Jokani
Well-Known Member
VHF to Air Horn
- Thread starter Jokani
- Start date
Kaparen
New Member
Necroposting, I know. But the inputs here were useful for me five years later.
Concering prv's post 29 Nov 2009 regarding the Fogmate: I also find the "interface" a bit complicated. But you do not have to wire it via your lantern switch if you do not want, it can easily be wired to specific switches for the Fogmate only. I have tried that, it is rather tricky to get all the connections right but once wired correctly it worked well.
Concering automatic fog horn controller in the VHF radio: When using it you cannot use yout VHF for calling as far as I understand. So when sailing in fog you can not call the other ship that you see on your AIS plotter or radar without turning the fog horn off, i.e. no fog signals during a VHF conversation. And you may forget to turn the foghorn on again after the VHF conversation. I have not used the VHF for controlling the fog horn but this is how I understood the Icom VHF manual.
The Fogmate controller has maybe an advantage over other similar products like SignalMate or Kahlenberg: The Fogmate blasts the horn at slightly different intervals, randomly chosen but always shorter than 2 minutes, to reduce the risk of signalling at exactly the same time as another ship. I read somewhere that two ships which collided in fog were found to have blown their whistles at exactly the same times with exactly 2 minutes intervals so they did not hear each other....
Concering prv's post 29 Nov 2009 regarding the Fogmate: I also find the "interface" a bit complicated. But you do not have to wire it via your lantern switch if you do not want, it can easily be wired to specific switches for the Fogmate only. I have tried that, it is rather tricky to get all the connections right but once wired correctly it worked well.
Concering automatic fog horn controller in the VHF radio: When using it you cannot use yout VHF for calling as far as I understand. So when sailing in fog you can not call the other ship that you see on your AIS plotter or radar without turning the fog horn off, i.e. no fog signals during a VHF conversation. And you may forget to turn the foghorn on again after the VHF conversation. I have not used the VHF for controlling the fog horn but this is how I understood the Icom VHF manual.
The Fogmate controller has maybe an advantage over other similar products like SignalMate or Kahlenberg: The Fogmate blasts the horn at slightly different intervals, randomly chosen but always shorter than 2 minutes, to reduce the risk of signalling at exactly the same time as another ship. I read somewhere that two ships which collided in fog were found to have blown their whistles at exactly the same times with exactly 2 minutes intervals so they did not hear each other....
Beneteau381
Well-Known Member
My SH one does exactly that, the menu gives various signals available.
rogerthebodger
Well-Known Member
I fitted a twin air horn but the compressor eased up with corrosion.
Dunx
Well-Known Member
I’m not sure what if any difference it makes but the Icom Spec is for a 4 ohm speaker. Although the Icom one (SP37?) looks very generic it is rated at 4ohms most others on the market appear to be 8ohms.