lenseman
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- 3 Jun 2006
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The latest report of the US GMDSS task force contains a report from Joe Hersey from the USCG regarding US GMDSS Sea Areas:
b. Declaration of Sea Area A1. Joe Hersey reported that with the essential completion of the Rescue 21 Project, the Coast Guard plans to declare Sea Area A1 operational. Sea Area A1 is created when there is a continuous shore watch on the DSC Calling and Distress channel 70. Declaration of Sea Area A1 will not include Alaska but will include the Continental U.S. coasts, the Great Lakes, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
According to provisions of the FCC Rules, a declaration of Sea Area A1 will require that all vessels mandatorily equipped with VHF, upgrade to VHF-DSC within one year.
c. Sea Area A2 (MF Coverage). Joe Hersey also announced a new decision that the coastal Medium Frequency safety watch on 2182 kHz and its DSC counterpart 2187.5 kHz will no longer be watched at most Sector commands because funding is not available to upgrade the system which suffers from deteriorated antennas and ground planes.
Watches on 2182 kHz and 2187.5 kHz will continue at the Communications Stations and selected Sectors which support the fishing fleet. Sector weather Broadcasts on 2670 kHz will also cease except for those Sectors retaining the 2 MHz watch to support the fishing fleet.
In addition, the traditional watch on 4125 kHz throughout Alaska will continue. As a practical matter the MF equipment is the same as that used for Sea Area A3 (High Seas or Inmarsat coverage) since almost all MF equipment is packaged as a combined MF/HF Radio. A Notice to Mariners announcing the change in 2 MHz watches is pending release.
There is no plan to declare Sea Area A2 operational which means that SOLAS vessels sailing beyond Sea Area A1 (about 20 miles) will have to outfit for Sea Area A3.
The full report is at:
http://www.gmdssforum.net/index.php?topic=103.0
.
b. Declaration of Sea Area A1. Joe Hersey reported that with the essential completion of the Rescue 21 Project, the Coast Guard plans to declare Sea Area A1 operational. Sea Area A1 is created when there is a continuous shore watch on the DSC Calling and Distress channel 70. Declaration of Sea Area A1 will not include Alaska but will include the Continental U.S. coasts, the Great Lakes, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
According to provisions of the FCC Rules, a declaration of Sea Area A1 will require that all vessels mandatorily equipped with VHF, upgrade to VHF-DSC within one year.
c. Sea Area A2 (MF Coverage). Joe Hersey also announced a new decision that the coastal Medium Frequency safety watch on 2182 kHz and its DSC counterpart 2187.5 kHz will no longer be watched at most Sector commands because funding is not available to upgrade the system which suffers from deteriorated antennas and ground planes.
Watches on 2182 kHz and 2187.5 kHz will continue at the Communications Stations and selected Sectors which support the fishing fleet. Sector weather Broadcasts on 2670 kHz will also cease except for those Sectors retaining the 2 MHz watch to support the fishing fleet.
In addition, the traditional watch on 4125 kHz throughout Alaska will continue. As a practical matter the MF equipment is the same as that used for Sea Area A3 (High Seas or Inmarsat coverage) since almost all MF equipment is packaged as a combined MF/HF Radio. A Notice to Mariners announcing the change in 2 MHz watches is pending release.
There is no plan to declare Sea Area A2 operational which means that SOLAS vessels sailing beyond Sea Area A1 (about 20 miles) will have to outfit for Sea Area A3.
The full report is at:
http://www.gmdssforum.net/index.php?topic=103.0
.
