Radio ideas, need imput from members

[TIN CAN]

If things are like I think they are, the channels you are talking about 24 and 84 are marine operator channels that were designated by the FCC for use in public sea to shore telephone communication. They are encripted meaning you can only hear one side of the conversation. They are also ( or at least used to be) used by Telephone companies only. A lot has changed in the last few years but be aware there may be problems with these selections. That's the very reason the Non-Com channlels are all cluttered. The rest are all off limits for reports and day to day hailing and chatter.

[TIN CAN]

When I say that the channels are encrypted and you can only hear one side of the converstion the reason is you are transmitting on one frequency but your radio automaticaly receives on another because the on shore operations from the telephone company tranmits on a different channel. I am very sure you can not transmit boat to boat on any of the ship to shore dual frequency channels. Your radio does not have the same frequency in transmit and receive as it does in single frequency channles such as 68 or 69. Again the reason for the clutter on the single freq. channels. The channels you have available for ship to ship communications of other than safety related (ch06) are very limited, all other channels are fairly strictly regulated and may involve problems for the user for other purposes.

[wakina]

If things are like I think they are, the channels you are talking about 24 and 84 are marine operator channels that were designated by the FCC for use in public sea to shore telephone communication. They are encripted meaning you can only hear one side of the conversation. They are also ( or at least used to be) used by Telephone companies only. A lot has changed in the last few years but be aware there may be problems with these selections. That's the very reason the Non-Com channlels are all cluttered. The rest are all off limits for reports and day to day hailing and chatter.

TIN CAN:

Based upon the FCC page for VHF Radio channel use it appears that you are correct! Looks like we need to change to one of the NONCOMMERCIAL channels listed in the following FCC link and found under noncommercial.

We definately need one we can communicate on if 84 is unavailable to us. What do you guys think? What channel should we use if you agree with my assessment of the situation? I will go along with any choice that pleases the other members. here is the link.

http://wireless.fcc.gov/marine/vhfchanl.pdf

[ReelTime]

Well then according to that link there are not many choices.

[fishfry]

that's pry why i didn't have any response yesterday..if you guys choose an other channel be sure to update us,would have loved to get some info out to the crew yesterday..

[Gettin Jiggy]

TIN CAN:

Based upon the FCC page for VHF Radio channel use it appears that you are correct! Looks like we need to change to one of the NONCOMMERCIAL channels listed in the following FCC link and found under noncommercial.

We definately need one we can communicate on if 84 is unavailable to us. What do you guys think? What channel should we use if you agree with my assessment of the situation? I will go along with any choice that pleases the other members. here is the link.

http://wireless.fcc.gov/marine/vhfchanl.pdf

Wakina, will u pick the new channel? I floped the last one. Sence this thread is so long it might be better to start a new one, so everyone will see the change.

Gettin jiggy

[wakina]

Looks like channel 84 is a wash for us.

Gettin Jiggy asked me to pick another channel to use and I could do that, but I would like some input from the other members who will also be using this system. So please speak/type up so we can make a decision based upon all of our input.

This looks like the list of available channels for our use for keeping us informed, I am unsure about channel 9 but the others are 68, 69, 71, 72, 78, 79, 80. Anyone who is familiar with any of these channels and how busy they are please give us your opinion.

I know that 71 is really busy mostly on the weekends and has a lot of BS conversations on it talking about all sorts of stuff not related to boating or fishing, 71 is also used by those seeking a dock at Portside Marina so maybe we should keep that in mind as we decide. We will probably have to sift through alot of radio traffic no matter which channel that is decided on. Thanking all in advance for any input that they might give.

[TIN CAN]

There is not an easy answer to this delima. Consider the primary purpose of the on board radio and the requirments the FCC, Coast Guard and the ITU have put on it's use. First if you have a radio on board it must by federal law be tuned to watch channel 16 except when it is activley being used to communicate on another channel. I know that this requirement is bypassed by a great number of the boaters today. But consider the safety of your crew or a fellow boater if you miss an urgent marine warning or PAN for assistance to a nearby boat in distress. Having covered all that, channel 9, and 68 are generally used boat to boat hailing with the other as working channels. My suggestion to get around a lot of this would be a call on 16 something like this . WAKINA to WC. then any Walleye.com memember can respond WC(member name) to WAKINA . Channel 68 or whatever channel you would choose at the time. If another Channel is less busy then it would be an option but by hailing on 16 to WC you identify yourself to other members as a member requesting info. or contact. The responding member would comeback as whatever their member name is preceeded by WC. With suggestion on a working channel to tune to.

My thoughts on a tricky situation.

[wakina]

TIN CAN:

The channels 68, 69, 71, 78, 79, 80 are working channels, channel 72 is a working channel for ship to ship only, meaning that you can stand on them for day to day comunications and not be in violation of FCC rules as long as you are using them for non commercial use. Hopefully with the amount of radio traffic that we will be generating using 16 as a hailing channel may start to cause us problems with the USCG as they look at 16 as an emergency only channel.

Most of us would probably prefer to stand on, use or monitor just one channel for our comunication needs. I usually use one basic channel and scan 16 for emergencies. I thank you for your insite and contribution on this matter.

[TIN CAN]

wakina,

I also hope you guys can jam up the system with information, that will mean that there is something to talk about which will be great. It's a worth while venture and I hope all works out well in it.

TIN CAN