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#1
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need inexpensive marine ssb and ham radio for cruising sailboat.
"Doug Dotson" wrote in message ... Yep, that's unsat. But it would have helped to pursue it at the time, as I think you would have received an apology and explanation at the time. I wouldn't make the generalization that that bad experience certainly deserved for it's event. What is "unsat"? I suppose I am just venting my frustration at my one and only experience where I needed help. Sorry, unsat = Unstatisfactory (performance). My point is that in an emergency, THERE ARE NO LAWS when it comes to use of the radio when trying to obtain help. Now, there is a gray area in exactly what constitutes an "emergency". When I was an actively flying pilot, one could declare an emergency if they personally felt they were in trouble. They may not have actually been in as much trouble as they may have thought, but it is the pilot's judgement. Of course, a report had to be filed after the fact and some amount of review was done to determine if the declaration was valid. Very rarely was a pilot called to task. I suspect the same sort of scheme is in place for nautical vessels as well. Doug, we never disagreed on that at all. My comments were about the an act that involved presumption of a future, non-existent emergency. Best, Jack |
#2
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need inexpensive marine ssb and ham radio for cruising sailboat.
Doug, we never disagreed on that at all. My comments were about the an act
that involved presumption of a future, non-existent emergency. You have really lost me now. I prefer to base my plans on a future possability of a very real emergency. I am very glad I am a ham. The safety it affords me is far greater than any provided by the CG or CGA with regard to contacting someone to dispatch help. Once the CG is contacted then their assistence is some of the best in the world. Close to shore, the towing services are excellent. In my case, I sent an email via Winlink to a station in Dallas, that message was forwarded to my friend in Baltimore who called Vessel Assist. 30 minutes later I was contacted on VHF that they were in-transit, 15 or 30 minutes later they were there. That's hard to beat. Best, Jack |
#3
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need inexpensive marine ssb and ham radio for cruising sailboat.
Doug, let's drop the semantics. Something you plan for in case it happens in
the future is imaginary, it is not real and it does not exist, no matter how well you pretend it is. Of course we plan for emergencies, but when you advise the general public to commit an act on the presumption that something will happen in the future to make it legal, you're too far out on a limb for me. Jack "Doug Dotson" wrote in message ... Doug, we never disagreed on that at all. My comments were about the an act that involved presumption of a future, non-existent emergency. You have really lost me now. I prefer to base my plans on a future possability of a very real emergency. I am very glad I am a ham. The safety it affords me is far greater than any provided by the CG or CGA with regard to contacting someone to dispatch help. Once the CG is contacted then their assistence is some of the best in the world. Close to shore, the towing services are excellent. In my case, I sent an email via Winlink to a station in Dallas, that message was forwarded to my friend in Baltimore who called Vessel Assist. 30 minutes later I was contacted on VHF that they were in-transit, 15 or 30 minutes later they were there. That's hard to beat. Best, Jack |
#4
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need inexpensive marine ssb and ham radio for cruising sailboat.
That's OK, it's nice and peacefull out here on my limb without you
I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one. HEY! There's no beer out here. Doug s/v Callista "Jack Painter" wrote in message news:Xiioc.35883$pJ1.2100@lakeread02... Doug, let's drop the semantics. Something you plan for in case it happens in the future is imaginary, it is not real and it does not exist, no matter how well you pretend it is. Of course we plan for emergencies, but when you advise the general public to commit an act on the presumption that something will happen in the future to make it legal, you're too far out on a limb for me. Jack "Doug Dotson" wrote in message ... Doug, we never disagreed on that at all. My comments were about the an act that involved presumption of a future, non-existent emergency. You have really lost me now. I prefer to base my plans on a future possability of a very real emergency. I am very glad I am a ham. The safety it affords me is far greater than any provided by the CG or CGA with regard to contacting someone to dispatch help. Once the CG is contacted then their assistence is some of the best in the world. Close to shore, the towing services are excellent. In my case, I sent an email via Winlink to a station in Dallas, that message was forwarded to my friend in Baltimore who called Vessel Assist. 30 minutes later I was contacted on VHF that they were in-transit, 15 or 30 minutes later they were there. That's hard to beat. Best, Jack |
#5
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need inexpensive marine ssb and ham radio for cruising sailboat.
