When guests on board Boost your ego, call Chnl 16 !?

[maby]

Possibly because, except over a minuscule proportion of our coastline, they don't.

But it is the miniscule proportion that is the home of the vast majority of the sailing community!

 

[awol]

But it is the miniscule proportion that is the home of the vast majority of the sailing community!

I think you mean the boat parking and motoring majority.

 

[Concerto]

I feel left out as I have never called the Coastguard for a VHF check. Do you think I should start?

 

[penberth3]

Not at all - I am a great fan of the NCI - but they seem to be seriously under used - the majority of sailors simply don't know that they exist.

NCI being "under-used" is surely a good thing - it means nobody is coming to grief in the areas covered.

 

[dom]

NCI being "under-used" is surely a good thing - it means nobody is coming to grief in the areas covered.

Indeed; they also quietly support the security services -- all good stuff

 

[maby]

NCI being "under-used" is surely a good thing - it means nobody is coming to grief in the areas covered.

Not necessarily - people "coming to grief" will probably go straight for the Coast Guard - I can't imagine calling "NCI Calshot, help please - I'm sinking!"

The NCI are volunteers who are ready to step in and do a lot of the more mundane things that people incorrectly put on the Coast Guard. Mucking about in the Solent on a sunny Saturday, the poor CG are getting bombarded with calls for a radio check plus a fair few requests to repeat the most recent weather forecast. The NCI guys are sitting there with their own dedicated channel and very happy to help with these non-critical administrative and information requests - makes much more sense to use them than to clag up channel 16 which is supposed to be kept free for genuine emergency traffic.

 

[penberth3]

Not necessarily - people "coming to grief" will probably go straight for the Coast Guard - I can't imagine calling "NCI Calshot, help please - I'm sinking!"...

You're assuming everybody has a radio.

 

[moomba]

If I wanted a VHF radio check I would call our handheld but not on Ch16. For our SSB the only option is the coastguard and I called once before we went long distance sailing.

Now there's a genius idea ,:listening_headphone:listening_headphone
How many boats have several handhelds, because they think they will need them, but dont test them with their VHF ,
there was an article in Yachting Monthly in regards to people radio checking on 16 when their was a PAN PAN on going and the Coast guard had to constantly ask the boat in question to repeat itself because the clueless were still radio checking over 16 canceling out the boat needing aid.

 

[dslittle]

You're assuming everybody has a radio.

If they haven't got a radio then this thread isn't really very relevant...

 

[capnsensible]

I've always maintained that these radio checks are an indications of insecurity and self importance in different measures.

Seems to me that the self important are those trying to dictate to others how they can and cannot use their radios.

 

[Applespider]

If I really feel the need to boost my ego with guests or novices aboard, it's far easier to put them on the tiller for a while. Their appreciation of your boat handling skills goes up ten-fold. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone impressed by usage of the radio; although our radio checks are to handhelds or if sailing in company, a fellow yacht.

 

[Mad Pad]

Nikia…"Dymo Tape"!!!..,
And it's still there?
I remember those little machines well , don't think I've seen one in 40 years.
If you stuck it there guess you must be 60 + ?
Best
Mad Pad

 

[johnalison]

Nikia…"Dymo Tape"!!!..,
And it's still there?
I remember those little machines well , don't think I've seen one in 40 years.
If you stuck it there guess you must be 60 + ?
Best
Mad Pad

You can include me as a Dymo-user too, and if you wish to suggest that I must be over 60 I will be flattered.

 

[ip485]

IN seriousness, in the aviation world you would be thought a nut to call for a radio check, and it was my inclination to feel the same in this world, and, I might add, I have very rarely asked for a radio check. However, the reality is that in the aviation world the check just as effectively comes from the initial contact with the tower, so while you arent specifically requesting a radio check, you will know whether or not the radio is working before you get airborn. At some places you may well need to call for a lock or bridge, another effective check. However, for many, there is no need for any communication before setting off. Now you might well feel a prat if, several hours later, you did need to call a Mayday. It is possible that the receive is working, and not the transmit. It is entirely possible the radio isnt working at all. Both are possible failure modes. It is very unlikely indeed that one frequency is working and another not.

It may not be so silly as we are all (well most) inclined to make out.

 

[Daydream believer]

I am getting worried now.
Do you think that I should call the CG on my mobile phone , to check that is working as well?
Should I carry 2 coke tins & a bit of string in my grab bag as a back up, in case of total failure?

 

[Pirx]

IN seriousness, in the aviation world you would be thought a nut to call for a radio check.

Flying from EGNH ( Blackpool to you ) the procedure was always to push the aircraft out of the hangar, start up, call tower with "Blackpool tower good morning G-ABCD request radio check and taxi please". There again, flying from uncontrolled fields like RAF Henlow if there was no activity one kept quiet and just got on with it.

 

[savageseadog]

Seems to me that the self important are those trying to dictate to others how they can and cannot use their radios.

No. VHF is a safety aid. Radio checks are a misuse of the facility, the problem being that on the South coast the plethora of radio checks means that important stuff can be left unheard. Some skippers turn their radios down or off because of the constant nonsense. It's not even as if it's necessary to do radio checks, it's easy enough to arrange something with a friend, club, marina or whatever. Do other outdoor leisure enthusiasts go ringing the Police up to tell them they're going up Snowdon or down some pothole? No. The other issue is that ultimately the authorities might take the view that because leisure boaters are a load of incompetents and can't be trusted to run their boats properly, regulation and taxation to pay for it might follow.

I'll add that on the Irish Sea, radio checks are rarely heard.

 

[capnsensible]

No. VHF is a safety aid. Radio checks are a misuse of the facility, the problem being that on the South coast the plethora of radio checks means that important stuff can be left unheard. Some skippers turn their radios down or off because of the constant nonsense. It's not even as if it's necessary to do radio checks, it's easy enough to arrange something with a friend, club, marina or whatever. Do other outdoor leisure enthusiasts go ringing the Police up to tell them they're going up Snowdon or down some pothole? No. The other issue is that ultimately the authorities might take the view that because leisure boaters are a load of incompetents and can't be trusted to run their boats properly, regulation and taxation to pay for it might follow.

I'll add that on the Irish Sea, radio checks are rarely heard.

See, you are doing it again.........

 

[savageseadog]

See, you are doing it again.........

It's misuse. I assume that you advocate misuse then?

 

[maby]

Don't forget that almost all of us have DSC radios now - it's been quite a few years since the major manufacturers stopped making non-DSC sets. Somewhere buried (possibly quite deeply) in the menu structure you will find an entry for "Test call" or something similar. Select this, key in the MMSI of a reasonably near CG station (you should have them programmed in anyway) - and it will do a radio check without any humans involved and without clagging up 16.