HF radio comms on HAM frequencies

[Durcott]

Hi,

just woke up to the obvious use of an HF radio set on board. Given licenses etc - can anyone get in touch with advice on a known working set up in a marine environment - 34' grp yacht?

I'd also like to know where the various HF nets are working. Anyone know?

Thanks

Jeff Adams

 

[Talbot]

You are confusing Ham and marine, these are seperate and officially require different radios (although most can be "fixed", they also require different licences.) A Ham is not legally allowed to talk to a non-ham.

Marine freqs are fairly well populated worldwide as chatter nets:
here are a few frequencies from my come-in-handy list

NEW SSB Frequencies (2005):
Effective 010001Z Jan 05, the Coast Guard will change the radio frequencies used for initial Single Sideband voice contact with its long range communication facilities as follows:
OLD ~TO~ NEW
4134/4426 KHz ~ To New 4125/4125 KHz
6200/6501 KHz ~ To New 6215/6215 KHz
8240/8764 KHz ~ To New 8291/8291 KHz
12242/13089 KHz ~ To New 12290/12290 KHz

Note: Frequencies are carrier frequencies and in kilohertz.

Use of these frequencies is authorized for initial contact and distress traffic only. The frequency for follow-on non-distress-related Single Sideband voice communications shall be as mutually arranged on initial contact.

The Coast Guard operates high seas communication stations to communicate with ships throughout the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean and provide a variety of services to the maritime public. Services include:
watchkeeping for distress and safety calls http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/marcomms/cgcomms/call.htm
and
maritime safety information broadcasts http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/marcomms/gmdss/msi.htm .

Transatlantic Mobile Maritime Net USB of 21,400KHz at 1300 GMT

7.30 am on 8104 in the caribbean is when everyone calls their friends.

15 Meters
1130 UTC South Atlantic Net 21.325 Mhz
1300 UTC Transatlantic Net, wrsmyth@hotmail.com 21.400 Mhz
2200 UTC Pacific M/M Service Net 21.402 Mhz
20 Meters

0200 UTC Pacific Seafarers Net 14.313 Mhz
0400 UTC Maritime Emergency Net 14.310 Mhz
0400 UTC DDD Net - Pacific for Canada 14.115 Mhz
0500 UTC Tony's Net - Kenya 14.316 Mhz
0630 UTC M/M Net - South Africa 14.316 Mhz
0700 UTC Mariana - Guam 14.310 Mhz
0800 UTC U.K. M/M Net 14.303 Mhz
1000 UTC Robby's Net - Australia 14.315 Mhz
1130 UTC M/M Net - South Africa 14.316 Mhz
1245 UTC Mississauga Net 14.121 Mhz
1700 UTC Maritime Mobile Service Net 14.300 Mhz
1730 UTC DDD Net - Pacific for Canada 14.115 Mhz
1800 UTC Maritime Emergency Net 14.303 Mhz
1800 UTC U.K. M/M Net 14.303 Mhz
1900 UTC Manana M/M Net 14.340 Mhz
1900 UTC Confusion Net - Monday through Friday 14.305 Mhz
1900 UTC Mariana Net - Monday through Saturday 14.340 Mhz
2000 UTC Italian Maritime Mobile Net, IK6IJF@hotmail.com 14.340 Mhz
2100 UTC Tony's Net - New Zealand 14.315 Mhz
2300 UTC Robby's Net - Australia 14.315 Mhz
2300 UTC California to Caribbean - Mondays 14.285 Mhz
2310 UTC California to South Pacific - Mondays 14.285 Mhz
2400 UTC S.E.Asia M/M Net 14.320 Mhz
As needed Hurricane Net 14.325 Mhz
40 Meters
0000 UTC Caribbean Net 7.158 Mhz
0030 UTC S.E.Asia M/M Net 7.085 Mhz
0630 UTC M/M Net - South Africa 7.045 Mhz
0700 UTC Mediterranean M/M Net 7.085 Mhz
1100 UTC Caribbean Maritime Mobile Net 7.241 Mhz
1100 UTC Caribbean M/M Net - Saint Croix 7.230 Mhz
1130 UTC M/M Net - South Africa 7.045 Mhz
1245 UTC Waterways Radio Cruising Club 7.268 Mhz
1300 UTC Central American Breakfast Club Cruisers Net 7.083 Mhz
1530 UTC Chubasco Net, Mexico West Coast 7.294 Mhz
1530 UTC Baja California M/M Net 7.238 Mhz
2230 UTC West Coast Admirals Net 7.190 Mhz
"All Day" SE Alaska Mariners Net 7.265 Mhz
Marine SSB
Amateur radio license not required to participate in Marine SSB nets.
0830 UTC Russell Radio - New Zealand 12.359 Mhz
1215 UTC Caribbean Safety and Security Net 8.104 Mhz
1230 UTC Caribbean Weather Net Note: 8:30 a.m. Eastern DST 8.104 Mhz
1330 UTC Cruiseheimer's Net 8.152 Mhz
1330 UTC Panama Connection Net 8.107 Mhz
1400 UTC Sonrisa Net 3.968 Mhz
1400 UTC Cruisers Southbound Net 4.051 Mhz
1400 UTC Papaguayo Net 4.030 Mhz
1400 UTC Northwest Caribbean Cruisers Net 8.188 Mhz
1630 UTC Russell Radio - New Zealand 12.359 Mhz
1930 UTC Herb's Weather 12.359

also here http://www.wunclub.com/files/mar_band.html
Bahamas Weather Net: 7.096 MHz at 0720 EST
(sometimes on 3.696 Mhz depending on propagation)

