10 - How to use a marine VHF radio.

With todays waterproof and compact VHF handheld radios it is possible and practical as well as affordable to carry a VHF radio while kayaking. These little broadcast and receiving units have short ranges with line of sight communications, but they can still be useful for organizing groups paddles while on the water, talking with other boats in the area and seeking help in emergency situations. There is more to using a radio than just buying it and learning the functions of the knobs. You have to know a few of the rules and courtesies that make clear and accurate communication on the shared frequencies of radio possible. First of all, unlike a telephone, you can not talk and hear at the same time. Wired telephones have two sets of wires - one pair for hearing and one pair for talking. Wireless telephones have two frequencies, each one dedicated to the separate functions. But radios operate on only one frequency, called a channel, at a time. The talking goes out on one frequency and the hearing comes in on the same frequency. Radios must use a lot of power to transmit their signal in all directions for a great distance. When listening, they are picking up a weak signal transmitted from another radio far away. There can be thousands of times more power in the signal going out than in the signal coming in. In fact, the outgoing signal can be powerful enough to fry the electronics listening for the weak incoming signal. Most radios avoid this by using a button that turns off the listening when talking. So to use a radio you must press a button, talk, release the button and then listen for the reply.

If you forget to press the button before talking the other fellow won't hear you because your radio never transmitted anything. If you forget to let go of the button when you finish talking, you won't hear the other fellow reply to you.

If you talk when the other person is talking neither of you will hear the other one.

So this one sidedness of the radio creates the need for some coordination between the talker and the listener. The listener needs to know when the other person is done talking and is now ready to listen. For efficient use of the radio the talker should say OVER when he has finished talking and is going back to listen mode. Now the listener can be the talker. Cooperation between the two participants in the conversation will make the entire conversation go much smoother without pauses of dead air or one talking over the other one and not listening , with all the resulting confusion and wasted time and repeated conversations that improper radio etiquette will bring about.

When one is done talking and done listening one says OUT. At this point it is expected that the radio will be turned to another channel or turned off.

OVER - I am done talking and I am waiting to hear your reply.

OUT - I am done talking and I am not going to listen to your reply.

So why would anybody ever say OVER AND OUT, which means I am done talking to you and I am waiting for your reply AND I am not listening for your reply, in fact I probably changed channels or turned off the radio. Using OVER AND OUT immediately identifies you as a radio dufus.

In addition to these two very common words of radio lingo there are several others.

ROGER - Yes

MAYDAY - In imminent danger of loss of life or property.

PAN PAN - pronounced pon pon - Difficult situation with possible injury or loss of property but not immediate

SECURITE SECURITE - dangerous situation, general navigation information between ships.

In addition to these words, in order to receive the correct letters when transmitting a series of letters, there has been established a series of code words representing all the letters of the alphabet. Use of these distinctly different words instead of the letters themselves helps the listener to correctly receive the letters some of which sound so much alike that they can be misunderstood over a radio. The letter S and the letter F are two in particular that are easily confused when spoken over a low or static filled signal. They have been assigned the words Sierra for S and Foxtrot for F. One is not likely to mistake Sierra for Foxtrot.

Here is the list of code words for the alphabet:

Numbers are used as they are except for nine which is pronounced NINER to distinguish it clearly from five.

Radio traffic is monitored by all boats with radios on and by the Coast Guard on Channel 16. This is known as the distress frequency. Its purpose is a place for all parties to listen in and see if anyone is in need of assistance. It can also be used as a hailing frequency to see if any one is trying to talk to you. But Channel 9 is the channel that is meant for non emergency hailing purposes. In order to keep these channels open for new conversations to be started, particularly for emergency situations, its is required to switch to another channel once contact between the parties has been made. Continuing to chatter on channel 16 will get you some angry responses for your rude, inconsiderate use of the hailing frequency.

The parties starting the new conversation agree to go to a new channel called the working channel. Both switch their radios to the new channel and listen to see if the channel is clear. If there is a conversation on the chosen channel, both parties go back to the hailing channel to select a new working channel. Breaking in on an ongoing channel conversation is very rude and very inefficient.

Each channel is assigned a different purpose. Most are restricted for commercial and governmental use. Channels 68, 69, 71 ,72 and 78A are the noncommercial working channels in the U.S.

