Communications Finished

Yesterday Ron and I signed off on the communications upgrade. I paid him $250 USD cash for his services which I consider a bargain given that he knew all of the tricks and traps of this kind of installation.

But wait, there's more!

In the morning I had reinstalled my venerable GME VHF radio and contacted the Coast Guard on channel 16 for a radio check. He got my ship's name and call sign and asked me to go to working channel 22A. I told him that I did not have channel 22A on my radio and thanked him for his radio check. When Ron came on board for the final visit in which he programmed all of the standard frequencies (about 30 of them) and gave me a rundown on how to use the HF radio I told him about the ch 22A problem and told him that at Hilo the Coast Guard had asked me to go to working channels 22A and 23A and I went to channels 22 and 23 because that was all I had. Then I had to fall back to channel 16 to reestablish communications.

The first thing that Ron said was that calling the Coast Guard for a radio check is a no-no and they frequently give the caller a serve about that. I replied that I figured that a working radio is a safety matter which should interest the USCG, but in any event they were polite though a bit formal. The second thing Ron said was that I had and old VHF radio and I could upgrade it for around $100.

I have high regard for the USCG and don't want to jerk them around during my stay in US waters, so I said to Ron let's do it. He said that he could get me a good price using his account but to ring Lenny at West Marine because they frequently had specials that beat even Ron's discount rate. I telephone West Marine and Lenny happened to answer. He said that they were running specials on an Eclipse VHF at $99 and a West Marine VHF at about $135. The West Marine had buttons on the microphone that allowed you to change channels which meant one-handed operation which is handy when things are tough. However I'm accustomed to punching in frequencies into the main radio so I went for the Eclipse. Then I heard a rustle of paper over the phone and he said “How does $88 sound?” I replied that it sounded great. He went away after I gave him my credit card information and came back with “How does $77 sound?”. I replied that it sounded like Santa Claus was talking to me. I met him at the head of the 500 jetty at 7.30 PM and he handed me the radio. I installed it this morning in about 2 hours working very carefully. (Remember: “First Do No Stuffup.”) I lost 30 minutes tracking down the blown 6-amp fuse that had been supplied.

I wired the VHF radio directly to the bus bars, as Ron had done for the HF system. It makes no sense to go through the 20-amp breaker when the radio has an in-line fuse of 10-amp (the smallest fuse I had in stock). The electrical connection to the Eclipse is different to that of the GME so I left the GME wiring in place in case I ever need or want to set it back up.

The top photo is of the new system above the seat at the navigation table. Below the black ICOM 700Pro HF radio is the Pactor IIusb HF modem. The installation of the Icom and Pactor units are rock solid. I proudly told Ron that they would survive a rollover. (The tuner installation is good too, if I say so myself.) I'll install wood trimming around the equipment when I get access to good wood working tools. Above it all is the white Eclipse VHF radio.

The Eclipse looks like a plastic toy. Do not be fooled. It features:
SC-101 DSC (Digital Selective Calling)
Programmable Scan, Priority Scan, Dual Watch
All USA/International and Canadian Marine Channels
NOAA Weather Channels and Weather Alert
You can connect a GPS receiver with an NMEA 0183 interface and have the radio automatically broadcast your Lat and Long on a DSC distress message or other communications.

The third feature is interesting. I thought that the lack of “Alpha” channels (e.g. 21A, 23A, 62A) represented some gross deficiency in my GME radio. But it looks like these “Alpha” channels are kludges that are specific to only the USA and Canada. With the USA channel assignments that I am now using channel 22 yields channel 22A – there is no channel 22. When I return to Australian waters I will change the set to the “International” channel assignments and the “Alpha” channels will disappear.

The lower photo shows the new shelf supporting the Pactor modem. I have suspended from the HF radio shelf using the same thru-bolts of the HF radio mounting bracket.