VHF Radio Etiquette

[Boasun]

Radio Etiquette on the VHF Marine bands is totally different from what some of what you have used on CB radios.... WE Don't Use CB Slang for one thing.

I'm sure that many of you have heard on the VHF many errors (being Polite here) on the air.
One is Not having your VHF turned on while underway. No Cell Phones!! your Cell phone is a very poor subsitute for the VHF. One reason; do you know the number of that fellow/gal on that other boat?
Commercial vessels are require to have one with a station license and the Captain has a minimum of a Radio Operator's Permit.
Yachts and weekend warriors are voluntary in having one on board... But it is best to have a VHF and know how to use it.

So lets us know of some of the foul-ups you have heard on the radio. Or how using the VHF has helped you.

[oceanscapt]

Here's what I've observed:

Not listening before talking
not changing from the hailing channel(s) to working channels
not using low power
not realizing that anyone can hear what you say
not keeping the mic an inch or two away from your mouth as you speak
using "quaint" phonetics just because you made them up
playing music over the VHF
intentionally jamming channels
becoming an active member of the frequency police

[QuickMick]

playing music?!? roflmao...takes all kinds!! cant the CG triangulate a VHF signal or something? amazing how much jackassery goes on. my guess is 0% - 10% of rec. stinkers ever turn it on.

as for CB slang, thanks a lot, now i have the 'dukes of hazzard' theme song in my head.

[rockDAWG]

30 years ago, when there was no cell phone. I got myself a CB and I tried to use it. A trucker was laughing at me because I sounded funny. Since then I have seldom spoken.

I hope there are organizations to help those who are afraid to a mike. I am not afraid of public speaking as I give talks and seminar all the time. But I freeze with a mike in my hand. I need to overcome this.

[BubbleheadMd]

I hear a lot of CB slang amongst the local fisherman here. Sometimes I hear yachtties getting into very in-depth conversations with marinas about their amenities that would be better handled over a cell phone.

I set my VHF to scan between 13, 16, 68 and 78. I listen, but don't talk unless I have to. I divert to the WX channels occasionally to keep updated on the weather. I coordinate meetups on the cell phone ahead of time.

I have an unfair advantage and I'm biased. I've been a US Navy communications ET for 20 years.

[carl762]

I always seem to get tongue-tied when I try and use the radio. I'll practice with my buddy when we go out next week, where I'll attempt to keep up with him in an informal quasi-race (rain or shine).

I always monitor Channel 16 when I go out.

[cb32863]

Last time I was up in the Apostles we heard a kid, maybe 5 if he was a day, playing "radio" on the VHF on their boat, on 16. At least he didn't know about maydays.......

Also heard a few folks on 16 just chatting away.....

[Siamese]

I heard a Mayday! Mayday! this summer. Guy was pretty agitated. Turns out he was a couple hundred yards offshore on an inland lake when he discovered he hadn't put the plug in his runabout when he launched and was taking on water.

I hear a lot of boaters hailing other boats and stating that: "...this is Windwalker on channel 9..." I always want to tell them that if the boat they're calling isn't on 9 already, they can't hear you, and if they are, THEY ALREADY KNOW!!

I hear plenty of chatter on 9.

I hear a lot of boaters using restricted channels for chatter.

[SVAuspicious]

Originally Posted by Siamese

I hear a lot of boaters hailing other boats and stating that: "...this is Windwalker on channel 9..." I always want to tell them that if the boat they're calling isn't on 9 already, they can't hear you, and if they are, THEY ALREADY KNOW!!

Not necessarily. Many of us keep watch on multiple channels, as does commercial traffic. I keep my radio on tri-watch 16/13/09 most of the time. It helps if incoming traffic lets me know what channel they are calling on.

[eryka]

Not even the egregious violations like chattering on 16, but even the small stuff, I'm soooo picky! I hate it when anyone uses, "10-4" (is that CB slang?). Or "over and out" - it's one or the other, not both.

Minor, but it's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me when they go back and forth trying to pick a channel. You could do this in two sentences instead of five. Too much Navy here too I guess:

"Clueless, clueless, clueless, this is Windbag calling, over" ...
"Windbag, this is clueless" ...
"Clueless, this is Windbag, pick a channel" ...
"Windbag, how about 68?"
"Okay, this is Windbag, going to 68"

Then they'll come back to 16 to pick another channel because 68 was crowded. <*sigh*>

Maybe we should post some sample scripts for things like hailing a barge or a bridge so the radio-shy among us have something to work from?