Archive for October, 2010
If you’re wearing hearing aids, then you NEED great speakers…
Only those of us who have to wear hearing aids can identify with the header statement above. There are very few things more frustrating than not being able to decipher what is being said to you when you are listening to a 2-way radio communication directed at you. What do you say? How do you respond? Maybe you couldn’t even hear if it was a question or a statement that came over the radio? I heard a communication come over a radio this morning (thankfully it wasn’t for me) and I couldn’t tell anything about what was said. It just sounded horrible coming over the speaker system! This is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. If your speakers are not good enough quality, the sound output will be garbled at best and you will struggle to understand what was said (even those of you who can hear good!). Marine speakers are available and have a great sound quality! Why not make use of them? They’re affordable, waterproof, and easy to install. The fact that they are so durable makes them very versatile. Use them just about anywhere since weather isn’t a factor (on your boat, pontoon, patio, back yard, etc). …and enjoy… Happy Boater.
Where is the VHF signal broadcast from??
True – it’s really nice that the emergency broadcasts reach your radio in a timely fashion, but where do they come from?? The Unites States Coast Guard (and other governmental agencies) join efforts to insure that emergency information is broadcast into as many areas as possible – thus covering the vast majority of our waterways. All broadcasts (except for those over VHF and MF radio telephone are made by computer. Urgent marine navigational and weather information is broadcast over VHF Channel 22A (157.1 Hz). Your VHF Marine Radio with NOAA capabilities will cover you nicely for your boating outings. This emergency information is then transmitted from over 200 sites covering the coastal areas of the United States including the Great Lakes, major inland waterways, Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii and Guam. More information and detail is always available on the website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Navigation Center (http://www.navcen.uscg.gov). Be Safe. Happy Boater.
Many, many uses for your hand held CB Radio…
You are only limited to your imagination when thinking of uses for a hand held CB Radio because the list is virtually inexhaustible. They can be used on farm tractor, boat, pontoon, shopping, factory, place of business, construction site, ATV, snowmobile, while exercising, and the list can go on and on. Last week I found yet another use for mine. I was putting insulation under my cabin so as to protect the pipes from the frost. I found myself spending more time sliding under the cabin to get measurements than it took to actually put the piece of insulation and green treated plywood in place. So I took a hand held CB Radio under with me and radioed my helper the measurements. He cut them out and shoved them under the cabin for me so I didn’t have to keep going in and out – thus wasting all that time. Happy Boater.
How nice to have NOAA weather updates constantly available!
Especially in the fall of the year, we are more inclined to get hit with the old “nor-easter” – a bone chilling cold wind that blows out of the north east and pounds the north shore of Lake Superior. This is one of the things that I try to avoid when out on the water. I just don’t like being bounced around out of control. Over the years you tend to develop a definite healthy respect for the lake. Mind you, I didn’t say I was afraid of the lake – only a very healthy respect. NOAA weather alerts help you avoid this type of encounter. That stands for National Oceanic Atmospheric Association which keeps boaters appraised of the weather 24/7 with constant weather alerts. Make sure your VHF Marine radio has this feature as it could broadcast to you the most important broadcast of your life and could keep you (and the others on board) out of peril. Happy Boater.
Waves can be pretty, but also pretty awful…
We’ve experienced a lot of wind from the east for the last couple of days. When that happens for that extended period of time, the waves keep building and literally pound the north shore of Lake Superior. I was sitting on the shore last night watching the waves crash into the shoreline and really enjoyed the beauty of that unleashed power exhibited, but at the same time thought how glad I was that I was in my car and not out on the water trying to navigate that size sea. That definitely would an unpleasant experience. That’s when it would be essential to have a VHF Radio on board as a reassurance that you would have good communication with the USCG 24 hours a day and 7 days a week if and when you needed it. These radios are now available as a hand held VHF Marine Radio or a fixed mount VHF Marine Radio. Always keep safety at the top of your list. Happy Boater.
A CB is a great compliment to your audio system…
It is a well known fact that a VHF Marine radio is quite honestly, the single most important item you could have on board when considering your safety and the safety of those you have on board when out on the water. This is because the US Coast Guard monitors the VHF channel 16 continuously and regularly sends out weather warnings and advisories. As important as this radio is, it is still a great idea to have a CB Radio on board for communicating with other boats (possibly those in your fishing party) so you can leave your VHF Radio tuned to Channel 16 just in case an important message comes in such as another boat in distress or a weather warning. You would we instructed to go to another channel in most of these cases after having made connection on channel 16 to keep that channel free for other emergencies and other boats meeting there. Always be considerate when using this channel as it is a meeting place only. Continue your conversation on another channel. Happy Boater.
Why not personalize your speaker system?
Too many times we get something and just accept what we have as the final product. I try to look at everything as a blank sheet of paper ready for a new design. To remodel something is really not that bad of job and it looks great when you’re done – providing you did your planning correctly on the front end! If a wall isn’t a “load bearing” wall (that is – one that runs perpendicular to the direction of the trusses or rafters), you can do just about anything you want to that wall – including removing it – without any problems. The same is true (only on a smaller scale) when looking at installing speakers. Now, there are a lot of different marine speakers available today with a lot of different sizes and output ratings. Make sure you are purchasing speakers that are compatible with the output of your receiver – otherwise you may be just wasting your money! Speakers come with installation instructions and hardware which make it really quite simple to install – even for the ‘weekend warriors’ . Lay out your speakers where you want them and make sure you have the same length of wire going to each speaker – even if the distance to the speakers from the amplifier is not the same (i.e. if one speaker is 5 feet from the amp, and one is 20 feet from the amp, leave an extra 15 feet of wire coiled up in the wall or something on the shorter run). This will equalize your sound within your system. Marine speakers are waterproof also which is a great feature because now besides using them on your boat or pontoon, you can install them on your deck in the back yard and enjoy quality music there also!! You’re only limited to your imagination. Happy Boater.
Do you remember crystal sets? – and I don’t mean glassware…
At the risk of dating myself, I am going to admit that I certainly do remember these little radio kits. There was a company called “Allied Radio” that put out a lot of build-it-yourself kits when I was in high school. They regularly put out a catalog and I really enjoyed flipping through each page and studying what they were featuring that month. Although I do remember them, I actually never purchased and built a crystal set. I did, however, build a 2-transistor radio (that actually worked!) out of kit purchased there. I don’t even know if this company is still active, but it was sure fun then. These crystal sets (and the transistor set I had) were only capable of picking up AM frequency (AM stands for “amplitude modification”). This means of broadcasting allowed more than one station to simultaneously send signals out as opposed to the spark-gap method which actually covered the entire bandwidth of spectra so only one could be heard. What a long way we’ve come! Back then we couldn’t even imagine pushing a button on the microphone and having the ability with a VHF Marine Radio to broadcast more than 20 miles over water to someone on shore ready to give you updated weather information for your area! WOW! It only gets better!! Happy Boater.
The best inventions are usually preceded by skeptcism and negative thinking…
Broadcasting sound over the airwaves was reaching a feverish pitch between 1900 to the 1950′s. This is mainly because the inventors and “innovators” in this field could smell the sweet smell of success and with that would come the natural fallout of fame and fortune. During the 1920′s, when radio broadcasting was just in its beginning stages, there actually were a lot of folks that thought the record industry would suffer because nobody would buy any of them anymore if they could listen to them for free on the radio! Sounds similar to the 60′s doesn’t it with the development of the PC back then?? There were a lot of folks out there as I recall that claimed there would no longer be a need for secretaries and office assistants and we were on the verge of becoming a “paperless” society. What a joke that was!! Now we actually have marine radio receivers that have the ability to play prerecorded music using an MP3 format when at sea!! Who would have guessed that in just these few years we would have such a nice convenience – our favorite music wherever we go! Happy Boater.
Who gets the trophy for inventing the radio??
The answer to this question is probably much like casting something in jello. You come up with a definite “maybe” as a final answer because the reality of this is that the expertise of several elite inventors from around the world all contributed to the success of this incredible invention. Several inventors actually claim that the invention of the radio was actually theirs. Those include Jagadish Chandra Bose, Guglielmo Marconi, Alexander Stepanovich, and Nikola Tesla and there were many other contributors to this new way of transmitting “wireless telegraphy” as it was called. Now, some of these names are a bit less talked about, but I know I have heard of Marconi because his name is linked with life saving wireless communications on ships and Tesla was able to publicly demonstrate the principles of radio by producing radio frequency currents. This enabled the transmitting of long distance signals. We now have the modern day VHF marine radio which is available in both a fixed model as well as a hand held model. These radios have saved countless lives over the years and certainly would have exceeded even that number of lives saved if we had had the waterproof technology we have today with the hand held VHF marine radios. Happy Boater.