Talk:Marine VHF radio

Scope of article
Uses of VHF radio are much wider than just marine. I'm pretty sue that all aircraft use VHF for approach/landing/take-off and indeed for air traffic control. Lots of the rescue services have probably moved on to UHF. A lot of VHF mobile radio exists for despatching, taxis etc. User:Rjstott
 * Agreed with rjstott -- this is essentially an article about marine VHF, which is one particular band of VHF using narrowband FM. It's a very important band, but there's rather a lot more to it. I'm going to add some stuff to it, but the marine VHF material needs to be broken out into its own article. Haikupoet 03:30, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * I renamed the page Marine VHF radio and merged the non-marine stuff, particularly the info on non-licensed operation, into VHF. I also set up VHF radio as a disambiguation page, with links to marine VHF radio, Airband, Amateur radio, etc. --agr 15:20, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

It seems to me that the page is currently limited to sea/ocean use. There are different rules for inland shipping (e.g. Basle agreement for Europe). So "maritime" here does not include inland shipping. 07:55, 15 June 2009 (UTC)~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.172.18.3 (talk)

Minor link edit
In the operating procedures section, I have added a link to the article on pro-words. posted this for completism and reference Editus 18:05, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

UK Marine VHF Channels and Frequencies
An IP user added the table under the section, UK Marine VHF Channels and Frequencies. It is not in proper format and uses HTML. It needs to be converted into usual Wiki Table format.

Also, we need to provide information for areas outside of the UK. Billscottbob (talk) 22:21, 10 December 2007 (UTC)
 * ✅ Done. Table converted and columns made for other countries Billscottbob (talk) 19:11, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

strongly discouraged by some countries...
I never cease to be amazed at how the regulators in on country will forbid you to do a certain thing while the regulators in another country will require you to do precisely the same thing when both regulations were supposedly written to achieve the same end.

Here in the U.S. of A., The helmsman of every commercial vessel and, of every vessel greater than 20m LOA is required to stand watch on channel 13 (except in the lower Mississippi River where it's channel 67) whenever the vessel is under command so that he may chat with the helmsmen of other vessels about whose turn it is to enter the lock chamber, and who's to turn to the left and who's to turn to the right and so forth. The regulators consider channel 13 to be of such importance that the helmsman's radio must be dedicated to the purpose. It must not scan, and in particular, it must not be the same radio that is used to monitor channels 16, and 70.

71.253.13.216 (talk) 13:53, 9 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Remember, this page is just for discussing improivements to the article, not for discussing what's wrong with the world.   Will Beback    talk    19:16, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

TWC
In the table, I know what UKSAR is, but what does TWC stand for. It needs explaining on the page, I think.

CharlwoodHouse (talk) 09:58, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

Team Working Channel, see http://forum.mrmap.org.uk/uploaded_files/uksar_implementation_control_v6.1.pdf

--83.216.95.154 (talk) 12:50, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

unicode
It seems some relatively obscure characters from unicode that aren't supported on my system are being used in the table, looking one of them up it seems to be a cirled letter A. Is it really a good idea to have an important part of a table heading done using such a character?! Plugwash (talk) 11:42, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

Channel 16 frequencies
The table shows channel 16 as a duplex (ship/coast) channel and a change by an ip was reverted. In the handbook I have (from the Finnish communications ministry) it is half duplex only, at 156,800 kHz, with 161.400 kHz not mentioned. Same thing with all channels in the ranges 8-12, 13-17 and 67-77 (the use of most of these does of course vary internationally).

Are the coast channels in question used (somewhere) or are they just allocated in technical specifications? There should be some clear note about this, especially at channel 16 (which should be standardized globally).

--LPfi (talk) 10:20, 15 January 2011 (UTC)


 * This is the systematic pattern of channel allocation that countries are free to deviate from in their official maritime communication plans. Half-duplex channel use is indicated by a circled letter "A" or "B". --  Denelson83  18:16, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

Frequency use table
In the table the use of the frequencies are given for five countries. It is of course useful for people from those countries and people sailing in those waters. Are they chosen with some thought or just the countries of contributors with the information at hand?

Is there some standardisation, e.g. in Europe or East Asia? Are the treaties regulating channel use or some summaries available on-line? For us not in the countries in the table those global or regional regulations would be far more important.

--LPfi (talk) 10:39, 15 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Added Finland. We cannot have all countries here, but I suppose the channel use is representative for a larger area (at least the Baltic Sea, I suppose).


