Weather Fax Reception Logs

Surface Prognosis. © Northwood Fax, UK

Weather Fax Reception logs:

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to receive several meteorological weather charts on the HF bands which I am sharing hereby.

Date: MAY 25, 2020
Location: Howrah, WB. India.
Receiver: Remote receivers.
Time: From 0700 to 1400 UTC.
Decoder: MultiPSK

Please kindly note that all these images are received using remote receivers. The fax chart data and the fax images are owned by respective agencies duly credited below.

(1) NORTHWOOD FAX, UNITED KINGDOM

Fax from Northwood FAX, United Kingdom was noted with 'Surface Prognosis' reports for Atlantic ocean region. I could not receive these charts properly due to some slanting error or other. I guess there was some issue with the audio? Not sure. This was the best image I could manage after several attempts.

(2) HLL2 KMA FAX, SOUTH KOREA:

Sea Surface Forecast. © HLL2, KMA

HLL2 WeFAX from South Korea Metrological Association's broadcast was noted with multiple weather charts. I am sharing two of them here.

This 'no data' blank transmission was the typhoon bulletin as per the broadcast schedule, which likely had no new update. This was followed by 'Sea Surface Forecast' ('FWAS' stands for wave forecast predictions) for the region adjoining the Korean peninsula, Japan/ the Japan sea, and the Pacific ocean.

(3) JMH FAX, TOKYO, JAPAN:

FWPN Forecast. © JMH Fax via JMA Japan

JMH is one of my favourite stations for weather fax observations. I received some very interesting images during my observation period yesterday.

3a. 'ASAS - Surface Analysis Chart' & 'FWPN - Ocean Wave 24 hour forecast':

 "ASAS (Ocean Wave Live Chart)" chart presents wave observation data from fishing boats, commercial vessels, buoys, satellites, wave meters ets. This is sort of current information, supported by fresh data and automatic prediction models. "FWPN (Ocean Wave 24 hour forecast)" is the wave forecast 24 hour ahead of the ocean wave live map. Read more about these charts from the official source here.

ASAS Chart. © JMH Fax via JMA Japan

More help/ guidelines regarding understanding these fax charts can be found here. The Japan Meteorological Association's website is quite useful for meteorology enthusiasts and for concerned professionals. This can be accessed here (Japanese).

3c. Test Chart & Meteorological Satellite Picture:

I am quite happy about this chart (see below). This is the JMH Test Chart, and then the met Satellite Image from the Japan's Himawari Weather Satellite was noted: Himawari-8 ('Himawari' means 'Sunflower'). The Himawari Geostationary satellite(-s) is owned and operated by the  Japan Meteorological Agency/ JMA. These support weather forecasting, tropical cyclone tracking and meteorological research. Read more about these satellites here.

Test Chart & Met Satellite Image. © JMH Fax via JMA Japan

It is always so interesting to receive real images over the shortwave radio which remains fascinating as always. The test card contains some vital information about JMH frequencies and other details. There were some slanting issues here as well, but I am happy about the final result.

Thank you so much for your kind attention. Comments, suggestions and correction (if required), will be very much appreciated.

- Soumya Bhattacharya,