Channel Number	Ship Transmit MHz	Ship Receive MHz	Use
01A	156.050	156.050	Port Operations and Commercial. VTS in selected areas.
05A	156.250	156.250	Port Operations. VTS in selected areas.
06	156.300	156.300	Intership Safety
07A	156.350	156.350	Commercial
08	156.400	156.400	Commercial (Intership only)
09	156.450	156.450	Boater Calling.  Commercial and Non-Commercial.
10	156.500	156.500	Commercial
11	156.550	156.550	Commercial.  VTS in selected areas.
12	156.600	156.600	Port Operations.  VTS in selected areas.
13	156.650	156.650	Intership Navigation Safety (Bridge-to-bridge).  Ships >20m length maintain a listening watch on this channel in US waters.
14	156.700	156.700	Port Operations.  VTS in selected areas.
15	--	156.750	Environmental (Receive only).  Used by Class C EPIRBs.
16	156.800	156.800	International Distress, Safety and Calling.  Ships required to carry radio, USCG, and most coast stations maintain a listening watch on this channel.
17	156.850	156.850	State Control
18A	156.900	156.900	Commercial
19A	156.950	156.950	Commercial
20	157.000	161.600	Port Operations (duplex)
20A	157.000	157.000	Port Operations
21A	157.050	157.050	U.S. Coast Guard only
22A	157.100	157.100	Coast Guard Liaison and Maritime Safety Information Broadcasts.   Broadcasts announced on channel 16.
23A	157.150	157.150	U.S. Coast Guard only
24	157.200	161.800	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
25	157.250	161.850	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
26	157.300	161.900	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
27	157.350	161.950	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
28	157.400	162.000	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
63A	156.175	156.175	Port Operations and Commercial. VTS in selected areas.
65A	156.275	156.275	Port Operations
66A	156.325	156.325	Port Operations
67	156.375	156.375	Commercial.  Used for Bridge-to-bridge communications in lower Mississippi River.  Intership only.
68	156.425	156.425	Non-Commercial
69	156.475	156.475	Non-Commercial
70	156.525	156.525	Digital Selective Calling (voice communications not allowed)
71	156.575	156.575	Non-Commercial
72	156.625	156.625	Non-Commercial (Intership only)
73	156.675	156.675	Port Operations
74	156.725	156.725	Port Operations
77	156.875	156.875	Port Operations (Intership only)
78A	156.925	156.925	Non-Commercial
79A	156.975	156.975	Commercial.  Non-Commercial in Great Lakes only
80A	157.025	157.025	Commercial.  Non-Commercial in Great Lakes only
81A	157.075	157.075	U.S. Government only - Environmental protection operations.
82A	157.125	157.125	U.S. Government only
83A	157.175	157.175	U.S. Coast Guard only
84	157.225	161.825	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
85	157.275	161.875	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
86	157.325	161.925	Public Correspondence (Marine Operator)
87	157.375	161.975	Automatic Identification System duplex repeater
AIS 1	161.975	161.975	Automatic Identification System (AIS)
AIS 2	162.025	162.025	Automatic Identification System (AIS)
88	157.425	162.025	Public Correspondence only near Canadian border.
88A	157.425	157.425	Commercial, Intership only.

Radios of higher power are assigned a license by the government for use. Each radio is assigned a license number consisting of letters and numbers. The starting letters are different for different countries. These identifying license numbers are supposed to be used at the beginning of each call. They are known as the radio call sign.

A radio call is supposed to have the following specific format.

(call type) This is (vessel type) (vessel name) (call sign) (location)(description of vessel)(situation) (short statement and request). OVER

Perhaps this is best illustrated by a number of examples of different types of calls.

For a situation with imminent threat to life - a call to any radio operator listening.

MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY This is sailing vessel Deep Six again sailing vessel Deep Six I say again sailing vessel Deep Six Whisky Xray Tango seven five niner one Five miles northeast of Saboni Point, Delaware River. Taking on water rapidly and sinking. 35 foot sloop white hull, light blue cabintop. Five people aboard. No life raft. No survival suits. Requesting immediate assistance. OVER

Listen for 15 seconds and then repeat.

MAYDAY calls are serious business. Issuing a MAYDAY call for something not immediately threatening loss of life, serious injury or loss of property is subject to a $10,000.00 fine. Just because you are going to miss your airplane flight because you ran aground is NOT a valid reason to issue a MAYDAY call.

