Radio Call Signs
 

On Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:39:29 -0400, Ryk wrote:

In my neck of the woods (Eastern Lake Ontario) 16 remains the only
calling channel.

???!? 16 a calling channel in Canada for pleasure boaters? I don't think
so Ryk.

Radio Call Signs
 

"mister b" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:39:29 -0400, Ryk wrote:

In my neck of the woods (Eastern Lake Ontario) 16 remains the only
calling channel.

???!? 16 a calling channel in Canada for pleasure boaters? I don't think
so Ryk.



I suppose boaters might call on 16 (or 12 here in Halifax) and quickly move
to another channel when contact is made....as most people monitor 16.
I scan a half dozen channels with my Standard Horizon 460S hand held.

Radio Call Signs
 

In article ,
Larry wrote:

Unlike ham radio, where we are REQUIRED to give our callsign at LEAST
every 10 minutes during our monologues which can go on for hours, ad
nauseum, I don't think I've ever seen an ID interval for marine radio
like that. It would be a good idea, however, to just say, "WDB6254 for
ID" every 10 minutes if the transmissions are going to be that
long....****ing everyone off on the channel.

47CFR80.102 requires Station ID to be transmitted, in English, at the
beginning of the Radio Exchange, at the end of the Radio Exchange, and
every 15 minutes, should the exchange be longer than 15 minutes.
If it is a Public Correspondence Exchange the Intermediary Id's can
be eliminated. If the exchange is on VHF Ch 13, only Vessel Names are
required. For VTS Traffic only Vessel Names are Required. Public Coast
Stations (are there any left?) may identify with Geographic Location,
if there is no other Public Coast Station in that same area, which could
be confused with the the Originating Station.

--
Bruce in alaska
add path after fast to reply

Radio Call Signs
 

Bruce in alaska wrote in news:fast-D1A8E8.11453219072008
@netnews.worldnet.att.net:

if there is no other Public Coast Station in that same area, which could
be confused with the the Originating Station.



WOM, we miss you......

Radio Call Signs
 

On Sat, 19 Jul 2008 05:42:42 +0000, Larry wrote:

"Edgar" wrote in
:


Hi Larry,

I have a credit card sized 5 watt Alinco VHF/UHF that one can
programme the channels in by entering their frequencies into memory.

Does all US and International channels. Great buy. The internal
rechargeable battery seems to keep it full charge for many months if
not used.

cheers

Peter

Very
Hi Larry.
Maybe you can answer this one for me.
I imported my boat from USA and it was equipped with a nice little
Standard
Horizon Eclipse + VHF set.
Over here you need a licence to use VHF even on a pleasure boat and
they refused to licence this set for me, saying that it had 'American
channels' on it and could not be licenced in Europe.
I had to state on my licence application exactly what set I was using
and.had to replace it with a locally approved ICOM set.
I had powered up the Standard Horizon and channel 16 seemed to be the
same and all the other channels had familiar numbers. I found no
problem picking up ship-to ship traffic either.
Certainly there were some additional channels, which I gather were
weather
channels, which were unfamiliar to me...
Are the niumbered channels the same everywhere, even if in different
areas their designated usage may vary?
Do you think they were unreasonable to make me take this set out?


Many of the channels on VHF are "duplex" channels where you transmit on
a totally different frequency than you receive. "Simplex" channels
transmit and receive on the same frequency, like Channel 16 on 156.800
Mhz.

In different parts of the world, the channel bandplans evolved
completely differently. Maritime Telephone Operators on duplex
channels, is a good example of why. National governments had no
coordination until the mess that was created was taken over by the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Standard Horizon must be really short on disk space in their pitiful
website, so the owner's manual of the Eclipse Plus and all the old
models is gone, but you'll find a U/I button on the front of it. U
means US channels and frequency sets. I is for Canada and International
channels on the rest of the planet. Why you got rejected for a license
for it is this button which allows you to go to the US channels they
don't want you to have access to, which is kind of stupid.

A word about this specific radio. I had one in my jetboat. It's a
piece of crap! Water leaked in around the poorly sealed "waterproof"
speaker in the front of it. When, not if, seawater leaks in around the
speaker it drops straight onto the main circuit board right under the
speaker. If you have it mounted pointing slightly upward so you can see
the front panel and point the speaker at you, the tilt on the main
circuit board will cause the seawater leaking in to run back across the
board, eating everything in its path on the way. This I could tolerate.

But, alas, the water finally comes up against the back wall of the radio
inside the "waterproof case" and cannot escape. The main RF power
amplifier of this radio, and most VHF radios, does NOT GET SWITCHED on
and off by the on/off switch! The amp is a class C FM amp and NORMALLY
draws no DC power when idle due to its Class C biasing.
HOWEVER.....HOWEVER, when sea water leakes into the case around the
crappy speaker, it POOLS UP around the BIAS PINS of the main RF power
amplifier IC BRICK at the back of the circuit board...DRIVING IT INTO
CONDUCTION! The IC merely gets hot, very hot but not hot enough to blow
itself. Mine drew 3A of steady current and the rear heat sink
disappated 36 watts of heat....UNTIL IT KILLED MY DAMNED BOAT BATTERY
DEADER THAN DEAD, sitting on the trailer under the cover.

