Sat phone as WX antenna?

[Feral Cement]

Subject line almost says it all - what else do I need to connect a sat phone to a laptop or ipad to see weather maps/charts/gribs? Speed? Email capabilities? "Gotchas"? Thanks!

BTW, if there is an existing thread, please advise. Forum search was mighty broad, too broad.

John

[44'cruisingcat]

Obviously the driver software.

You can get gribs and emails through a program called Onsatmail, it's a free download. (Don't try to download it via the satphone though)

Then you need a program to view the gribs - Open CPN works fine.

Speed - the size of the file will depend on what you specify on your grib request, I'd generally get one file in about 1:30, but a fair bit of that time was just logging in. I'd usually get 2 files in under 2 minutes.

[Feral Cement]

What phone/system were you using? Underway or at anchor? Cruising area? Thanks much!

John

[44'cruisingcat]

We have an Inmarsat Isatphone pro. Used in the South Pacific, underway and at anchor.