Hello,
This simple process works on Avalon for iOS version 3.8.4 available on the AppStore and also on Android.
It supercedes the manual process described in our web site as it is much simpler.
It works with 6 “Special Iridium” sources already included in our Premium Option:
- NOAA GFS 1 degree (for transoceanic passages)
- NAM Caribbean 0.1 degree
- NAM CONUS 0.15 degree
- Meteo France Arpege 0.1 degree (for mid distances cruises) across Europe)
- Deutsche Wetterdienst Icon 120 h 0.06 degrée (also for mid distances cruises) across Europe)
- Deutsche Wetterdienst Icon 30 h 0.06 degrée (mostly for racers, shorter time range but useful in regattas as data is refreshed 8 times a day)
Usually, skippers are using their Iridium to refresh the weather forecast during transoceanic passages, but it can be also very useful during mid distances cruises, even in the Mediterranean or in the Carribean.
Therefore we have decided to make very precise sources available thru Iridium:
- To cruisers who wish to refresh their weather data in the middle of their cruise for safety reasons.
- To offshore racers who want to recalculate their route every 6 hours (or even every 3 hours) for competitive reasons.
To do this, you have to complete the following steps:
Step 0: In Avalon, select a “Special Iridium” wind source in the Iridium sources category
It is recommended to do this before departure, when you have a sound Wifi or 4G network.
Step 1: Switch on the Iridium and place it in an open space
Step 2: Connect the tablet/phone to your Iridium Go network
Step 3: Go to Avalon main menu and select Iridium as the connection mode. An “Iridium Go” appears.
Step 4: Tap on the Iridium Go Icon
Strp 5: Tap on “check status” to verify the quality of the satellite signal (should be 4 or 5).
Step 6: If you get a good quality signal, tap on “Connect to Internet” to establish the connection.
Step 7: Tap on compute route (the “Isochron icon”, 3rd icon from the right at the top of the screen). and tune the parameters.
- Select the approximative remaining cruise time. This figure will determine the length of wind data to be loaded. Here, we are cruising to the balearics so there is no need to download 72 hours of forecasts.
- Select “Start at my position”.
- Deselect loading of other weather forecasts: waves, currents and other weather data. This data is not “Iridium ready”….. yet.
- Tap on compute route if you are OK with the volume of data to be downloaded..
The download will take 2 minutes.
If a satellite loss occurs during the transmission, the system will reconnect after 90 seconds and restart the download where it stopped. No data gets lost.
The internet session is automatically closed at the end of the downloading. You can switch off your Iridium Go.
You can now analyze the latest forecast and recompute an updated route..
A video tutorial has been published here …. with my apologies for the French accent 🙂
Using Avalon Offshore with an Iridium Go!
Good sailing,
Phil
