBJECT:

    Pacific 5day
    or
    20N:110W:1000 3day this is the layout for a custom grib. The lat/lon is the centerpoint and the 1000 is the radius or diameter of the area. You can request 1-6 days. This allows for paring down the response to save airtime on Iridium. Not an issue with a wifi connection. Their response is less than one minute from submission.

    I put these gribs directly into GPSNavX on a mac but they should work with a pc program also. If not I think Global Marine has a pc grib viewer.

    Must be getting dark and cool up there. We missed you at the fantastic Alchera Tree ll Party.

    Lou
    Seabird

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