Using DeLorme to get weather forecasts
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 9:08 am
I haven't seen this talked about much. Do DeLorme owners even know they can do this? It was a deciding factor for me when I bought my inReach a couple months ago.
I think there are other options but I'm currently using the service at http://wx2inreach.weebly.com/. It's just someone's pet project and donation-driven, so strictly use-at-your-own-risk. Basically, you just send a message to a gmail address and get one of several kinds of weather report sent back. Here are some examples (the first used my present coordinates):
(send) wx now io
Su 2pPtCldS11 76 10pLtRn42%S11 64 Mo 6aLtRn100%SW15 78 2pLtRn100%S8 75 10pLtRn42%S10 65 Tu PtCldS8 61/86 We PtCldS10 62/89 Th LtRn21%S11 63/90
(send) wx now io loc 47.99 -84.77
Mo 2pRn100%NE8mi45F 10pLtRn91%NE7mi43F Tu 6aLtRn100%N13mi38F 2pLtRn97%W13mi38F 10pClrW8mi32F We LtRn28%31/54F Th LtRn76%35/62F Fr LtRn73%40/61F
(send) wx now loc Mount-Whitney 4418
Su aSu-5 pSn1cm-4 nSn4cm-8 Mo aSu-6 pSn4cm-5 nSn9cm-8 Tu aCld-6 pSn9cm-5 nSn4cm-9 We aSu-7 pSu-6 nClrS20k-12 Th aSuS30k-12 pSn7cm-13 nSn4cm-17 Fr aSn4cm-15
I have the first as a preset so only the return message counts against me. Format of return is a bit different in the 3 because these are coming from different forecasting services. (The last is metric. If you are wondering, the top of Whitney forecast was from early May.) The forecast runs until it hits the DeLorme character limit (160 if I remember correctly). I'll be using this (for example) to decide whether or not to sleep on top of Whitney at the end of my JMT hike coming up soon. There is help at the website for decoding these if it isn't clear to you. I had no trouble understanding when I was way out of civilization and cell tower range in May this year.
There's more information at this post, but it's old so some details may be wrong:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin ... d_id=92891
I believe they talk about a pay-for-service equivalent that might be a little safer.
I think there are other options but I'm currently using the service at http://wx2inreach.weebly.com/. It's just someone's pet project and donation-driven, so strictly use-at-your-own-risk. Basically, you just send a message to a gmail address and get one of several kinds of weather report sent back. Here are some examples (the first used my present coordinates):
(send) wx now io
Su 2pPtCldS11 76 10pLtRn42%S11 64 Mo 6aLtRn100%SW15 78 2pLtRn100%S8 75 10pLtRn42%S10 65 Tu PtCldS8 61/86 We PtCldS10 62/89 Th LtRn21%S11 63/90
(send) wx now io loc 47.99 -84.77
Mo 2pRn100%NE8mi45F 10pLtRn91%NE7mi43F Tu 6aLtRn100%N13mi38F 2pLtRn97%W13mi38F 10pClrW8mi32F We LtRn28%31/54F Th LtRn76%35/62F Fr LtRn73%40/61F
(send) wx now loc Mount-Whitney 4418
Su aSu-5 pSn1cm-4 nSn4cm-8 Mo aSu-6 pSn4cm-5 nSn9cm-8 Tu aCld-6 pSn9cm-5 nSn4cm-9 We aSu-7 pSu-6 nClrS20k-12 Th aSuS30k-12 pSn7cm-13 nSn4cm-17 Fr aSn4cm-15
I have the first as a preset so only the return message counts against me. Format of return is a bit different in the 3 because these are coming from different forecasting services. (The last is metric. If you are wondering, the top of Whitney forecast was from early May.) The forecast runs until it hits the DeLorme character limit (160 if I remember correctly). I'll be using this (for example) to decide whether or not to sleep on top of Whitney at the end of my JMT hike coming up soon. There is help at the website for decoding these if it isn't clear to you. I had no trouble understanding when I was way out of civilization and cell tower range in May this year.
There's more information at this post, but it's old so some details may be wrong:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin ... d_id=92891
I believe they talk about a pay-for-service equivalent that might be a little safer.