chuck wrote in :

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:


Channel 9.....

"Wappoo Cut Bridge, this is Lionheart, over?"

"Lionheart this is Wappoo Cut Bridge, go ahead?"

"Can you hear me ok, over?"

"Sure, Lionheart. Sounds great."

"Thank you for a great service to all of us. Lionheart out."

(She usually thanks you for saying something nice.)

Bridgetenders are great people. One of them made all the new cushions and
curtains in her home upholstery business for Lionheart! They don't mind
talking to you from their boring jobs, especially if it's not busy.

Too bad many are losing their jobs they've had for so many years....dumped
for the new high bridges.....

FCC Rules permit you to call your favorite bridgetenders on Channel 9
without the CG bitching you out.....(c;

"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in
:

The USCG radio operators in this area do not appear to be all that well
trained.
They stick to boiler-plate dialog such that it takes 5 minutes to
communicate
30 seconds worth of information. In terms of efficiency, hams have them
beat hands down.

Doug, k3qt
s/v CAllista


"What is the name of your vessel?"

(repeat 3-5 times)

"How many are aboard?"

(repeat 5 to 10 times)

"What color is your boat?"

("WHITE GELCOAT YOU IDIOT!")

(repeat 3 to 5 times)

"What is your hull number?"

("How should I know? My wallet is below, DROWNED IN SEAWATER and the hull
numbers are ALREADY UNDERWATER!")

(repeat at least twice....more if you sound ****ed.)

"Do you have USCG-approved PFDs aboard for each person?"

("No, we looked hard and found 8 with no tags, but they're floating,
fine.")

(no answer as batteries have flooded)

Problem solved......no report necessary.

("Coast Guard this is Sea Tow. I'm at the scene and will handle it.")

Too bad Sea Tow wasn't monitoring at 3AM or the Morning Dew's kids might
have LIVED! Every time I pass that spot on the Charleston jetties I can
hear that boy screaming from the CG tape.....

"Larry W4CSC" wrote

So, tell us how DO you know what area you can hear on your HF net? Noone
transmits for fear of raising your ire. Can you hear Florida today?
Galveston? 100 miles out? 200? 500?

What magic on that dead HF frequency tells you the sun has exploded,
again,
and communications is useless? Surely you're not depending on WWV's
propagation forecast, are you?

If we observe the two quiet periods for emergency traffic calls, wouldn't
it be better for everyone involved if you knew what boats/ships are also
your ears and eyes on the frequency, expanding your pitiful little
receiving antenna cross section by several thousand miles? "CG Net this
is
WDB-6254, "Lionheart" at 32 24N, 75 12W checkin, no traffic monitoring 802
for next 2 hours." Aha! I can hear a 150W insulated backstay offshore of
Charleston on Channel 802 at this time. HE, on the other hand, will HELP
me monitor the frequency, relaying to areas I cannot hear because of
propagation, any calls that get no answers from me.

What harm have I done to Coast Guard Communications?

They USED to do it on CW, you know! It's how I learned the code when I
was
10 in 1956.....(c;

This is precisely why hams "waste bandwidth", as you say.....see?

When I operate from my station, I use every resource available to me, and it
is everything you would expect a radio operator to do. When operating from
the net control of a vast resource of hundreds of antennas and transmitters
and receivers across thousands of miles, supplemented with satellites, there
is no such concern about "will I be able to hear San Juan"? I only have
three antennas and I can get the job done pretty well too from Newfoundland
to South America, day or night. I carefully chose the antennas to do the
job, and 99% of the time I can do it on 125 watts.

You're confusing radio hobbyists who like to chat with each other and feel
accomplishment in their hobby and equipment by reinforcing that they can
talk to the same stations in the same places over, and over and over, with
the reason that ships are at sea, which is not a hobby. Professional
mariners, which make up the overwhelming majority of all high seas
travelers, have no such time or reason to chat on amateur nets or on
official frequencies reserved for hailing and distress.

The real blue water sailors of a hobbyist ilk, have options in a
communication suite that leaves about zero chance that an emergency call
would not be heard and relayed to appropriate authorities. Amateur maritime
mobile service nets make up one small and nonetheless important part of that
but only where pleasure craft or third-world fishing vessels are concerned.

The USCG just finished supervising the rescue of four people far from
Bermuda who set of an EPIRB. Until the good Samaritan vessel directed to the
scene by the Coast Guard arrived tonight, the USCG C-130 had already found
them, and supplied comfort, communications, food, water and blankets, along
with the assuredness that surface rescue was on the way. One EPIRB did that
for them. Where communications came into play was with the USCG's ability to
contact all area vessels and vector the appropriate ones to the scene. I had
no problem hearing every word that was passed to and from the C-130 and if a
major solar flare had happened, they could have changed altitude, changed
frequencies, and as a last resort, used other more expensive forms of
communication. What you allude to is totally unnecessary and serves only the
brotherhood of clubs who need social interaction to remain a coherent
organization. That's not contested or misunderstood by me, but I think you
believe they do this for reasons which modern communicators would find
frivolous. Or fun. Take your pick.

