Maritime SSB v. amateur/ham radio

[gas]

I'm currently trying to work out the UK/EU regulations on this, and found a nice man at the Navigation Safety Branch of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCGA), who said that pretty much the only requirement of the equipment is that it bear the "CE" mark, although he intimated that the "wheel" mark was preferred.

However, information from radio retailers suggests that only those radios sold as "marine SSB" are permitted. The nice man from the MCGA didn't bite on this, and deferred to the operators licence requirements as the effective definition of what radio equipment one is allowed to operate at sea. I have seen it suggested that by the letter of the law, one would have to have both a marine SSB and an amateur radio, along with appropriate licences, to transmit on frequencies that both sets would be capable of independently.

The question is : what and where is the definition of "marine SSB" as opposed to "amateur radio"? The MCGA don't seem to know, and if I ask the retailers, I'm pointed to the Icom 801 at 2300 knicker, which seems like a lot of elastic to me.

Anyone here better informed?

I do understand that one can generally "get away with it", but I'd like to understand the requirements that I might be getting away without.

 

[Seastar]

The main difference is as a UK licensed amateur I can only tranmit on certain bands because I am required to give my call sign on each tranmission but I can tranmist an awlful lot of power of odd stuff! (he-he) However to answer the question marine band HF cover all bands to accomodate all the different requirements. A marine installation would benifit from this as who wants to be restricted in the hour of need!
Anyone there P L E A S E (buy the unrestricted radio!)
/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[theforeman]

i wouldn`t have bothered if i were you.

 

[William_H]

Marine SSB HF radio is designed to do a job and to provide a safety coverage as might be required by commercial vessels for safety of life at sea. The approval of the set is in persuant of that requiirement plus checks are made to ensure there are no other extraneous radiation that might interere with other services. Hence the approval requirement.
Amateur radio has its genesis in home designed and home made equipment so while some commercial equipment may have an approval stamp the broad requirement is not there. Hams are supposed to check their own equipment for unwanted radiation etc.
Maritime radio channels are monitored for safety and so should be more reliable for a distress call. For instance here on the west coast of Oz there are monitoring stations both in the south and further north which should effectively cover much of Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean. This as well as ships listening hopefully.
Ham radio is perhaps more interesting and encourages chin wagging but you can not ever be sure of getting a response when you want it. So yes you need both licences.
The best bet is an all band radio with all channels selectable which has maritime approval and so can also be on ham bands. However many maritime radios although internally capable of all frequencies are then limited to the required frequencies for maritime work. This is good because it means untrained operators can get a message out easily hopefully with little more than turn on and push mic button. Certainly working ham stations takes patience and skill.
It all says a lot for satelite phone or Inmarsat. olewill

 

[Anonymous]

It is a fairly wide subject and to give a full answer to your question would take between one and two full pages of A4. Before being able to give you practical help, we need to know what you are hoping to get from the radio.

As for the regulations, assuming you to be a UK resident and the vessel a UK vessel, then the rules are quite clear. The marine regs do not accept sets that can transmit on non-marine frequencies, so that counts out 'open' marine sets (though many do just this). You license the marine set by telling the MCA about your set when and it is added to the equipment already on board (e.g. VHF, radar, EPIRB, etc.). You licence yourself as an operator by going on a three day course for the 'Long Range Certificate'. For amateur use, you do not licence the set, you licence the operator and station. You need a full amateur licence (you require a full licence to operate in tidal waters) and this is very involved for a non-technical person.

As for the consequences of not being properly licenced, in some ways it's a bit like speeding. You might never be caught but if anyone checks, you might. The consequences of not being properly licenced when overseas could, I suppose, involve long involuntary stays in a foreign land though I have never heard of this happening. If you don't have a valid amateur callsign then very few amateurs will answer you. You will possibly be able to join in marine nets but some amateurs get very upset about non-amateur use of the amateur bands and for good reason.

If you let us know what you are hoping to achieve, there are quite a few radio amateurs who use their rigs on their boats here and a few who use the amateur bands without being a licenced ham, who will be happy to share their knowledge and experience.