Marine Radio - VHF Radio - Marine Antenna

Marine VHF radio, without question, is one of the most valuable pieces of safety equipment aboard a boat. Depending on how far that boat operate offshore, the more important a marine radio becomes. No matter how expensive the VHF radio, it is only as good as the marine antenna connected to it. Marine antenna are specially designed to provide communications for boats operating offshore. When selecting a marine antenna one has to take into consideration the power that will be needed (range) and in some cases what type of marine antenna should be mounted - will the boat be primarily operating close to tree lines as with fishing boats, where the antenna needs to be flexible, or will a rigid antenna be better. Shakespeare antenna specializes in marine antenna and many a coast guard vessel uses Shakepeare antennas. It helps to have a good selection of marine antenna to choose from and OutlanderDirect.com has a wide selection of marine radio - VHF radio and marine antenna. Some other things to take into consideration with marine radio is whether the radio is submersible. This becomes important with hand held radios as they can often end up in the water by mistake. Many of the hand held radios are not only submersible but also float when dropped in the water. This is a definate advante for kayak fishing where communications is need, but the cargo space on the kayak is limited resulting in marine radio falling into the water.
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Types of equipment

Sets can be fixed or portable. A fixed set generally has the advantages of a more reliable power source, higher transmit power, a larger and more effective aerial and a bigger display and buttons. A portable set (often essentially a waterproof, VHF walkie-talkie in design) can be carried to a lifeboat in an emergency, has its own power source and is more easily water-proofed.

Marine radios can be "voice-only" or can include "Digital Selective Calling" (DSC).

Voice-only equipment is the traditional type, which relies totally on the human voice for calling and communicating.

A VHF set and a VHF channel 70 DSC set, the DSC on top, both produced by Sailor

Digital Selective Calling equipment, a part of the Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS), provides all the functionality of voice-only equipment and, additionally, allows several other features:

• a transmitter can automatically call a receiver equipped with Digital Selective Calling, using a telephone-type number known as a Maritime Mobile Service Identity or MMSI. Such calls take place on Channel 70.
• a distress button, which automatically sends a digital distress signal identifying the calling vessel and the nature of the emergency
• a connection to a GPS receiver allowing the digital distress message to contain the distressed vessel’s position

The MMSI is a nine digit number identifying a VHF set or group of sets. The left hand digits of MMSI indicate the country and type of station. For example, here are MMSI prefixes of four station types:

• Ship : 232, 233, 234 or 235 are the United Kingdom – e.g. a UK ship : 232003556
• Coast : 00 – e.g. Solent Coastguard : 002320011
• Group of stations : 0 – e.g. 023207823
• Portable DSC equipment : for UK 2359 - e.g. 235900498

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Operating procedure

The accepted conventions for use of marine radio are collectively termed "proper operating procedure." These conventions include:

• Listening for 2 minutes before transmitting
• Using Channel 16 only to establish communication (if necessary) and then switch to a different channel
• using a set of international "calling" procedures such as the "Mayday" distress call, the "Pan-pan" urgency call and "Securité" navigational hazard call.
• using "pro-words" based on the English language such as Acknowledge, All after, All before, All stations, Confirm, Correct, Correction, In figures, In letters, Over, Out, Radio check, Read back, Received, Repeat, Say again, Spell, Standby, Station calling, This is, Wait, Word after, Word before, Wrong
• using the NATO phonetic alphabet: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu
• using a phonetic numbering system based on the English language: Wun, Too, Tree, Fow-er, Fife, Six, Sev-en, Ait, Nin-er, Zero, Decimal

Slightly adjusted regulations can apply for inland shipping, such as the Basle rules in Western Europe.

Marine VHF radio is sometimes illegally operated inland. Since enforcement is often the job of the local coast guard, enforcement away from the water is sometimes difficult.

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Marine VHF radio

Marine VHF radio is installed on all large ships and most motorized small craft. It is used for a wide variety of purposes, including summoning rescue services and communicating with harbours, locks, bridges and marinas, and operates in the VHF frequency range, between 156 to 174 MHz. Although it is widely used for collision avoidance, its use for this purpose is contentious and is strongly discouraged by some countries, including the UK.

A marine VHF set is a combined transmitter and receiver and only operates on standard, international frequencies known as channels. Channel 16 (156.8 MHz) is the international calling and distress channel. Channel 9 can also be used in some places as a secondary call and distress channel. Transmission power ranges between 1 and 25 watts, giving a maximum range of up to about 60 nautical miles (111 km) between aerials mounted on tall ships and hills, and 5 nautical miles (9 km) between aerials mounted on small boats at sea-level. Frequency modulation is used.

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