 * Are the AIS channels and frequencies correct? My frequency guide gives 161,975 and 162,025 for AIS, which would be the B-channels of 87 and 88, but does allocate the A-channels for normal use.


 * --LPfi (talk) 11:59, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Channel M and M2
In the UK Channel M (157.850MHz tx/rx) and M2 (161.425MHz tx/rx) are special UK only channels used for communications with designated shore stations with unlicensed operators including marinas and yacht clubs see http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/ra/publication/ra_info/ra264/ra264.htm As this is English language Wikipedia I think it is good to have the channels for English speaking countries correct. I would fix it myself but the table is hard to edit Billlion (talk) 19:00, 22 September 2013 (UTC)

Loads of errors
I am not sure what the source was for the table of frequencies but much of it is wrong. For example (see Ofcom site above for example) channels 8-17 are simplex so tx and rx should be the same. Billlion (talk) 19:19, 22 September 2013 (UTC)

The Table
I have moved the table here for convenience. For the moment it is better to have it not in the article as it is misleading. The main point is to fix the frequencies for the simplex chanels which are spurious. The HMCG table is referred to, and this agrees with Ofcom. I need to check the ITU to see if some channels are duplex in other countries as these are UK references. Here is the table as it was.

Notes:

1: Some radios enable channels 3A, 61A, and 64A when configured for "USA mode" even though those channels are allocated exclusively for Public Safety use by the FCC. The frequencies 156.075, 156.150, and 156.225 MHz are used for interoperability communication by police and fire departments in many areas.

2: Channel 22A is reserved for communication between the U.S. Coast Guard vessels and private vessels. The Coast Guard does not monitor 22A: Contact must first be established on 16.

3: UKSAR land based search & rescue teams have access to the simplexed versions of 24, 62, 63, 64, 85 for operational & training needs. These include Mountain Rescue teams in England, Wales & Scotland.

4: CCG public operations moved from 22A to 04A to avoid interference from USCG stations in northern Washington state.

Billlion (talk) 19:30, 22 September 2013 (UTC)

Authoritative source
So I have found the ITU publication here

It is Circular Letter CM/19 To Administrations of Member States of the ITU 27 March 2009, and it details "Regulations dealing with the Table of transmitting frequencies in the VHF maritime mobile band" It has a table with the correct frequencies, it refers to (See Appendix 18 (Rev.WRC-07)) so I am not sure it is the primary source. Note in this table the simplex channels have same tx and rx frequencies. Billlion (talk) 19:41, 22 September 2013 (UTC)

license requirements?
I would like to see this article document various requirements to have the right to operate on the marine frequencies. Some countries probably require a license to operate on those frequencies. The US, i *think* do *not* require a license *if* you are on a sailboat - reading those documents may help: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=mtBoater http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=mtWatch --TheAnarcat (talk) 00:23, 28 October 2014 (UTC)
 * Ofcom regulations says "The use of International Maritime Mobile VHF channels by the international Radio Regulations as laid down by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva. The ITU is the branch of the United Nations responsible for the co-ordination of radio use worldwide. The Radio Regulations have treaty status for member nations of which the UK is one. The information in this sheet can be found in a fuller form in the 'Manual for use by the Maritime Mobile and Maritime Mobile-Satellite Services' available from the ITU." and

"It is an international requirement that every vessel, port or marina that uses radio be licensed. Anyone who operates radio equipment with access to international maritime frequencies must hold the relevant certificate of competence or be under the direct supervision of someone who does. Further information about certificates of competence is available from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, at the address overleaf." Billlion (talk) 21:11, 28 October 2014 (UTC)
 * Under FCC rules, in the USA, a "ship station" license is granted by rule for any OPTIONAL radio on-board operating in the "maritime services" frequencies (152-162MHz), provided it does not enter foreign ports or communicate with "international stations". All use of that band by others (e.g., portables ashore, coastal stations, or on ships requiring VHF radios) must have individual or fleet licenses. 47 CFR §§ 80.13, 80.501. The FCC has been cracking down on unlicensed shore-based users, such as duck hunters, using the cheap and powerful marine-band walkie-talkies. The point is well worth making, if it saves someone the $10,000 fine and keeps the channels open for their intended users. Lupinelawyer (talk) 02:58, 15 November 2017 (UTC)

Channel 31 in NL
I have just come back from the Netherlands and found that marinas inland use Ch 31 but of course my UK set does not have that. In the UK it is a private channel used by the RNLI. I intend to put that in the table but I would like to check if it is used more generally in continental Europe first. Any suggested sources?Billlion (talk) 15:24, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

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