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Setting Up My New VHF.


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One thing I never realised is that in NZ the callsign is regarded as attached to the skipper / owner not the vessel.

 

In other words when you sell your boat the callsign is supposed to follow you to your new boat (or die out if you go boating). The new owner either brings their own existing callsign or buy a new one when they buy your boat. To leave the callsign with the boat the seller has to release the callsign to the buyer and notify CG of this agreement.

 

In my case I bought from deceased estate so the CG saw common sense and let me keep the callsign on the basis the old owner would have little use for it now (RIP).

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What a palava...anyway couldn't find my old call sign so went for a new one.

 

  • Ended up at - http://www.callsigns.co.nz/
  • Entered details, DNA sample, 2019 Profit and loss statement plus a 50 page dissertation on why 4 digit callsigns cause climate change or so it seems it wanted so much.
  • Paid $35 for new custom call sign ($30 if you want auto generated) which apparently automatically comes with a MMSI.
  • Will be emailed to me shortly it reckons.

 

We'll see.

Interested to hear how that works out,I have looked at that site before and it seems quite dated...

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Sorry, BP, dont agree with that at all. A proper, registered callsign and MMSI means in the event of an emergency, the rescue services know who you are, emergency contacts, vessel description etc from the first call.

Its cheap and easy, no on going costs. Why you wouldn't do it is beyond me...

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If you have a registered epirb, they contact you every few years to get current data. Attaches to the mmsi

 

Yup, got an email a couple years back asking if I'd replaced the battery in my PLB. 

 

Additionally, I don't remember paying anything to register my PLB (McMurdo FastFind G).

 

I listed likely sailing or use locations as: NZ coastal and bush/mountains + Europe.   No complaints.

 

Looking in to it now for Jersey Registration - MMSI and radio callsign/ship's license are administered by Ofcom.org.uk and is totally free if you do it online. 

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Spectrum Management will automatically list your licence with your RROC MMSI and "billing period" plus client number. CG manages the registry on their behalf. Now you do nothing as your callsign and mmsi are assigned to you the licensee (not the ship) so are transferable to other vessels if you were doing deliveries etc. It's listed on the register with a ship name you supplied as that would be the vessel normally associated with that callsign but can be any vessel you are aboard (reason why CG will always ask for a vessels name). So no, you don't need another callsign if you have more than one vessel unless both would be in operation at the same time. Each epirb has its own unique hex code so requires a separate mmsi number and modern transceivers that have DSC use a mmsi number and AIS if you have it. A HT with DSC would need a separate mmsi too so different callsign but of course you do not have to enter an mmsi as DSC is not used here (still trying to get my head around that one).

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Like "CB" and the amateur radio service, maritime VHF is under what they call a "general radio user licence" that requires no fees so ignore the billing bit. The only difference is operators of both amateur and marine radios are required to have a operators certificate (unless its an emergency). DSC should switch all DSC radios (including the distressed vessels radio) within range to channel 16 if its triggered. The idea being someone within VHF range would be a first responder getting to the stricken vessel. GREAT if everyone has their radios on which we know is not the case (guilty as charged!). It should also give coordinates of the caller on the display if they have GPS hooked up. I discussed DSC somewhere else in here so won't go into detail. Your transceiver will regularly annoy you with an alarm if there is no GPS data and can't be turned off so it's either more expense getting a nmea GPS link or pull the thing apart and cut a pin on a IC. I decided on the latter but now have a GPS running as it was a simple USB dongle that I converted to supply the right sentences so it no barks at me right over communications wiping everything out.

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Some receivers can turn off the warning, most can't. Most boats have an nmea0183 source from their plotters that can provide gps data to the vhf. Its a simple ground and 2 data wires connection. If you do it wrong it just wont work. IMO way easier than cutting a leg of an IC, or even figuring out which one to cut.

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Some receivers can turn off the warning, most can't. Most boats have an nmea0183 source from their plotters that can provide gps data to the vhf. Its a simple ground and 2 data wires connection. If you do it wrong it just wont work. IMO way easier than cutting a leg of an IC, or even figuring out which one to cut.

I'm a tech so worked it out for myself but for most probably not a good idea. Its a requirement of all DSC radios to have a non user interuptable alarm for gps signal loss, would love to know which transceiver makers have got around that FCC compliance! Would not be SOLAS compliant either if fitted with DSC and an alarm that can be switched off. The VHF I have has a nmea input so running a laptop GPS dongle into that so that when the radio is turned on, so is the GPS which eliminates having to run a MFD or other current happy device for the nmea.

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Anyone know what this 'SMART' thing is that pops up on all the RSM stuff and features highly on the paperwork I just got sent?

 

It seems very important but not that important enough it has anything that explains what it is.

It's simply a acronym for their online searchable data base.

 

There should be software available if not supplied with the AIS that will talk to it on a USB port that will allow you to burn in the MMSI which will activate the transmitter. It's a ONE TIME operation! Stuff it up and its a return to factory for a reset. Another big brother move by the FCC. It will also ask for vessel details plus dimensions as to where the antenna is placed on the vessel, buggard if I know why they need that!!? I am assuming you have a class b not class a which has an entry screen built in for things like messaging and doesn't need a PC attached. Some new class b units can do this via Bluetooth. Just remember, check that mmsi number before you click yes!!!

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Our VHF kept asking for an MMSI number and I used the "Phone a friend" option, (a call to someone that issues them) and it was sorted for me and emailed through about 5 minutes later. But in the 3 years we have had the flash new network system all installed and running I have not actually used or even turned on the VHF, cant actually see the need for it to be perfectly honest as most comms are via phone. 

We had the rig out over last winter for a service and when lifting it out I discovered the cable joiner for the masthead aerial  so corroded it fell apart when I tried to undo it so was utterly useless. I took the masthead aerial off, pulled the cable out and now have a deck mounted aerial (albeit still in its bag in the quarter berth ready to plug in should the need arise. )

Maybe if there was ever an emergency and all the phones on the boat were flat and/or out of coverage area the VHF is the next option and then I would go for one of the two handheld VHFs. 

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Handheld vhfs often dont have the power to trigger a repeater. They also have much reduced range over a proper boat set. Phones are point to point - ie you to rescue services, but may miss the boat nearest you who can help first. VHF is point to multi point - you to anyone in the area with a vhf on. It also works around much more of the NZ coast than cellular does.

This is why coastguard have been doing the vhf ads this year.

IMO vhf is safety equipment. It's good, because this one you can test yourself, for free. Make a radio check to coastguard or maritime radio, at least a couple of times a year, to prevent an issue like above being a surprise.

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Oh, and CH, the FCC is the USA. Not all manufacturers bother with approval bu them, as its expensive. You guessed it, the VHF units I've seen with he ability to bypass the dsc setup were asian...

Unfortunately the FCC is the thug in the world of electronics. Yes they are in the USA but a lot of countries like Canada Australia and NZ use their approvals to allow equipment licensing and the US being the world's biggest market, manufacturers have to get the FCC part done then the ECC etc is pretty well straight forward. NZ requires "type approved" and therefor also uses the FCC approval standards (from the RSM website: "Joint Australia and New Zealand standards (AS/NZS) and international standards (IEC-CISPR, ETS, EN, & FCC), are adopted in New Zealand where possible, to maximise trade opportunities, equipment availability and minimise compliance costs"). Of interest, it's now impossible to import radio transmitting apparatus into NZ without a dealers registration number from RSM! Will be seized at the border.

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