Sandy
Well-known member
As useful a a chocolate teapot.
In simple terms what does 'public correspondence' mean, I assume it's not a letter to The Times or Yachting Monthly.
VHF channels, ship-to-ship (bridge-to-bridge
- Thread starter TwoHooter
- Start date
In simple terms what does 'public correspondence' mean, I assume it's not a letter to The Times or Yachting Monthly.
prv
Well-known member
Telephone link calls, which you can’t make any more as the BT coast stations have been closed down.
Pete
Praxinoscope
Well-known member
Daydream believer
Well-known member
I suspect that if you used 72 in the Dover Strait then Dover Port control might get the hump, as it is quite busy with their port traffic, is it not?
Edit
Dover Port is 74 ( plus 12 & 16) NOT 72. DOOHAA
As for DSC, that drives me mad. As a single handed sailor I have a hand held radio at the helm & a main radio set on 16 below. If I hear a call on 16 that concerns me, I switch on the hand held & tune in to the station. Range is not an issue because if it is out of range it is not likely to worry me much.
If someone calls on DSC - The French love it- I get the damned alarm going which switches my radio to another channel. . It is surprising how many maydays go off in a week. It goes for some time & usually I just ignore it as I am too busy sailing the boat.
However, I find that if I do not get below I will no longer be on 16. This is no mean feat in a blow as it can be quite a struggle getting past the mainsheet traveller, through the hatch down the steps & over to the chart table. Put my glasses on, change channels, then get back up on deck.
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Mark-1
Well-known member
Our club uses M2 for events.
On Friday someone corrected me when I said our radios were on M2 and told me they should be on P4. I stuck to my guns because I had it written down on a bit of paper and the radios were all left on M2.
Until this moment I didn't realize how pointless that (slight) disagreement was. ? (Nor did the other guy Obvs.)
Also interesting to read that you can legally use M1/M2 without a VHF license.
Which begs the question can everyone just use M2 channel for personal comms which would be legal (but bad manners) or is it only usable by non licence holders for the purposes of running an event. Also what's the definition of Yacht Club? Can I set up the Mark-1 YC with my kids as members and no formal documentation and us legally chat away all day?
Finally what do channels P1-4 actually mean and why do they have a name distinct from the numeric channel names. Same question for M1/M2?
(Yes I could Google but where's the fun in that?)
AntarcticPilot
Well-known member
Most of my VHF experience was on the west coast of Scotland; I've not had to contact the CG since moving south.
Daydream believer
Well-known member
When we do cruise in company we like to use M1 ( unless a local YC is doing a start sequence/ running a race etc) However, when we started there were those with EBAY hand helds that did not have M1 & we have Raymarine users who STILL cannot work out how to get M1 on their main radios
Does lead to a few curt comments to RTFM
Our sailing club found that M1 could get very busy so had all the hand helds programmed with a private channel. Some members at the time were able to have their ones programmed at the same time. However, as some of us renewed, I assume that this has meant that we have lost the channel.
I wonder if the private channel on my new ICOM is a facility for this, or if it is in fact the sailing club channel & I have just not realised. I did not have it ( that I am aware) on my old ICOM as an initially installed channel rather than later installed
Does lead to a few curt comments to RTFM
Our sailing club found that M1 could get very busy so had all the hand helds programmed with a private channel. Some members at the time were able to have their ones programmed at the same time. However, as some of us renewed, I assume that this has meant that we have lost the channel.
I wonder if the private channel on my new ICOM is a facility for this, or if it is in fact the sailing club channel & I have just not realised. I did not have it ( that I am aware) on my old ICOM as an initially installed channel rather than later installed
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Praxinoscope
Well-known member
On my early vhf's M1 was shown as Channel 37, perhaps someone else can clarify, but I'm sure channel 37 has been on most older vhf radio's, at least 30 years or so.
Daydream believer
Well-known member
37A on mine
Praxinoscope
Well-known member
Ah So! I had forgotten the 'A', we have an old Raymarine vhf in the club house which we use for races, regattas etc. This shows 37A. But it doesn't have M2.
Norman_E
Well-known member
In Marmaris there used to be a VHF net, run at 9AM on channel 69. The channel was chosen because ir was an available channel and the local coastguard agreed to its use.
TwoHooter
Well-known member
It must have taken hours to make that list - but it is now 3 years since the last update.
Does ANYBODY maintain an official list of channel allocations? I mean channels which are definitely and unequivocally allocated to a specific use like 16, 65, etc.? A list which would answer my original question authoritatively?
I made a list based on the RNLI website to keep in my pilotage handbook - it's attached - but I suspect it isn't very accurate, especially with all the "Public Correspondence" entries.
Attachments
Sandy
Well-known member
I added a Remove Mic in the cockpit, it's taken a lot of stress out of radio work, and I can here the darn thing/cancel DSC alerts.
prv
Well-known member
Same - though not so much “added”, it was always part of the electronics design when I was setting the boat up.
I operate the boat from the cockpit, not the saloon. The only “operational” function relegated below decks is the table for paper charts, because that’s obviously impractical on deck in wind or rain. Everything else, modern electronics are fully submersible and don‘t belong in the living room.
Pete
Daydream believer
Well-known member
Probably easier with a wheel on a larger yacht. My 9 inch plotter sits behind the tiller( where I can reach it & see it) I have a cover over it in rain & I need glasses to see it. I do not set routes etc easily sitting in the cockpit, so prefer to use my Yeoman & paper charts at the chart table, then make notes for on deck. Sailing to a chart plotter is an alien function to me with all that zooming in & out. I tend to use it for its AIS function. I have nothing interconnected ( wind, log etc separate) as I would not risk a faulty autopilot ( for instance) b..gering up all the other units.
Ink
Active member
When in Scottish waters I've never heard a station (yacht) being directed to 06 always to 67.
Ink
alexincornwall
Active member
I use 6 or 8 for ship dodging (curiously we've needed to do so a lot more this year than any other), and 72 for communicating with others in our flotilla. I've never heard a CG direct comms to any other channel than 67 and if it's busy they usually state that they're queuing transmissions.
TwoHooter
Well-known member
I thought 6 is used by the helicopters and therefore better not to use it for routine traffic.
PilotWolf
Well-known member
alexincornwall
Active member
8 had always been my go-to, I suppose learnt behaviour from numerous channel crossings where it seems to be the preferred. Yet when I did the Irish sea/Bristol Channel a couple of weeks ago, virtually all ship-to-ship was taking place on 6. I'm sure just a coincidence but quite notable.