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Radio check

12K views 94 replies 33 participants last post by  JordanH 
#1 ·
I was anchored off the Quonset airshow on Saturday, which should be it's own thread it was so great. The performers, including the Blue Angels, regroup for each pass directly overhead.

I was monitoring 16 and in the span of a couple of hours, must have heard two dozen radio checks. Of course, one was from the obligatory 6 yr old who has been hearing all the adults do so. That was the only one that the Coast Guard replied to in a very intimidating voice to get the kid off the radio.

What is it with all the radio checks? And on the wrong channel to boot. Good thing this is America, because the Lybian Coast Guard would have opened fire on the crowd for sure.

Oh I forgot the best one. There must have been a fire boat on station to which someone hails on 16....... "dahhhhh... eh deh fireboat. Da ya tink ya could open up so we could get some pictures....."
 
#2 ·
I was monitoring 16 and in the span of a couple of hours, must have heard two dozen radio checks. Of course, one was from the obligatory 6 yr old who has been hearing all the adults do so. That was the only one that the Coast Guard replied to in a very intimidating voice to get the kid off the radio.

What is it with all the radio checks? "
People don't know better, or just don't care. When you call on Channel 16 you're supposed to be calling another boat (or CG or marina or restaurant), not sending a message over the radio waves for anyone listening. I teach the CG Aux sail course and it's the first thing I tell my students when we get to the radio section.

The Coast Guard figures that 10 percent of the boaters out there have never had a boating safety course. That's a dangerous amount of people who have no clue.

I once had a student, brand new to sailing, who purchased a 40-foot sailboat as his first boat. He didn't even know what a wake was. At least he thought to take the course.
 
#3 ·
The Coast Guard figures that 10 percent of the boaters out there have never had a boating safety course. That's a dangerous amount of people who have no clue.
I would suspect that is a low number and would but it more at 25% based on my experiences on the water.

My new boat has a RAM Mic at the helm and I had to turn it off three different times on Saturday alone because the radio checks, stupid calls (someone actually called over the radio to ask what the tide was doing) and morons that left the mics open so you would get lots of static. It is really annoying and I know I am supposed to be monitoring 16 but it just ruins the mood some days.
 
#5 · (Edited)
What's the problem with an all-vessel call for a radio check on 16? It's what I was taught, and what I've done for as long as I can remember. In some locations, Seatow comes back with a freq for their automated response service. A quick google for "marine vhf radio check" returns a few sporadic admonitions such as yours, to not use 16 for the radio check, and no reasonable alternative suggested. One site suggests "calling a friend" for a check instead. (Bite me on that.) I find no CG or FCC regs or commentary to the contrary. As for X percent not knowing what they're doing, I'm pretty sure it's the schools who are teaching the radio check procedures, on 16. You can count on an early morning, very formal, tensely rehearsed call when the school boats are out overnight. It's hardly worth debating. You need positive confirmation the transmit function is working. You need to know transmit is working on 16 before you leave your slip. Scheduling a rendezvous on a different channel is pointless; the acknowledgement already completed the radio check.
 
#6 · (Edited)
We get the same thing up here so I thought this was a good thread to post some information for west coast Canadian waters.
West coast Canadian waters:
- 16 is for emergencies or other station contact only.
- Non emergency CG contact is done on 83a or 83 in the US mode.
- Radio Checks are done on 83a or 83 in the US mode (definately not on 16).
- Most if not all Canadian marina's/Harbour Authorities are NOT contacted on 16, most are on 66a but some are on 06, 72, 68, 73, 10 but the information for the entire Canadian west coast can be found in the "Boaters Blue Pages" published by Pacific Yachting.
- Lower west coast Canada - Winchelsea Control activity is broadcast regularly on WX, the CG does not seem to appreciate giving this info on 16
 
#18 · (Edited)
#7 ·
Radio Checks

According to the Coast Guard:

Boaters should normally use channels listed as Non-Commercial. Channel 16 is used for calling other stations or for distress alerting.

