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There are a number of different products that can be used to call for help. With all activities we strongly encourage you to take a means of calling for help that is most suitable to your activity. We advise that you know how to use it, and keep it within reach at all times.  ...

The coast is an exciting place to be – but it’s easier than you think to get into trouble in the water. Stay safe with our essential safety advice. Whether you're heading to the beach, to the coast, or out to sea, we've collected together our essential safety advice so you can make the most of your time on the water  ...

Recreational marine VHF antennas are usually broken down into three categories: 3- or 4-foot sailboat antennas (3dB gain), 8-foot powerboat antennas (6 dB gain) and 16-plus-foot, long-stick antennas (9+ dB gain). The antenna gain is a ratio related to an antennas effective radiated power (ERP) instead of a fixed quantity value.  ...

Whichever option you choose, having AIS on your boat will without doubt make your sailing experiences safer. As well as less stressful in poor visibility or when crossing busy shipping lanes. Even a simple receiver with a small whip antenna at deck level is effective. Allowing you to keep informed of what ships are around and which ones you need to keep an eye on.  ...

AIS is a tool to reduce the hazard of collision with another vessel, and from a small-boat standpoint, this basically means not placing your vessel in the path of another. Both the International Regulations for Avoiding Collision at Sea (commonly called COLREGS) and the U.S. Inland Navigation Rules spell out the maneuvers required of all vessels when avoiding collision. Correctly interpreting AIS information to accomplish this requires a working knowledge of AIS characteristics.  ...

Its been several years since the Automatic Identification System (AIS) became a mandated way of life for the commercial side of the marine industry. it has become one of the more valuable electronics  ...

If you sail on European inland waterways, you need ATIS number. If you are sailing to Europe it may be appropriate to consider purchasing a VHF marine radio, as all European countries will recognize this. ATIS stands for automatic transmitter identification system, not to be confused with AIS. ATIS system is used on inland waterways in Europe. Every transmission of VHF radio sends out a unique FFSK data signal  ...

Retevis Marine is committed to providing good marine radio to customers, so often communicate with them. During the communication, we found that many customers still don’t know how to send DSC calling or when they can send DSC calling. Today, we will make a brief introduction about DSC calling.In a relay situation, there is no longer a requirement to send a DSC ‘Urgency Announcement’. The ‘Mayday Relay’ voice call remains unchanged and should still be transmitted as normal.  ...

Digital Selective Calling—DSC—is one of those features that, despite having been standard on every fixed-mount VHF for more than a decade, is little understood and little used by recreational sailors. One reason is perhaps that it requires two devices to be wired together—a process that requires some head-scratching if the two are from different manufacturers. Another might be that DSC requires you to obtain a Marine Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) number that must be programmed into the radio.  ...

Working with the Federal Communications Commission's Emergency Alert System, NOAA Weather Radio is an "all hazards" radio network, making it the single source for the most comprehensive weather and emergency information available to the public. It broadcasts warning and post-event information for all types of hazards - both natural  ...