VHF Marine Radio User Guide
VHF Marine Radio User Guide
Whichever way you enjoy the water, a VHF marine radio is an important safety tool that will ensure that you stay safe and can contact other boaters, marinas, or safety organizations. Whether you are new to boating or an experienced sea hand, Retevis marine radio has provided several tips to improve your experience, optimize the use of your radio and hopefully keep yourself safe.
- Please understand and use the Jargon
Over: means you have finished talking and expect a reply.
Out: means you have terminated your transmission and don’t expect a reply. Don’t say “Over and Out”.
Say again: use this when you need a word or phrase repeated.
Roger: means “I understand.”
Affirmative/Negative: you can use these instead of Yes and No.
Wilco: means “will comply”, you don’t need to say “Roger” as well.
- Understand your radio using power
One factor in determining range is transmitter power, more power more communicating range. If your VHF marine radio is handheld, you can adjust the transmitter power 1W to 5W, and if it is fixed-mount, the power is 1W/25W for sets. While a handheld at its 1W power setting won’t be heard much more than a mile or two away, selecting high power will get you a range of up to 5 miles. Because a VHF signal travels in a straight line, antenna height is another determining factor in its range. The earth’s curvature blocks the signal, so each with an antenna at yacht’s masthead might be able to converse with each other at 20 to 25miles apart.
- VHF Channels & Using
Generally speaking, VHF marine radios have 88 channels of which most are reserved for operations purposes and commercial, but we should understand and learn some special channels
Channel-16: means emergency channel that is reserved for ship to coast or ship to ship contact and for distress calls, all vessels are required to monitor it.
Channel-09: means a general calling channel. You can use it for radio checks.
Channel-70: means safety calling channel, you can use it to report your address and another safety status.
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