Marine radio in aircraft

pcole · Mar 25, 2015

I watched a rerun of "Flying Wild Alaska" last night.
While they showed the control panel of the Cessna the young
lady was flying I noticed a marine radio mounted in the plane.
It was set to channel 88.

How do they get away with that ?

pr4367 · Mar 25, 2015

Does the plane have the ability to land on water?

ecps92 · Mar 25, 2015

There are many acceptable uses of VHF Marine in an Aircraft.
INTERNATIONAL VHF MARINE RADIO CHANNELS AND FREQUENCIES

pcole said:
I watched a rerun of "Flying Wild Alaska" last night.
While they showed the control panel of the Cessna the young
lady was flying I noticed a marine radio mounted in the plane.
It was set to channel 88.

How do they get away with that ?

pcole · Mar 25, 2015

aircraft use..

The plane having the radio was wheels only but the use for search and rescue makes sense.
Channel 88 is for port use but I suspect they use it for chit-chat.

pr4367 · Mar 25, 2015

There are shore stations that provide services of one type or another to boats that can use marine radio frequencies. Must be the case.

TheLokes · Mar 25, 2015

Many pilots include a marine radio as part of their "emergency kit". You just never can predict when you might want to listen or talk to someone in an emergency.

ko6jw_2 · Mar 25, 2015

It is not uncommon to find marine radios used on land in Alaska especially in small villages where there is little communication infrastructure. Yes, its illegal, but the reality is that in remote locations no one will hear or care. The radios are relatively inexpensive and weatherproof.

robertmac · Mar 25, 2015

ko6jw_2 said:
It is not uncommon to find marine radios used on land in Alaska especially in small villages where there is little communication infrastructure. Yes, its illegal, but the reality is that in remote locations no one will hear or care. The radios are relatively inexpensive and weatherproof.

I can't comment on the legality in Alaska. As stated above if involved in search and rescue could be authorized. One thing to remember about no one will hear or care: a radio transmission from an airplane can be heard for 100 or more miles and the higher up they are, the further the reception. Thus, if used improperly, could be interfering and then someone will care.

mmckenna · Mar 25, 2015

I can tell you from living in Alaska that things are different up there.

Every asset available gets used in Search and Rescue, private and commercial aircraft included.
Legality issues might be there, but most don't really care. It's not a "thumbing noses" at the law thing, it's that the reality of life in Alaska is much different than the rest of the USA. FCC rules that might make perfect sense in the other 49 states might not there. Not saying that it's OK to break the rules, just that it's a whole different environment.

nd5y · Mar 25, 2015

There are several VHF marine frequencies listed in Part 87 "For communications with ship stations under specific conditions."
eCFR — Code of Federal Regulations

87.175 (c) Aircraft public correspondence service on maritime mobile frequencies may only be carried by aircraft stations licensed to use maritime mobile frequencies and must follow the rules for public correspondence in part 80.

Voyager · Mar 25, 2015

pcole said:
The plane having the radio was wheels only but the use for search and rescue makes sense.
Channel 88 is for port use but I suspect they use it for chit-chat.

Some small planes have the OPTION of changing out wheels for pontoons, so just because it had wheels does not rule out water landing capability.

Also, Alaska has some exemptions of FCC rules, so that's another possibility.

nr2d · Mar 26, 2015

If you watch the NATGEO show Wild Tuna, you will see one of the harpoon boats using an airplane to spot the tuna for the boat. So I would also guess that it happens a lot more but as long as it doesn't cause interference no one will say a word.

PACNWDude · Mar 26, 2015

Like said before, it is very common in Alaska, or many other places aircraft talk to ships. A previous job of mine had me doing this as well. It is smart to use low power if the ship is in site, but most people leave it in 25 watts anyway.

I have seen marine VHF, legal or not, installed pretty much everywhere possible. Restaurants, aircraft, trucks, hot air balloon and of course vessels on the water. One marine in my area, there is a guy with a red Silverado with dive stickers all over and he keeps a marine radio to keep contact with his vessels and dive crews. He probably gets hassled at least once a week by someone asking if he is legal.

ecps92 · Mar 26, 2015

Also eCFR — Code of Federal Regulations

nd5y said:
There are several VHF marine frequencies listed in Part 87 "For communications with ship stations under specific conditions."
eCFR — Code of Federal Regulations

87.175 (c) Aircraft public correspondence service on maritime mobile frequencies may only be carried by aircraft stations licensed to use maritime mobile frequencies and must follow the rules for public correspondence in part 80.

Marine radio in aircraft

pcole

Member

pr4367

Member

ecps92

Member

pcole

Member

pr4367

Member

TheLokes

Member

ko6jw_2

Member

robertmac

Member

mmckenna

I ♥ Ø

nd5y

Member

Voyager

Member

nr2d

Member

PACNWDude

Member

ecps92

Member

Similar threads