FREE For Boat Shoppers: www.BoatersSecretWeapon.com/Toolkit FREE Boat Buyer's Toolkit for new or used boat shoppers will give you 28-pages of checklists, questions to ask and how to demo the boat the right way so you don't miss a thing. Plus, get the cost of ownership calculator so you know precisely what your cost of ownership will be. FREE For Boat Owners: boaterssecretweapon.com/pages/boater-bootcamp FREE Boater Bootcamp for newer boat owners gives you insights on boat ownership basics, navigation and practical rules of the water and how to avoid, be prepared and handle emergency situations. No more not knowing what you don't know in the boating lifestyle.
@0:57 Digital distress signals are sent on channel 70, not channel 16. Channel 70 is the only digital channel, all other channels are analog. There's an extra receiver inside your VHF that always listens on channel 70. @3:35 The squelsh doesn't work that way, I will not get any clearer listening when the other station is closer. What is does is that i raises the level that a signal must have to get thru. Without the squelch you would listen to noise when no-one is transmitting. Squelsh level should always be set just above the noise level so you don't miss any calls.
Too bad there are a number of errors in this very important safety video. Also the connection between devices are a NMEA not anything else, and he also have to understand the different NMEA standards because they don't talk to each other.
Excellent video. My husband is a captain on a large (190') cruise ship on Lake George, NY. He said one ongoing problem is abuse of channel 16 by pleasure boaters. Typical issues are people letting their kids play with it, or boaters going on 16 and asking for a radio check. He says they deal with this stuff all day long.
Hailing on ch 16 tip: When you turn your VHF on to ch 16 it automatically defaults to HIGH POWER. If you are hailing another vessel or a bridge in sight you do not need or want HIGH POWER because it just pollutes the channel for many miles. Every time you go to ch 16 hit that hi/low button to switch to low power unless you NEED to hail someone much further away. Boats 5, 10, even 15+ miles away don't want to hear your hail when it doesn't apply to them. The worst thing is hearing some newbie motorboat skipper traveling sown the ICW and hailing every boat they pass with, "sailboat in front of me on the ICW." For a half hour or more and many multiple times. Remember that on High Power when that skipper says that over the radio every sailboat skipper within a 15+ mile radius is turning around to look behind them. Don't be this guy.
That coil that you cut out is called a dirty choke. No they do not hurt your transmit or receiving signals. They actually help with common mode currents which can clean up up your signal a little. They work best located at the base of the antenna though. Also, Shakespeare advises you leave your coax at least 3 feet long. Possibly the reason of the coil from the dealer.
"Channel 16 is the international hailing and distress channel. . Shift your traffic to another working channel." You'll hear this a few times a day and during peak migration times on the Intra-Coastal Waterways it sometimes will be multiple times an hour. They never learn.
The worry thing about this video, it appears to confirm there are “boaters” out there that do not know this information and are in charge of their passenger safety. Breathtaking
Have you actually been out there on the water? There are many boaters even worse than that. In the USA the only thing you need to get out on the water and be in charge of your own vessel is a credit card that works. Many credit card captains are a danger to themselves and everyone around them.
Many highly-populated cruising destination spots will hold a daily "Cruiser's Net" on a rec channel such as VHF 68 or 72 which some might consider a "radio show" but is a legitimate use of the marine VHF and SSB frequencies when done correctly and on the proper channels.
1w setting lowers the power and range of the transmission, so use for Security calls and talking with others nearby. 25W longer range and use for any emergency call or reaching boaters further distance On the radio check, it depends on if there were other boaters out and where you called from. Could be fewer people on the radio this time or year, could be an antenna issue or mic button issue even
If you can see them use low power when inshore. Ch 16 defaults to high power so always switch to low power unless you are calling for help or someone out of your visible range (when inshore) Offshore you can often see much further all the way to the horizon so high power is called-for.
In my area, Channel 16 is primarily used for pissed off people to scream, “you’re responsible for your wake, Capt’n” over the radio Nd yelling various obscenities.
