Format of Shannon VOLMET

[S72...@towsonvx.bitnet]

Shannon VOLMET is a Voice Broadcast Aeronautical Weather station operated by
the UK Civil Aviation Authority with meteorological information for civil and
military aircrews.

Shannon broadcasts on 3.413, 5.505, 8.957, and 13.264 MHz. 24 hours per day
starting on the hour.

Format

Location Time W/D KT VIS WTR CLOUD oC DP QNH NOSIG CHANGE
KM OKTAS
Brussels 1030 260 7 COK 1 3 7 5 10 8 x G 15 KT
Frankfurt 1030 230 7 6 FU 5 2 8 4 11 4 x
Munich
Amsterdam
Copenhagen
Stockholm
Helsinki
Barcelona
Madrid
Santa Maria
Paris CDG
Lyon
Rome
Zurich
Athens

W/D - direction wind is blowing from in compass degrees (090= from east)
KT - Wind speed in Knots.
VISibility in kilometers. CAVOK - Cloud and visibility OK. No significant cloud
If a thunderstorm is in the area of the airport then this is given as "cumulo-
nimbus."
Cloud cover in oktas or eights followed by cloud height in thousands of
feet. 8 oktas indicates sky is totally obscured. 1 okta - only 1/8 is obscured
by cloud.
oC - temperature in Celsius
DP - Dew Point in Celsius
QNH - barometric pressure in millibars
NOSIG - is given if no significant change is expected in the next 2 hours. If
a change is expected then GRADU (constant rate), RAPID (change within 1/2 hr),
or TEMPO (temporary change) are used. INTER when frequent changes are expected
in a given period, and PROB (followed by 10, 20, 30, or 40) indicates the
probability of conditions becoming as given in subsequent groups.

Other VOLMETS are Gander and New York on 3.485, 6.604, 10.151, and 13.270 MHz

Information taken from the article "Listening to Weather Forecasts"
by P.C. Mitchell in Shortwave Magazine (UK) April 1991.

Ian Millett
s72...@towsonvx.bitnet
s72...@toe.towson.edu
N3CVA on the Friendly CARIBUS Connection, 14.283 MHz USB, 1100-1200 utc daily

[Gerard Dowling x3294]

>Shannon VOLMET is a Voice Broadcast Aeronautical Weather station operated by
>the UK Civil Aviation Authority with meteorological information for civil and
>military aircrews.

This is not correct.Shannon volmet is located in Ballygirren ,County Clare
in the Republic of Ireland.It is operated by the Irish government and thus has
absolutely no millitary connections.I visited the station last year.The
operators will verify/QSL reception reports and they usually include some
booklets about the station.As well as volmet transmissions the station is used
by all aircraft crossing the North Atlantic for position reports.The ATC
controllers are located in Prestwick in Scotland hence the station usually
identifies as Shanwick Aeradio.ATC instructions from Prestwick are relayed to
the aircraft via the station in Ballygirren.The station also functions as an
air-sea rescue co-ordination centre and as a switching centre for aeronautical
computer data.For anyone interested in QSL'ing a station in Ireland this
station is probably their best bet as there is no external broadcasting
service in Ireland.
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Gerry Dowling
ger...@galaxy.nsc.com

Santa Clara CA USA
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