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Marine Forecast Offices and Centers provide
links to their products as well as additional regionally focused
information.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARINE PRODUCTS VIA RADIOFAX
NWS Marine
Radiofax Products and Detailed Schedules
Worldwide Marine Radiofacsimile
Broadcast Schedules (PDF)
The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and National Weather Service
(NWS) have determined that the cause of high
levels of noise on the New Orleans radiofax broadcast is the result of poor line quality in the
dedicated long line telephone circuits that interconnect the NWS's radiofax hardware to the
USCG's transmitters. The USCG and NWS are working actively to resolve this situation.
The U.S. Coast Guard and National Weather Service have received reports of morse and digital inteference on the Pt Reyes radiofax frequency of 12730 kHz. Therefore on April 05, 2004 the Coast Guard began transmitting on a new frequency of 12590.5 kHz. Reports from mariners of both poor AND good radio reception would be greatly appreciated. Please be specific as possible noting your location, equipment/software used, date(s), time(s), signal strength, etc. Send your comments to marine.weather@noaa.gov.
Radiofax, also known as HF FAX, radiofacsimile or weatherfax, is a means of
broadcasting graphic weather maps and other graphic images via HF radio.
HF radiofax is also known as WEFAX, although this term is generally
used to refer to the reception of weather charts and imagery via satellite.
Maps are received using a dedicated radiofax receiver or a single sideband
shortwave receiver connected to an external facsimile recorder or PC equipped
with a radiofax interface and application software.
Note: Any reference to a commercial product or service does
not imply any endorsement by the National Weather Service as to function
or suitability for your purpose or environment.
Dedicated radiofax hardware is available from Ciro
Mazzoni Radiocommunications, Furuno,
ICS
Electronics,
Japan Marina Co. Ltd,
JRC,
STN ATLAS Marine (SAM) Electronics,
SEA,
Taiyo,
and Universal
Radio. Available radiofax software programs include (in
alphabetical order) ACfax(LINUX),
Board
Terminal, Code3-Gold,
Easyfax(DOS),
FTV(DOS),
GetFax,
HamComm
3.1(DOS), HamFax(LINUX),
ICS
FAX6, JVFAX
(DOS), JVCOMM32,
Meteofax32,
MixW,
MFJ-1214PC,
MSCAN,
MultiFax(DOS?),
Multimode
(MAC), PC
HF Facsimile 8.0 For Windows , PC
GOES/WEFAX, PC
Radiofax for Windows, ProMeteo,
ProSkan
3.02 (DOS), Radfax(MAC),
RadioCom,
SeaTTY,
SkySweeper,
TarFax,
Wavecomm.
WeatherMan
V2.01, Weather
Fax 2000, WeathermaQ(MAC),
Weather
Station 2000, WeatherTrac,
WeFax
for Windows , Wfax/2
(OS/2), WiNRADiO
Digital Suite, WinSkan, WXSat and
Zorns Lemma v10.0
.
Also see the Worldwide
Radiofacsimile Webpage for listings of available equipment and software
as well as information on radiofax services available worldwide.
For Historic Weather and Satellite Data Contact:
National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue, room 120
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
828-271-4800
828-271-4876 (FAX)
weborder@ncdc.noaa.gov
http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html
Marine Radiofacsimile is almost 80 years old! - The earliest broadcasts of weather maps via radiofacsimile appear to have been made in 1926 by American inventor Charles Francis Jenkins in a demonstration to the NAVY. Jenkins is often credited with the invention of the motion picture and later established the first U.S. TV station, W3XK in Wheaton, MD.
RCA and the U.S. Weather Bureau conducted further tests and began cooperative efforts in 1930. While radiofacsimile has been used for everything from transmitting newspapers to wanted posters in the past, the broadcasting of marine weather charts is today the primary application.
An online version of our Worldwide Marine Radiofacsimile
Broadcast Schedules (Aug 16, 2004 version) is now available in PDF format.
To view or print the document you must have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer.
Click here to
download the Adobe
Acrobat Reader.
The NWS Ocean
Prediction Center (formally the Marine
Prediction Center makes available a Radiofacsimile Charts User's Guide online.
Click here to listen to what a typical radiofax signal
sounds like on the air.
The National Weather Service radiofax program prepares high seas weather
maps for broadcast via four U.S. Coast Guard (Boston, New Orleans, Pt.
Reyes, and Kodiak) and one DOD transmitter site (Honolulu). These broadcasts
are prepared by the Ocean
Prediction Center (formally the Marine
Prediction Center, Tropical Prediction
Center, Honolulu
Forecast Office. and
Anchorage
Forecast Office. Limited satellite
imagery, sea surface temperature maps and text forecasts are also available. These offices provide links to their products as well as other supplementary information.
NWS radiofax products are available via the Internet (HTTP, FTP or E-mail). Although available, Internet access is not presently technically feasible for most vessels and broadcast
of graphic marine forecasts via HF radiofax remains among the most
valued of NWS marine services.
The International
Ice Patrol also broadcasts radiofax charts from Boston sharing the
same transmitters. Visit the U.S.