Sort of new here, and have never hooked up a emergency signaling VHF radio before. I'm going to be doing it in the near future and I am wondering how do you test it to make sure it is hooked up right without sending out a true emergency
the red button is not DSG when you do two deliberate actions (lift the spring loaded cover, press the button for more than five seconds) this will send a digital distress alert. this in turn alarms all the radios within the geographical range and the only way to silence those radios is to press the button to silence this. this in turn will set all the radios to channel 16 which is the distress and calling channel in order for you to send your Mayday call and message. i wish people would be exact about this as it important to get the correct massage across.
If you are making passing arrangements you call on 13 not 16 for example “(you say) on the Freedom Joann (they say) freedom standing by, (you say) can I see you on two? (They say) two agreed (or maybe one would be better) anything more then this goes to a working channel. Obviously you use your vessels name and the vessel you are calling not my example. Always monitor 13 when underway. The reason 13 is used is because it’s the designated Bridge to Bridge channel and is a low power channel so you aren’t jamming up 16 for 20 miles bridge to bridge doesn’t mean a bridge you drive over but your vessels bridge to another vessel’s bridge. But it’s also used at drawbridges and locks.
Good luck with that. Almost nobody other than commercial traffic monitors ch 13 continuously because most common recreational marine VHF radios do dual-watch monitoring poorly if at all. Calling anyone but a commercial vessel or a bridge on 13 is a waste of time. They aren't listening.
@@svbarryduckworth628 Good luck getting a recreational on 16 either. As a merchant mariner I’ve just about given up on calling recreational boats, 99 percent of them don’t even have their radios on. I just give them 5 short when they try to get themselves killed playing chicken with a 6,000 ton barge.
You might be right -especially small center console weekend warriors. We don't ever try to call them either. The air horn is the only way to get their attention before they get squashed like a cardboard juice box. We are only about 10 tons but that is enough. One of their favorite tricks to try and get squished is racing to get in front of us right as we are entering bridge fenders and dropping off plane to go 2 knots 15 feet in front of our bow while we are going a steady 7.5 knots. This happens a couple times a year to us in our travels. .
@@svbarryduckworth628 I had one idiot go between the pier and the 300 ft barge I was in the process of docking last week. I was maybe 40 feet off the pier when he decided that this was a good idea! Despite throwing it into a full throttle walk away from the pier he came out the other side with inches to spare 🤦🏻♂️. I really love the winter all the idiots are off the water and I would much rather deal with ice and snow then brain dead kamikazes that are going to cost me my license one of these days!
Ever since covids every day is the weekend out there it seems. Every ijot in Murkah decided to buy a boat and go out on the water. We used to avoid travelling on weekends -especially in Florida but now it's every day that's a circus.
@@JoakimGarde yes cuz the fcc gunna come down to dog woods and fine us....game wardens don't care...coast guard don't care...just don't press the distress button and nothin gunna happen
@@BoatBuyersSecretWeapon a GPS puck can be purchased for $25 online and plugged into the radio. Not everyone has made the hop to NMEA 2000. For those with older vessels, some workarounds need to be employed. For example, without the NMEA 2000 backbone, the location of the Marine VHF may prevent access to the MFD. The cost to have a marine electrician to run cable between the two could be cost prohibitive. Cheaper to buy a radio with built-in GPS.
Not only a typo is it... The "captain" in your video says repeatedly nema-cord. And on that note he says Pan - Pan correctly but the text in video has (Pawn - Pawn)... dude we are not playing chess are we? Bet you say "Security Security Security" when it's spelled and pronounced Sécurité (in French). Navigare necesse est, vivere non est necesse!
Potato potato. Maybe in your specific area people care but in the general English-speaking marine community "neema" is fine and will be understood. Personally I pronounce it as "Enemy-A" and if anyone doesn't like it they can lump it.
