Radio help please
Submitted by aussiejoe on Sun, 2016-09-11 11:41
I have a new 27 Meg radio which appears to work intermittently. From Woodmans Point I can sometimes communicate with Rockingham Sea Rescue but not Cockburn Sea Rescue. I have also been able to get Cockburn from the south of the sound but not Rockingham. I have checked all the connections and don’t think a loose wire is the cause. Somebody has suggested that I get the antenna tuning checked. Could this be the problem? If so any recommendations on who I could ask to check this out. Any other advice greatly appreciated.
groverwa
Posts: 286
Date Joined: 21/07/14
27 Meg radio
Ask your local sea recue as they may/ should have test equip to do the job or recpmmend someone.
sunshine
Posts: 2555
Date Joined: 03/03/09
Bluntly 27 meg has very short range
it is an AM transmission and usually at a max of only 5 watts. I man VH6CL one day a week and depending upon conditions calls on channel 90 can often be weak and yes oddly sometimes we can hear calls to Rocko or Fremantle better that those sea rescue stations can and visa versa .....ionospheric skip and tropospheric ducting can all impact on reception.
I would strongly recommend if you can afford it upgrade to VHF
resurgence
Posts: 573
Date Joined: 23/04/14
VHF
I agree with sunshine, strongly recommend VHF instead of 27 MHz. VHF units transmit at 25W, and there is far more coverage along the coast.
Also with the repeater at Rottnest you can get coverage all the way to the trench.
Rob H
Posts: 5745
Date Joined: 18/01/12
VHF
as said by others.
Sticking with 27meg is like hanging on to your VHS tapes or CDMA phone-they were great once but virtually NO commercial boats carry them and they are not required to monitor them like VHF.
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
aussiejoe
Posts: 93
Date Joined: 01/03/14
Thanks
for your input. No point in compromising on safety issues. Will upgrade.