Jack Painter
Virginia Beach, Virginia

"Larry W4CSC" repeats himself in message
...
Gary Schafer wrote in
:

1) Boaters checking in to MMSN with no traffic, every one of them, with
this simple contact have:

2) Checked equipment to make sure it's working properly...

3) Checked propagation at the time they are monitoring to see if the
ionosphere is still operational...

4) Helped the hams monitoring the net to check propagation between THEIR
station and a maritime area they had not heard from today, just in case
their services are needed during this net time...

5) Inadvertently said, "Thank you, guys" from the boaters the doggedly
loyal ham retirees on shore are trying to serve. All they ask is for a
little check-in "thanks".

Any boater-ham should always check-in for these purposes if no other. You
have no way of knowing until it's too late if the damned CG can hear you
or
not and if anyone is REALLY listening out there. "Waste of Bandwidth" my
ass.....

Well I'm sure they enjoy that little camaraderie, but the vast majority of
pleasure boaters, fishermen and professional mariners are not amateur radio
operators. If they were, ham radio would be permanently assigned the status
of CB-world. Some of you actually work to prevent that from happening, so be
careful what you wish for, it could happen.

Jack Painter
Virginia Beach, Virginia

"Larry W4CSC" wrote
"Jack Painter" wrote in
news:pbFGd.17550$B95.16031@lakeread02:

I am not a Ham. When I can spare a receiver, it is often on 14.300
MMSN. I followed various amateur hurricane emergency nets in Florida
during the hurricanes this summer. 100% of the traffic was a waste of
bandwidth with stations checking in from their homes with no traffic
(This is still not quite as ridiculous as someone checking in to the
MMSN with no traffic from their BOAT). Then there were the unfounded
rumours passed about damage (all the while telephone service
remained). Of course the only place they were ever needed in Florida
was as backups at the EOC's and various shelters for local repeater
work. But few hams roll up their sleeves and actually go to work in
this intended fashion, instead opting to let everyone in the
HF-hemishpere know that "I'm here at home if you need me". "Oh yea
thanks for telling us", the real workers think.


You missed the point of the net, entirely. The net is a SERVICE net.
Traffic is passed or phone patches can be connected between ham boaters
and
home. Ham radio is a HOBBY. No bandwidth has ever been "wasted".
Stations check into the net with no traffic TO LET NET CONTROL KNOW THEY
ARE THERE, ON FREQ, AND AVAILABLE TO RECEIVE TRAFFIC.....unlike you
Coasties who noone ever knows whether they are listening, HAVE PROPAGATION
TO LISTEN, or not!

No I didn't miss the point. I did mean to be more specific (and I was later)
that I meant checking in from the dock. That's not service, that's just
enjoying the use of a radio for enjoyment's sake. Fine but don't confuse it
with hailing and distress frequencies. Each has their purpose.

You boys have some fun with CG's wonderful communicators where you live.
Call 'em by their official call letters some day. See if they recognize
the call. Ours have no idea what CG Group Charleston's callsign is on HF
or VHF. Don't seem to be any RADIOMEN left.

That would be fun for you maybe, I just see it as lack of use = lack of
existence. Nobody calls them by those callsigns through a watchstanders
whole enlistment, and then you want to "test" him on it? I think I 've made
it clear that at least in Eastern US waters, which is what I observe, USCG
Groups answer distress calls on 2182 on a regular basis. The most tragic
marine diaster is recent US history (Bow Mariner) passed an alert via only
2187.5 khz DSC-GMDSS and 2182 khz, to which three USCG Groups immediately
responded and rescue aircraft and surface vessels were launched immediately,
and lives saved as a result of excellent watchstanding on 2182 khz. I backed
up a young operator on that case from the first message passed. I attended
the Church service for the deceased, and was thanked by the survivors. I
don't need your approval of procedures and policies, but I will try to help
you understand them, since you are a customer and may one day be a consumer
of USCG rescue services.


Now, let me polish this ax off a little more....

You mean grind, which is obviously the only reason for you being here.


I'm sure you've gotten a little flack from the Charleston "Morning Dew"
debacle. Remember the complete idiot with 3 boys aboard crashing into the
UNLIGHTED Charleston Jetties? Need I post the tape of the boys screaming
for help? Oh, I forgot, his "Radio Procedures" weren't "correct".

IF THOSE BOYS HAD SCREAMED FOR HELP ON ANY CHARLESTON SC HAM RADIO
REPEATER
FREQUENCY.....THEY'D STILL BE ALIVE TODAY!! If I had heard them, I'd have
got the Goddamned BASE COMMANDER out of his rack!

You know I can't comment on that, and why.

Jack Painter
Virginia Beach, Virginia

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
Chris Newport wrote in
:

Coastguard stations around the world are generally blessed with
serious antenna farms and excellent professional receivers. They
are therefore well equiped to hear you if there is a signal to be
heard.


Not without a cooperating ionosphere, which hasn't been cooperating of
late.

What serious antenna farm have you been to? Their receiving antenna is a
whip! Their transmit antennas go from a whip to a conical monopole at the
10KW stations. Serious antenna farm!

