Quote:
Originally Posted by LakeSuperior
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Thanks
Lake Superior,
Looks like you've had some frustrations with your
ICOM radio. If I can help in some way, please contact me through my website. I am not a HAM and I really have no technical knowledge about what's happening inside the radio box, but I can listen to people who have more knowledge than myself to combine the components and do the simple user-serviceable tasks to keep it working effectively. I have also learnt it is actually important to read the instruction manual.
I also encourage people to install the radio themselves so they lean along the way or be there with the technician. I recommend reading the book by Commander (US
Navy - Retired) and long-time cruiser, Terry Sparks called ICOM IC-802 Stating from Scratch Great information and lots of specific
advice to help a
novice install and operate the M802(DSC). Most of the information especially about operation - also applies to the M801(E). Look for it on Terry's website Made Simple for Cruisers.
You are correct, I host the not-for-profit SailMail station for this region. The reason I host it is the same as what got me involved in HF/SSB radio more than thirty years ago; because it can provide a very valuable service for people at minimal cost. Operating the SailMail station has also exposed me to the sort of problems people can experience many related to
installation which is why I recommend people install the radio, or
work with the installer. And read the ICOM instructions and Terry's book first.
Providing the SailMail service has also exposed me to the problems created when cruisers from places with great S&R and recreational
boating support services Europe/UK and North America arrive on this side of the world without a functional HF/SSB radio, and without
email capability to obtain
weather information, send position reports and operate self-sufficiently. Hence my interest to dedicate time to this forum.
Making HF/SSB radio
work is not some mystical art. My experience is a successful HF/SSB radio
installation is like baking a cake, put the right ingredients together in the right way and you get the desired result.
As a yacht owner, I've experienced the difficulties created for non SOLAS vessels such as yachts and other small craft since GMDSS for big ships began in 1999. Coast stations closed, access to METAREA forecasts was blocked by some countries, yachts can no longer call MAYDAY and expect a response from a
commercial ship, and free-to-air broadcasts of
weather forecasts mostly disappeared. Yachties had a free ride on the services created for the big ships. When the big ships were forced to install INMARSAT
equipment those HF/SSB radio services closed, because the
income earned through telephone interconnect service via HF/SSB which paid the operators' salaries for taking yachts' position reports, reading the weather etc evaporated.
But now that the
DSC system has been refined and lower cost radios suitable for yachts are available, the opportunity to again tap into the existing maritime
safety communications network, originally developed for big ships, has reappeared. We can contact them with a
DSC call. They are obliged to respond to
distress calls and/or pass on our
alarm to an MRCC shore station.
In addition, DSC capable HF/SSB radios present yachties with opportunities for much greater control, inter-yacht communication possibilities, mutual self-support, and therefore the freedom to explore, knowing that it's easy and reliable to contact a specific friend (MMSI number), group of friends (a DSC group-call MMSI), or any other mariner nearby (a DSC
Distress alarm), for assistance. The way DSC works to facilitate linking yachties together for mutual self-support without needing shore stations, outside resources (which don't exist in many places) etc - is the magical part.
For example,
race and rally organisers previously contacted me to provide voice services for skeds, position reports etc, but it's no longer necessary. The modern DSC capable HF/SB radio makes that requirement redundant. Yachts in
events or together with other cruising friends can establish DSC group-call IDs, so they can instantly contact all the members' radios with one button press. This helps them look after themselves important in places were S&R resources are limited or non-existent and satisfy the
racing regulation requirement for constant monitoring of the
race radio frequencies. Event organisers can either use their own DSC capable HF/SSB radio in a club or yacht - to distribute identical information by voice to participants simultaneously, or send it via
email to the yachts from their PC at home.
If my purpose was to make
money from yachties, I'd be selling satphones, not hosting a SailMail site. Far easier to sell satphones because it has the captivating illusion of a quick fix solution, the handset
price is heavily subsided knowing the big money will be made on usage, where I'd get an ongoing commission on the subsequent top-ups. I would not get any enquiries about how to improve functionality or questions about installation or
repairs; because people accept there are no user serviceable components. A far simpler way to make easy money. But I'd have some ethical problems about what I'd
sold to people and the illusions they might be working under. Perhaps I'm odd, but I'd also find it difficult to sell sub-prime loans, lifejackets that don't work or
safety helmets with known design flaws.
While satphone technology can easily create the illusion of a quick fix solution for
emergency communications, and therefore make people think the role of HF/SSB radio is passed, there are a lot of people - who make accountable decisions and put their reputations and jobs on the line who don't. That includes people at MRCC
Australia, RHKYC, and Yachting
Australia on this side of the world. The facts are that since satphones arrived on the scene:
1. MRCC Australia has twice updated their website and they continue to say use a radio. And this most recent update has highlighted the importance of making contact - via radio - with nearby vessels to get prompt help. Or contact them and be prepared to survive a few days, in isolated areas, while an official response arrives.
2. Yachting Australia has specified that all new or replacement HF/SSB radios must be DSC capable, and in the latest edition of their Special
Regulations, HF/SSB radios are now compulsory for shorter/inshore Category 2 races, whereas they were previously only compulsory for longer/offshore Category 1 races. And satphones are still not permitted as a replacement for the required HF/SSB radio.
3. RHKYC has made DSC capable HF/SSB radios compulsory for their
events beyond the range of shore
VHF (with DSC) services. From 1st January 2015 a yacht without a functional DSC HF/SSB radio cannot participate in their
offshore events.
4.
Marine and communication authorities in Australia, the
USA and Europe/UK require a DSC capable HF/SSB radio for new and replacement installations. Notice that the ICOM website in the
USA only has the M802 (DSC) available for
marine use. In Australia and the UK/Europe it is only the M801(E).
5. People putting together communications systems for natural and man-made disasters are using HF/SSB radios, and in some cases with
Pactor controllers for email and postion reporting. Because they continue to work when the fancy networks are broken or overloaded.
6. HF/SSB radios sales around the world have boomed since 9/11, the TS that devastated
New Orleans, and the bush fires that ravaged Victoria (Australia). Many people learnt the hard way that the sophisticated communication systems we have come to rely on are actually quite fragile, and they stop working completely without electricity. International or regional phone and data communications via
satellite do not work when the ground stations, exchanges and
cables that link them into the terrestrial
network are damaged, flooded or have no electricity.
7. The military is using more sophisticated HF/SSB radio communications. Trucks,
tanks, planes and infantry still carry HF/SSB radios, even though the military has plenty of money for sophisticated
satellite based systems and they use them continuously. Because HF/SSB radio communications still works when the other systems are damaged.
The digital age has come to HF/SSB radio
equipment and created more reasons to use them. The capabilities of these new marine radios has created more opportunities for yacht owners to lower operating costs, link with other services (eg via email) and create mutually supportive networks to broaden their cruising horizons and enjoy uncongested locations beyond the umbrella of shore based
VHF radio and S&R capabilities.
Interested in smart boat technology, networking and all things tech
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