Of course, after getting the trailer backed down the ramp in line with
the rest at the public boat ramp....THE BOAT WAS DEAD MEAT when I wanted
to play!

It took me a while to find the constant current load causing the battery
to drain out......

Just thought you'd like to know for when yours leaks.....

I put in an Icom M59 and it never faltered....

The Standard was given the "Deep Six Standard Funeral" and is free for
the diving in the middle of Charleston Harbor if the dredge missed it.

Radio Call Signs
 

In article ,
Larry wrote:

Bruce in alaska wrote in news:fast-D1A8E8.11453219072008
@netnews.worldnet.att.net:

if there is no other Public Coast Station in that same area, which could
be confused with the the Originating Station.



WOM, we miss you......

and KMI as well......

--
Bruce in alaska
add path after fast to reply

Radio Call Signs
 

On Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:12:41 GMT, in message

Bruce in alaska wrote:

In article ,
Ryk wrote:

I used to have a VHF station license for my boat, but dropped it when
the local requirement went away. Somebody recently suggested to me
that I would need a station license to legitimately operate my radio
(on a Canadian registered vessel) in US waters. I do have an
operator's license. Do I need more to be legit in the US?

Ryk

Yes, to legally operate your VHF Radio in US Waters you are REQUIRED
by International Convention (ITU International Telecommunication Union)
to have a current Radio Station License issued by the Country of your
FLAG.

Thanks Bruce!

Is it specific about a license, or is it about meeting requirements of
the FLAG? I know that when we race internationally the SIs refer to
meeting requirements in the country of origin for either licensed or
registered vessels on a lot of safety issues.

What are the likely consequences if I don't? (Assuming I am otherwise
in compliance and using my radio responsibly inside the Great Lakes
Basin.) Is it different if I go south down the ICW?

Ryk

Radio Call Signs
 

On Sat, 19 Jul 2008 05:41:30 -0500, in message

mister b wrote:

On Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:39:29 -0400, Ryk wrote:

In my neck of the woods (Eastern Lake Ontario) 16 remains the only
calling channel.

???!? 16 a calling channel in Canada for pleasure boaters? I don't think
so Ryk.

It is the calling channel endorsed by international convention and by
the Coast Guard. I understand that 9 is an alternate in congested
spaces in the US, but 16 is not congested up here.

Ryk

Radio Call Signs
 

On Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:05:14 -0400, Ryk
wrote:

On Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:12:41 GMT, in message

Bruce in alaska wrote:

In article ,
Ryk wrote:

I used to have a VHF station license for my boat, but dropped it when
the local requirement went away. Somebody recently suggested to me
that I would need a station license to legitimately operate my radio
(on a Canadian registered vessel) in US waters. I do have an
operator's license. Do I need more to be legit in the US?

Ryk

Yes, to legally operate your VHF Radio in US Waters you are REQUIRED
by International Convention (ITU International Telecommunication Union)
to have a current Radio Station License issued by the Country of your
FLAG.

Thanks Bruce!

Is it specific about a license, or is it about meeting requirements of
the FLAG? I know that when we race internationally the SIs refer to
meeting requirements in the country of origin for either licensed or
registered vessels on a lot of safety issues.

What are the likely consequences if I don't? (Assuming I am otherwise
in compliance and using my radio responsibly inside the Great Lakes
Basin.) Is it different if I go south down the ICW?

Ryk


Almost all Canadian vessels are exempt from having a station license
provided they remain in Canadian waters, or outside Canada and outside
the territory of another country.

So, Yes, if you take your Canadian boat into US waters, you require a
Canadian Ship Station License, in addition to the Radio Operator
Certificate. Similarly, a US vessel in Canadian waters requires a US
Ship Station License.

I understand that a few years ago, some Canadian vessels on the Great
Lakes got into Serious Legal Problems when they ventured into US
waters without a station license.


--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca

Radio Call Signs
 

On Sat, 19 Jul 2008 05:41:30 -0500, mister b wrote:

On Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:39:29 -0400, Ryk wrote:

In my neck of the woods (Eastern Lake Ontario) 16 remains the only
calling channel.

???!? 16 a calling channel in Canada for pleasure boaters? I don't think
so Ryk.



Channel 16 is the _International_ calling and distress channel, usable
by all vessels (except in some areas of the US, apparently).

Channel 16 is a _calling_ channel, not a _working_ channel - you may
use 16 to make an initial call to another vessel or to CG, but once
contact is established, you must switch to an appropriate working
channel.


--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca