Vhf - Use?

[chucklesR]

As a retired US Navy Radioman (switched to I.T in 1997) I should listen to the radio more than I do. I like it for the entertainment value, but frankly get tired of listening to open mikes, static and digital codes so I often turn it off.
Even when the main set is off, I do keep the handheld on, turned down, at the helm. It's a sop to making me feel better that I can reach out and call someone in an emergency - someone who if they are like me would not hear the call anyway.
As a multihull owner I'm excluded from partcipating any more in my local yacht club's friday night races, so I often serve as commitee boat - what pisses me off is that we can't even get the racers to monitor the frigging radio for the period of the race, instead I get calls on my cell phone asking what the course is, bitching about a rule violation etc..

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by chucklesR

As a multihull owner I'm excluded from partcipating any more in my local yacht club's friday night races, so I often serve as commitee boat - what pisses me off is that we can't even get the racers to monitor the frigging radio for the period of the race, instead I get calls on my cell phone asking what the course is, bitching about a rule violation etc..

They don't let you race, cause they're afraid of getting dusted by a fat cruising catamaran with a shorter waterline than theirs...

[Diva27]

At the risk of unnecessarily reviving an older thread, I didn't see any mention of the fact that the regs require you to monitor channel 16, at least up here north of the border. I distinctly recall when I did my license maybe 10 years ago (I need to do the course again for DSC) that I was required to monitor channel 16, and I try to do so, even if the idle chatter can be bloody annoying. I have a RAM in the cockpit that means I don't have to keep the volume on the unit the cabin cranked to hear it.
I just checked the Canada Shipping Act's regs with respect to VHFs. While the reg discusses only "ships," my understanding was that if you had a VHF station and/or operators license you were expected to follow the rule of maintaining a constant listening watch as per below:

8. (1) Subject to subsection (3), on every ship a listening watch on a VHF radiotelephone receiver shall be maintained continuously during the period commencing fifteen minutes before the ship is underway and terminating when the ship is

(a) securely anchored, moored or made fast to the shore or secured by any means to the bottom; and

(b) in a place where its presence does not constitute a hazard to passing ships.

(2) A VHF radiotelephone receiver, referred to in subsection (1), on a ship described in column I of an item of the schedule shall be set to the channel set out in column II of that item and shall operate with sufficient gain to permit it to receive normal communications on that channel if other radio transmissions do not block out those communications by capture or override.

(3) Where a ship is not fitted with an additional or built-in facility that permits continuous or sequential monitoring of Channel 16 (156.8 MHz), the listening watch required by subsection (1) may be interrupted for short periods while the radiotelephone installation is being used to transmit or receive communications on another channel authorized in the licence for that installation.


I'd be interested to know what others think of this obligation.

Station licenses aren't required by Canadian recreational craft if they remain in Canadian waters. But an operators license is required. Also, things differ slightly in that in the US apparently, 9 is a "calling" channel, while it has no such formal distinction up here. There are other channel allocation differences.

[sailingdog]

Station licenses aren't required for recreational craft by the US if they're for domestic use VHF/ SSB/... but if you contact foreign stations, like Canadian or Bahamian ones, you need a Ship's Station License and a Restricted Radio Operator's license.

Monitoring CH 16 and 13 are just good common sense. I usually keep the main VHF on 16 and the handheld on 13. If I have the main VHF off, I will put the handheld on 13/16 dual-watch.

[camaraderie]

Dawg...I agree on VHF but are you sure no station license for domestic SSB use is required? I thought you needed one for any SSB transmission.

EDIT...looked it up...never mind...you're right but with a little twist...if you are operating the SSB from US waters you are OK even if talking to foreign sites. You only need the license if you leave US waters physically.

[sailingdog]

Oops.. my bad.. yes, need SSL & RRO for SSB. Enough acronyms in that for ya... BTW, don't need SSL or RRO for EPIRB or RADAR.

[jasonr575]

I thought it was mandatory to monitor the vhf when underway.
have the ships radio and a hand held. i keep both on, one on 16 and one on 9 in my area, (LI sound) the coast guard firmly corrects you if you hail on 16 and states it is only for emergencies and advises to use 9 for hailing and radiochecks.
If anyone has a copy of thier card or sticker i would like a copy. you can post it here and whoever wants it can copy and print it up.
jason

[Diva27]

Pat Drummond's website has a chart comparing US and Canadian Channels posted in September. Not official, but well worth inspecting. The site is a smorgasbord of info and sources for boating regs north of the border.

http://boating.ncf.ca/vhfchannels.html

[Diva27]

Originally Posted by jasonr575

I thought it was mandatory to monitor the vhf when underway.
have the ships radio and a hand held. i keep both on, one on 16 and one on 9 in my area, (LI sound) the coast guard firmly corrects you if you hail on 16 and states it is only for emergencies and advises to use 9 for hailing and radiochecks.

Further to Jason's post, we still use 16 for both emerg and calling. 9 is not a calling channel in Canada. But 16 is not for chatting: you make contact with someone and then agree to go to another channel. (Dingbats chatting away about "how many fish ya caught?" drive everyone crazy and invite immediate flaming around here.) But to keep traffic down on 16, you should be using 68 to speak with a marina or club up here. If I want to do a radio check on Georgian Bay, my practice has been to call Thunder Bay Coast Guard Radio on 16, get an answer, and be directed to another channel of their choosing, where we then do the check. Pat Drummond's site gives a very good run-through of the regs and procedures.

[camaraderie]

JasonR...you must monitor 16 in the USA IF your radio is turned on. But there is no requirement that your radio be turned on.

U.S. recreational vessels not required to carry radios

Vessels not required to carry a marine radio (e.g. recreational vessels less than 20m length), but which voluntarily carry a radio, must maintain a watch on channel 16 (156.800 MHz) whenever the radio is operating and not being used to communicate.