And from the FCC:

DISTRESS SAFETY AND CALLING - Use this channel to get the attention of another station (calling) or in emergencies (distress and safety).

A radio check is not a "distress alert" and if you are just sending out an open ended request to no one in particular, you are not calling another station (boat).

I suppose that one could make the argument that throwing out a request for anyone listening rather than hailing a specific boat is "calling another station" but considering the number of times I have heard the CG has come on the radio requesting that people do not use Channel 16 for radio checks, I doubt they'd agree with you.

I hear so many people on channels 68 and 74 anyway that if I wanted to do a radio check, I'd send it out over one of those channels if I don't have a specific boat that I know is out there and within hailing distance.
 
#13 ·
... considering the number of times I have heard the CG has come on the radio requesting that people do not use Channel 16 for radio checks, I doubt they'd agree with you.
That's it? Some very loose anecdotes and misguided personal "preferences" should amount to a clubbing with the education churl stick? Seatow, a commercial service, likewise berates with a "the pro's do it" phrasing on a sponsored website when they direct you to their automated services. Are you mistaking their on-air spamming for the law?

A CFR reference or Notice to Mariners would be nice, but I'm more than happy to comply on much less. It should be easy to find, but so far, I haven't found even one.
 
#8 ·
Radio checks on ch 16 are very much fronded upon. In fact you can be fined by the FCC. Though the fines seldom happen.
Do your radio checks on other channels. And if you have two radios, you can do your own checks on board as long the checkes ARE NOT on ch 16.
One minor detail; The USCG are also the LEOs of the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) when it comes to Marine radio usage.
 
#10 · (Edited)
And if you have two radios, you can do your own checks on board as long the checkes ARE NOT on ch 16.
Not a good idea. A radio check to a radio on board is rather useless other than to confirm that a transmission took place. It does not verify that your masthead antenna is working properly which is really what you are testing when doing a radio check.

I will usually do my check when I am so many miles away from the land station I am calling.

And calling your friend is probably the best check you can do because you can transmit on 16. Simply hail your friends boat that is at a known location(preferably a few miles away, line of sight). This verifies the distance and that your MH antenna is working properly. It also verifies that 16 is working properly.

You do not have to say "radio check" for it to be one! You simply have to establish 2-way communication.
 
#12 ·
That will work just fine but a better way is to always have a working channel you regularly use or monitor and do your buddy radio checks on that channel without the use of 16. Many if not most boaters have at least 2 radios, one monitoring/dual watching 16 and/or traffic channel and the other one scanning their favorites or switched to their favorite working channel. But I also agree with Boasun on the self radio check.
 
#17 ·
US Rules

It is illegal to use Channel 16 VHF-FM for radio checks. If requesting a radio check, use Channel 16 VHF-FM to hail the
nearest Coast Guard Unit. Once the Coast Guard Unit acknowledges your hail, request Coast Guard Unit to switch and
answer Channel 22A VHF-FM. Once Coast Guard Unit answers on Channel 22A VHF-FM, you may now request a radio
check. The Coast Guard Unit will respond accordingly.
Before transmitting, listen long enough to be sure there is not a distress in progress and to also ensure you will not interfere
with another station making a call.
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lnms/D14 Special Notice 2011.pdf
 
#19 ·
It is illegal to use Channel 16 VHF-FM for radio checks. If requesting a radio check, use Channel 16 VHF-FM to hail the nearest Coast Guard Unit. Once the Coast Guard Unit acknowledges your hail, request Coast Guard Unit to switch and answer Channel 22A VHF-FM.
That's even worse than I thought possible. Is anyone else similarly stunned by the apparent bureaucracy? Receiving a legible response already confirmed the function. Just the same, I'll print and laminate the document, and talk to the Coasties every morning. Absolutely wonderful. :confused:
 
#21 ·
Mike, why the fixation on Ch 16? Ch 9 is the calling channel for both commercial and non-commercial traffic. You can also use Ch 68, 69, 71, and 72 for radio checks too. Over here in San Francisco Bay, all the channels I mentioned are heavily used and you will be sure to get a “check”. No need to clutter an emergency channel if you don’t have too.
 
