No VHF channel 31 on my radio

[Ningaloo]

I am currently in transit from the Baltic to the UK and have discovered that my radio does not have any channels between 28 and 60. The Dutch marina channel is 31 and so far they don't appear to respond to calls on 16.
Is channel 31 normally available to UK/European supplied VHF equipment?
I have a B&G H50 VHF supplied new with my boat in 2014.

 

[RichardS]

Can you call the marinas up by mobile phone?

I believe that C31 is restricted to the RNLI or something on UK radios. Can you switch your radio to the US frequencies? That might activate C31 but I'm not sure.

Richard

 

[BabaYaga]

Is channel 31 normally available to UK/European supplied VHF equipment?

No. From this link (a bit dated) it seems channel 31 is used in the Netherlands only.
https://busseyachtshop.wordpress.com/2012/08/25/faq-kanal-31-in-holland/

 

[Elemental]

C31 is indeed used by Dutch marinas. When we visited last summer I invested in a £15 Baofeng UV5R
and a programming cable for a couple of pounds and programmed it to have the UK marine channels plus 31. Worked fine.

However, I'd say that generally it was a waste of time (or just not needed) as most marina allocation seemed to be done by a chap leaning out of the marina office as you went by or by mobile phone.

 

[Burnham Bob]

standard horizon added it on my radio but i had to get OFCOM's agreement at the same time as getting and ATIS number

 

[ditchcrawler]

As has been said in the UK you do have to get OFFCOM permission to have your radio adapted to take Ch31 and probably the same with the licensing authorities in other countries. I have a friend who had this done but it was a waste of time. I have not had this done and in Holland it is not a problem. Some waiting pontoons have a radio link and most marinas/ ports are manned at the entrance or will answer a mobile.

 

[NeilPaisnel]

I know this is an old thread, but those Beofng UV5R radios are still available and can very easily be set to any frequency / channel you want.
might not be strictly legal in UK waters..but if it gets you out of a sticky situation and you do not make a point of using them except as back up or do get those channels that you cant get on a normal radio.
Also great to listen in on the 'other side' of a conversation on a duplex channel

 

[Bilgediver]

Some Standard Horizon radios come with the instructions on how to set up for various European countries, ie the Zhx300. Maybe look for one of these. They do zm1. And M2 if set for UK

 

[LiftyK]

I was in the Netherlands for seven weeks this summer and had no need for channel 31 at all.

 

[Iliade]

I know this is an old thread, but those Beofng UV5R radios are still available and can very easily be set to any frequency / channel you want.
might not be strictly legal in UK waters..but if it gets you out of a sticky situation and you do not make a point of using them except as back up or do get those channels that you cant get on a normal radio.
Also great to listen in on the 'other side' of a conversation on a duplex channel

Beware, many of the Baofeng UV5R currently available in the UK & Eu are actually UV5RE which cannot be programmed to operate in the frequency range we use for paragliding and thus possibly won't work for this either. I have two which are effectively useless to me, other than as a source of spares

 

[st599]

Some Standard Horizon radios come with the instructions on how to set up for various European countries, ie the Zhx300. Maybe look for one of these. They do zm1. And M2 if set for UK

Ch 31 and ATIS requires a Notice of Variation from Ofcom. Takes about 2 mins to apply for. Then you can access the German, Belgian and Dutch frequencies.

Most of coastal Europe has started to implement VDES which has more channels in the same VHF allocation, some of which are digital and provide vessel reporting, chart updates etc. to ships. The UK has decided against this for some reason, so expect more interoperability issues.

 

[Mark-1]

Beware, many of the Baofeng UV5R currently available in the UK & Eu are actually UV5RE which cannot be programmed to operate in the frequency range we use for paragliding and thus possibly won't work for this either. I have two which are effectively useless to me, other than as a source of spares

Assuming you mean aviation frequencies for me that's a positive advantage because I don't want to accidentally cause a major incident.

I was seriously tempted by a Tidradio TD-H3 which seems similar to the UV5R but better and doesn't allow TX on the Aviation Channels, but I couldn't work out if I *really* needed a different antenna for each frequency range. Also it won't scan over multiple band which, reduces it's usefulness as a scanner for my usage.

I still think it would broadly work as a combined PMR+Marine VHF+Aviation scanner and I'm still tempted.

Worth noting it's not legal as a PMR (too powerful and has a removable antenna) or as a marine radio (not approved). Can't say I'll lose sleep over that but others might.

 

[Iliade]

I just tested a new UV5R and it will receive on the marine band, but will not TX.