Marine VHF

“Breaker 1-9, this here’s the Rubber Duck, do ya’ got a copy on me Pig Pen, Come on?”  I thought I’d start off this blog with a hip, pop-culture reference…from a C.W. McCall song about trucking…released in the 1970s…  Yeah, maybe I need to reconsider my hip, pop-culture street cred?
​
Most boaters are familiar, at least in passing, with the VHF Marine Radio.  It is a vital piece of equipment found on all commercial vessels and most large pleasure craft, like houseboats.  It is somewhat rarer to see it on smaller runabouts, ski boats, and PWCs; but I would hope that if they are traveling outside the range of immediate assistance, that they are carrying a handheld VHF Radio.  I personally would never consider leaving the dock without this critical piece of safety equipment, especially somewhere like Lake Powell where cell phone coverage and other communications are unreliable at best.

I’m always surprised, but I’ve spoken with many houseboaters that consider it extraneous; one gentleman told me that he didn’t even know if his worked as he’d never used it before.  They are always somewhat surprised, or maybe just annoyed, when I start extoling the virtues of having and knowing how to properly use your VHF.  I thought I might put fingers to keys in an attempt to spread the good word via this blog.  I’ve seen people approach the VHF with anything from fear and trepidation to reckless abandon; ideally you’ll fall somewhere in between.

I’ve had countless hours communicating on the VHF as I stood watch on the ship, I went through untold hours of training that involved simulating bridge-to-bridge communication, I completed the GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress and Safety Systems) course which came with an FCC license, and I even briefly had my own call sign assigned to me (WZ2583, which corresponded to the Field Operations Officer on the NOAA Ship Rainier).  However, I still get a little bit nervous every time I go to key the mike on my VHF; there’s a little part of me that flashes back to being that Ensign on the bridge with a death grip on the mike worrying that I would say something dumb and make a fool of myself…broadcasting my error to every mariner in a 10-mile radius.  As with anything, it gets easier with repetition, but it’s still a good idea to think over what you’re going to say before you key that mike, you don’t want to make the mistake of being too casual; there are rules in the land of the FCC.

I’m not going to go into great detail about the underlying theory of VHF Radios or how they function.  I could bore you to death by talking about how VHF stands for Very High Frequency and operates in a frequency range between 156.000-MHz and 162.025-MHz, but my wife insists that’s not the best way to write a blog…or as she put it, “a blog that people actually want to read.”  There are three things that I think are worth mentioning though and because I’m a nerd I’m going to go into detail, but feel free to skip it and just look at the bold statement for the takeaway:

1. Your VHF operates in two modes, US and International.  If you’re operating on Lake Powell or other US waters, you want to be in US mode.  This will make a difference in how your VHF receives and transmits on several channels.  Each channel on your VHF corresponds to a specific frequency.  Most are simplex, which means they transmit and receive on the same frequency (e.g. Channel 16 is 156.800-MHz), but some channels are designated as duplex, which means they transmit on one frequency and receive on a different frequency (e.g. Channel 20 transmits on 157.000-MHz and receives on 161.600-MHz on a vessel, the opposite for a land station).  Well the US and International conventions are different and some channels that are designation as simplex in the US are duplex when you’re in international mode, which can cause a real problem if you’re trying to communicate with someone in the opposite mode on one of those channels. 
2. Your maximum range on your VHF can be nominally estimated to be about 5-miles, but it can be adversely affected by obstructions like canyon walls.  Your VHF has a high and low power transmit (between 1- and 25-Watts).  Some radios will allow you to select the transmit power, particularly commercial models, but many set the power automatically based on what channel you are on and its intended use (e.g. Channel 13 for bridge-to-bridge communication should always be low power and Channel 16 for distress and hailing is always high power).  Your range is far more dependent on the height of your antenna, since VHF is limited to line of sight (antennas do “see” differently that your eyes though…I’m tempted to go off on a tangent, but this post is long enough as it is, so maybe an unprecedented addendum post later this month will be added).  This means the higher your antenna, the greater distance you will be able to transmit and receive.  Antennas on tall towers can have ranges of tens of miles, but the realistic reliable range on your houseboat dealing with Lake Powell’s topographic limitations is 5-miles and it is less for a handheld unit (both because of limited power and the height of the antenna in a small boat).
3. Your antenna needs to be vertical in order to receive and transmit properly and mounted as high as possible to increase range.  This isn’t usually an issue on fixed systems, but there are enough that have antennas that fold down for storage that this could be an issue.  I’ve had the experience of not understanding why the ship couldn’t read me in the small boat only to discover that I forgot to raise the antenna.  Without getting too into electro-magnetism, let me just say that if you could see the transmission from an antenna you would note that it is not uniform, but instead has what I'd refer to as lobes.  For a vertical antenna like our VHF antennas, most of the power from the transmission spreads out from the sides like a donut with very little to no power going directly up or down.  This pattern is also true for receiving, as the antenna picks up signals in the lobes very well, but tends to miss signals outside those lobes.  So keep your lobes horizontal by keeping your antenna vertical.