#22 ·
Again, with the churl stick. *My* fixation? I don't have one. Take a look back at the OP. Everyone keeps radio watch on 16. When you call and don't get an answer, is it the dead air? Or is it that the radio isn't working? I'll keep in mind that about SFBay. I don't sail there, but who knows; I might some day.
 
#23 ·
Everyone keeps radio watch on 16. When you call and don't get an answer, is it the dead air? Or is it that the radio isn't working?
Yes, as a general rule everyone does watch 16. But NOT for radio checks but for distress transmissions, securite's and other radio communications directed toward them. So the answer to your question is likely "neither of the above and it is more likely that you are being ignored"...regular radio users are fully aware of the regs regarding radio checks and will not answer you on 16 in most cases. Any other working channel is whole other story.
 
#25 ·
I tend to agree with Mike and also resist the continuous reference to Ch 16 being an emergency channel.

It is a call channel to establish comms with another person/vessel and then one moves to another channel for conversation. That is how I have always understood it globally and I haven't seen it any other way.

It becomes an emergency channel when a distress is declared then it comes under the MAYDAY/SEELONCE protocol and from that point on it is dedicated to THAT emergency until released with a SEELONCE FINEE upon which it returns to being a call channel. I'm sure there will be a load of "experts" that disagree with that so let's hear it.

And while I'm here, a radio check is not to discover whether there is contact with another station, it is to discover how good your contact is, whether it is 5x5 (strength and clarity) and in my view is part of my safety checks. What does it help that you can hear other radios loud and clear but you come over all scratcy and barely readable?

As it happens in Auckland we log a trip report each time we sail and that serves as a radio check because Coast Guard will tell us if the radio reception is less than perfect. But if I didn't do that I would also do regular radio checks with a recognised authority, safe in the knowledge that I'm not talking to the fisherman on the boat next to me. Our lives may depend on good radio performance.

As always, just my opinion.
 
#26 ·
Great discussion and very happy to see the actual authoritative reference to not using Ch 16 for radio checks. Thanks.

The experience that caused me to post this was on the day of an airshow with a couple of hundred anchored boats. I couldn't know where the checks were coming from, but can say that the volume began and ended with the show schedule. A reasonable inference would be that these checks were being made at anchor at the show. For additional consideration, a radio check or acknowledgment that doesn't include your location is not terribly valuable, imho.


There were also several "10-4"s and "comeback"s.....
 
#27 ·
I have answered radio checks on 16 if for no other reason than to get them to stop calling. I give a "Load and clear one mile S of so and so". I have used the automated checks but there is no indication of the "checks" location. I could be 1 or 10 miles away. If I have a concern about my radio and do not have a buddy boat I hail Towboat US or the marina and follow them to their working channel. Dan S/V Marian Claire
 
#31 ·
I have used the automated checks but there is no indication of the "checks" location.
Really? All the SeaTow ones I have used announce their location in the announcement. Send SeaTow an e-mail - I bet they will update.
 
#28 ·
A reason for the frequent and numerous radio checks is that a lot of people are in chartered, or Sailtime boats. That is, they are sailing boats that are not their own. These people are not intimately familiar with the equipment, or it's operational state. Therefore, they test the radio with a radio check.

They should, however, be preforming the checks on channel 9. The only problem with channel 9 is that people typically do not respond...

The SeaTow Radio check is a great idea, and I had used it on Ch 24 in Barrington, RI, (where I keep my boat) several times this spring when I was replacing much of my coax. However, when I have tried it recently, either my radio has completely crapped out, or the system has been turned off. It has been like this since June 1. Thus, I go to channel 9, where no one responds...
 
#29 ·
#34 ·
Settle down, Mike, remember, you were the one who is railing against the US Federal Regulation covering the use of marine band frequencies. The FCC and USCG are quite clear about not using Ch 16 for radio checks. Back in the day when we were required to have a 3rd class license and the boat a station license, we had to learn this stuff. I gave you a list of frequencies that you can use. Which, incidentally, will also work in Southern California, Chesapeake, New England, and the rest of the US. Now if you really want to use an inappropriate channel, you could go to 22A or 82A. I’m sure you will get a instantaneous response there.