@@BoatBuyersSecretWeapon Well I thought most of the messaging was sloppy and very much US based. Specifically I thought your recommendations for initiating a vhf call were, well, sloppy. When you’re haiing somebody you repeat their boat name up to three times, followed by “This is” repeated the same amount of times as the initial hail. It’s called a balanced call and is protocol in my corner of the world and maybe yours too. You didn’t mention the proper use of “Over” and “Out”. You used the acronym “DCS” twice. I appreciate you just misspoke but it should have been edited out, if your wanting to be seen as an expert. You were close on the distinction between a mayday and pan pan, but should have included serious injury or significant property damage as a reason for a mayday. It’s a fine line though. You were close. To be fair that is a tough one to explain in a short video. We spent over an hour on it in my certification class. You should have included the five important bullets to be included in your mayday call or that even if you trigger the DSC emergency button , if you have time, you should still make a verbal call. That said you didn’t mention 16 is also used for Sécurité calls or when to use them. That was a significant omission. Working channels for inter ship communication and radio check channels are unique to some areas. FYI 83a is the radio check channel here. You should encourage your audience to seek out local information to be sure. Again, when you were speaking to radio checks you repeated the sloppy calling protocol. Also a radio check should include your location. So most of this stuff is just sloppy. With just a bit more care the message could have been much stronger. As you may, or may not be aware, in Canada we are required to be certified before using a vhf radio. Back before I retired we used to use the acronym FS&P. It loosely stood for “Picking flyshit out of pepper”. Nitpicking. You may think that’s what I’m doing but your message about the VHF radio being an important safety tool you were right on point. Too many people take it lightly and don’t know how to use it. It pains me to listen to the CG having to play twenty questions with boaters in distress as they patiently try to extract the information they need to render assistance. I’d like to see that bar set a little higher. And if there’s one thing mariners like, it’s a well set bar.
![How to use a Marine VHF RADIO [Capable Cruising Guides]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Y6yn0Bmr748/mqdefault.jpg)
![How to use a Marine VHF RADIO [Capable Cruising Guides]](/img/tr.png)
FREE For Boat Shoppers: www.BoatersSecretWeapon.com/Toolkit FREE Boat Buyer's Toolkit for new or used boat shoppers will give you 28-pages of checklists, questions to ask and how to demo the boat the right way so you don't miss a thing. Plus, get the cost of ownership calculator so you know precisely what your cost of ownership will be.
FREE For Boat Owners: boaterssecretweapon.com/pages/boater-bootcamp FREE Boater Bootcamp for newer boat owners gives you insights on boat ownership basics, navigation and practical rules of the water and how to avoid, be prepared and handle emergency situations. No more not knowing what you don't know in the boating lifestyle.
@0:57 Digital distress signals are sent on channel 70, not channel 16. Channel 70 is the only digital channel, all other channels are analog. There's an extra receiver inside your VHF that always listens on channel 70.
@3:35 The squelsh doesn't work that way, I will not get any clearer listening when the other station is closer. What is does is that i raises the level that a signal must have to get thru. Without the squelch you would listen to noise when no-one is transmitting. Squelsh level should always be set just above the noise level so you don't miss any calls.
Too bad there are a number of errors in this very important safety video. Also the connection between devices are a NMEA not anything else, and he also have to understand the different NMEA standards because they don't talk to each other.
I’m in the UK but good advice. Thank you
"NEMA cable"... 😂😂 very professional
Very good information!! Been boating for years and learned some new things! Thank you!
Excellent video. My husband is a captain on a large (190') cruise ship on Lake George, NY. He said one ongoing problem is abuse of channel 16 by pleasure boaters. Typical issues are people letting their kids play with it, or boaters going on 16 and asking for a radio check. He says they deal with this stuff all day long.
In my experience, his only happens in the USA (the radio check)
Hunters also use marine band radio
Call the FCC 16 should be for emergency only
Same problem on the west coast !!!!
Hailing on ch 16 tip: When you turn your VHF on to ch 16 it automatically defaults to HIGH POWER. If you are hailing another vessel or a bridge in sight you do not need or want HIGH POWER because it just pollutes the channel for many miles.
Every time you go to ch 16 hit that hi/low button to switch to low power unless you NEED to hail someone much further away. Boats 5, 10, even 15+ miles away don't want to hear your hail when it doesn't apply to them.
The worst thing is hearing some newbie motorboat skipper traveling sown the ICW and hailing every boat they pass with, "sailboat in front of me on the ICW." For a half hour or more and many multiple times.
Remember that on High Power when that skipper says that over the radio every sailboat skipper within a 15+ mile radius is turning around to look behind them. Don't be this guy.
That coil that you cut out is called a dirty choke. No they do not hurt your transmit or receiving signals. They actually help with common mode currents which can clean up up your signal a little. They work best located at the base of the antenna though. Also, Shakespeare advises you leave your coax at least 3 feet long. Possibly the reason of the coil from the dealer.
What coil?
Another great video, with quick and precise information to get us to use a great tool.