With all this talk about inability to raise USCG on HF SSB let me relate my
experiences in two high seas emergencies. I was aboard a commercial tuna boat fishing between Midway Island and Japan. In the first incident a boat nearby had a crewman whose hand got caught in machinery and was severely mangled. Too far for helo medivac so what was needed was emergency medical advice and clearance to put the injured guy ashore at Midway, several days away. No answer to calls to USCG on 2182, 4125 etc. Although I am not a ham, I broke into a net on 20 meters and was answered by a guy named Danny in New Guinea. He immediately phone patched through to an emergency room doctor in the US who gave hours of guidance on how to treat the hand and save it. He also contacted the CG who got the Navy to give clearance for a Midway landing. The next incident was a very very weak mayday I heard on some 8 MHz marine channel. The distressed vessel could not hear me nor was it heard by anyone else. It was a fishing vessel about 200 miles from Hawaii and it had suffered a major engine room fire. It was taking on water and had no power for pumps. I got the vessel name and position thank goodness. All calls to USCG went unanswered. In desperation I finally tuned up on 11179 USB and called a Mayday Relay. I was anwered by a Marine Corps C 130 air refueling tanker call sign QB 0x? which was flying off southern Calif. The radio op on the plane was really sharp and in no time had relayed all the info to the USCG. The boat was saved, no lives lost. The lesson? Use all your resources, know HF aircraft freqs, etc. Know ham bands. Hams are generally very helpful in a true emergency. 5696 USB is a USCG aircraft channel. Its a good one to have in your freq list. Listen to it, there is almost always some traffic on it if you listen for 15 or 20 min. BTW, all the calls were made on an "illegal" Drake TR 7 modified to operate anywhere between 1.5 and 30 MHz. Our "legal" SSB was crystal controlled controlled and had only official ITU marine channels. |
#6
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need inexpensive marine ssb and ham radio for cruising sailboat.
"BOEING377" without a name, wrote
With all this talk about inability to raise USCG on HF SSB let me relate my experiences in two high seas emergencies. I was aboard a commercial tuna boat fishing between Midway Island and Japan. In the first incident a boat nearby had a crewman whose hand got caught in machinery and was severely mangled. Too far for helo medivac so what was needed was emergency medical advice and clearance to put the injured guy ashore at Midway, several days away. No answer to calls to USCG on 2182, 4125 etc. That's an unreasonable expectation to assume the USCG would hear a small boat between Midway and Japan on HF, which is far from our area of responsibilty. You're on your own out in waters like that, and 2182 or 4125 are for 20-200 mile coverage. Higher frequencies as you used to call someone nearer to your locaton, are certainly better for long haul comms. Although I am not a ham, I broke into a net on 20 meters and was answered by a guy named Danny in New Guinea. He immediately phone patched through to an emergency room doctor in the US who gave hours of guidance on how to treat the hand and save it Thanks for the heads up that there are no Hospitals on the island of New Guinea! The lesson? Use all your resources, know HF aircraft freqs, etc. Know ham bands. Hams are generally very helpful in a true emergency. 5696 USB is a USCG aircraft channel. Its a good one to have in your freq list. Listen to it, there is almost always some traffic on it if you listen for 15 or 20 min. BTW, all the calls were made on an "illegal" Drake TR 7 modified to operate anywhere between 1.5 and 30 MHz. Our "legal" SSB was crystal controlled controlled and had only official ITU marine channels. The lesson should be how unreliable HF voice communication is from a small boat in the middle of nowhere. There were certainly better options available to a commercial fishing vessel, or anyone who chooses to be a thousand miles from civilization. Other legal choices for boaters with only HF voice would be: http://www.mmsn.org/ Maritime Mobile Net (14.300 mhz) and from that group: Other Maritime Nets Baja California Net 7.238 MHz - Daily at 1600UTC California to Caribbean 14.285 MHz. - Mondays at 2300 UTC California to South Pacific 14.285 MHz. - Mondays at 2310 UTC Caribbean Maritime Mobile Net 7.241 MHz. - Daily at 1100 UTC Caribbean Net 7.158 MHz. - Daily at 0000 UTC Chubasco Net 7.294 MHz. - Daily at 1530 UTC Confusion Net 14.305 MHz. - Monday thru Friday at 1900 UTC DDD Net-Pacific for Canada 14.115 MHz. - Daily at 0400 UTC 14.115 MHz. - Daily at 1730 UTC Mariana Net 14.340 MHz. - Monday thru Saturday at 1900 UTC Mariana-Guam 14.310 MHz. - Daily at 0700 UTC Maritime Emergency Net 14.310 