VHF Call Sign - zero or letter O?

[livefats]

Beg pardon, Pete - I was just tickled by the symmetry angle. I only applied for my licence today, hence the question: I've only just purchased Freebird (and have yet to take her for a sail): she's currently having work done at Largs marina, but I hope to have her in the water at the end of this month. (Mabe that's why I'm so easily amused!)

 

[Deleted member 36384]

If you check out the itu/MARS website - http://www.itu.int/online/mms/mars/ship_search.sh - you'll see that for UK registered vessels, the call sign is either four letters and a number (usually starting with an M but sometimes Z) or a number, three letters and a number - the first number is usually a 2.

So if the O is in the middle it's Oscar.

Shorn

Mine isn't its: number - letter - letter - letter i.e. 4 digits only and it's a UK Part 1 registered vessel. The information, for a British vessel, should be complete on the Ofcom site, http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/radiocommunication-licences/ships-radio/ the MARS database may only have the basic information: Ships Name, MMSI, Call Sign. Maybe within a restricted area the MARS is more complete, but not from what I can see for my own vessel.

 

[Alpha22]

If you check out the itu/MARS website - http://www.itu.int/online/mms/mars/ship_search.sh - you'll see that for UK registered vessels, the call sign is either four letters and a number (usually starting with an M but sometimes Z) or a number, three letters and a number - the first number is usually a 2.

Shorn

I used to operate MFRQ on VHF....... does not compute???

 

[prv]

the MARS database may only have the basic information: Ships Name, MMSI, Call Sign. Maybe within a restricted area the MARS is more complete, but not from what I can see for my own vessel.

It usually has a bit more than that - owner's surname, type of vessel (eg "pleasure yacht"), max number of persons on board, whether fitted with radar, epirb, etc, SSR, and various other codes and numbers that tend not to be relevant to leisure vessels. You're right that there is more information (I think emergency contacts, for example) available to official users such as Coastguards and Ofcom.

Pete

 

[Deleted member 36384]

It usually has a bit more than that -

To be honest that is what I remember when I transferred the vessel to me and changed the name. However, it's now very bare indeed listing only 4 things. The Ofcom site has all the information which I understand is the source for the MARS information. I'll contact Ofcom and query why the MARS is so sparse.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

It usually has a bit more than that -

Ah it does. I need to be more patient and give the copper line time to send all the information to my computer! I have a PLB which is only noted on MARS as a PLB406 with the other "Radio Installation" information. I can now see that the Hexidecimal space is reserved for EPIRBS (ship registered devices, as opposed to a PLB). So the mystery is not one at all.

Thanks,

BlowingOldBoots

 

[Bilgediver]

To be honest that is what I remember when I transferred the vessel to me and changed the name. However, it's now very bare indeed listing only 4 things. The Ofcom site has all the information which I understand is the source for the MARS information. I'll contact Ofcom and query why the MARS is so sparse.

I suspect the four digit alphabetic call signs are now reserved for the big boys ie QE11 GBTT Some ships get one starting with M ie MWGB. Us wee boaters and the fishing fleet get the Hotmail numbers such as MFAX 7 however there is another range starting with 2 ie 2ISC . One number two then all letters which is confusing as it looks similar to another country. Maybe Egypt.

The call signs are part of an international system and so make it easy to recognise the nationality of the ship/boat.

Don t forget the call signs and MMSI both belong to the boat/ship and should not change upon change of ownership . Wonder if this was the case here

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I suspect the four digit alphabetic call signs are now reserved for the big boys ie QE11 GBTT Some ships get one starting with M ie MWGB. Us wee boaters and the fishing fleet get the Hotmail numbers such as MFAX 7 however there is another range starting with 2 ie 2ISC . One number two then all letters which is confusing as it looks similar to another country. Maybe Egypt.....

My call sign is in the same format as your example 2ISC (mine also starts with 2I??); the data has been transferred to me with the boat. What do you mean by "similar to another country"? Is 2 a code for Egypt? I know the yacht was built in the UK in 1974 and I think it has stayed in the UK, maybe it went to the Med. The mystery of it all - arcane practices overtaken by globalisation!

To the OP - sorry, I wouldn't normally hi jack a thread but I hope this is taken in the spirt of your query.

 

[LadyInBed]

spelling this out in phonetics on the radio: Zulu, India, Oscar, India, Fife.

That sounds bananas to me!

 

[Bilgediver]

That sounds bananas to me!

It is more normal to say ZULU INDIA OSCAR INDIA Number FIVE to avoid this confusion.

