Reason given is that the equipment has reached the end of its service life, and new stuff costs money.
The following notice was recently published in that US Government catch all called the Federal Register:
Notice [USCG– 2007– 27656] in Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 80 / Thursday, April 26, 2007
"High Frequency (HF) Radio Broadcasts of Marine Weather Forecasts and Warnings" (Summary below) for complete text, see: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/waisgate.pdf
This is a necessary step in the Coast Guard's justification of
recapitalizing their HF equipment for continued operations.
Details of USCG weather broadcasts via HF radiofacsimile, voice and SITOR may be found at: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/home.htm#dissemination
As a service to mariners, please inform potentially affected users of this Notice. It is very important that mariners reply via the Docket Management system or postal mail as called for in the Notice, or their input will not be taken into account.
Federal Register: April 26, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 80)] [Notices] [Page 20863-20865] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr26ap07-72]
And here's the accompanying letter from the Coast Guard:
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[USCG-2007-27656]
High Frequency (HF) Radio Broadcasts of Marine Weather Forecasts and Warnings
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice; request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is soliciting public comment on the need to continue providing high frequency (HF) radio broadcasts of weather forecasts and warnings. Public comment is necessary in order to assess the demand for the HF radio broadcasts of weather forecasts in each of three forms: (1) Radiofacsimile; (2) voice; and, (3) Simplex Teletype Over Radio (SITOR), also known as Narrow Band Direct Printing (NBDP). The infrastructure necessary to provide these services has exceeded its life expectancy; the equipment is no longer manufactured, repairs are difficult to accomplish, and spare parts generally are not available. Because of the very significant costs involved to continue these specific HF radio services, the Coast Guard requires information on the extent to which these services are used by the public and what alternative services are being used or are available to obtain weather forecasts and warnings.
DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management Facility on or before August 24, 2007.
for complete text see a copy of the Notice at:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/waisgate.pdf
As we have seen before, the fate of USCG HF broadcasts is now in the hands of the users. The fax/weather/MSI you save will be your own.