MHz. - Daily at 0400 14.303mhz. - Daily at 1800 UTC Mississauga Maritime Net 14.122.5 MHz. - Daily at 1245 UTC Waterway Radio & Cruising Club Net 7.268 MHz. - Daily at 07:45 ET West Coast Admirals Maritime Mobile Net 7.190 MHz. - Daily at 2230 Caribbean Maritime Mobile Net http://www.mayaparadise.com/mmfreq1.htm The TransAtlantic Net: Held daily at 1300 GMT on 21.400. Net controller is 8P6QM - Trudi, assisted by G4FTO - Rudi and VE3AGS - George and others. Weather on the half hour, and third party traffic where legal. The U.K. MM Net: Held twice a day at 0800 and 1800 GMT on 14.303 +/- QRM. Morning Net controller is G4FRN - Bill and in the evening you will find G4YZH - Bruce, G0IAD - Tony or G4FTO - Rudi and others The Pacific Maritime Mobile Service Net; on daily; 21412MHz at 2200 to 2300GMT. This is our 18th year on this Freq. Dr. Ernie, VE3EGM, is one of our relay stations. Thanks, 73, Bob Corbin N2RSM The Pacific Maritime Mobile Service Net; on daily; 21412MHz at 2200 to 2300GMT. This is our 18th year on this Freq. Dr. Ernie, VE3EGM, is one of our relay stations. Thanks, 73, Bob Corbin N2RSM DDD Net The DDD Net operates on a daily basis, frequency is 14.115mHz and the warm up time is approx 0330z going formal at 0400z. We have relays in Tasmania - VK7PR, Peter New Zealand - ZL1ATE, Tony; ZL2FS, Jim and ZL1UE, Malcolm Alberta - VE6LS, Al in Edmonton Vancouver Island - VE7CZN, Jim and VE7KON, Ken. Phone patch is available( where legal) and traffic is forwarded by Email (as available). Info from Peter Thomas, VE7PT This is just a sample, there are many others. Jack Painter Virginia Beach, Va |
#7
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USCG and HF SSB, cannot count on being heard?
"No
answer to calls to USCG on 2182, 4125 etc." That's an unreasonable expectation to assume the USCG would hear a small boat between Midway and Japan on HF, which is far from our area of responsibilty. You're on your own out in waters like that, and 2182 or 4125 are for 20-200 mile coverage. Higher frequencies as you used to call someone nearer to your locaton, are certainly better for long haul comms. Note the etc., I called on 2, 4, 8, 16 Mhz freqs. Back then (1980s) satcom gear was just too expensive for most small fishing boats. The US Albacore tuna fleet is comprised of small boats, usually in the 50-85 ft range. We knew we were on our own and accepted that risk. None of us expected the USCG to protect us so far from the US, but it's always worth a try. Another resource that actually has in some respects superior long range air rescue capabilities compared to the USCG is the USAF Rescue Squadrons. They have HC 130H aircraft very similar to the USCG planes, but with a couple of big differences. They can carry pararescue jumpers who sometimes jump thousands of miles offshore to do emergency medical work on a ship. Also, the USAF planes carry air refueling gear and can extend the range of a Blackhawk rescue helo waaay beyoind what the USCG can fly with their unrefuelable Jayhawks. They have helped in a number of civilian sea rescues. Not sure how the USCG and the USAF divide tasks, but I assume that the USAF is contacted by the USCG RCC since the USAF planes do not normally monitor marine HF SSB freqs. The USAF planes do not normally carry dropable pumps but they do carry dropable liferafts and can drop a very impressive large inflatable with a big waterproof outboard which is used by the pararescue jumpers after they land in the water. |
#8
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need inexpensive marine ssb and ham radio for cruising sailboat.
Are you that same ****ing idiot - Where do you get such asshole ideas
from. He didn't say that at all. On Fri, 14 May 2004 17:41:16 -0400, "Jack Painter" wrote: Thanks for the heads up that there are no Hospitals on the island of New Guinea! |
#9
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need inexpensive marine ssb and ham radio for cruising sailboat.
That's an unreasonable expectation to assume the USCG would hear a small
boat between Midway and Japan on HF, which is far from our area of responsibilty. You're on your own out in waters like that, and 2182 or 4125 are for 20-200 mile coverage. Higher frequencies as you used to call someone nearer to your locaton, are certainly better for long haul comms. Why is it that USCG "monitored" frequencies are not reliable at these distances, but ham frequencies are pretty reliable. 4125 is just a bit above the 80m ham band. I can talk to Australia, Africa, Europe and Asia fairly reliably. I think the bottom line is that for whatever reason, the USCG and USCGA do not do a very good job of monitoring the frequencies that they claim to. Hams are always on the air somewhere, getting a ham license is the best insurance for one's safety. Doug, k3qt s/v Callista |
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