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

ARPA screen for Halifax harbor approach
traffic scheme
Traffic passing Quebec City. Front to back
- Levi ferry, Cabot container ship westbound,
CSL Laurentien eastbound.
from the US Coast Guard or Canadian Coast Guard
publications. The channel numbers and frequencies
are valid world-wide, but the use of some channels
varies from country to country. If necessary, a
complete list can be added to a future column. A list
of US VHF channels is also online at http://www.
monitoringtimes.com/html/mtmarvhf.html along
with other maritime products. I will list any that I
use at the end of the column.
William Tompkins, AD5WT, sent me some
interesting frequencies he got from his cruising
adventures. The ship’s crew made use of 450 to 470
MHz handhelds for internal ship communications.
I have listed several he sent me and have heard a
variety of frequencies used by ships when docking
and traversing canals, etc. The deck to bridge communications
is definitely interesting to listen to. He
also listed a few wireless microphone frequencies.
Your portable scanner is always useful when traveling;
however, be very aware of the radio laws of
countries you visit. This is particularly true if you
are a ham operator and have a hand held, etc. with
you. I noted that the Norwegian Line asked people
not to operate RF transmitting devices on the ship.
I assume other lines have the same policy.
The frequencies will differ with each ship, but
a short scan should find some interesting listening
on board. Here are some examples (in MHz).
MV Insignia
457.525 Bridge
457.55 Secondary Frequency
457.575 Reception desk
MV Splendor of the Seas (Royal Caribbean)
467.75 Bridge
467.575 Secondary
❖ KPH Still Active
Another interesting Marine Radio History site
has to do with the preservation and operation of
Marine Station KPH and associated amateur radio
station K6KPH. The site http://www.radiomarine.
org gives all the information, pictures, and details of
future operations. KPH is regularly returned to the
air, on the old frequencies, by this dedicated group of
enthusiasts. They are always active on July 12 or the
“Night of Nights” as they call it. This was the night
of the last commercial marine Morse transmission.
K6KPH is also active on Straight Key Night, International
Marconi Day, and most Saturdays when
the station is open for visitors. Richard Dillman,
W6AWO, has given us a lot of interesting information
which we will cover in future columns.
By the way, although Morse code marine
transmissions have all but ceased, Canadian Marine
Officers still have to know Morse by sound and light
at 4 words per minute. I had several marine friends
ask me to help them learn Morse last winter.
❖ Winter Monitoring
As the winter monitoring season approaches,
here are a few frequencies to try (in kHz):
DSC Voice NBDP (SITOR B)
2187.5 2182 2174.5
4207.5 4125 4177.5
6312.0 6215 6268.0
8414.5 8291 8376.5
12577.0 12290 12520
16804.5 16420 16695
We have just had a tug sinking off Texada
Island, BC, so you never know when monitoring
the distress channels will provide some interesting
listening. 4125 kHz is still a good channel for the
West Coast. Canadian Coast Guard stations on the
West Coast can still be heard on 2182, 2054 and
4125 kHz. VAJ Prince Rupert and VAE Tofino are
listed for these frequencies. East Coast Canadian
Frequencies listed are 2514, 2538, 2582, 4375 and
6513 kHz. 2670 kHz and 6501 are still good for
USCG Broadcasts. 5696 and 8983 are very useful
for USCG operations. Canadian East Coast weather
broadcasts are on 2598 and 2749 kHz. Bermuda
Harbor Radio is still on 2582 kHz.
❖ Here at the shack
Please allow me to bring back a bit of history.
While working N8F, I also worked KB8TI in
Lansing, Michigan, another station in the special
event. Rick, the operator on duty, passed along a
hello from Shawn who was helping run the station.
Shawn held the SWL call of WPE8CPC. Many of
us will remember the SWL calls issued by Popular
Electronics magazine. Over coffee this past week,
Mike, VE3PRW, produced a 1963 copy of the
magazine. It contained a recognition for logs sent
to the shortwave column from VE3PE1BQ, one
Ron Walsh. It sure brought back some memories
of listening to a Hallicrafters S-38!
A close friend and SWL colleague, George
Kennedy, now VE3GHK, wanted a tower for a beam
antenna. He was given one by a ham going overseas
and has painstakingly refurbished this windmill type
tower. However, when we traced the owners of the
tower, we found it was originally used at Marine
Coast Station VBH, here in Kingston! At least a bit
of this old station is still involved in HF transmissions.
As I sit in the shack, I have monitored the local
tour boats heading for winter berths. The marine
USCG cutter in Skagway Alaska
weather channel has given a water spout advisory
for Lake Ontario and several vessels are waiting for
pilots. A conversation about a vessel hitting a lock
wall and having to be towed to Montreal was just
heard on a ship to ship channel. Port aux Basques
and Labrador Coast Guard radio have been heard
on HF. The Maritime Mobile Service Net on 14 300
is S-9.
My antennas have been checked, the furnace
has come on and the wind is approaching gale force.
It looks like the winter monitoring season is here. I
wish all my readers good listening and the best of
the Holiday season. Please let me know what you
heard! I’m off to send some CW on 20 metres.
73’s and good DX, Ron VE3GO
VHF Frequencies used in this article (MHz)
Channel Frequency
156.3
8 156.4
156.5
156.55
156.6
156.65
156.7
156.8
21A 157.1
21B 161.665
70 156.525
83B 161.775
85 157.275 / 161.875
January 2005 MONITORING TIMES 57