If you hear a MAYDAY call do not talk on this channel. Let the Coast Guard handle the call. Write down any information that the caller gives out. The Coast Guard radios are powerful and probably reach further, louder and clearer than yours does. Only if the Coast Guard requests assistance of nearby vessels or the Coast Guard does not answer after three minutes and repeated MAYDAY calls should you respond yourself. If the Coast Guard does not respond to the distress call you should assume that the Coast Guard is unable to hear the MAYDAY call. You should then perform a MAYDAY relay, repeating the information given in the original call following the proper format but using the term MAYDAY RELAY instead of MAYDAY and using your vessel name and call sign.

If you are in a position to render assistance to the stricken vessel, wait until the traffic between the vessel and the Coast Guard subsides and then offer that assistance to the Coast Guard, not the stricken vessel operator and coordinate the rescue effort with the Coast Guard.

For a situation with possible loss of life or property but not imminently.

PON PON PON PON PON PON This is motor vessel No Way KILO VICTOR ALPHA four eight niner two. Ten miles west of Smith Point. 30 foot Hunter Marine light grey hull. Two peopple onboard. Engine flooded from controlled hull leak. Drifting toward shore. Estimate two to three hours before hit surf line. OVER

For a situation of possible danger.

SECURITE SECURITE SECURITE This is kayak Mariner Express Two hundred yards North North East of Red Buoy 66 in the Chester River. All traffic this area be advised a group of nine kayaks is crossing the channel in heavy fog. OVER.

A call to the Coast Guard on Channel 16 might go like this.

Coast Guard, Coast Guard, Coast Guard. This is kayak Mariner Express, Two miles south east of Smith Island latitude 34.0783 North longitude 75.8456 West. We have separated from a member of our group in high seas and are unable to locate him. Several other members of the group have capsized multiple times due to severe sea sickness. Requesting assistance. OVER

Kayak Mariner Express, This is Coast Guard Station Chesapeake City. Go to Channel 23 Over

Kayak Mariner Express going 23. Over.

Coast Guard this is kayak Mariner Express on 23. Over. (When switching channels the initiating party speaks first.)

Kayak Mariner Express, this is Coast Guard Station Chesapeake City on 23. Please restate your situation. Over.

Kayak Mariner Express requests assistance to locate ........ Blah Blah Blah ....................

Don't call the Coast Guard for stupid stuff. They are there to protect life and property, not your convenience or comfort. Calling the Coast Guard about running aground, or running out of gas, or being becalmed will get you in trouble. There are many private and commercial organizations whose business and pleasure it is to help you out with these types of problems. Sea Tow is the major organization in the U.S. that does this and they monitor channel 16 too.

A routine call on a handheld VHF with no license using channel 9 might go like this.

Kayak Looksha, Kayak Looksha, Kayak Looksha this is Kayak Mariner Express. Over.

Kayak Mariner Express this is Kayak Looksha. Go to 69. Over.

Mariner Express going 69. Over

(Listen On Channel 69. Conversation going on there Back to Channel 9 )

Kayak Looksha, Kayak Looksha, Kayak Looksha, this is Kayak Mariner Express. Over

Kayak Mariner Express this is Kayak Looksha. Go to 71. Over.

Mariner going 71. Over.

(Listen on Channel 71. no Conversation)

Kayak Looksha do you read? Over.

Rodger Mariner Express. Over.

Blah Blah Blah Over

More Blah Blah Over

Blah Blah Over

Final blah Blah. Kayak Looksha Out ( Mariner Looksha done talking and listening on this channel.)

Kayak Mariner Express Standing by 16. (Done with this conversation, Continuing to monitor channel 16. Some VHFs have the ability to monitor/scan more than one channel.)

Marine radios can also be used to connect to land telephones through the marine operator. This is an expensive and often comical operation as the telephone user seldom understands the requirements of the radio conversation and will talk when you are talking and not realize why you can't hear what they said. This option is extremely expensive and should only be used if its really really important. Use a cell phone if at all possible.

Radios are not toys and are meant for the serious business of safe navigation and emergency rescues. Never let your children play with a radio. Teach them the proper respect and protocol. Remember that the life they save may be yours.

Finally remember that what you say on a radio can be heard by anyone within range, so speak as if you were speaking to your mama. Foul language is cause for revoking your license and is subject to fines and even imprisonment by the regulating authorities. The Coast Guard monitors and can locate the source of radio signals. Its part of their job.