An infuriating national obsession- radio checks

I've been involved in two radio checks. One about 20 years ago at the behest of a skipper who'd found the VHF didn't work the previous week only after a crew member had been hit on the head by the boom. And once a surveyor did one as part of a survey.

And I must've annoyed the hell out of Douglas Harbour a few years ago when I tried to contact them a number of times to get the bridge swung at Peel. Turned out that there was a faulty component in my handheld that stopped me receiving. In retrospect they were surprisingly polite when I eventually phoned them.

Oh, and the Scots are almost as bad. Belfast Coastguard must've got a shock at the number they had to do when they took over Clyde, but I've heard them respond quite a few times to ask the radio checker to give boat details. That seems to put them off eventually. Maybe Solent could try the same.
 
ctva said:
Probably. Was out for three weeks on the west coast of Scotland and we both commented when we heard a single radio check in that period.
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You sometimes hear a few, invariably in plummy English accents, when the charter boats are leaving Ardfern and Craobh on a Saturday afternoon.
 
A radio check from a close by CG aerial as will be likely in the Solent/south coast area is really rather pointless, calling from the other side of the Channel might be informative, otherwise if you can receive, tx is probably ok also but if paranoid call the marina or ch 65 folk. We just returned to UK waters and very soon got driven mad by the constant stream of checks ,heard on ch 16 . Fortunately we can power our main vhf off with it's remote flybridge RAM handset and just use the small handheld instead with less range on rx. so less garbage to hear. We also had to learn how to turn off AIS rx and set it's danger zone to very tiny radius to halt the incessant alarm from that .
 
I can testify it is an English (South coast?) obsession.
I have just returned from a 7-week trip to Galicia and back and the only radio checks we heard were when we were in range of the U.K. Coastguard.
Not in Spain, not in France, not in Belgium or the Netherlands.
I am utterly surprised the coastguard keep responding politely.
To me it is like calling the fire service to check your phone works. Wonder what the reaction would be.
 
It's also an American obsession but here the Coastguard doesn't respond so there are two ways to get a radio check.
Either the caller makes a quick general request on Channel 16 and another yachtsman briefly responds (not the US Coastguard) stating their location (ie "radio check you are audible in Portland")
...........or and gaining popularity.....................
In many areas either SeaTow or TowBoat (the marine equivalents of the AA or RAC) offer a free automated radio check response service on several US VHF channels, see this link for details on how it works https://www.seatow.com/tools-and-education/automated-radio-check
Perhaps the UK Coastguard could offer a similar service, it would move a lot of traffic away from channel 16.
 
johnalison said:
OK then, if not sailing schools, how many VHF courses either encourage it (which I doubt) or imply that it is the normal practice of seafarers?
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It was certainly NOT recommended in my excellent DSC course at Parkstone YC, Poole, a few years ago.

westhinder said:
I can testify it is an English (South coast?) obsession.
I have just returned from a 7-week trip to Galicia and back and the only radio checks we heard were when we were in range of the U.K. Coastguard.
Not in Spain, not in France, not in Belgium or the Netherlands.
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Nor in the northern Adriatic (Italy, Slovenia and Croatia). I have never heard a single one - even with no Slovene or Croatian I think I would recognise such a call - in the 35 years I have been sailing there.

I use my fixed VHF to liaise regularly with friends when sailing in company, as we often do and with hand-held VHFs so cheap these days it makes sense to have a backup. And it is invaluable used for calling someone on board while away from the boat; that way both can be checked.
 
Definitely worse in the Solent! Spent last winter in the West country, and only heard a few, came back in the Solent and was inundated.
Like a previous post said, isn't asking the coast guard a bit pointless if you're in the Solent due to their very strong aerials? I found I had a co-ax problem when Poole bridge couldn't hear me from the quay, I bet the Coastguard would have received me ok.
So testing with a marina or something else low powered would be better?
 
I have yet to hear the coastguard reply that the signal was inaudible.
Some people must use their radio very little. This year I've heard several calls to Oban Coastguard, and to Clyde Coastguard. Both haven't existed for long enough.

But on another tack...
I have several times heard the CG announcing that someone has a "open mic", and could they please check their sets. The problem of continuous carrier where someone sits on their mic PTT, or leans on it or something, effectively blocking Ch16 is real.
But transmitting over the top of it asking them to stop it is a bit futile. The one who is sure not to hear is the one at fault, as their receiver is deactivated while they are transmitting. But how should they cure this problem? What can be done?
 
I do a radio check at the start of the season but do it with my marina or yachtclub bridge. have never done one with the CG
When I did my VHF course the instructor certainly did tell us to do checks with the coastguard
in my round UK trip a few years ago I do recall one CG station regularly announcing, after the weather transmission, that it was no longer responding to requests for radio checks (might have been only on 16 cannot recall)
However, inspite of that, one would still hear a request for a check a few minutes later
 
MM5AHO said:
I have yet to hear the coastguard reply that the signal was inaudible.
Some people must use their radio very little. This year I've heard several calls to Oban Coastguard, and to Clyde Coastguard. Both haven't existed for long enough.

