MT Express Sample Low Resolution Issue ... - Monitoring Times

B
OATS, PLANES, AND TRAINS
Ron
BOATS
Walsh VE3GO
ronwalsh@monitoringtimes.com
Cold Weather, Hot DX
VE3GO, here is November Eight
Fitzgerald, N8F. You are 5 and 9 at the
Whitefish Point Lighthouse. The handle
is Ralph and the home call is KW8G.
The N8F special event station commemorates
the tragic loss of the Edmund
Fitzgerald, on Nov. 10, 1975. She suddenly
disappeared from radar screens during a hurricane
force gale on Lake Superior. She was just 15 miles
from the shelter of Whitefish Point. Ralph, KW8G,
his daughter Laura, and others operate every year.
I hope to be there and operate with them in the
future.
I took a picture of this vessel in 1958 when, as
a 13year old passenger, I made a trip on the freighter
Golden Hind, along with my parents. This was also
where I first got to listen to marine radio.
❖ Great Lakes Fall VHF Traffic
I am reminded that this column will be read
in January when the cold has set in to my part of
the world and the short days (long nights) are more
favorable to HF listening. The Seaway will be shut
down, the local Coast Guard Search and Rescue base
will be closed, the yachts will all be hauled out for
the winter, the harbor will be frozen and the VHF
traffic will be at a bare minimum.
We have already had our first snowfall here and
several gale warnings. The gales of November are
famous on the lakes and hurricane force winds are
not uncommon. There is a meeting of cold Arctic air
and warm air from the Gulf of Mexico that produces
cyclonic conditions right over the Great Lakes.
The VHF radio here is very busy with traffic.
Channels 11, 12, 13 and 14 are busy with vessel
traffic information as the lakers try to get in end
of season cargoes and the salt-water vessels scurry
to avoid being caught in the lakes by freeze-up.
We will soon have daily bulletins giving the water
temperature, ice conditions and number of vessels
above certain calling-in points. The race for the
ocean will soon begin.
In the Sault Ste. Marie area, monitor channels
l2 and 16. These should be active along with the ship
to ship channels when the icebreakers are needed for
the Dec. and Jan passages of the locks. You might
want to make a recording of the UCSG icebreaker
Makinaw, as this is her last season to operate. The
lockmaster is on channel 14 and water levels are
supposed to be broadcast on channel 85 every two
minutes.
In the Niagara area (Welland Canal), monitor
channels 11 and 14. In the Lake Ontario area,
channel 11, 12 and 13 can be monitored. Channel
13 is always a good one, as commercial vessels are
required to monitor it. Ship to ship channels 6, 8 and
10 are usually active as well. Channel 16 is always
active, and the Canadian channels of 83B and 21B,
along with the USCG channel of 21A, are the source
of notices, weather etc.
❖ Modern Marine
Communications
I just returned from a Simulated Electronic
Navigation course at Georgian College in Owen
Sound, Ontario. This was necessary for continued
proficiency certification of my Master Minor Waters
Certificate. Capt. Jim Lowe put eight people from
the local tour boats through three days of training
and radar simulations. We were in simulators that
replicated the bridge of a freighter. We had all the
equipment, such as radio, radar, GPS charts, etc.,
and were placed in a series of navigation situations.
This marine college also teaches marine officers and
engineers through a cadet program.
They also teach the new Restricted Operator’s
Certificate - Marine Commercial (ROC-MC), which
is the radio license required for Canadian commercial
marine officers on the great lakes and coastal
Simulated radio equipment for radio course.
Clockwise L to R Dummy EPIRB, Waterproof
VHF portable for survival craft, SART, Navtex
receiver
areas. We got to use some of this equipment, and I
looked at the simulated equipment used for the ROC
course.
The course covers the usual VHF/HF radio
information and procedures. However, it also covers
the new GMDSS (Global Marine Distress and
Safety System) material which all officers have to
know. This includes DSC (Digital Selective Calling)
Protocols and Distress Alerting, Navtex, NBDP
(Narrow Band Direct Printing) for weather information,
VHF Portable radios for survival craft, EPIRB
(Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons and
SART (Search and Rescue Transponders), among
other items. I was particularly interested, as I teach
the course for Marine Radio Restricted licenses
for pleasure craft.
Vessels going further off shore will also need
people trained to use INMARSAT (International
Marine Satellite). The EPIRB runs at 406 MHz and
is usually triggered automatically in an emergency.
The SART responds when it encounters X band
(3 cm) radar transmissions at a range of about 8
miles.
I had an opportunity to witness the above
training in real life when I took a very enjoyable
cruise to Alaska aboard the Norwegian Sun this
past summer. Just take a look at her electronic
equipment list: She carries two complete HF/VHF
radio systems, Navtex, three Comsat Satellite terminals,
two satellite telex terminals, two SITOR
telex terminals, three satellite facsimile lines,
and two complete GMDSS Stations. This, along
with many electronic aids such as GPS Navigator,
VHF radio Direction Finder, and three ARPA
(Automatic Radar Plotting Aid) radars, show how
far electronics has come.
Once DSC radios have become installed,
the voice watch on channel 16 VHF (156.8 MHz)
and 2182 kHz will no longer be mandatory on
equipped vessels. However, in the coastal areas
and Great Lakes there are many vessels that will
not have to have such radios, so these frequencies
will be monitored by Canadian Coast Guard
radio stations for some time to come. The DCS
alert frequencies are channel 70 VHF ( 156.525
MHz) and 2187.5 kHz. I have begun to see many
loggings on this HF frequency in various utility
columns. The DSC VHF radios are coming down
in price as I have seen several for sale for just over
$200. They also can be connected to your GPS,
so when the DSC call is made, geographical data
can be sent.
All ships in the St. Lawrence Seaway now
have to carry an AIS system (Automatic Identification
System) which uses radio signals and GPS
data to relay your position and speed to the Seaway
Authorities. This has produced some lively communications
when ships are caught speeding in
traffic control zones.
❖ Information from Readers
I received a request for a source for the
VHF channel frequencies from Fred Fichman,
WA6YVA. There are several places you can obtain
these frequencies. There is usually a list with your
marine transceiver and there are some web sites
which also list them. A good site is http://www.
marinewaypoints.com/learn/VHF.shtml The
list gives the frequencies, channel numbers and
the channel use. You can also get this information
56 MONITORING TIMES January 2005