PLB Verses Hand held DSC radio

Caer Urfa

Caer Urfa

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 Aug 2006
Messages
1,877
Location
Shropshire
groups.yahoo.com
Sailing single handed at 70 and trying for the last 50 years not to fall overboard I also know it can happen to anyone.

For the past 5 years apart from my main DSC/AIS fixed radio I have always had my waterproof hand held radio clipped to my lifejacket.

However the present handheld is not a DSC unit and I plan to replace it, but the question is with what!

Would you buy a new PLB which has its advantages but downside is you cannot talk to anyone, or do you go for a good waterproof DSC hand held
where you can still send out a mayday but hopefully also speak to the coastguard.

Which would you buy and why :) (or maybe both)

Mike
 
The handheld radio may well not have the range for the coastguard to hear your call, especially if you are in the water.
 
both?

total about £300

hand held waterproof VHF will have little range when you are at sea level tho.

and similarly the PLB may need to be held out of the water/on its own float etc?
 
pvb said:
Do you use harness lines?
Click to expand...

Yes use harness lines and made a number of safety measures for sailing single handed but never think you can not fall overboard and don't even think about you will get back aboard.

I remember one simple rule 'if you fall overboard and the boats sailing at just 2 knots in 30 seconds you will be 100' from the boat !

I see advantages of the PLB but at present rightly or wrongly I also see 'maybe' more advantages of a DSC handheld on full power.

Mind you won't be thinking long after falling into the North Sea in winter before you are another statistic !
 
I often singlehand on the east coast, and I use harness lines offshore in most conditions. I'm not sure how long one would survive in the North Sea in winter, but it might not be long enough to be recovered, depending on location.
 
Caer Urfa said:
Yes use harness lines and made a number of safety measures for sailing single handed but never think you can not fall overboard and don't even think about you will get back aboard.

I remember one simple rule 'if you fall overboard and the boats sailing at just 2 knots in 30 seconds you will be 100' from the boat !

I see advantages of the PLB but at present rightly or wrongly I also see 'maybe' more advantages of a DSC handheld on full power.

Mind you won't be thinking long after falling into the North Sea in winter before you are another statistic !
Click to expand...

There was a case last year when an experienced singlehanded sailor ended up in the water alongside his boat. He had both Vhf and Plb but by the time he realised he could not save himself his hands were too cold to operate his devices!

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 
I think there was a similar thread a couple of months ago.

I would not rely on using an HH VHF from the water, the range will be very short, particularly if there is a sea running.

PLB is smaller, lighter and shouldn't have a flat battery when you need it.

I have both a PLB and a (Non DSC) Handheld, it is the PLB that stays with me when single handing
 
Caer Urfa said:
I see advantages of the PLB but at present rightly or wrongly I also see 'maybe' more advantages of a DSC handheld on full power.
Click to expand...

It's worth bearing in mind the GMDSS is a bit messy regarding handhelds, you can only use a UK registered DSC handheld within 12Nm of the coast, not abroad.


http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/radiocommunication-licences/ships-radio/faq/vhf-faq/

  • Can I use hand held VHF DSC? Is hand held VHF DSC legal now?
Yes. In response to approaches from both users and manufacturers, we have made arrangements to authorise the use of some hand held VHF DSC in UK territorial sea this means within 12 nautical miles of low tide or for example half-way across the English Channel to France.
 
GHA said:
It's worth bearing in mind the GMDSS is a bit messy regarding handhelds, you can only use a UK registered DSC handheld within 12Nm of the coast, not abroad.
Click to expand...

I hardly think that anybody's going to be picking distance off the chart after the fact to see whether the VHF that just saved a life was 100% correctly licensed!

Pete
 
Caer Urfa said:
I see advantages of the PLB but at present rightly or wrongly I also see 'maybe' more advantages of a DSC handheld on full power.
Click to expand...

If you're in range of someone then the VHF certainly has advantages - but that's a very big "if". The range of a 5w VHF with rubber-duck aerial from among the waves is probably substantially less than 5 miles. I don't know the north-east, but how much of your sailing takes place within five miles of either a Coastguard shore antenna or places where there is constant shipping or leisure traffic?

Pete
 
prv said:
I hardly think that anybody's going to be picking distance off the chart after the fact to see whether the VHF that just saved a life was 100% correctly licensed!

Pete
Click to expand...

there is a special provision in the ITU Radio Regulations stipulating that
"nothing in these regulations shall impede anyone to use any available means to send a distress signal" (or equivalent wording), which means in case of distress one can legally use an HH DSC vhf basically anywhere (at least in territories where there are no special laws forbidding such means, possibly North Korea?)

I'll try and find the excerpt



edit
here it is
distr_zpschrugqdw.jpg
 
Last edited:
Roberto said:
there is a special provision in the ITU Radio Regulations stipulating that
"nothing in these regulations shall impede anyone to use any available means to send a distress signal" (or equivalent wording), which means in case of distress one can legally use an HH DSC vhf basically anywhere
Click to expand...

But technically you would *only* be allowed to use it in an emergency.


(How would anyone know the rest of the time?)
 
GHA said:
But technically you would *only* be allowed to use it in an emergency.


(How would anyone know the rest of the time?)
Click to expand...

As oyu say, if you do not use the DSC non-distress functions (individual call, all ships, etc) then noone would know, for this reason IMHO a similar radio should possibly be licensed both as a DSC Handheld (with the territorial waters limit) and a non-dsc handheld for use everywhere, (allowing the dsc distress).
That would give a sensible legal framework in the current absence of international coordination about HH DSC, example in France they must be coded with the boat MMSI, which of course can be questioned as they are portable equipment.
 
That's what I have been doing for the last 5 to 8 years when I purchased my UNIDEN Mystic the first DSC HH GPS radio. This is OK for coastal cruising but for crossing oceans you also need a PLB of EPIRB.
 
Plum said:
There was a case last year when an experienced singlehanded sailor ended up in the water alongside his boat. He had both Vhf and Plb but by the time he realised he could not save himself his hands were too cold to operate his devices!

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
Click to expand...

good point

basically do things that you need your hands for/dexterity, ASAP after falling over, before you loose the use of your hands...

see "Sea Survival" by tipton and goldman - the disaster used to illustrate this point was the Estonia - many people in liferafts, unable to open the plastic bags around the flares in the rafts to alert rescuers to their position, as by that time they had lost their dexterity.
 
bedouin said:
I would not rely on using an HH VHF from the water, the range will be very short, particularly if there is a sea running.

PLB is smaller, lighter and shouldn't have a flat battery when you need it.

I have both a PLB and a (Non DSC) Handheld, it is the PLB that stays with me when single handing
Click to expand...

+1
Same practice here
 
Plum said:
There was a case last year when an experienced singlehanded sailor ended up in the water alongside his boat. He had both Vhf and Plb but by the time he realised he could not save himself his hands were too cold to operate his devices!

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
Click to expand...
When I was looking at PLBs at the Southampton show I was very concerned about this. They now seem much more aimed at Mountaineers than sailors and as a rule they seemed potentially tricky to use and worse many don't float !

For them to work you need to deploy the antenna and keep it in a reasonable orientation (not even sure what that is) and then press a rather fiddly button, all while trying not to drop it to the bottom of the English Channel, probably while cold, in some form of shock, and wrestling with an inflated LJ that is probably strangling you as you never secure the crotch straps tightly enough.

Makes me realise that the PLB is a very poor second to a "proper" EPIRB in all situations other than man overboard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top