WEFAX ( Again )

I think I should talk a little more about Wefax. What is Wefax you ask?  Wefax, or sat fax or HF Radio Fax is basically a Fax weather image provided via satellite and radio for shipping and marine purposes.

All you need, is one short wave receiver capable of SideBand reception, or a standard AM set with either a built in BFO ( Beat Frequency Oscilator ) or and improvised 'BFO'. Best way to inprovise a BFO is the use of a second AM radio, held close to the AM receiver that you will be receiving on. The second AM's sets IF basically 'interferes' with your receiving set, one of the unintended side effects of this interference is, it injects a 'carrier' wave into the IF of the receiving set, thus making it capable of receiving SideBand signals. You will also need an appropriate antenna ( I use a 90 foot wire antenna strung between two trees, insulated at either end ) and of course a computer, running either Wxsat, SeaTTY, RadioComm, multiPSK or any other software capabe of decoding a FA signal.

You connect the audio output of the Radio to the line-in or mic in on the computers soundcard and adjust the recording levels accordingly making sure you dont overload the soundcard with too much audio. Next, tune your receiver to one of these frequencies..

4610 Khz ( Joint Opertions for Meteriological and Oceanic Center, Northwood UK)
7880 Khz ( DeutcherWetterDeinst, Hamburg Germany )
9110 Khz (NOAA, Boston, Massachussettes )

I list these because generally, in Europe these are usually the strongest of Wefax signals, so should be fairly easy to receive. Please note that if you have a receiver capable of sideband, then switch it to USB, and have the set frequency approx 1.9Khz below the listed frequency. This may vary from radio to radio so you will need to experiment ( for example, on my receiver, I have to tune to approx 2.5Khz below the listed Frequency.)

You should hear an audible tone, that sounds not unlike a fax, or data modem signal, well, set your software to 'start' and voila! ( with VxSat, you will need to select FM120 in order to decode the images properly. )

Here are some images that I have received using my modest setup.

This image was recevied from the Northwood Station.

Received from DwD, Hamburg, Germany..

And a Satellite IR image received from NOAA in Boston Massachusettes.

Enjoy, and happy decoding :)