Radio check please

[Jules]

Why do people do this? Do they think that their set has suddenly lost the ability to transmit when they can hear traffic perfectly well?
What would happen if they got no reply - would they turn back and abandon their trip? I think not, so what on earth is the point?
Must be to announce to everyone within range that they are there.


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[AIDY]

Jules. Your load with some background noise !

That's better your load and clear now.

<hr width=100% size=1>/forums/images/icons/wink.gif <font color=blue> Regards Andy </font color=blue>

 

[bedouin]

Just because you can receive VHF does not mean that you can transmit. Last weekend I could hear Joburg but couldn't get anyone to hear me even on full power.

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[bruce]

a $40 inline meter will tell all, swr,rf output, modulation etc. shakespear, the antenna people market one.

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[powerskipper]

interesting observation, Solent coastguard are now asking for radio checks to be done to marina or on 67, at mo.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://powerskipper.mysite.freeserve.com/>http://powerskipper.mysite.freeserve.com/</A>
Julie

 

[Spyro]

I did VHF and DSC course last Feb and was advised by RYA instructor to do just that (radio check)
That's good enough for me!
No one is saying that they would turn back or cancel a trip but it is good to know you have a problem that needs fixed.

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[duncan]

Re: a suggestion...

If they feel the need for a radiocheck why don't people listen out for another craft transmitting (say calling but not getting answered) and then call that craft for their radio check?
the fact that you can hear that one in all proability means they will be in range of your unit and you leave both the CG free to listne in /casualty work and, most importantly, they don't have to use their highpower drown everyone equipement to respond to you..............

<hr width=100% size=1>madesco madidum ..../forums/images/icons/smile.gif

 

[BrendanS]

Re: another suggestion

let us know who you did the training with, so we can contact the RYA to have them retrained?

<hr width=100% size=1>Me transmitte sursum, caledoni

 

[Colin_S]

Re: another suggestion

A while ago I was on a friend's boat. It was an open cockpit fishing boat with only a tarp. for security. Consequently he takes his radio, gps, etc. off after every trip. As we were readying to leave the marina he called up the lock but received no reply. After a few calls we noticed the lock keeper waving in our direction. After some investigation, it transpired he had not connected the aerial and they could hear us but we were not receiving their reply. A good case for a radio check every voyage in this instance but he does get a 'free' radio check every time by virtue of the need to call up the lock.

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[BrendanS]

Re: another suggestion

There are many ways of doing radio checks. Just calling the marina to tell you are leaving is one. There is no need to call the coastguard everytime you set out, it just annoys the hell out of everyone else out on the water in a busy area like the Solent, and seems to irritate them to, although they handle it professionally, and have now instigated the measure of asking all routine traffic to go to Ch67 during summer months.

Ch 16 is used for emergencies a great deal on the solent, and it's irritating as hell when trying to deal with a situation to have routine traffic breaking across a seelonce every few minutes

<hr width=100% size=1>Me transmitte sursum, caledoni

 

[bedouin]

Yes - just ordered one /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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[ean_p]

Re: another suggestion

I don't think this is so.......just crossed to Holland and had good comms on the VHF at short range ( less than a mile) but no comms at any significant range (ie coastal approach of 10 miles)....replaced ariel and cable with temp unit after having arrived and comms back to normal !.... a check with the lock keeper is not always enough and making sure you have good comms is fundamental and not negotiable !.....

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[Benbow]

Re: another suggestion

So you had a dodgy installation. A check with an swr meter would have revealed this. It would be appropriate to check the swr at the start of each season and after any work on the system. But please tell me that you do not now call the CG for a radio check every time you go out ??

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[chrisc]

Is the solent the only place people ask for radio check on ch16 ?I have never heard it anywhere else. does not seem to be what ch16 is for.....

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[Peppermint]

Re: Nonsense

If you do a radio check it proves that your radio works at that second.

The act of signing off might break something.

If you do a radio check and you get no response what does that mean? That your radio doesn't work? I think not. It means you didn't get a response thats all.





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[Benbow]

Unfortunately this seems to be becomeing more pervasive. In my experience it is characteristic of the 'yotty' in the worst sense of the word.

Why is that just a few boats seem to hog the airwaves? They seem to love talking on their radios but never seem to listen to them - they are the sort of boat that will report a daring passage plan across the bay apparently oblivious of a sucession of requests from the CG to go away as they are casualty working. And rather than having a TR properly prepared the CG will need to extract details from them with a series of questions, and they never seem to pre-arrange a channel to call their mates- they just love yelling to the world on ch16, and they don't know what the power switch is for and.....

sorry rant over.

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[snowleopard]

<Do they think that their set has suddenly lost the ability to transmit when they can hear traffic perfectly well>

it is very common for a vhf set to receive perfectly but not transmit. it has happened to me on several boats. causes include moisture in the antenna lead and low battery.

that doesn't really justify the incessant calling of coastguards, it's just as easy to call your marina on ch80, a friend or someone else.

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[Cobra]

Believe me...

...the Solent is most definitely NOT the only area plagued by the "radio check please" brigade. On the East Coast we also get more than our fair share of them.
Still beats me why one minute they check with the Coastguard that they have a signal, and 30 seconds after they have come back from ch67, you hear them on ch16 calling the Marina they are bound for seeing if they can have a berth!

If you are bound from point A to point B along the coast, (face it, most weekend cruising is probably within a radius of 20-30 miles of your home base) why not do the radio check to wherever you are going AND check on availability of a berth at the same time!

Nah! Thats FAR too obvious!



<hr width=100% size=1>When God invented time he didn't give me enough of it. ND!

 

[bedouin]

In my experience it is not possible to get a decent radio check from a marina (even if I kept my boat in one, which I don't).

The siting/quality of the antenna in most marinas tends to restrict their VHF range to a couple of miles at most. Even a VHF set with a very poor connection to the antenna (or even no antenna at all) is likely to be able to transmit over that range.

I think to be effective as a piece of safety equipment you would expect the VHF to work at 25 miles - that requires roughly 600 times the radiated power of just calling the marina from one mile away.

People who think that just because they can call up the marina from a mile off they have a fully working VHF are deluding themselves and do not take safety as seriously as I think a responsible skipper should.

I have never heard the CG or any responsible professional organisation say that doing occasional radio checks is not a good thing. It concerns me that there is a "macho" culture among a certain faction that such safety checks are unnecessary

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[Benbow]

Certainly an occasional radio check over a reasonable range is a good thing. But it does not have to be with the CG on ch16 every time you are out for a jaunt in the solent.

Also as has been said, poorly maintained or installed kit can fail at any time, so I would suggest it is more important to know your installation is good by regular basic checks that don't involve shouting to the world on an emergency channel.

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