Finding Call Sign

[matthewriches]

After my boat purchase this info was unavailable. I have the MMSI for the boat which was printed on the helm but there is no call sign! that I can see.

I have tried the MARS database and I don't even show up.

I have my SRC radio course next Sunday so I'd like to get all this sorted ASAP but I'm unsure where to look or who to contact to gain this info. Previous owners are now uncontactable.


Thanks!

 

[Baddox]

Don't worry, you'll not need it for the course. Is this the database you have checked... http://www.itu.int/online/mms/mars/ship_search.sh

 

[prv]

You need to take out a new Ship Station license on the Ofcom website anyway. The MMSI and callsign stay with the boat, so there are boxes to provide them when taking out the new license. If not filled in, new ones are generated. I can't see any practical problem with generating a new callsign even though in theory it's meant to stay the same. They're hardly ever used by yachts anyway.

You do of course want to provide the existing MMSI number, otherwise you'd need to reprogram the radio.

Pete

 

[matthewriches]

You need to take out a new Ship Station license on the Ofcom website anyway. The MMSI and callsign stay with the boat, so there are boxes to provide them when taking out the new license. If not filled in, new ones are generated. I can't see any practical problem with generating a new callsign even though in theory it's meant to stay the same. They're hardly ever used by yachts anyway.

You do of course want to provide the existing MMSI number, otherwise you'd need to reprogram the radio.

Pete

So if I fill the new application online form in. Provide my details and the MMSI for my boat but leave call sign blank.... I'll get a new call sign but keep the old MMSI?

That's the important thing as the 2 DSC radios and my new AIT2000 has the boats current MMSI programmed in now.

 

[matthewriches]

Don't worry, you'll not need it for the course. Is this the database you have checked... http://www.itu.int/online/mms/mars/ship_search.sh

Yes searching the MMSI but nothing comes up.

 

[Steve Clayton]

Try/ask Falmouth Coastguard registry.
Some detail about them here:
https://www.gov.uk/register-boat-coastguard-safety-scheme

 

[prv]

So if I fill the new application online form in. Provide my details and the MMSI for my boat but leave call sign blank.... I'll get a new call sign but keep the old MMSI?

That's my understanding, yes, although I haven't tried that particular combination personally.

Possibly the reason you can't find anything on MARS is simply that the previous owner cancelled his Station license when he sold the boat, as is correct (but often forgotten). So MARS is accurately reflecting the fact that there is currently no licensed radio station on board.

Pete

 

[RichardS]

Don't worry, you'll not need it for the course. Is this the database you have checked... http://www.itu.int/online/mms/mars/ship_search.sh

Yes searching the MMSI but nothing comes up.

If your MMSI number starting 235 *** *** does not appear in that database I'm pretty sure that the licence must have been de-registered.

I can search by MMSI, boat name or callsign and the result comes up immediately.

I suspect you will have to re-register using the same MMSI number as was registered previously.

Richard

 

[VicS]

After my boat purchase this info was unavailable. I have the MMSI for the boat which was printed on the helm but there is no call sign! that I can see.

I have tried the MARS database and I don't even show up.

I have my SRC radio course next Sunday so I'd like to get all this sorted ASAP but I'm unsure where to look or who to contact to gain this info. Previous owners are now uncontactable.


Thanks!

So if I fill the new application online form in. Provide my details and the MMSI for my boat but leave call sign blank.... I'll get a new call sign but keep the old MMSI?

That's the important thing as the 2 DSC radios and my new AIT2000 has the boats current MMSI programmed in now.

Yes searching the MMSI but nothing comes up.

Generally people have found that Ofcom are very helpful if you telephone them.

 

[prv]

Try/ask Falmouth Coastguard registry.
Some detail about them here:
https://www.gov.uk/register-boat-coastguard-safety-scheme

You seem to be mixing up the Beacon Registry (for EPIRBs and PLBs) and the CG66 scheme. But in any case, neither of them have anything to do with assigning a radio callsign.

I'm curious to know whether the OP tried applying for a license as suggested, and if so whether it gave him what he needed.

Pete

 

[Alpha22]

Generally people have found that Ofcom are very helpful if you telephone them.

+1

Even though mortals like us have no access to the MMSI online, I'm confident that Ofcom will be able to find the old details and maybe even give you the 'old' call sign back too. Nothing is impossible!!!

 

[matthewriches]

Bonus! A quick call to Ofcom.... I say quick... 20 minute wait on hold!

We have the call sign. The old owner never took it over from when it was a commercial vessel so I have been looking for the previous owners details when in fact it was the owner before that was still registered.

All sorted now

 

[Steve Clayton]

You seem to be mixing up the Beacon Registry (for EPIRBs and PLBs) and the CG66 scheme. But in any case, neither of them have anything to do with assigning a radio callsign...........

Pete

OP wasn't looking to "register" a callsign; he was wanting to identify the current callsign. If the vessel was registered within the CG66 safety scheme then the form has a field for the callsign; ergo if it was registered then Falmouth would have callsign detail - superfluous now as OP has obtained the callsign via OFCOM

 

[jakeroyd]

Thread drift a bit.

Years since my radio course.

Never been asked for my callsign and have never used it.

I'm assuming it was an identification method before MMSI's and perhaps CG66 etc ?

 

[ex-Gladys]

I have, particularly in marginal reception conditions. It can also be quite amusing to hear HMCG asking a vessel for it's call sign....

 

[prv]

If the vessel was registered within the CG66 safety scheme then the form has a field for the callsign; ergo if it was registered then Falmouth would have callsign detail

Fair point that it might be on CG66 if you were desperate to find the old one, although they may decline to reveal it since they make a big deal about CG66 info only being disclosed for SAR purposes. But it still has nothing to do with Falmouth unless you happen to be based in that part of the country. CG66 was handled by the individual MRCCs (in my case a nice lady at Lee-on-Solent), and now presumably at the NMOC in Fareham.

Pete

 

[Bi111ion]

Interestingly I have been asked my call sign twice over VHF when reporting arrival or departure to CG. Once from UK and once from Irish CG. Maybe it is easier to copy than MMSI and a quicker way to disambiguate the the name of a boat.

This is a little off topic (but since OP's question has been answered hope this is OK)...
Aberdeen CG, when I called them to report that I was bound for Skagen out of Inverness asked me what radio equipment I had on board (which is interesting as I assumed they would have the information on the Ship's radio licence). There are several distinct data bases as far as I can see, Ofcom, MARS (the ITU data base which sometimes lags behind Ofcom when they have a backlog), the CG66 and the EPIRB registry. Your ship might also be registered and the sail number registered with the RYA. Several of these have details of emergency shore based contact and I wonder if there is any attempt to synchronize that information. Does anyone know what the CG would actually have on their screen in front of them?

I love HMCG when they adopt that polite but slightly sceptical tone, a bit like Sgt Wilson from Dad's Army saying "Do you think that is awfully wise, Sir?" I wonder even if they have records to show what passage information you have reported in the past. Also it was interesting how the Irish CG talk to the UK CG, and seemed to expect us, where as the Danish authorities had no mechanism to record vessels arriving or departing (unless it was a customs issue and they did not seem to be especially fussed about that).