IMHO, getting a radio check with the USCG isn’t a very good check. Why? They have very powerful transmitters and sensitive receivers using multiple antennas and repeaters that will pick you up when no else can. If it was me, I’d want to do a check with a fellow boater and find out his distance from me, clarity, etc. Again, what good is a radio check if the other guy is only a few hundred yards away from you? I am curious, how often have VHF radios gone bad on your boats? Is constant checking really necessary? Maintaining corrosion free antenna cable and connectors is probably the biggest maintenance item and that inspection is done visually. If you want to do an operator’s check for a charter boat, shouldn’t you be calling the charter base and getting it from them? Other than the batteries going dead in a hand held, the only radio “failure” I’ve had was when we had a low battery condition on the boat – Trust me, if you are seeing ten volts and below on your meter, that radio isn’t going to transmit very far.:D
 
#37 ·
As I've said, George, I'm more than happy to comply. But you'll (collectively) have to get off your high horse to turn this into a conversation.

So far, the authoritative references amount to this one single sentence in NTM 00/11: "It is illegal to use Channel 16 VHF-FM for radio checks." That's the entire text and reference. Depending on your point of view, it apparently reads like this one: "Water is wet." It lacks for me the obvious nature that it apparently has for you.

Here is a link to a certified and signed CFR Title 47, Part 80, the FCC regs governing radio use in the Maritime Service (in the US). I'll be darned if I can find regulations covering the use of 156.800 MHz, ch 16, in the specific and definite terms above.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2009-title47-vol5/pdf/CFR-2009-title47-vol5-part80.pdf.

The USCG likely has additional jurisdiction on spectrum use. Even so, I haven't found any more than what Jack posted.

Remember now, the question is under whose authority and why is it illegal, not whether it is, or whether it is even wise. (Although the NTM instructions quoted earlier amount to "insert head in ass and shout".)

As for the wisdom of a radio check, it's as ingrained a habit as checking that I have the keys in my hand before pulling the door shut. As a private pilot, since 1987, the radio check is part of the pre-flight checklist. You only need to watch a student pilot plug his headset in bass ackwards just once to understand that a radio check is much more than a mere formality. It doesn't have to be a hard equipment failure.

Anyway, aside from the obvious nature of water being wet, who knows where I can find the specific regulation prohibiting radio check on ch 16?
 
#40 ·
#39 ·
In many cases, I will continue to use Ch 16 for radio checks as a safety measure. Where I sail, there is very little VHF traffic so I was unaware this was a problem. With almost no traffic on Ch 16, the probability of someone listening on another channel is nil. The nearest Coast Guard station is probably beyond VHF range so forget calling them. One could call a marina (another specific station) and ask them for a radio check but often you do not know of a local marina.
Calling your own other VHF tells you almost nothing as you may get a signal but someone more than a mile away may not if your antenna is bad. You really do need to know if your VHF works if there is some chance it does not and it is a safety issue. This does not mean you need a radio check every time you go out but once a season seems reasonable. I'd rather be safe than legal.
OTOH, I was surprised in the Bahamas to hear marinas and bars advertising on Ch 16 VHF
 
#41 ·
VHF Marine Channel 16 Designated for Emergency Calls - Section 80.369 of the FCC's Rules states that VHF
Marine Channel 16 (156.800 MHz) is the international voice, distress, urgency, safety, call, and reply channel for ship,
public, and private coast stations. The Coast Guard continually monitors Channel 16 and treats any distress call
received as an emergency that should be immediately investigated. Prohibited Channel 16 communications include:
false distress or emergency messages, superfluous communications, messages containing obscene, indecent, or profane
words or meaning, general calls (calls not addressed to a particular station), routine messages and radio tests, and
communications when your ship is on land (for example, while the ship is on a trailer).
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0531/DA-11-970A1.pdf

Is this sufficient?
 
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