On Tue, Sep 30, 2008 at 11:00 PM, alex <al.m_at_3web.net> wrote: > > ago, our only emergency radio system was to call overhead aircraft when > they > > were visible and ask them to relay. > > Just curious - can a handheld VHF like Icom be received by aircraft, and > what channel, - or was it one of those bigger radios? > Marine frequencies, while still labeled as "VHF", are much higher than the aircraft frequencies. In addition, the modulation is different; aircraft use amplitude modulation (AM) and marine radios use frequency modulation (FM). So unless one of the radios (either the marine or aircraft) is designed to monitor the other emergency frequency and modulation no communications is possible. Over the past decade there have been several radios (some of them modified amateur radio hand helds) that can communicate all over the VHF bands and, in particular, the aviation and maritime emergency channels. Some will also do SSB (single sideband). Steve Holtzman said he found several by Icom. I do think that there are more people likely to be listening to marine VHF channel 16 that are likely to come to your rescue than there are people likely to be listening to aviation VHF 121.5mHz. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, 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/ ***************************************************************************
Over the past decade there have been several radios (some of them modified amateur radio hand helds) that can communicate all over the VHF bands and, in particular, the aviation and maritime emergency channels. Some will also do SSB (single sideband). Steve Holtzman said he found several by Icom. I do think that there are more people likely to be listening to marine VHF channel 16 that are likely to come to your rescue than there are people likely to be listening to aviation VHF 121.5mHz. [Steve Holtzman] The radios we used in the Grand Canyon were strictly aircraft frequency radios. VHF Ch 16 was not monitored in the canyon in those days (probably still) because radio communication from the floor of the valley or the river to the top of the canyon was impossible. The reason for the aircraft radios was because it's a straight line shot from the floor to an aircraft that you can see passing overhead. Unless a plane circled back, your communication window was very short. Steve Holtzman *************************************************************************** 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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