I should also mention Digital Selective Calling, or DSC, but I’m going to focus on VHF voice communications in this post and DSC is deserving of its own blog post as I couldn’t hope to do it justice without going off on a huge tangent (what’s new?).  Instead, I will simply acknowledge it as part of your VHF that you’re probably not using to full potential.  Stay tuned for an exciting future DSC post.

So what more could you possibly need to know about your VHF Radio?  Lots, but I’ll limit it to some things to avoid on the radio and radio etiquette for routine calls.

So let me start by saying that the VHF Marine Radio does indeed have a set of rules and failure to follow these rules can get you into trouble with the FCC and other federal authorities (USCG, NPS, etc.), but the real thing to be concerned about is that when you don’t follow correct radio etiquette I, or someone like me, am probably listening…and silently judging.  So, here, in the order in which I thought of them, are my top five things to avoid with the VHF:

1. Don’t chit-chat on Channel 16.  NPS is pretty lax about this, but if you’ve ever boated in an area where the USCG is maintaining a radio watch then you’ve probably heard this before, “Stations conversing on Channel 16, this is United State Coast Guard Sector XYZ.  Channel 16 is for hailing and distress only, please move your conversation to a working channel, United State Coast Guard Sector XYZ, Out.”  If you don’t, they may not know who you are, they may not know where you are, but they have a particular set of skills and they will hunt you, and they will find you (Is that a little better for a pop-culture reference?).  Seriously, just establish communication on Channel 16 and then move to another channel to talk, that way you don’t clog up Channel 16 for everyone else that might want to call someone, or more importantly, might need to call for help.
2. Don’t leave your mike open or ramble during your transmission.  Have you ever been in a conversation with someone that just kept talking and wouldn’t let you get a word in edgewise?  Well, if that person is on the VHF, you literally can’t get a word in, because if they have their mike keyed they’re not going to hear you try to interrupt them.  While long rambling transmission should be avoided, the trouble usually arises when you accidentally sit on the transmit key in a bouncing boat.  To avoid this, make sure you put your mike or handheld radio somewhere it’s not likely to be inadvertently keyed.
3. Don’t use profanity.  This should go without saying, but know that this is an actual federal law and I feel like I should mention it.
4. Don’t use superfluous jargon, especially if you don’t understand it.  My opening to this post notwithstanding, CB lingo has no place on the VHF; so try to suppress all your 10-4s, what’s your 20s, come-ons, breaker-breakers, and the like.  There are terms specific to the VHF Marine Radio, which I’ll get to in the etiquette portion, but most are not required and if you’re unsure about using them, don’t.  I cringe every time I hear “over and out”; you can be “over” or you can be “out”, but you are never “over and out” at the same time.  If nothing else, just please stop saying that.
5. Don’t let your kids play with the VHF radio.  I could have also titled this “don’t make false distress calls,” but figure if you’re the type of person that thinks making a fake distress call is a good idea, you’re not really in my target audience.  You’re kids on the other hand, may not know any better and if left alone with a radio will probably reenact that famous scene of Matt Damon in Saving Private Ryan when the aliens are about to sink the Titanic where he screams, ”Mayday, Mayday, Mayday!” in to the radio.  I may have gotten my pop-culture references confused there, but, point being, movies do a great job of teaching kids that what you do with a radio is pick up the mike and scream Mayday into it.  The USCG must investigate every mayday call as if it were genuine, even if they’re reasonably certain that it was just your kids screwing around.  This results in millions of dollars of taxpayer money wasted every year on searches that aren’t necessary, but the consequences of not treating every mayday call as genuine are too grave.  Teach your kids to respect the VHF and don’t let them play with it (you could read them this blog post as a bedtime story…my wife says it puts her to sleep); if they do call mayday, do the right thing and call the authorities (USCG or NPS) back and let them know to disregard the call.

That’s a lot of don’ts, so now for some dos.  Your VHF is your link to the outside world; for this reason, I recommend keeping it on and monitoring Channel 16 at all times, but at a minimum you should be listening to it when you are underway.  The best tool in the world won’t do you any good switched off and sitting in the closet.  I guess that’s do number one, turn your radio on and use it.  Not only can it be a life line in times of emergency, it is extremely handy in everyday life.  You can tune to the weather bands for the regional forecast for the next few days, NPS makes general safety and informational broadcasts (like the pump out station at Bullfrog is closed), and you can call your small boat and ask them to pick up more beer on their way back from the marina.  Now, in the reverse order I thought of them, here are things you should know about using your radio:

1. Listen before you transmit.  Don’t just grab the mike and start talking, take the time to listen and make sure that you won’t be stepping on other stations that are already talking on the channel you’re using.  Wait until they are finished before you transmit.  This can sometimes be frustrating if the radio is particularly busy, but it does you no good to try to talk over them as neither one of you will be heard.
2. Channel 16 is for hailing and distress only.  Once you’ve established communications, immediately shift to a working channel to have your conversation.
3. Repeat important information (like the station you are calling) up to three times.  The purpose of this is to make sure that important information is understood, but more often than not, I hear even professional mariners rush through the three repeats in the time it would have taken to say it once clearly, which kind of defeats the purpose.  This isn’t a rule, but it is good practice, and if you are going to repeat it three times, you should make it understandable.
4. Give your name so the station you’re calling knows to whom to respond.  I can’t count the number of times that I’ve heard, “Bullfrog Boat Rentals, come in please.”  Come back to who?  Boat rentals has two options, respond to generic “station calling” or assume that your boat name is Come-in Please, which is kind of a crappy boat name.  In many cases the person on the other end of VHF isn’t very knowledgeable either and not knowing your name will result in confusion and they may just not respond.  Tell them who you are when you call them.
5. Use positive communication.  Exchanging information via VHF can be like a game of telephone and can lead to confusion; it’s a good practice to repeat what you think you heard back to the person communicating it, to make sure it’s actually what they meant.
6. Begin your call with the name of the station you’re calling followed by your name.  In general, both the name of the station you’re calling and your name can be repeated up to three times when establishing communications, but can then be reduced to once after you’ve established communications or dropped all together if there’s no other traffic.  You always lead with the station you’re calling and then tell them who is calling them (i.e. you).  For instance, if I were on Serenity and were calling the Dessert Island, it would go something like this; “Dessert Island, Dessert Island, Dessert Island.  This is Serenity on Channel 1-6.  Over.”
7. It’s good practice to state what channel you’re on since some vessels might be monitoring more than one channel, but not strictly necessary.
8. Now here comes the jargon.  Here is a list of some of the more common terms that you might find useful in communicating on the VHF.  For a complete list of term, you can consult the US Coast Guard Raidiotelephone Handbook.

• Broken and/or Unreadable – Used to indicate that you were unable to make out what was said because the transmission was garbled.
• Go Ahead – Used at the end of transmission to indicate that you have finished speaking and are awaiting further communication, particularly after having just been called.
• Out – Used at the end of your transmission to indicate you have completed communications and do not expect a response.
• Over – Used at the end of your transmission to indicate you have finished speaking and are awaiting a response.
• Rodger – Used to communicate that you heard and understood their transmission; it is often good practice to repeat what you thought you heard to make sure it is accurate.
• Shifting – Used to indicate that you are changing channels, usually to continue communications with another station on that channel.
• Station Calling – Used in place of a station name when someone calls you, but you were not able to understand their name.  A generic term used to indicate the station trying to get ahold of you.
• Stepped On – Used to indicate that multiple stations transmitted at once and transmission was garbled.

So that’s all well and good, but how would a standard VHF exchange go?  Here’s an example.
ON CHANNEL 16:

Serenity:  “Duck, Duck, Duck.  This is Serenity, Serenity, Serenity on Channel 1-6.  Over.”
Duck:  “Station Calling, this is Duck.  Go Ahead.”
S: “Duck, this is Serenity.  Want to shift to Channel 6-9?  Over.”
D:  “Serenity, Duck.  Copy shifting to channel 6-9.  Out”
CHANNEL 69 (designated for non-commercial traffic)
S:  “Duck, Duck, Duck.  This is Serenity on Channel 6-9.  Over.”
D:  “Serenity, Duck.  Go Ahead.”
S:  “Duck, Serenity.  We are critically low on cheesy-poofs.  Can you pick some up at Halls on the way back? Over.”
D:  “Serenity, Duck.  Rodger, we’ll get cheesy-poofs on our way back.  Did you see that awesome post about the VHF Marine Radio on The Captain’s Blog?  Over.”
S:  “Duck, Serenity.  I’m reading it right now; thought I would take a little afternoon siesta.  Over.”
D:  “Serenity, Duck.  Sounds good; see you in about 30-minutes. Over.”
S:  “Duck, Serenity.  Copy, see you in 30-mintues.  Serenity shifting back to channel 1-6.  Serenity, Out.”

You could have easily dispensed with all the “Duck, Serenity” and “Serenity, Duck”, but they were left in for example of formal communication.  Also, as I said earlier, the jargon isn’t strictly required, but you might find that used properly it can help smooth out communications.  For those of you waiting for a duck, duck, goose joke…sorry, that’s just beneath me.

Now go out there and use your VHF with renewed confidence and, “keep doin’ it to it, like Pruitt used to do it…to it…”  Ah, never mind the pop-culture references.  Until next time, here’s wishing you fair winds and following seas.