News
Cell phones vs. VHF radios
By [unknown placeholder $article.art_field1$]
Jun 13, 2010 - 8:12 PM

After your lifejacket and whistle, before you purchase anything else, make sure you have a VHF marine radio. A VHF marine radio is the single most important discretionary safety system you should buy. It is probably also the least expensive. Waterproof hand held units retail for less than $100.

The Coast Guard does not advocate cell phones as a substitute for the regular maritime radio distress and safety systems recognized by the Federal Communications Commission and the International Radio Regulations -- particularly VHF marine radio.
VHF Channel 16 = “911” on the water!

CELL PHONE LIMITATIONS IN AN EMERGENCY:
Cell phones generally cannot provide vessel to vessel safety communications or communications with rescue vessels. If you make a distress call on a cell phone, only the one party you call will be able to hear you.

Most cell phones are designed for a land-based service. Their coverage offshore is limited, and may change without notice. Most everyone has experienced communications out to about 25 miles at times. Yet at other times they could not get through to a land based phone inside of 10 miles from shore or your call was dropped. This can and assuredly will create a communications problem in the event of an emergency at sea.

In addition, locating a cell caller is hard to do. If you don't know precisely where you are, the Coast Guard will have difficulty finding your location on the water.

CELL/VHF MARINE RADIO COMPARISON:
Cell phones do provide the convenience of simple, easy-to-use, inexpensive and generally reliable telephone service to home, office, automobile or other locations. Placing a shore-to-vessel call to someone with a cell telephone can be especially convenient, when it works.

VHF marine radios were designed with safety in mind. If you are in distress, calls can be received not only by the Coast Guard but by vessels which may be in position to give immediate assistance. A VHF marine radio also helps ensure that storm warnings and other urgent marine information broadcasts are received. The Coast Guard announces these broadcasts on VHF channel 16. Timely receipt of such information may save your life. Additionally, your VHF marine radio can be used anywhere in the United States or around the world.

On VHF radios, however, conversations are not private and individual boats cannot be assigned a personal phone number, unless you are digital selective calling (DSC) enabled (more on DSC in another article).

RESCUE 21:

Rescue 21 is an advanced maritime computing, command, control, and communications (C4) system designed to manage communications for the Coast Guard based upon VHF radio frequencies. Rescue 21 is currently operational in Long Island Sound. The name Rescue 21 is a reference to taking the Search out of Search and Rescue.
VHF Channel 16 = “911” on the water!

Rescue 21 revolutionizes how the Coast Guard uses command, control, and communications for all missions within the coastal zone. The system:

• incorporates direction-finding equipment to improve locating mariners in distress – Very Important Feature!
• improves interoperability amongst federal, state, and local agencies
• enhances clarity of distress calls
• allows simultaneous channel monitoring
• upgrades the playback and recording feature of distress calls
• reduces coverage gaps for coastal communications and along navigable rivers and waterways
• supports Digital Selective Calling for registered users
• in the Contiguous 48 States, provides portable towers for restoration of communications during emergencies or natural disaster

SHOULD YOU RELY ON A CELL PHONE EXCLUSIVELY?
Actually there is no comparison between cell phones and VHF marine radio. They normally provide different services. The cell phone is best used for what it is, an on-board telephone -- a link with shore-based telephones.

A VHF marine radio is intended for communication with other vessels or marine installations -- and a powerful ally in time of emergency. Many of today’s VHF radios are waterproof and submersible. Some hand held models will even float. Try finding a cell phone that is waterproof, submersible and floats.
If you have a cell telephone, by all means take it aboard. However, a cell phone is no substitute for a VHF radio.

For more information on recreational boating safety visit: http://www.uscgboating.org/

Or http://www.ct.gov/dep/boating

The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard. Created by an Act of Congress in 1939, USCGAUX directly supports the Coast Guard in all missions authorized by the Commandant of the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard’s philosophy is to be SEMPER PARATUS (ALWAYS READY) against all threats and all hazards. The USCGAUX is an integral part of that philosophy and Coast Guard Forces.

Article by Rande Wilson, USCGAUX – Norwalk - Public Affairs and Publications Officer.

About the author:
Captain Rande is a USCG Credentialed Master Mariner, USCGAUX Coxswain, Instructor and Vessel Examiner.

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