 

[Bilgediver]

My call sign is in the same format as your example 2ISC (mine also starts with 2I??); the data has been transferred to me with the boat. What do you mean by "similar to another country"? Is 2 a code for Egypt? I know the yacht was built in the UK in 1974 and I think it has stayed in the UK, maybe it went to the Med. The mystery of it all - arcane practices overtaken by globalisation!

To the OP - sorry, I wouldn't normally hi jack a thread but I hope this is taken in the spirt of your query.

You are probably fine . I saw the mysterious call sign on a rig in Egypt however it could have been a carryover from a previous registration in a UK tax haven.
and should not have been displayed.

This is a list of the ITU Prefixes and shows the UK can have both 2 and Z as the first character!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITU_prefix

 

[dharl]

Always a good idea to have a little label next to the radio with the callsign written in the phonetic alphabet.

good plan, always done that on my boats!

 

[cliff]

My guess as another newbie is it's an "Oscar" because if I remember the standard format is "number, letter,letter,letter,number".. Of course I might be wrong so someone may correct me..

Duh! - mine is "letter, letter, letter, letter, number" or "alpha, alpha, alpha, alpha, numeric" depending on which way one swings.....

 

[Jabamusic]

The thread reminds me to ask what the appropriate convention is when you are phonetically spelling out a boats name which contains 2 words - how do you indicate you have begun to spell out the second part of the name...............in other words how do you inform of the break between the two parts?

 

[prv]

The thread reminds me to ask what the appropriate convention is when you are phonetically spelling out a boats name which contains 2 words - how do you indicate you have begun to spell out the second part of the name...............in other words how do you inform of the break between the two parts?

I think I would say each word after I had spelled it. So for example on our old boat, had I needed to pass the exact name to someone in poor conditions (not that I ever did) I might say:

"Vessel name is Kindred Spirit. I spell. Kilo, India, November, Delta, Romeo, Echo, Delta. Kindred. Sierra, Papa, India, Romeo, India, Tango. Spirit."

Looks odd written down, but is a bit clearer if you read it out with brief pauses where I've written full-stops.

Pete

 

[Jabamusic]

Interesting and in fact what I have tended to do. I've always wondered whether there is something more technical like using the work BREAK for example, but of course that could easily get confused for the letter B by someone unfamiliar with the phonetic alphabet- and I have heard some great ones of those on occasions!!!

I think I would say each word after I had spelled it. So for example on our old boat, had I needed to pass the exact name to someone in poor conditions (not that I ever did) I might say:

"Vessel name is Kindred Spirit. I spell. Kilo, India, November, Delta, Romeo, Echo, Delta. Kindred. Sierra, Papa, India, Romeo, India, Tango. Spirit."

Looks odd written down, but is a bit clearer if you read it out with brief pauses where I've written full-stops.

Pete

..........and BREAK wouldn't be appropriate any way !!

 

[prv]

Interesting and in fact what I have tended to do. I've always wondered whether there is something more technical like using the work BREAK for example

Wouldn't be BREAK, that means you have finished talking to who you were talking to and are now calling someone else without shutting up in between. Not something we do much as yotties, but VTS for example will often need to do that kind of thing.

Imagine this rattled off fairly rapidly by someone who does it all day every day:

"Hello Tugboat 123, your next job is to assist the Queen Mary starboard side to onto 106 berth. Break. Queen Mary, the tug you were expecting will be Tugboat 123, moving up to join you now, over"

Not entirely realistic as they don't assign tugs on the fly like that and they aren't called things like Tugboat 123, but you get the idea.

Pete

 

[Jabamusic]

Wouldn't be BREAK, that means you have finished talking to who you were talking to and are now calling someone else without shutting up in between.

.indeed............

 

[Rivers & creeks]

My call sign is in the same format as your example 2ISC (mine also starts with 2I??); the data has been transferred to me with the boat. What do you mean by "similar to another country"? Is 2 a code for Egypt? I know the yacht was built in the UK in 1974 and I think it has stayed in the UK, maybe it went to the Med.

The Kipper was built in '77 and is 2ZUK I'm a big fan of Judie so it works well for me. I assume that because our yachts are both from the very early days of yacht VHF we have a call sign in the same format, as VHF grew more common it required a bigger serries of digits to give enough permutations. I'd always assumed the "UK" part of the call sign related to the country but that's obviously a coincidence looking at your callsign.

 

[VicS]

Hi guys,

A newbie question, I expect. Just applied for a VHF Ship Radio Licence for Freebird; unlike my previous one, it has a zero - or an Oscar(!) in it. And I don't know which!

The format is number / letter / Oscar OR Zero / letter / number.

Any help gratefully received.

Cheers,

Chris

I think the answer to this may be that it is a letter O ( Oscar) not a numeral 0 (zero) simply beacuse they dont use zeros in call signs.


Will wait now to be proved wrong