wrote in message
.. .

On 2005-01-14 dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom said:
IF I were at sea (and I am a ham) I'd still want more than one
band capability, especially were I at sea on a boat. One of the
distinct advantages of ham radio over most services is its
ability to choose the right band for prevailing radio conditions
and the path one wants to work.
The ability to choose bands depending upon conditions is not
distinct to ham radio. Marine SSB supports quite a few different
bands for the exact same reason. Bands are in the 2, 4, 6, 8, 12,
16, 18, 22, and 28 Mhz regions. All modern Marine SSB rigs support
all of these.
WAs aware of all of those, but I've heard plenty of horror stories, in
fact some of those horror stories' participants come up on mmsn sans
ham licenses to get help.

There are always plenty of hams listening at any time of day. Much
more reliable than trying to contact the CG.

2182 isn't considered a good emergency frequency these days and
isn't relied upon. EPIRBs have pretty much made it obsolete. Matter
of fact, the CG doesn't even reliably monitor it.
so I've heard fro m folks in the know, and this includes folks whose
business it is to work with vessels at sea.
I've herad the stories about the radios sitting with the volume
control clear down on 2182 etc. And the mishaps with gmdss. wEre I
cruising I wouldn't put all my eggs in the maritime ssb basket since I
have a ham license. THe life I save might be my own g.

Smart move!

I check into the MMSN on a regular basis. Maybe I'll hear you
there.
I'm net control operator Fridays at 12:00 P.M. eastern time and do
some relief for other operators when I'm available.

I'll try to get down to the boat and check in then.

Btw even after hours if you can be heard in NEw Orleans La on 14
megahertz about any hour day or night my rig sits monitoring 14.3 if
I'm not on another net somewhere. I think same is true of other net
regulars. IF you're in need give it a try. IF the band's open you'll
be ehard by someone who is aware of what to do to render assistance to
you.

If I can hear kd4bz in Eight Mile, AL with a 59 then I should have
no trouble getting into New Orleans.



Richard Webb, amateur radio callsign nf5b
active on the Maritime Mobile service network, 14.300 mhz
REplace anything before the @ symbol with elspider for real email

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