Radio check please

But what "regular basic checks" would you recommend?

As I see it you need to check 5 aspects:

(a) That the Radio is transmitting and the power is getting to the antenna.
(b) That the voice transmitted is clear an undistorted
(c) That the Radio is transmitting on the correct frequency
(d) That the signal is radiated from the antenna in an efficient fashion
(e) That you can receive traffic.

(e) is trivial. An SWR meter can do (a) but (b) and (c) really require voice contact with another set. I sometimes use the hand held on the boat, but I am very dubious about the validity of radio checks between sets that close.

(d) is much harder to test.

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Jules, totally agree.

One of the delights for the mid-week sailor is the relative silence of the airways (CH16).

So, is just the weekend sailor who needs confirmation of their equipment's operation?
If so, get a cheap hand handheld, do it yourself and leave the Coastguard to do some 'proper' work.

BB

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I don't think we disagree that an occasional radio check over a decent range is a good thing. But it need not be with the CG. Others may disagree but I would suggest it need not even be on ch16 - the chances of a modern set working ok on 1 channel but not another is low.

Basic checks:

SWR OK ?
Voltage drop when you transmit on high power ?

Those alone will detect the huge majority of problems - ie those that stem from the installation rather than the set itself. Most problems will arise from connections - dc power to the set and all connections in the aerial system.

Your mention of a handheld reminds me. How many people with a handheld also carry the little adapter that allows the h/h to connect to the masthead aerial? It costs almost nothing and means that you have an entire spare VHF. Although of lower power, the range will be close to that of a fixed set since aerial height is more important than power. Definitely better value than regularly bleating to the CG !!

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No - that is a common and very dangerous misconception. Testing from your boat VHF to a HH or any other set within a small radius is virtually useless. It tells you nothing at all about the condition of the antenna.

If you don't feel the need to perform occasional tests on what many would regard as an important item of emergency equipment then that's your lookout - but why encourage such an irresponsible attitude in others?



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Re: For most of us Solent sailors..

it is no great problem if the VHF works or not. Certainly mines pretty much ornimental.

You can say that a radio check is worthwhile every now and then but it's really like having your blood pressure check. It is a snap shot of the moment and only valid for the moment.

Are we saying that the safety concious sailors are all in the Solent? If you sail in other parts of the country or even the world a radio check is a rare event indeed.


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I agree, standing next to your mast and testing your VHF with a hand held is a useless exercise. Much better to test from the Marina loo!
The problem with testing is, will it work when I next want to use it? Just because I tested the VHF a minute ago does it still work, better test it again.

I don't normally ask for radio checks but I do occasionally use the VHF to talk to other users. This confirms it works. If it didn't I can always get the hand-held out of the grab bag.

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Totally agree with Brian,if you've got a handheld as well surely it does solve the problem,and with the cost of a basic handheld being so low and the chances of a double radio failure almost nil should'nt we have them?

<hr width=100% size=1>No dear,the water goes in the other one.
 
I think the current responses are missing one area where making a radio check is probably considered imperative - charter boats. I don't think any thinking person would trust an installation they have no experience of, thus I guess many radio checks are made by charter parties after hand over of the boat. I don't think we can blame them for that.

However, if using the CG is the best option then I wish everone would learn that Solent CG accepts calls directly on channel 67. Perhaps charter boats in the Solent area should have notices to that effect beside their radio installation. However, I dread to think what is going to happen when the radio check brigade cotton on that they shoudl check their DSC functionality as well.... I make do with calling boats who's MMSI number I know and who I think may be in range and sailing. However, I wonder if its possible for channel 70 to become so busy with DSC calls (although the digital data stream is very short) that it becomes unrelaible.



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Borrow mine...

Just £10 in the RNLI box and it's yours for a week

Steve Cronin

<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion
 
Re: Borrow mine...

Know nothing about the technologies but wonder if it might be possible to set up an automated radio check mmsi number that would transmit a recorded message upon receipt of a message from a DSC set - perhaps for a small subscription, or sponsored by YBW for e.g.



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Re: Borrow mine...

I have only done one radio check with the coast guard, but I didn't do it lightly.

I had just bought my bought, anti-fouled it, fitted sonar, GPS; painted the topsides, etc. I had motored from Newport to Cowes in the afternoon to fill up, and thought I'd take the opportunity for a radio check. I knew the VHF received OK, but after a few calls and no replies, called them on the mobile. It didn't tell me anything about the state of my radio, because theirs was up the spout.

So I waited in Cowes yacht haven for the skipper who was going to accompany me to London. By the time I'd met him off the Red Funnel, and got back to the boat all the Sunsail yachts had come back to the previously empty haven.

To cut a long story shorter, we had to dismantle the starter to shave the brushes a little and refit it before we could even think about threading our way out to sea. Our 20:00 departure turned into 22:30, and we were already out almost as far as Prince Consort before I remembered that I didn't know whether the radio worked. Neil, the skipper, had his hand-held with him, but the range is pretty pathetic, so he called up Solent CG. He drives a commercial boat out of Poole normally, and I must say his radio check was the shortest I've heard. It went something like: "Solent Coastguard. Shintaray. VHF check please." No reply. He tried a couple more times, then called up on the handheld and, equally briefly, ascertained that they had heard nothing.

It turned out that the mic in the handset was buggered, even though the transmit button still worked. Only static was transmitted. So we did the journey using the handheld. I was bloody glad we did that radio check, as at least we knew it didn't work when we hit thick sea fog off the Owers, lost oil pressure and limped into Shoreham at 4.5 knots, steering by the GPS, as the compass light also went. It would have been horrible to have blithely thought it worked up until I really needed it.

I have to admit, that since installing a new radio, and buying the most powerful handheld I could afford I haven't felt the need to do another radio check.

<hr width=100% size=1>I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy!
 
This would require disconnectiong the antenna and replacing it with a 50W dummy load and something like a Bird thru' line meter. Somebody would then want to check it when the antenna was reconnected...

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What's wrong with calling the CG and passing your passage plan?? Plan passed AND radio checked. We do it all the time when out teaching, portland are ALWAY's appreciative.

Sail Safe

Brian

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