Jim Renfrew, Holley NY
Drake R8B, longwires
Yes, slightly off-topic for MW enthusiasts, but read on!
With help from Bill Hepburn I've been learning to use DSC Decoder and SeaTTY
software to decode NAVTEX transmissions on 518 kHz during the last several
days. The DSC software is availble on a 21 day trial and SeaTTY is
shareware. Once you get the hang of it it is possible to get marine weather
in text form. The only hardware needed is a regular audio cable between the
Drake's line out and the computer's line in.
A nice feature is that I can tune my radio to 519.09 LSB, go do other
things, and the text appears as a digest to be reviewed later. SeaTTY is
lbrings in a lot of corrupt text, but seems to capture a lot more than the
DSC program. However the DSC program when it hits is in much more readible
form.
Stations heard so far include:
Cheapeake VA
Boston MA
Miami FL
Sydney NS
Labrador NL
Wiarton ON
New Orleans LA
Sept-Iles QC
San Francisco CA
Saint John NB
Savannah GA
This evening I was really pleased to receive fragmentary text messages from
stations in Nuuk, Greenland and Magallenes, Chile. While not strictly MW, I
find it fascinating that Greenland and Chile can be heard on the edge of the
MW band from western NY. It appears that the Chile reception is even
further south than Bill's Puerto Mott reception of a few days ago.
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