December 28, 2006 17:26
Bob,
I agree that most sailors downloading gribs are getting it directly from the net as you suggest, and for them grib.us is potentially a great tool, particularly if they expand their offering and port to Mac (for us Mac-ophiles at least). I would classify those as the near-shore cruisers (i.e. wifi or cell phone web access) and/or short range cruisers (1-2 day legs between ports/anchorages and web access and out of cell/wifi range, getting information before departure and depending on VHF or possibly ssb broadcasts for updates). These people are generally cruising in North American and European waters. If you're sailing farther and longer than that (such as a passage from LA to Hawaii or the Marquesas on the way to New Zealand) then you either need satellite or SSB email communications to get gribs, as you have done with your Iridium. Plain and simple, no other options.
As for pros/cons of SSB vs Satellite, I don't think their's much point - everything is in satellite's favor except for cost, and coverage at least for one of the two big satphone companies (Iridiun I recall has pretty good coverage, but the other has big holes globally - I may have it backwards). If you view it as an either/or, then satellite wins on the cost as well, with $1000-1500 upfront investment in the phone plus the plan costs, while SSB is about a $2000 and up initial investment (radio, modem, antenna, antenna tuner, installation, more like $3000+). Satphones can also be rented. However, for most global cruisers it's not an either/or but a SSB for sure and do they also get satellite. So it's an incremental cost and is frequently put as an alternative to a replacement anchor or stormsail or... The reasons being that SSB is used for all sorts of other purposes, including entertainment (BBC etc), WWV for time checks, direct weather fax and weather broadcasts (even if it's a backup), and very importantly for safety and cruising nets. The latter two need broadcast capabilities which takes it well over the Grundig Yachtboy price range. SSB is still the best way to chat with fellow cruisers who may be out of VHF range.
Getting a bit wordy here, but I hope you see my point. I agree with you that for most people grib.us is great. but for a blue-water cruisers it could use more flexible communications options. BTW, I made all these suggestions and a few more directly to grib.us before my first posting and subsequently received a positive and helpful response.
Scot
I agree that most sailors downloading gribs are getting it directly from the net as you suggest, and for them grib.us is potentially a great tool, particularly if they expand their offering and port to Mac (for us Mac-ophiles at least). I would classify those as the near-shore cruisers (i.e. wifi or cell phone web access) and/or short range cruisers (1-2 day legs between ports/anchorages and web access and out of cell/wifi range, getting information before departure and depending on VHF or possibly ssb broadcasts for updates). These people are generally cruising in North American and European waters. If you're sailing farther and longer than that (such as a passage from LA to Hawaii or the Marquesas on the way to New Zealand) then you either need satellite or SSB email communications to get gribs, as you have done with your Iridium. Plain and simple, no other options.
As for pros/cons of SSB vs Satellite, I don't think their's much point - everything is in satellite's favor except for cost, and coverage at least for one of the two big satphone companies (Iridiun I recall has pretty good coverage, but the other has big holes globally - I may have it backwards). If you view it as an either/or, then satellite wins on the cost as well, with $1000-1500 upfront investment in the phone plus the plan costs, while SSB is about a $2000 and up initial investment (radio, modem, antenna, antenna tuner, installation, more like $3000+). Satphones can also be rented. However, for most global cruisers it's not an either/or but a SSB for sure and do they also get satellite. So it's an incremental cost and is frequently put as an alternative to a replacement anchor or stormsail or... The reasons being that SSB is used for all sorts of other purposes, including entertainment (BBC etc), WWV for time checks, direct weather fax and weather broadcasts (even if it's a backup), and very importantly for safety and cruising nets. The latter two need broadcast capabilities which takes it well over the Grundig Yachtboy price range. SSB is still the best way to chat with fellow cruisers who may be out of VHF range.
Getting a bit wordy here, but I hope you see my point. I agree with you that for most people grib.us is great. but for a blue-water cruisers it could use more flexible communications options. BTW, I made all these suggestions and a few more directly to grib.us before my first posting and subsequently received a positive and helpful response.
Scot