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17-03-2010, 13:51
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Vancouver, BC
Boat: Still dreaming... and saving.
Posts: 4
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Radio Procedure
I came across a clock on the Chelsea website called the Radio Room Clock that shows special times of the day for radio silence. It states:
"The sinking of the Titanic resulted in the Radio Act of 1912, requiring 24-hour radio watches at sea. The disaster also led to a clock design featuring two 3 minute periods marked in red to mark a silent period when only emergency radio messages could be transmitted. Two green markings designate silent periods during which time one would listen for coastal distress signals."
Is this still the case? Or does VHF Channel 16 replace this?
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17-03-2010, 14:06
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2008
Location: We're technically refugees from our home in Yemen now living in Lebenon
Boat: 1978 CT48
Posts: 5,964
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Welcome to the forum trev.
Thats an interesting post...cant wait to see the replies.
__________________
James
S/V Arctic Lady
I love my boat, I can't afford not to!
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17-03-2010, 14:18
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Almería, ES
Boat: Chiquita 46 - Libertalia
Posts: 1,558
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AFAIK there's a priority scheme for VHF 16 - no silent periods - and with the advent of DSC, VHF 16 monitoring is no longer compulsory even.
http://www.sailing.org/sailors/1716.php
Quote:
The IMO accepted ISAF’s proposals and the abolition of the compulsory watch on Channel 16 has been postponed indefinitely.
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Looks like there's been some back-pedalling on that
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17-03-2010, 16:16
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#4
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֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 15,136
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Trev, as best I recall the silent periods are for HF (high frequency, marine SSB) radios and have nothing to do with VHF on Channel 16.
2182 kHz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
And with the use of EPIRBs, monitoring of 2182 is generally discontinued as well, making the special periods a moot point although some may still observe the tradition.
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17-03-2010, 20:42
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#5
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Sunshine Coast, Qld, Australia
Boat: CyberYacht 43
Posts: 5,174
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Recomended silence...
If my memory is correct from my MROCP exam (fading fast, passed at last) silence periods of 3 minutes on the hour and the half hour are recommended but no longer mandatory.
This would apply on both 2182 kHz and VHF channel 16.
With Marine Rescue in NSW, Oz there might be a bit of chill in the air if one kept on calling on the hour and half hour.
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18-03-2010, 01:53
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#6
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Moderator and Certifiable Refitter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: South of 43 S, Australia
Boat: C.L.O.D.
Posts: 20,305
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From The Australian Marine Radio Operators Handbook (2006), section 3, para 20.
20.1 International regulations no longer require silence periods to be observed on the distress and calling frequencies.
20.2 However, to increase the safety of life at sea in Australia, two three-minute periods of silence should be observed in each hour.
It goes on with more detail and then at
20.5 It is the practice in all Australian waters to observe silence periods on the radiotelephony distress frequencies of either 2182,4125,6215,8291,12290,16420 and VHF channel 16.
and
20.9 Silence periods are not observed on the MF/HF DSC frequencies and VHF DSC channel.
So from that I take it that the ITU has dropped mandatory silence periods but some countries still odserve them
__________________
All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangereous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. T.E. Lawrence
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18-03-2010, 05:19
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Cruising on the hook
Boat: 34’ Marine Trader
Posts: 752
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Quote:
Originally Posted by idpnd
AFAIK there's a priority scheme for VHF 16 - no silent periods - and with the advent of DSC, VHF 16 monitoring is no longer compulsory even.
ISAF : VHF Channel 16 & GMDSS
Looks like there's been some back-pedalling on that
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Reading the entire article you quoted, the monitoring of channel 16 is still required on all vessels.
"The IMO accepted ISAF’s proposals and the abolition of the compulsory watch on Channel 16 has been postponed indefinitely."
The proposal was to abolish the Channel 16 watch with the advent of DSC but apparently they did not consider that the requirement for upgrading to DSC was for ships 300 tons or greater. Until all vessels have DSC, I don't think that channel 16 will be abolished.
__________________
Jim
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."
--Aristotle
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22-03-2010, 12:43
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Vancouver, BC
Boat: Still dreaming... and saving.
Posts: 4
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Thanks for the responses. It gets a little confusing with all the different types/ranges of radio/frequency.
Personally, even with the fancy new DSC etc. It seems like it would be a good idea to continue the practice. For such simple effort, there's the real possibility of saving of life in those 1 in a million situations where other technologies fail (or someone in their panic doesn't remember to hit a specific button).
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22-03-2010, 12:54
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Winter land based UK New Forest. Summer months away. Making the transition from sail to power this year - scary stuff.
Boat: Super Van Craft 1320 Power Yacht
Posts: 2,175
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Quote:
Originally Posted by trevpage
Thanks for the responses. It gets a little confusing with all the different types/ranges of radio/frequency.
Personally, even with the fancy new DSC etc. It seems like it would be a good idea to continue the practice. For such simple effort, there's the real possibility of saving of life in those 1 in a million situations where other technologies fail (or someone in their panic doesn't remember to hit a specific button).
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Agreed. Appreciate many have DSC on VHF and HF, and many have other means of issuing a disctress call. But there are many out there with older radios and lots with low power.
So as keeping to the 2 x 3 minute no transmission / listening watch is hardly a problem for anyone - it is a convention we stick with on our boat.
JOHN
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22-03-2010, 18:36
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: San Francisco Bay
Boat: Fantasia 35
Posts: 1,251
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These rules applied to ships carrying Radio Officers. During these time slots the ROs were required to monitor 500 khz for distress traffic and make an entry in the radio log while on watch. During off watch times there was a very crude electromechanical alarm system that monitored 500 khz for a unique cw signal.
I stopped shipping out as a RO in the late sixties. I think they did away with ROs sometime in the mid to late seventies.Which is really a bummer! It was a great gig that paid really well. The best part was that when in port you locked the radio room door and went ashore until one hour before getting underway. Oh yes, the ship couldn't depart without the RO. If they still had ROs I would sign on in a flash.
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23-03-2010, 02:12
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#11
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Moderator and Certifiable Refitter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: South of 43 S, Australia
Boat: C.L.O.D.
Posts: 20,305
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And unfortunately you might find they have done away with 500 KHz as well (AFAIK), such is progress!
__________________
All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangereous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. T.E. Lawrence
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