I am strongly opposed to the moves to make it easier for idiots to gain access to the VHF frequencies. I strongly believe that we should all have to study and sit exams for a VHF licence, as was once the case, at least in Australia. John's recent example of a serious distress call being compromised by idiots is a case in point. Professional mariners must be shaking their heads at the stuff that is infesting the international calling channels these days. Eventually the VHF channels are going to be as clogged as the 27meg channels. Pete Rattenbury, Wollongong, Australia. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On 19 Apr 2005 at 7:59, Peter Rattenbury wrote: > I am strongly opposed to the moves to make it easier for idiots to > gain > access to the VHF frequencies. I strongly believe that we should all > have to study and sit exams for a VHF licence, as was once the case, > at least in Australia. So too with me here in the Great White North. Unfortunately, the attitude that the license is not required (in the sense that you won't get caught) is quite common. Add to that the fact that with the US dropping license requirements means that US manufactured power- and sailboats come with marine VHF transceivers as standard equipment. When those boats are sold in Canada, no one says "you need a license for this bit." Ditto the radio shops - when you buy a ham radio rig, you need to show a license but when you buy a marine VHF (as I did this past weekend), no one asks for anything. The ham radio enthusiasts are keen on keeping their hobby clean, but there's no one stepping up for marine VHF. > Professional mariners must be shaking their heads at the stuff that > is > infesting the international calling channels these days. Eventually > the VHF channels are going to be as clogged as the 27meg channels. They have at least one thing in their favour - commercial operators are required to carry DSC enabled gear. That means that they get a digital emergency transmission out on channel 70 with a registration number (ID) and GPS position automatically. No voice competition involved. The followup is on channel 16, but the main message is out already. If all someone wants is good weather info, buy a weather radio receiver. Both NOAA (US) and Environment Canada broadcast weather info on the WX1-WX10 channels and no license is required. If you want to chatter with your kayaking buddies, buy a set of FRS radios - no license required for that either. But if you buy marine VHF, respect it for what it is. As Dave says, don't abuse it. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Michael Daly wrote: > If you > want to chatter with your kayaking buddies, > buy a set of FRS radios - no license required > for that either. > FWIW, having last year purchased FRS radios, it became apparent that unless one wants to order from a specialty shop, most radios currently available in the big box stores are combination FRS/GMRS radios. Although the advertised longer range of the GMRS is appealing (1-5 watt transmission power, advertised 2-7 mile range), many consumers probably don't realize that a license is required for the GMRS radios - and it's often not stated very conspicuously on the package. Only pure FRS radios (max 500 milliwatt power - advertised range up to 2 miles) are exempt from licensing. see http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/personal/generalmobile/ Erik Sprenne at the southern tip of Lake Michigan *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
[Moderator's Note: Content unaltered. Excessive quoting (including headers/footers/sig lines/extraneous text from previous posts, etc.) have been removed. Please edit quoted material in addition to removing header/trailers when replying to posts.] It appears that a GMRS license may be required for the dual (FRS/GMRS) radios even if you don't use the GMRS functions. You get a cool callsign and everything. And all for only $75. I'm glad mine are older FRS-only models. I wonder if Canada and other countries have anything similar to GMRS and if there is anything about reciprocal licensing. By the way, if you have any other US-issued licenses or credentials (pilot's license, USCG Merchant Marine license, etc.) you might not want to take a chance and operate a GMRS without a license; if they catch you they can take ALL your licenses away for one infraction of any US rule. Craig Jungers Royal City, WA *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On 20 Apr 2005 at 7:24, Craig Jungers wrote: > I wonder if Canada and other countries have anything similar to GMRS > and if there is anything about reciprocal licensing. Canada has introduced both FRS and GMRS after a few years lag behind the US. GMRS is also restricted to 2 watts (not 5W) in Canada. At this low power, they are exempt from requiring a license. Note that there were licensed LMR bands in the GMRS frequency range prior to the introduction of GMRS - they remain licensed. I guess they restricted the power so that they would not have to deal with licensing issues. As such, you can't use the US GMRS devices in Canada at 5W. As such, I see FRS, GMRS and FRS/GMRS units in a lot of stores here. Erik mentions that FRS-only units are getting hard to find in the US. I find that surprising given that the license is mandatory. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
From this document: (Canadian study guide for radio licensure) http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/vwapj/ric26.pdf/$FILE/ric26.pdf On page 7: Radio Silence Periods In order to make it possible for distress and urgency calls to be heard readily, periods of silence have been made mandatory on 2 182 kHz in the Maritime Service. These periods of silence commence on the hour until three minutes past the hour, and repeat on the half-hour until thirty-three minutes past the hour. Unless in a distress or urgency situation, all stations fitted with the MF radiotelephone international distress and calling frequency of 2 182 kHz must maintain listening watch and radio silence during the silence periods. Stations should increase the level of their 2 182 kHz receiver volume controls during these periods in order to better hear weak distress signals (see the section entitled "Distress Frequency Watch Receiver" in this publication). Radio silence periods are not required to be maintained on the VHF (Very High Frequency) International Distress and Calling Frequency of 156.8 MHz (Channel 16). The last line indicates CH 16 is NOT included in radio silence, right? K *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> Radio silence periods are not required to be maintained on the VHF (Very > High Frequency) > International Distress and Calling Frequency of 156.8 MHz (Channel 16). > > The last line indicates CH 16 is NOT included in radio silence, right? Correct; because it is not a regular calling channnel. Nobody is supposed to use it unless in emergency. But like I said, in Mexico they use CH 16 widely: http://www.thelog.com/printer/article.asp?c=78408 - seems like all marinas on the list use CH 16 - or I don't undestand what they wanted to say in this document. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On 19 Apr 2005 at 20:49, Keith Wrage wrote: > urgency situation, all stations fitted with the MF radiotelephone > international distress and calling frequency of 2 182 kHz must > maintain listening watch and radio silence during the silence periods. [...] > Radio silence periods are not required to be maintained on the VHF > (Very High Frequency) International Distress and Calling Frequency of > 156.8 MHz (Channel 16). > > The last line indicates CH 16 is NOT included in radio silence, right? Right. These are two different systems and have two different protocols. The former is a long-range service (in roughly the same frequency range as some ham radio bands) that is used in international waters. The latter operates over shorter distances in territorial waters. Unless you're in the same league as Lindemann or other ocean crossers, you're not going to use the MF radio. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On 20 Apr 2005 at 3:06, Michael Daly wrote: > The former is a long-range service (in roughly the same > frequency range as some ham radio bands) I managed a "duh" moment here. The MF _frequency_ is roughly 2MHz, the ham bands are around 2 meter _wavelength_. Sorry for the mixup. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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