"chuck" wrote

in message ...
Jack Painter wrote:

snip

This includes
following the regulated use of marine radios, which prohibit making
calls to
a non-specific ("Any Station") unit or vessel for routine traffic, radio
checks, etc. In local VHF use, there are few exceptions to this. One
example
could be in winter/heavy-wx, etc (imagine a condition when few pleasure
or
commercial activities might be active) and there are no other observed
vessels or monitoring coastal stations available for a radio check prior
to
departing. We would all agree a vessel's communications equipment should
be
tested by any means available before such activity!



Hello again Jack,

It is the Federal Communications Commission, and not the US
Coast Guard, that promulgates and enforces rules regarding
communication by radio. (The FCC has delegated some
inspection functions to the Coast Guard.)

Hello again Chuck.
I never implied otherwise.

The FCC rules and regulations are available at:

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/w...7cfr80_03.html

for anyone who is interested. While lengthy, they are quite
readable.

Regarding your assertion that "making calls to a
non-specific vessel or unit" for radio checks is prohibited,
it would be useful to consider Section 80.89:

Stations must not:
snip
(d) When using telephony, transmit signals or communications
not addressed to a particular station or stations. This
provision does not apply to the transmission of distress,
alarm, urgency, or safety signals or messages, or to test
transmissions.
snip

To some of us, it does matter that your advice and legal
opinions often bear dubious relation to reality.

Regards,

Chuck


Test transmissions means "Test-1,2,3,3,2,1,Test Out".

That's a legal opinion, and since it did not come from a lawyer, it's worth
what you paid for it, nothing. Then again, you might pay a lot someday for
ignoring it, and that would be unfortunate.

Just so everyone's clear on the meaning of "advice and a legal opinions",
these do not constitute "legal advice". I am simply attempting to clear up
some of the many misconceptions of how the USCG monitors and responds to
pleasure boaters on VHF and SSB radios. I have operated and fraternized with
the boating community for my entire life, and it has only been in the last
several years that I was ever entirely sure how some of the procedures I
explained in this thread really operated. Of course procedures and
equipments can change on a frequent basis, but forty years of anecdotal
stories do not add up to actual qualification on the equipment and
watchstanding positions. It is easier to be empathetic with distressed
parties if you have already heard a lot of the typical difficulties a boater
can get into, and know from experience how stressful an emergency on the
water really is.

Best regards,

Jack