Re: T&T: Pleasure vessel sinking off Cedar Key
It would be interesting to know how the CG was notified, 50 mile West of
Cedar Key is surely out of cell phone range and, I guess, out of range of a
VHF?
Steve Willett
Monk 36, Gumbo
Thibodaux, Louisiana
Steve,
It is my understanding that 50-mile transmissions over water is doable with
Coast Guard's power and directional antenni. Initial contact could have
taken a while, but once CG locked in, communication should have been very
readable.
Thanks,
Bob
Robert Calhoun Smith, Jr.*
*
M/V MARY KATHRYN
Hatteras 58 LRC
Annapolis, Maryland
On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 9:56 AM, StWillett@aol.com wrote:
It would be interesting to know how the CG was notified, 50 mile West of
Cedar Key is surely out of cell phone range and, I guess, out of range of a
VHF?
Steve Willett
Monk 36, Gumbo
Thibodaux, Louisiana
I don't know about the Gulf, but the CG has long ears on the Great Lakes and
from what I am told can pick up a VHF signal anywhere on the Great Lakes.
David Sorenson
Duluth
-----Original Message-----
From: StWillett@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 8:56 AM
To: trawlers@lists.trawlering.com
Subject: Re: T&T: Pleasure vessel sinking off Cedar Key
It would be interesting to know how the CG was notified, 50 mile West of
Cedar Key is surely out of cell phone range and, I guess, out of range of a
VHF?
Steve Willett
Monk 36, Gumbo
Thibodaux, Louisiana
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Also, a VHF call may have caught the ears of an airborne aircraft. I would imagine that patrolling CG a/c monitor VHF 16 as well as other emergency freqs. At altitude, range increases dramatically.
Joel Wilkins
m/s Miss Magoo
Columbia 45
Treasure Island, FL
I can vouch for the long reach...A number of years ago we were in Lake MI just off Point Betsie Light in the middle of the night and called CG and Chicago answered. That was over 200 miles.
Greg Bowers
www.seaplanetearth.com
-----Original Message-----
From: trawlers-bounces@lists.trawlering.com [mailto:trawlers-bounces@lists.trawlering.com] On Behalf Of davidsorenson
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 11:05 AM
To: StWillett@aol.com; Trawlers List
Subject: Re: T&T: Pleasure vessel sinking off Cedar Key
I don't know about the Gulf, but the CG has long ears on the Great Lakes and
from what I am told can pick up a VHF signal anywhere on the Great Lakes.
David Sorenson
Duluth
-----Original Message-----
From: StWillett@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 8:56 AM
To: trawlers@lists.trawlering.com
Subject: Re: T&T: Pleasure vessel sinking off Cedar Key
It would be interesting to know how the CG was notified, 50 mile West of
Cedar Key is surely out of cell phone range and, I guess, out of range of a
VHF?
Steve Willett
Monk 36, Gumbo
Thibodaux, Louisiana
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Trawlers & Trawlering and T&T are trademarks of Water World
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250 foot towers, antennas on bridges, amplifiers, and the ability to shift
to the antenna with the best reception make 70 miles achievable. Once a
C-130 or helo is airborne, we're talking line-of-sight covering great
distances dependent upon aircraft t altitude. A vessel going down that far
offshore probably gets an aircraft airborne pretty quickly.
Ron Rogers
-----Original Message-----
From: trawlers-bounces@lists.trawlering.com
[mailto:trawlers-bounces@lists.trawlering.com] On Behalf Of davidsorenson
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 11:05 AM
I don't know about the Gulf, but the CG has long ears on the Great Lakes and
from what I am told can pick up a VHF signal anywhere on the Great Lakes.
David Sorenson
Duluth
It would be interesting to know how the CG was notified, 50 mile West of
Cedar Key is surely out of cell phone range and, I guess, out of range of
a
VHF?
A couple of years ago, at about the half way point between Carrabelle and
Anclote Key I decided to try the VHF in the middle of the night just to see
if I got anyone. Got a clear response from Tow Boat (or was it SeaTow?). He
ask me my location and I told him. He said he was somewhere like
Jacksonville, don't remember the exact city, but he stated he was 200 miles
away from me and could hear me loud and clear! He said they had no problem
receiving VHF all over that area.
Brent Hodges
43 Albin
Seabrook, Tx
This is due to a phenomenon known as "tropospheric ducting." Frequently,
vessels off the South Carolina coast, for example, are heard by Bermuda
Radio. An engineer there told me (via email) that this is a common
occurrence. Ducting is the reason that the NSA locates some listening
stations in Africa. They can monitor VHF communications in Russia, for
example. This phenomenon, although common, cannot be relied upon and should
not figure in anyone's plans. For a great explanation of this and other VHF
phenomena check out:
Ron Rogers
-----Original Message-----
From: Brent Hodges
Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2011 5:58 PM
It would be interesting to know how the CG was notified, 50 mile West
of Cedar Key is surely out of cell phone range and, I guess, out of
range of a VHF?
A couple of years ago, at about the half way point between Carrabelle and
Anclote Key I decided to try the VHF in the middle of the night just to see
if I got anyone. Got a clear response from Tow Boat (or was it SeaTow?). He
ask me my location and I told him. He said he was somewhere like
Jacksonville, don't remember the exact city, but he stated he was 200 miles
away from me and could hear me loud and clear! He said they had no problem
receiving VHF all over that area.
'Lo All,
VHF transmissions can go a LONG way under the right circumstances!
In another life I was an intelligence Intercept Operator ( I know -
an oxymoron). When in Europe and the Middle East, on boring
mid-shifts, I often listened to folks in the US chatting on their CB
radios. CB is in the lower part of the VHF band, and "ducts" more
easily/reliably than the marine VHF band, but the marine band
"ducts", too. Sometimes when in Europe, I could hear marine VHF,
primarily from the east coast of the US, but that was very sporadic.
Oh, and we had excellent antenna systems.....
When I had my sailboat, the VHF antenna was on top of the 65' mast. I
routinely could hear Mobile, AL, Pensacola, Tampa/St. Pete. and Key
West Coast Guard stations when offshore of Panama City. Once, I
talked with Tampa/St. Pete CG (about 240 miles) when they had a
missing boat and I misunderstood the approximate location (same
names, but different locations). At times, my reception of their
signals was better than Panama City's. I communicated with a couple
of tall-masted sailboats that were about half way to/from Tampa/St
Pete (about 125-150 miles distant) when I was out on the Gulf near
Panama City. At the dock, reception was not as good - probably due to
the trees.
Transmission distance is as much about the efficiency of the
grounding and antenna/coax systems and antenna height as it is about
input power.
My experiences, YMMV.
Take care and be safe.
Wayne
Celestial
Albin 43 Sundeck
Near Panama City, FL