The GC has been known to tell radio checks to switch to ch 9 when initiated on Ch 16. I have heard this personally.
"Channel 16 is the international hailing and distress channel. . Shift your traffic to another working channel."
You'll hear this a few times a day and during peak migration times on the Intra-Coastal Waterways it sometimes will be multiple times an hour.
They never learn.
The worry thing about this video, it appears to confirm there are “boaters” out there that do not know this information and are in charge of their passenger safety. Breathtaking
Easy fix.
Rip out the radio and throw it overboard.
Have you actually been out there on the water? There are many boaters even worse than that. In the USA the only thing you need to get out on the water and be in charge of your own vessel is a credit card that works. Many credit card captains are a danger to themselves and everyone around them.
I was picking up radio shows on my VHF.
Many highly-populated cruising destination spots will hold a daily "Cruiser's Net" on a rec channel such as VHF 68 or 72 which some might consider a "radio show" but is a legitimate use of the marine VHF and SSB frequencies when done correctly and on the proper channels.
What channel do you use if you need a tow? Channel 16?
Tow Boat US and Sea Tow will monitor 16 - they will likely monitor another local channel too
Make sure you have already have the insurance otherwise it is going to cost you thousands at minimum.
When do you use the 1w/25w settings? Also I was unable to confirm a radio check today on my older Standard Horizon today. Any ideas?
1w setting lowers the power and range of the transmission, so use for Security calls and talking with others nearby. 25W longer range and use for any emergency call or reaching boaters further distance
On the radio check, it depends on if there were other boaters out and where you called from. Could be fewer people on the radio this time or year, could be an antenna issue or mic button issue even
@@BoatBuyersSecretWeapon Thanks for the input.
If you can see them use low power when inshore. Ch 16 defaults to high power so always switch to low power unless you are calling for help or someone out of your visible range (when inshore) Offshore you can often see much further all the way to the horizon so high power is called-for.
Do you recommend the Uniden brand for a VHF radio for a casual boater?
In my area, Channel 16 is primarily used for pissed off people to scream, “you’re responsible for your wake, Capt’n” over the radio Nd yelling various obscenities.
1-way hailing. An RPG gets more satisfying results.
Sort of new here, and have never hooked up a emergency signaling VHF radio before. I'm going to be doing it in the near future and I am wondering how do you test it to make sure it is hooked up right without sending out a true emergency
Tremendously useful information. I will be sharing with all my fellow kayakers.
the red button is not DSG when you do two deliberate actions (lift the spring loaded cover, press the button for more than five seconds) this will send a digital distress alert. this in turn alarms all the radios within the geographical range and the only way to silence those radios is to press the button to silence this. this in turn will set all the radios to channel 16 which is the distress and calling channel in order for you to send your Mayday call and message.
i wish people would be exact about this as it important to get the correct massage across.
If you are making passing arrangements you call on 13 not 16 for example “(you say) on the Freedom Joann (they say) freedom standing by, (you say) can I see you on two? (They say) two agreed (or maybe one would be better) anything more then this goes to a working channel. Obviously you use your vessels name and the vessel you are calling not my example. Always monitor 13 when underway. The reason 13 is used is because it’s the designated Bridge to Bridge channel and is a low power channel so you aren’t jamming up 16 for 20 miles bridge to bridge doesn’t mean a bridge you drive over but your vessels bridge to another vessel’s bridge. But it’s also used at drawbridges and locks.
Good luck with that. Almost nobody other than commercial traffic monitors ch 13 continuously because most common recreational marine VHF radios do dual-watch monitoring poorly if at all. Calling anyone but a commercial vessel or a bridge on 13 is a waste of time. They aren't listening.
@@svbarryduckworth628 Good luck getting a recreational on 16 either. As a merchant mariner I’ve just about given up on calling recreational boats, 99 percent of them don’t even have their radios on. I just give them 5 short when they try to get themselves killed playing chicken with a 6,000 ton barge.
You might be right -especially small center console weekend warriors. We don't ever try to call them either. The air horn is the only way to get their attention before they get squashed like a cardboard juice box.
We are only about 10 tons but that is enough. One of their favorite tricks to try and get squished is racing to get in front of us right as we are entering bridge fenders and dropping off plane to go 2 knots 15 feet in front of our bow while we are going a steady 7.5 knots. This happens a couple times a year to us in our travels. .
