Marine patrol radio freq
 

Hello, I recently got my first radio and I am trying to figuiire out what radio frequencies to put on my radio when I am on the water. I wanted to put the frequencies of the marine patrol and an emergency frequency and stuff like that.

Many thanks, Mitch.

Ch 16
 

Marine Patrol monitors CH 16, this is the emergency and hailing channel.

Most on the lake seem to call and then switch to CH 68 for non emergency communincations.

I don't know if there are other popular chanels on the lake, or if any of the gas dock's or marina's listen to any other channls.

So for now always monitor CH 16 at least. Most new radios have a CH 16 priority setting.

Is your new radio setup for DSC? If so, did you interface it with a GPS? I'm not sure if anyone on the lake uses DSC.

???
 

What's DCS Rich?

Thanks Rich! If by DCS you mean Digital Coded Squelch them yes, it does. But i don't know if I can hook it up to a gps. Thanks for the info.

Oops, my dyslexia kicked in.

That's DSC (not DCS). ;)

DSC = Digital Selective Calling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_VHF_radio

http://www.vhf-dsc.info/

All new VHF radios have this feature. You need to register for a free MMSI number for your boat. You can do this online at several places (see links above).

Some radios have a a built in GPS, for those that do not, you interface with your other GPS (if you have one). Then when you make a distress call, your position is sent automatically out.

Sounds nice, it's becoming the standard on the ocean, but I'm not sure if anyone uses it here on the lake. I have my radio setup for this and also wired to my GPS. I'd love to test it with someone to make sure it works.

I even backwired my radio to my GPS, so if someone makes a DCS call, I should see their position show up on my GPS also.

This uses the NEMA183 or NEMA2000 wiring to interface with the GPS. I have two different brands of equipment (West Marine brand radio and Garmin GPS) and they interfaced and work together well using the NEMA183 connections.

There is a distress button on my radio under a safety cover, press it and it can make an automatic emergency call, show my position and the nature of the emergency (man overboard, sinking, medical, etc.).

Or I can make non emergency calls directly to another boat if I know their MMSI number (sort of like a phone number).

It seems DSC is DCS on steroids. :)

Thanks Rich.

Wow that's cool. Definitely worth looking into.

http://i44.tinypic.com/1499wms.gif tyqre, I just noticed that you are fairly new to the forum . Have fun and enjoy the Winni Forum while making many new friends. I can see you have already received some responses from our forum friends. I'm sure you will get the info you want and then some additional that will help also.:)

http://i54.tinypic.com/2e56yqf.gif

Thank you :)

If I am not mistaken --- Marine Patrol NH is not equipped to handle DSC

Thus a waste of your time setting it up unless you are in waters patrolled by the Coast Guard

Safety is not a waste of time, ever. ;)

If the MP isn't setup yet, I'm sure they will be. By law, all new radios must include this feature.

So as they purchase new radios, they will have the feature.

Also, if other boats have it, it can't hurt.

It's only 10 minutes more to set this up once you have the equipment. If you have an older setup now, I wouldn't say to go running to get a new radio (same as on the ocean), but as u get new equipment, why not set it up properly?

None the less, I"m setup, if anyone ever wants to test their radio with this feature, let me know, we can coordinate it sometime.

Given that DSC isn't new, and the current state of the MP budget, I wouldn't count on THAT happening anytime soon.


I would tend to lay more faith in a fully charged mobile phone, before waiting for a DSC signal to be responded to


Just sayin


.

I agree, one would not wait for a DSC call, ever, anywhere.

That's not how it works. You press the button, then make your distress call. You don't press the button and wait for help to arrive. ;)

Also, on the lake, do what you must, cell phone, CH 16, etc.

Can the marine patrol even hear a radio call from every part of the lake? I hear them many times telling people to call via cell phone when a radio signal is weak.

We're now officially off the original topic. ;)