Nav Tex – informing sailors of weather … and more.
You know I love the gadgets and this one is a real cracker. The NavTex system is old, reliable and is great source of weather and navigational information. It works like a pager as stations around Europe take turns to make a broadcast in a 10 minute window the receiver logs them to be read when convenient. I read an article in this month’s Practical Boat Owner (PBO) and was convinced this source of information was a must have option for the cruise. I didn’t want the hassle of installing yet another device with power and antenna requirements and selected the rather natty WeatherInfoBox WIB2D from those clever Germans at MÖRER SCHIFFSELEKTRONIK.
I selected the WIB2D model for three reasons
The hand-held portable receiver, ideal for small boats
- Internal antenna, no drilling or fitting another ariel.
- Internal batteries that last three days, recharge off boat batteries or laptop.
- Receives both International and National reports.
I ordered the device from Marine Electronic Services Ltd and it arrived within two days. Best of all when I plugged it in to charge up the batteries it almost immediately picked up broadcasts from Germany. A fab bit of kit that will help with those decisions whether take the sail covers off or stay in harbor and explore the delights ashore.