@@svbarryduckworth628 I had one idiot go between the pier and the 300 ft barge I was in the process of docking last week. I was maybe 40 feet off the pier when he decided that this was a good idea! Despite throwing it into a full throttle walk away from the pier he came out the other side with inches to spare 🤦🏻♂️. I really love the winter all the idiots are off the water and I would much rather deal with ice and snow then brain dead kamikazes that are going to cost me my license one of these days!
Ever since covids every day is the weekend out there it seems. Every ijot in Murkah decided to buy a boat and go out on the water. We used to avoid travelling on weekends -especially in Florida but now it's every day that's a circus.
We use em huntin in the woods lol
Very illegal. They are for maritime use only
@@JoakimGarde yes cuz the fcc gunna come down to dog woods and fine us....game wardens don't care...coast guard don't care...just don't press the distress button and nothin gunna happen
Come and take 'em!
Hey buddy. You need to check and fix the links. Only 1 of the ones I checked took me to the place it was supposed to.
Radios with built-in GPS are not new and don't require connection to a chartplotter or NMEA backbone.
@@BoatBuyersSecretWeapon a GPS puck can be purchased for $25 online and plugged into the radio. Not everyone has made the hop to NMEA 2000. For those with older vessels, some workarounds need to be employed. For example, without the NMEA 2000 backbone, the location of the Marine VHF may prevent access to the MFD. The cost to have a marine electrician to run cable between the two could be cost prohibitive. Cheaper to buy a radio with built-in GPS.
NMEA not NEMA!
Not only a typo is it... The "captain" in your video says repeatedly nema-cord. And on that note he says Pan - Pan correctly but the text in video has (Pawn - Pawn)... dude we are not playing chess are we? Bet you say "Security Security Security" when it's spelled and pronounced Sécurité (in French).
Navigare necesse est, vivere non est necesse!
Yes, good idea! I might just do that.
It's NOT NEMA!!! It's NMEA.
Also, there are different NMEA standards, the older 0180, 0182 och 0183 as well as the newer 2000.
Potato potato.
Maybe in your specific area people care but in the general English-speaking marine community "neema" is fine and will be understood. Personally I pronounce it as "Enemy-A" and if anyone doesn't like it they can lump it.
Much of the information provided is slightly off the mark. Some was a total miss.
@@BoatBuyersSecretWeapon Well I thought most of the messaging was sloppy and very much US based.
Specifically I thought your recommendations for initiating a vhf call were, well, sloppy. When you’re haiing somebody you repeat their boat name up to three times, followed by “This is” repeated the same amount of times as the initial hail. It’s called a balanced call and is protocol in my corner of the world and maybe yours too. You didn’t mention the proper use of “Over” and “Out”. You used the acronym “DCS” twice. I appreciate you just misspoke but it should have been edited out, if your wanting to be seen as an expert.
You were close on the distinction between a mayday and pan pan, but should have included serious injury or significant property damage as a reason for a mayday. It’s a fine line though. You were close. To be fair that is a tough one to explain in a short video. We spent over an hour on it in my certification class. You should have included the five important bullets to be included in your mayday call or that even if you trigger the DSC emergency button , if you have time, you should still make a verbal call. That said you didn’t mention 16 is also used for Sécurité calls or when to use them. That was a significant omission.
Working channels for inter ship communication and radio check channels are unique to some areas. FYI 83a is the radio check channel here. You should encourage your audience to seek out local information to be sure.
Again, when you were speaking to radio checks you repeated the sloppy calling protocol. Also a radio check should include your location.
So most of this stuff is just sloppy. With just a bit more care the message could have been much stronger. As you may, or may not be aware, in Canada we are required to be certified before using a vhf radio.
Back before I retired we used to use the acronym FS&P. It loosely stood for “Picking flyshit out of pepper”. Nitpicking. You may think that’s what I’m doing but your message about the VHF radio being an important safety tool you were right on point. Too many people take it lightly and don’t know how to use it.
It pains me to listen to the CG having to play twenty questions with boaters in distress as they patiently try to extract the information they need to render assistance. I’d like to see that bar set a little higher. And if there’s one thing mariners like, it’s a well set bar.