I need to do a ‘radio check’. No, really.

[fredrussell]

I know they cause great anger amongst you guys but I’ve never done one before, honest. The other day I tried to call Ipswich lock a couple of miles away with my boats VHF and couldn’t ‘get through’. The handheld did get through, however. I’m aware they could have been busy with another call, but I’d like to be sure my transmit is ok.

Having never done one before I am unsure of who to call up. I’m in Ipswich, on the east coast. I assume it’s the coastguard, correct? Does it matter where I do test from. Boat is berthed in a built up area (top of the Orwell) - would it be better to get out at sea before doing the check?

Radio receives fine by the way.

Dont hate me!

 

[Petertheking1982]

I would use an internship channel 6, 8, 72, 77 and do one between your hand held and fixed set. Or call the marina. Or call the harbourmaster. Or call national coastwatch. If receiving most likely the mics gone rather than cables or aerial.

 

[GunfleetSand]

I am planning to do the same, maybe later today from Walton not far from you. Will hide behind your post and wait for the replies!

 

[Praxinoscope]

You have a hand held, why not just get someone to go ashore and you try contacting them and them contact you. Rather than block up channel 16 you could use M1 or M2, (not strictly correct radio procedure but I think reasonable use for a brief test), This should show up if your fixed vhf is transmitting.

 

[Daydream believer]

It does not HAVE to be the CG. I use my marina. I do it by calling them up & telling them I am leaving & when I will return-crafty like
But, I sometimes call a friend further up the river, or my sailing club if they are racing & anyone is on the bridge. I avoid the CG as much as possible. It is not really their job to spend all day doing RCs
I sometimes do one prior to a long trip, but rarely any others if close inshore. I know that I can always use my hand held VHF.
I suggest that the Op gets out to sea a bit & in this case he does use the CG if he is a mooring holder, with no friends, or a sailing club to call.
The final point to note is, that I have 2 friends that thought their radios were OK. But due to old cables they had limited range. So when on a cruise in company, neither could raise the other boats, or Ramsgate Port control, without using their hand helds. They had done RC checks with each other when on on the moorings, only a few metres apart, at the start of the season.
So if checking via one's own hand held one needs to get well apart.

 

[PaulRainbow]

I know they cause great anger amongst you guys but I’ve never done one before, honest. The other day I tried to call Ipswich lock a couple of miles away with my boats VHF and couldn’t ‘get through’. The handheld did get through, however. I’m aware they could have been busy with another call, but I’d like to be sure my transmit is ok.

Having never done one before I am unsure of who to call up. I’m in Ipswich, on the east coast. I assume it’s the coastguard, correct? Does it matter where I do test from. Boat is berthed in a built up area (top of the Orwell) - would it be better to get out at sea before doing the check?

Radio receives fine by the way.

Dont hate me!

Calling the Coastguard or Coastwatch from the upper reaches of the Orwell wouldn't be a good test.

If you want to arrange a time, you could try calling me in the Haven Marina, you should have my number ?

 

[Stemar]

It isn't necessary radio checks that annoy us, it's the constant repetition. There are about 500 boats living in Portsmouth Harbour and some days it seems like they're all queuing up for one. Still, if it annoys the coastguards, it doesn't show, they're unfailingly polite unless some muppet wants one in the middle of a mayday.

National Coastwatch are happy to give chicks in the Solent to declutter Ch 16. They have a station at Felixstow - call NCI Felixstow on ch 65, but even with a good VHF, I suspect you'd need to get a bit closer with land and loads of cranes in the way of the signal.

As a quick and dirty, make a call on ch 10 and see if your HH picks it up.

 

[Sandy]

Doing a radio check is always a good idea. We play in a challenging environment, things happen.

If you have a National Coastwatch Institute station near you they are always more than happy to do a VHF check for you (Chan 65).

Don't waste your time with doing a check with somebody on the pontoon with a handheld as you need a decent range to really test your set.

 

[ylop]

I would use an internship channel 6, 8, 72, 77 and do one between your hand held and fixed set. Or call the marina. Or call the harbourmaster. Or call national coastwatch. If receiving most likely the mics gone rather than cables or aerial.

I have tested mine using the handheld but that’s a quick check after something like replacing a cable - it’s not a substitute for a proper check at good distance. Similarly calling your own marina/HM. It’s also helpful to have someone who knows what they are doing on the other end - “yes I heard you” is not quite the same as “weak but readable”.

your assessment of the likely fault may be right but I’ve had radios able to receive strong signals but not transmit with cable issues.