Caribbean Cocktail and Weather Net: Virgin Islands-7.086 MHz +- QRM at 1645 AST

Caribbean Emergency and Weather Net: Trinidad-7.162 MHz at 0630 AST, 3.185 MHz at 1830 AST

Caribbean Hurricane Watch Net: 14.325 Mhz, 14.275 Mhz,
and on 14.175 MHz when needed.

Caribbean M/M Net: Virgin Islands-7.230 MHz - 7.240 MHz.at 1100 Zulu.
At 2045 Zulu (except Sundays), you can pick up the Cocktail and Weather Net, the afternoon version of this daily net.

Chubasco Net: Mexico West Coast-7.294 MHz at 1530 Zulu

Intercontinental Net: 14.300 Mhz -14.316 Mhz (changes often) at 1100 Zulu

Manana M/M Net: 14.340 MHz at 1200 PDT.
Covers the U.S. west coast to Hawaii

Maritime Emergency Net: 14.310 MHz.at 0400 Zulu and on 14.303 MHz.at 1800 Zulu

Maritime Mobile Net: 14.300-14.316 Mhz (changes often) after the Intercontinental Net and running until around 0200 Zulu

Mississauga Net: VE stations with relays. 14.121 MHz at 1245 Zulu.
Covers Europe, Med, Atlantic, Caribbean and Central America.

Mediterranean M/M Net: 7.085 MHz at 0700 Zulu

Northwest Caribbean Cruisers Net: 8.188 MHz at 1400 Zulu.
Covers from Mexico to San Andres Island, Colombia.

Pacific M/M Service Net: 21.402 MHz at 1500 PDT

Pacific Seafarers Net: 14.313 MHz at 0200 Zulu to 0325 Zulu

Panama Canal Connection Net: 8.107 MHz at 1330 Zulu.
Covers Pacific from Mexico to Galapagos, Atlantic from Belize to Colombia. / Emphasis on SW. Caribbean.

PST Baja California M/M Net: 7.238 MHz at 0800 PDT.
Covers coastal Baja & Calif.

Robby's Net: Australia- 14.315 MHz at 1000 Zulu and again at 2300 Zulu.

Roy's Net: Perth, W.A. - 14.320 MHz. at 1115 Zulu.
Gives wx. warnings & then covers boats in N & W Indian Ocean.
Then at 1130 Zulu, QSY's to SA M/M net on 14.316 MHz.

S.A. M/M Net: South Africa- 14.316 MHz at 0630 Zulu and again at 1130 Zulu.

SE.Asia M/M Net: (Rowdy's Breakfast Show), Phuket, Thailand. 14.320 MHz at 2400 Zulu
and on 7.085 MHz at 0030 Zulu.
Covers SE Asia.

South Atlantic Net: 21.325 MHz at 1130 Zulu.
Covers the South Atlantic.

Tony's Net: Kenya-14.316MHz at 0500 Zulu.
Covers Indian Ocean & Red Sea.

Tony's Net: New Zealand- ZL1ATE-14.315 MHz. +- QRM at 2100 Zulu.
Position reports from the South Pacific - Australia areas.

TransAtlantic Net: 21.400 MHz at 1300 Zulu.
Covers North Atlantic and Caribbean

U.K. M/M Net: 14.303+/-QRM MHz at 0800 and 1800 Zulu

Waterway Radio & Cruising Club (WRCC): 7.268 MHz at 0745 EST.
Covers U.S. east coast, Gulf of Mexico, Bahamas, and occasionally the extreme northern Caribbean.

Australian Hailing: 8173.0 MHz USB at 0900 AST.

BASRA Weather Net (Bahamas): 4.003 MHz USB at 0700 EST

Canadaian Net: 14121.0 MHz USB at 0845 AST.

Caribbean Hailing: 8104.0 MHz USB from 0745 to 0815 AST.

Caribbean/Bahamas Hailing: 8152.0 MHz USB from 2000 to 2100 AST.

Caribbean Safety & Security Net: 8104.0 MHz USB from 0815 to 0830 AST.

Cruisehiemers Net (Bahamas): 8152.0 MHz USB at 0930 AST.

German Net: 8140.0 MHz USB at 0900 AST.

Panama Connection: 8107.0 MHz USB at0930AST.

