Forecast alternatives to mountain radio - ideas?

Me too I think. Part of me just likes to get outdoors even if it means not being able to do much, but I guess it helps with planning to have an idea of what to expect. Especially if it's a choice between sitting time out in a hut versus sitting in a small tent in a screaming gale. :) It's straying off the original topic of getting forecasts in the field, but a friend of mine who's worked with the sorts of prediction models within NZ (the sorts published by the MetService and MetVuw) pointed out that they're really good with some types of weather patterns, but with certain situations the models are still unreliable. The supercomputers still don't have accurate enough data or computing power to simulate what's happening when things are really messed up. (It'd be easier if you didn't mind getting tomorrow's weather in a month's time, but that's usually not too useful, so they sacrifice accuracy.) It only takes a tiny difference in any part of the atmosphere to have huge implications down the line, so one trick the models sometimes use is to run the same model 10 times with very slightly (almost insignificantly) adjusted input data, and compare all 10 different outcomes. That's why you'll sometimes see forecasts that say things like a 80% chance of rain, because 8 out of 10 of the simulation runs predicted rain for an area whereas the other two didn't. With things like the forecast charts, if you keep an eye on what they're predicting in the several days leading up to a time, instead of just getting a snapshot before you leave, you'll be able to get a better idea of whether the forecast for that time is remaining stable for that time or if it's fluctuating around lots and lots... and if it's fluctuating, it probably means you're heading into unstable and less predictible weeather. But yeah, there's still something to be said for getting an actual forecast from a real meteorologist (who'll be applying experienced intuition), and with getting a feel for the situation. The Isobars have massive amounts of useful info in them if you can learn to read and apply them, too, but they're still only a summary and only show a fraction of what the meteorologists considered when they were drawn.

In almost 60 years of hunting ,tramping ,working etc in the hills i cant really remember any weather situation that was so bad we coudnt enjoy where we were and what we were doing . Common sense dictated that we didnt cross flooded rivers , gale force winds kept us of the tops ......but we did learn to "read" the weather.Sometimes we got pretty wet and cold ,but isnt that part of the whole experience . Its character forming stuff, i believe.The kids today ,most of them , dont know how to tell weather signs ,what a cumulus cloud is , and what a tea towel is. I still rise early ,make a brew and get outside and make an assesment of the weather, whatever is on the agenda. The wet weather gear,boots ,packs ,tents ,food and safety gear (epurbs radios etc) thats available today make most trips a doddle compared to what it used to be. Once you get your backside out the door and into the bush the weather usually is not nearly as bad as when you looked out the window at home. And there is nothing to compare with getting to a hut , getting a good fire going ,drying out, a brew under your belt and finding there is no one else around for a few peaceful days .

Well I tried Madpom's idea and it worked quite well. I got a Digitech AR1745 and used AM. It has digital tuning which I think is an advantage if you have a weak signal. I got 12m of thin wire and wound a metre or so around the radio, ran the rest out , extended the aerial and made a good contact with the aerial. If I didn't get a contact to the aerial it wouldn't work. Different AM frequencies worked in different areas so it was good to know the different local frequency options. Reception was always a little patchy and it ocassionally cut out just at the wrong moment. The most memorable being the 5am mountain forecast predicting xxxx for all south island areas tomorrow. The word was either fine or rain! I correctly called it as rain based on the change of wind and cloud formations.

I was interested in receiving Mountain Radio weather forecasts in the hills whenever I want, without having to hire a Mountain Radio set. I bought a portable radio that does a very good job of receiving SSB including the 3345 kHz and 3261 kHz frequencies (Upper Side Band) of the North Island and South Island Mountain Radio services, plus SAR and DOC. Also other SW, Air band, AM, FM. It's a Tecsun PL-660. Weighs 530g including the batteries (4 x AA) plus 70g for the provided single wire antenna or 150g for the longer replacement antenna that I made (20m of 10x0.25mm hookup wire at 7.6g per metre). Size 187mm x 114mm x 33mm. Cost Aussie$179, purchased from NZ. From the lower North Island or Nelson district I can hear all of the NI bases and the SI Chch base really clearly, and can hear most of the field sets too. Even the short antenna provided gives pretty good reception but I wanted to be sure so I made the 20 metre long one. The only tricky aspect of operating it on SSB is to adjust the BFO knob to take the Donald Duck out of the voices, but it seems to always need the same setting so I've put a mark on it. With the ear-bud style earphones the sound is very clear and the battery consumption is minimal.