Those silly hams are running 1.5KW PEP, when necessary, into an amazing
array of beam antennas both receiving and transmitting. The average Icom,
Yaesu or Kenwood receiver at any ham station has 2 or 3 HF SSB bandwidths
with digital signal processing of both IF and audio. CG had an old blue
display Commercial HF receiver, last time I went from base to base
calibrating their test equipment a few years back. What ultra-sensitive
receivers are they using today? Those ham rigs have 120 db crystal-sloped
IF skirts and .1 uV receivers. The receivers are so sensitive we have to
have an attenuator to protect them from atmospherics.

Back to the antenna problem.....

Let's say there's 50 hams in USA and Canada monitoring MMSN at noon,
tomorrow. The furthest East is in Nova Scotia. The furthest South is in
West Palm Beach. The furthest West is in Honolulu. The other 50 have
their sensitive little Yaesus listening every few hundred miles in
between.
So, their "effective receiving antenna" is VERY well distributed across a
wide area of two countries, maybe even Europe and Asia at times.

CG has...well....8 to 10 whip antennas on each frequency....all right
along
the COAST with nothing in between?

Which receiving system has a better chance of hearing out little backstay
transmitter, 180 miles off the Georgia coast??

PS - 22 hams KNOW they can hear me because they heard me and wrote down my
callsign on their desk pad when I did my useless chit-chat checkin.....(c;

Larry you are so far off base, did you even read any of the messages in this
thread???

HOW MANY of the 50 or so Hams you say might be listening to the MMSN are
listening to 2182 khz?

EVERY USCG Group is guarding ONLY that MF-Marine hailing and distress
frequency.

The Communications Area Master Stations are guarding 4125 khz, 6215 khz,
8291 khz and 12290 khz international maritime hailing and distress
frequencies. Unfortunately we cannot describe the antennas receivers and
transmitters doing this job, but you are sadly misguided is you think they
are inferior to anything. Nor does the cooperation of the ionosphere have
as much impact on the performance of this highly versatile system as you
imagine.

Jack Painter
Virginia Beach, Virginia

"Larry W4CSC" wrote
"Jack Painter" wrote in
news:8L_Gd.18132$B95.563@lakeread02:

9. Automatic Direction Finding equipment with display on
computer-screen charts is selectable from all or individual
high-sites.

The Coast Guard watchstander at Group Charleston thought the "Morning Dew"
distress call was a hoax. Obviously, if he'd had VHF-DF capabilities and
knew how to use it, he would have seen the display light up BRIGHTLY as
the
sinking boat was only a mile and a little from Sullivan's Island Light and
3.5 miles from CG Base Charleston in the Ashley River.

Is this new stuff since Morning Dew's debacle?

Cannot comment on that case.

Jack



10. Digital recording devices capture 100% of all incoming traffic to
USCG Group receivers.


Yes, they do! It took three TV stations calling Sen Holling's office and
a
lot of political pressure to pry those recordings out of a reluctant Coast
Guard's clutches....negating any doubt about them HEARING the boy on the
Morning Dew screaming for his life.

Let's WAKE THE BOATCREW and WASTE A LITTLE OF MY TAX MONEY!!

Larry W4CSC wrote:

If we observe the two quiet periods for emergency traffic calls, wouldn't
it be better for everyone involved if you knew what boats/ships are also
your ears and eyes on the frequency, expanding your pitiful little
receiving antenna cross section by several thousand miles? "CG Net this is
WDB-6254, "Lionheart" at 32 24N, 75 12W checkin, no traffic monitoring 802
for next 2 hours." Aha! I can hear a 150W insulated backstay offshore of
Charleston on Channel 802 at this time. HE, on the other hand, will HELP
me monitor the frequency, relaying to areas I cannot hear because of
propagation, any calls that get no answers from me.

Larry, So what kind of license do you have to make that call on HF?

Neither you or "your captain" have a license according to the FCC. Tell
us all about your First Class Phone and your GROL and your GMDSS
Operator and Maintainer licenses again.

Bwahahahahahahaha ... old fraud.

Rick

Larry W4CSC wrote:

I offered to bring an IFR over to CG Charleston and TURN UP THE DEVIATION
ON THEIR VHF RADIOS.....so we could HEAR what was being said. To hear
them, here, you must turn your VHF volume control to maximum, especially if
the engine is running! It's been like that for years.

That must have really impressed them a lot. Some old fart ham with no
license to touch any other radio offers to adjust a CG radio ...

And you wonder why they ignore you?

Rick

Jetcap wrote in
:

Larry W4CSC wrote:

I offered to bring an IFR over to CG Charleston and TURN UP THE
DEVIATION ON THEIR VHF RADIOS.....so we could HEAR what was being
said. To hear them, here, you must turn your VHF volume control to
maximum, especially if the engine is running! It's been like that
for years.

That must have really impressed them a lot. Some old fart ham with no
license to touch any other radio offers to adjust a CG radio ...

And you wonder why they ignore you?

Rick



Geez, Rick. You're beginning to sound like some kind of broken record.

You can still kiss my ass, however. How's that?