Coast Guard Maritime Telecommunications Information webpage for more
information on U.S. Coast Guard telecommunications.
The U.S. Navy terminated all regularly scheduled radiofax transmissions
with the exception of the Mediterranean beginning January 1, 1998 and services to the
Mediterranean from Rota, Spain beginning March 1, 1999.
The system is operated in a back-up mode for on-demand service by fleet units
upon request. Previous plans to permanently terminate the Navy radiofax
program by January 1, 1999 are being reviewed. These transmissions are to
meet the requirements of the U.S. military and have no direct connection to
the National Weather Service's radiofax program. For questions on the U.S.
Navy's radiofax program, contact the
NAVLANTMETOCCEN Command Duty Officer at 1-757-444-4044,
e-mail cdo@nlmoc.navy.mil
Also visit our
Links page for further information on Navy Meteorological
programs, products and services.
See tables below for abbreviated versions of radiofax broadcast
schedules. Assigned frequencies shown, for carrier frequency subtract 1.9
kHz. Typically dedicated radiofax receivers use assigned frequencies, while
receivers or transceivers, connected to external recorders or PC's, are
operated in the upper sideband (USB) mode using carrier frequencies.
All radiofax broadcasts of National Weather Service products employ a
radiofax signal of 120 lines-per-minute (LPM) and an Index-of Cooperation
(IOC) of 576. These values must be entered into the users equipment
or software program in
order for the radiofax image to be displayed properly.
Refer to NIMA Publication 117, which is updated
through the Notice to Mariners, for the latest official listing of U.S.
Coast Guard broadcast schedules.
The British Admiralty List of
Radio Signals , is an excellent reference source for weather broadcast information.
We have received several reception reports of our longer radiofax products being incomplete. We have determined the likely cause to be the radiofax reception software in use. For example, in JVCOMM32, the default "Max Lines/Picture" parameter within File/Configuration/Faxmode Editor is 2560 (2560/120 lpm=21.3 minutes). Modifying the setting to 4200 will allow reception of radiofax products of up to 35 minutes (35 x 120 lpm = 4200) in length. Other radiofax programs may have a fixed maximum length or similar variable settings.
All NWS marine forecasts rely heavily on the Voluntary
Observing Ship (VOS) program for obtaining meteorological observations.
Reports from mariners of both poor AND good radio reception
, as well as any other comments about weather broadcast
services and forecast products are always greatly appreciated.
Please be specific as possible noting your location,
equipment/software used, date(s), time(s), frequency(s), mode
(fax, voice, NAVTEX, etc.), signal strength, and problem
observed (e.g. interference, noise, sync loss, echoes, etc),
product name ( e.g. high seas text forecast for METAREA IV, if
internet state link, etc. ). Send your comments to http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/marine/feedback.htm.
| Boston (NMF) 4235(02z, 08z),
6340.5,
9110,
12750(14z)
kHz
Radiofax Broadcast |
| Start Broadcast |
0230Z |
0745Z |
1400Z |
1720Z |
1900Z |
| Broadcast Schedule |
0243Z |
|
1405Z |
|
| 1International Ice Patrol (Seasonal, ~Feb- Sep) Call Letters NIK |
|
|
1600Z1 |
1810Z1 |
|
New Orleans (NMG) 4317.9, 8503.9, 12789.9, 17146.4(12,18Z)
kHz
(Beginning Dec 05, 2003)
Radiofax Broadcast |
| Start Broadcast |
0000Z |
0600Z |
1200Z |
1800Z |
| Broadcast Schedule |
|
|
|
2025Z |
Kodiak(NOJ) 2054(10z, 18z), 4298, 8459, 12412.5(4z, 22z)
kHz
(Beginning Jan 15, 2004)
Radiofax Broadcast |
| Start Broadcast |
0400Z |
0950Z |
1600Z |
2150Z |
| Broadcast Schedule |
|
|
1727Z |
|
Note: All frequencies may be broadcast simultaneously at times |
Kodiak(NOJ) 2054(10z, 18z), 4298, 8459, 12412.5(4z, 22z)
kHz
(Until Jan 15, 2004)
Radiofax Broadcast |
| Start Broadcast |
0400Z |
1000Z |
1600Z |
2200Z |
| Broadcast Schedule |
|
|
1727Z |
|
Note: All frequencies may be broadcast simultaneously at times |
| Pt.Reyes(NMC) 4346(except 19z,23Z), 8682, 12590.5,
17151.2, 22527(19z,23Z) kHz
Radiofax Broadcast |
| Start Broadcast |
0245Z |
0800Z |
1100Z |
1430Z |
1930Z |
2300Z |
| Broadcast Schedule |
|
|
1104Z |
|
|
2324Z |
| Honolulu (KVM70) 9982.5(11z), 11090(except 23z), 16135(except 11z),
23331.5(23z) kHz
Radiofax Broadcast |
| Start Broadcast |
0533Z |
1030Z |
1733Z |
2230Z |
| Broadcast Schedule |
|
1045Z |
2018Z |
|
| (Note: DOD station, not USCG) |
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