Russell Radio: New Zealand-covers from Bora Bora to Australia / 12.359 MHz at 0830 and 1630 (NZ time).
and on 12.353 MHz at 0915 and 1600 (NZ time).

Scandanavian Net: 8182.0 MHz USB at 0800 AST and 16534.0 at 0900 AST.


Mediterranean Cruiser's Net run from 1st April to 31 October by Bill and Jean Cote from
thier boat Soleil Sans Fin. Net is daily at 05.30 UTC on 8122kHz

 

[Birdseye]

The size of the boat doesnt really affect much, at least until you get to pretty big one.

For HF radio, you need:

an HF transceiver
an aerial tuning unit
an aerial
licenses

note: none of this is required if all you want to do is receive weatherfax etc

aerial - in some ways the most difficult thing to organise since the max wavelength you can transmit on relates to the aerial length. So if you simply use a backstay of say 10 metres long, you wiont be able to easily / effectively operate below about 7mc/s. There are ways round this but they all cost efficiency ie power loss
And in any case, how do you install this aerial;? MY LAST BOAT WAS EQUIPPED WITH INSULATORS IN THE BACKSTAY BUT THESE ARE EXPENSIVE AND THEY ARE ANOTHER POSSIBLE SOURCE OF FAILURE . so when I install on this latest boat I intend simply to run a wire up a halyard using insulators when I need it since I found I never used the radio at sea.

transceiver
a modern marine one costs a lot of money but is equipped with DSC. if you think of using the HF radio for safety traffic, this is what you need. but personally, if I were going blue water I would go epirb / satphone because HF radio comms isnt that reliable.
if you want to chat, then a ham radio is the best bet. they can usually be "all banded" so they cover marine frequencies, but many nets are on the hams ones anyway. probably against some euro reg to do this if the douane wants to become officious. ham radios are way cheaper and in a modern dry boat do not seem to suffer.

ATU
sometimes combined in the radio but you are better using an automated one.

licenses
the view you take of this issue is personal and probably depends on your view of the chances of enforcement. the laws are clear - you need operators icenses for both marina and ham. the ham license has a fair bit of low level tech knowledge to it since it is a license to experiment / build your own kit etc. most ham operators, myself included, will not talk to unlicensed or pirate stations, and it is easy to tell.

this whole subject is fairly technical and you can easily get lead astray. best to join one of your local ham clubs (there is one in Shirehampton) - they are only too happy to help a newcomer, and only too keen to show off their tech skills. your boat would be an interesting project to many of them and the only thing you would have to watch is thsat they didnt make an expensive meal of it.

if you want to chat, I am local to you. pm me your landline number

 

[Sea Devil]

The really bad news is that in UK and most of the Mediterranean there are no nets worth bothering with. Any yachts chatting to each other will have set up schedules before they reached UK waters so it will be difficult to find them and join in.

Sad but true - simply not worth the effort.

Once you get to the Caribbean SSB is the only way to go.. everybody has it and uses it - much like VHF in UK waters - SSB is the primary form of communication. Mind you very few of the boats have operators licences except the Americans who get theirs by asking for one!

If you want to become a radio ham it is a wonderful hobby I believe but is not that useful in terms of sailing nets.

Michael

 

[Durcott]

Wow,

so much info /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Thanks guys - I do have Ham certificates from many moons ago, but no current license. i thought this might be an excuse to dust off the morse key

Thanks guys

Jeff

 

[Birdseye]

There is quite a good UK net covering the Med - 14303mc/s every morning and evening. The net controllers monitor the waether forecasts overnight and are a very useful source of info. Also useful for the "anyone flying from gatwich to Corfu this week who can bring.... " type of message.

But I couldnt find one for the UK waters. Mind you, what would you want a UK net for anyway - weather forecasts are easily available, so is the mobile etc.

Dont think that HF radio will be a huge use to you. It is gradually being superced3ed in many ways by mobile phones, webmail, sat phones, even Navtex. But its fun to mess with.

 

[Strathglass]

Don't think you need morse now.

If you have the C&G RAE or equivelent they will give you a license.

They might even give you your old call sign with a bit persuading.

Iain

 

[trouville]

Saddly in the med and Europe ssb is all but dead the 14303 is hopeless i havent heard the Italian or German net for ages,Its a pity everyones useing the portable phone.

The problem was the net controlers and the few on air who were inflexable and narow minded.
today a good SSB costs less than a portable phone and a good 150w ATU can be bought from as little as £120 but no one uses them.I would have thrown my old kenwood 140s overboard but instead pensoioned it off on land to listen to the bbc once or twice a year!

With sooooo many boats on the water i cant understand why there isenta more easygoing attitude towards ssb as in the Americas?

 

[Anonymous]

What is useful is email via Winlink (ham) and Sailmail (marine hf). Very low bandwidth but you can by using saildocs get a page of text from an html page. Brilliant for weather forecasts or other things you like to keep an eye on. I can't afford to use my mobile for internet connection...every time I have tried it has cost me an arm, leg and every other bit of my anatomy /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif