Posts Tagged ‘VHF Marine Radio’
Just a weather “side-note”…
Have any of you ever taken a tour through a National Weather Service operations center? Well, I haven’t. But, I spoke to a person that took his Cub Scout group through one last week. He was extremely taken by the sophisticated equipment that monitors the weather for our safety. A couple of items of interest may be the fact that what we call rain drops, the weather service refers to them as “hydro meteors”. If you think about it, it makes sense. but I’ve sure never called them that! Another bizarre point of interest is how the data is obtained to enable the national weather service to accurately map out all the “Highs and Lows” for pressure centers across our nation. It is my understanding that every 30 miles on a gridwork across the nation, a small weather balloon is released twice a day from each location and the recording device sends data to the service. That never crossed my mind that this was happening! I always thought it was accomplished through the use of radar or satellites or something – I guess I never thought about it. Hopefully you found this just as interesting. None-the-less, we can be the recipients of that valuable information as we monitor and react to the latest weather information on our VHF Marine Radio.
Wouldn’t it be nice if…
Now, maybe I’m somewhat of a dreamer, but wouldn’t it be nice if a person could just dial in his NOAA weather channel on his VHF marine radio and there would be an option to select what weather he or she would like to have for the day? A bit far-fetched perhaps, but a guy can dream, can’t he? Well, since that doesn’t seem likely in the near future, the best we can hope for is to be able to plan our day on the water around the latest broadcasts from the weather service as broadcast through the NOAA weather channel on your marine radio. They’ll keep you posted on any late breaking weather conditions while you’re out on the water and will give you plenty of time to pull in your lines and head for shore within a safe time frame. Don’t push your luck with the weather – somehow, it always seems to win. Over the years I’ve developed a very health respect (not fear) for weather conditions on the lake. I hope you do too.
Will summer ever come???
I sometimes wonder if these short “breaks” in the weather just happen to fool us into thinking that spring is just around the corner. I just received an email from a friend showing a picture of 2 deer walking through someone’s back yard and all you could see was their heads sticking up out of the snow. The caption was something like “yep, I think spring is right around the corner now”. It made me chuckle because that’s not too far from the situation I’m looking at out my kitchen window. Hard to believe that just a few weeks from now we really might get spring! So far, the weatherman has just been toying with our minds up here. This winter in Two Harbors, MN the bay never iced over. That could mean an early start to the shipping season – we all hope so. Of course, along with marine traffic, comes the chatter over the VHF Marine Radios on board the vessels. Once again reminding us of the importance of the communication devices so vital to the safety and well being of our guests on board as well as others.
Post Transmit instructions where everyone can see!
What a novel idea! What if something happened to you and someone else needed to radio for help? Wouldn’t it be nice if someone had thought ahead to write down what channels you use for specific purposes and just how to use them? For example – Channel and 9 and Channel 16 are only used to call other vessels. Also write on this posting what to say and to whom they should be expecting at the other end – like the USCG. Don’t lose your life because somebody got on the radio to try to get you help and they failed to reach someone simply because they were on the wrong channel! Having a VHF Marine Radio on board is probably the most important piece of equipment you will purchase, but if nobody can use it, you just wasted your money! The summer boating season is just around the corner. Let’s plan for it and make it a safe one!!
No Test! What could be easier…
I
f you’re worrying about having to take a test in order to own and operate a VHF Radio, you can put your mind at ease. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 allows boaters to own and use VHF Marine Radios without having an FCC ship station license. What does that mean??? It simply means that there is no paperwork required, no classes to attend, and no other hassles involved in purchasing and learning to use a VHF Marine Radio. What could be easier! Now – be aware that if your boat happens to be 65.6 feet or longer or if you plan to travel in foreign waters, you will be required to have a Radiotelephone Operator Permit. You will have to fill out the form to get the permit, but there are no tests or exams – only a 1-time fee which is good for life. Happy Boating!!
Why add a VHF Radio if it isn’t required?
True – VHF radios are not required in many areas of the world – and particularly if your boat happened to be less than 65.6 feet long. Does this meat that you should not put one on board? Certainly not!! Fact is, many boaters find they require 2 on board – one VHF Marine Radio for monitoring communication between them and the coast guard with regard to the weather and another (usually a hand held VHF Marine Radio) to be used in the event of an emergency requiring the evacuation of the ship. Sure is nice to know that there are waterproof hand held marine radios available so even though you may be bobbing around in a raft somewhere, you’ll be safe and you’ll be able to communicate with the Coast Guard to gain assistance.
Make sure you cross the “t’s and dot the i’s when installing…
Have you ever purchased something and hurried home to hook it up only to find that it’s performance falls way short of the advertisement on the front of the box?? I think we’ve all experienced that. If you’re going to install a new VHF Marine Radio on your boat, you must consider the proper installation procedures for your unit. Now, we all know that the range is up to about 20 nautical miles if properly installed, but depending on the height of the antenna and its ability to transmit and receive will hinge on the equipment and how its installed. A VHF Marine Radio is only as good as the entire system – that is the cabling, antenna, and power supply must all be present, shielded, grounded and weather-proofed. Although most of the time, you will get satisfactory results with less than satisfactory installs, it would be wise to take the extra measure of care required to do it right so you will be ready to gain that extra transmitting power if that need should appear. Happy boating!!
My radio has shrunk!
I’m reminded of the old film “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”. I think it was a Walt Disney Production and was a light hearted movie of an absent minded professor who managed to shrink his kids. Well, nowadays, the whole world seems to have shrunken a bit with technology where it is. Everything has gotten smaller!! Handheld radios really didn’t appear on the scene until the early 1960’s. I would suppose that the comic strip character of Dick Tracy had something to do with spurring on the actual inventions – maybe?? These first handheld radios weighed in at just over 2 pounds and was nearly as big as a standard kids school lunch box plus they sported an antenna about a foot long! What a treat to realize that we can enjoy a handheld VHF Marine Radio nowadays which literally fits into the palm of your hand and can broadcast many nautical miles with clarity. So…the old saying that good things come in small packages is really quite accurate in this case. The VHF marine radios on the market today are much superior to those of the 1960 era. Let’s enjoy what technology has given to us!
What if I use batteries?
If you are using a hand held unit – whether it’s a CB Radio or a VHF Marine Radio, you’re going to have to use batteries to make it work. A good point to remember when using your hand held VHF Radio is that the higher wattage setting you are using, the more power it will draw so don’t use more than you have to. Remember – you can very effectively communicate over 20 nautical miles with a hand held unit at only 1 watt. Some are finding that buying a radio that has the capability of running on standard alkaline batteries vs the “more popular” rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Why? Because (as we all know from using our cell phones) the lithium-ion rechargeable batteries can poop out on you when you need them the most whereas the standard alkaline batteries can be stored on board for a number of years with little or no loss of stored energy. Have a great day!!
Major differences between fixed and hand held…
When selecting which radio is the right one for you, you must consider the limitations of each unit. In today’s world, the use of microprocessors and integrated circuits make it possible to achieve amazing results with even the smallest of units. Maximum transmit power and non availability of digital selective calling may be the only two main factors that will come up on the short end when comparing a fixed VHF Marine Radio to a hand held VHF Marine Radio. Other than that all of the VHF Radios operate on all allowable transmit and receive channels – including all NOAA Weather Channels.