But on another tack...
I have several times heard the CG announcing that someone has a "open mic", and could they please check their sets. The problem of continuous carrier where someone sits on their mic PTT, or leans on it or something, effectively blocking Ch16 is real.
But transmitting over the top of it asking them to stop it is a bit futile. The one who is sure not to hear is the one at fault, as their receiver is deactivated while they are transmitting. But how should they cure this problem? What can be done?
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On Sunday it was the CG that left their mic open!
 
Barnac1e said:
It was certainly NOT recommended in my excellent DSC course at Parkstone YC, Poole, a few years ago.


Nor in the northern Adriatic (Italy, Slovenia and Croatia). I have never heard a single one - even with no Slovene or Croatian I think I would recognise such a call - in the 35 years I have been sailing there.

I use my fixed VHF to liaise regularly with friends when sailing in company, as we often do and with hand-held VHFs so cheap these days it makes sense to have a backup. And it is invaluable used for calling someone on board while away from the boat; that way both can be checked.
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My experience in the Adriatic is the same. We use our VHF at least once every cruise making arrival calls to a marina. Surely that's enough checking?

Richard
 
Does this thread represent a very good reason for using a splitter so your AIS unit is connected to the masthead antenna?

Every time you turn on the AIS and see a target, at least you know that your connections etc are all hunky dory. :encouragement:

(ignoring the frequency/impedance blah blah)

Richard
 
On my VHF course, the instructor labelled the radio check as the most widely misused call, and strongly discouraged us from using it UNLESS there had been a recent change to the system OR you had other reason to believe there was a problem (e.g. not receiving calls from nearby sources). He also stated loud and clear that the CG weren't the best people to do a radio check as a) they have vastly superior antennae and receivers to those we use, and can detect a signal that is unusable for others and b) they use a network of antennae, and the nearest one to you may be too close to provide a reasonable check. He suggested making an arrangement with another yacht, or using the marina.

Commercial craft operate in a different regime and (above some size) are REQUIRED to do a radio check prior to sailing.
 
By coincidence the CA issued this note this morning. It arose from one of their frequent meetings with the MCA (who are much too polite to say so but do not find 'radio check please' calls entirely welcome at busy times).

CA House London:

The Cruising Association's RATS (Regulations and Technical Services) Committee has been in discussion with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) about the use of calls to HMCG on Channel 16 requesting radio checks.

RATS has anecdotal evidence of a proliferation of such requests and that these seemed to have spread from the Solent to other areas and Falmouth in particular.

Speaking on behalf of RATS, Robin Baron said, "It seems to us that this is not best use of HMCG resources at a time when we know that they are hard pressed with other more important issues including particularly Search and Rescue."

Robin continues, "The MCA have confirmed that radio checks should primarily be conducted with local marinas and nearby vessels. Radio checks with HMCG should not be a first resort as it ties up the air and increases operator workload."

RATS' own research has confirmed that radio checks with other vessels or shore stations at 1W power and at a distance of around 8 miles provide a much better test of antenna and radio set performance.

Their recommendation is that radio checks should be carried out primarily with marinas and other shore stations or with other vessels. National Coastwatch Institute (NCI) shore stations are usually well placed for such calls which should be made on Channel 65.
 
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AntarcticPilot said:
On my VHF course, the instructor labelled the radio check as the most widely misused call, and strongly discouraged us from using it UNLESS there had been a recent change to the system OR you had other reason to believe there was a problem (e.g. not receiving calls from nearby sources). He also stated loud and clear that the CG weren't the best people to do a radio check as a) they have vastly superior antennae and receivers to those we use, and can detect a signal that is unusable for others and b) they use a network of antennae, and the nearest one to you may be too close to provide a reasonable check. He suggested making an arrangement with another yacht, or using the marina.

Commercial craft operate in a different regime and (above some size) are REQUIRED to do a radio check prior to sailing.
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Well said.
Please make sure that the marina or other boat is some distance from you.
 
westhinder said:
I can testify it is an English (South coast?) obsession.
I have just returned from a 7-week trip to Galicia and back and the only radio checks we heard were when we were in range of the U.K. Coastguard.
Not in Spain, not in France, not in Belgium or the Netherlands.
I am utterly surprised the coastguard keep responding politely.
To me it is like calling the fire service to check your phone works. Wonder what the reaction would be.
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It's not it's the same on the Clyde but perhaps they are from the south coast :rolleyes: A lot of the time it's the same people over and over again. Comparing it to calling the fire service to make sure your phone is working is a very good analogy.
 
On a Simrad RD68, a poor tx signal will produce a “ant” icon on the screen indicating a possible weak transmission caused by an possible antenna problem, as mine currently is, accompanied by poor AIS tx, previously mentioned as another indicator of poor tx.
 
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