Is there a VHF marine "CB" or chit-chat channel?

[scanmanmi]

I got a radio for the boat but haven't been out and don't live anywhere near water to monitor. Channels 9 and 16 both say Calling but I don't know what that means.. I know 16 is for emergency.

 

[mass-man]

I’ve found the local marina folks to be very helpful! They’ll usually know which channel the locals hang out on…as well a channel to call them if necessary! 12 is popular on the lake I live on…last week while fishing in N MN each lake had its own channel…surprisingly the fisherman were good about announcing where the walleye were biting!!!

 

[trentbob]

I have always lived by the water and listened to marine radio even before it went to the VHF set up we have now. I can always remember with VHF marine radio when I first listened in the 60s the real loosey-goosey anything goes boat to boat channels are channel 68 and 69 and channel 71 and 72, Anything Goes boat to boat channels. Certainly nothing to do with Citizens Band of course.

In those days you did need a license and my dad's license was WM6934.. Harbor frequencies are Channel 6, 9, 12, 14... I live on the Delaware River in the Philadelphia PA area and channel 13 is required to be monitored at all times by ships going up and down river. This is for boat to boat navigation and communication with drawbridges.

Now what I listen to is 13, 16CG, 21CG, 22CG, 23CG, 81CG and we have 2 conventional digital channels net CG 121, and net CG 409. There is a lot more to listen to like the Chit Chat channels, tugboat companies, tow boat companies, private facility frequencies but... I don't listen to those LOL.

 

[mmckenna]

16 is for distress calling. Usually you'll get chased off by the USCG if you show up on there without a good reason.
9 is calling. Call the other party and switch to an appropriate channel.

68, 69, 71, 72, 78A are "Non-commercial" channels. Those are the ones recreational boaters can use for talking amongst other boats.

Other channels are usually assigned for commercial or marine operator use. A good guide is here:

U.S. VHF Marine Radio Channels and Frequencies | Boat Safe | Water Sports, Product Reviews, and Nautical News

When you’re out on the water, it’s essential that you’re familiar with VHF marine radio frequencies and channels. The marine industry specifically uses the VHF frequency range for communication. VHF stands for Very High Frequency, and it’s used for ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore, and even...

www.boatsafe.com

 

[trentbob]

16 is for distress calling. Usually you'll get chased off by the USCG if you show up on there without a good reason.
9 is calling. Call the other party and switch to an appropriate channel.

68, 69, 71, 72, 78A are "Non-commercial" channels. Those are the ones recreational boaters can use for talking amongst other boats.

Other channels are usually assigned for commercial or marine operator use. A good guide is here:

U.S. VHF Marine Radio Channels and Frequencies | Boat Safe | Water Sports, Product Reviews, and Nautical News

When you’re out on the water, it’s essential that you’re familiar with VHF marine radio frequencies and channels. The marine industry specifically uses the VHF frequency range for communication. VHF stands for Very High Frequency, and it’s used for ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore, and even...

www.boatsafe.com

Looks like you posted the same frequencies at the same time I did but your post was the only one that was seen.

 

[RichardKramer]

I have always lived by the water and listened to marine radio even before it went to the VHF set up we have now. I can always remember with VHF marine radio when I first listened in the 60s the real loosey-goosey anything goes boat to boat channels are channel 68 and 69 and channel 71 and 72, Anything Goes boat to boat channels. Certainly nothing to do with Citizens Band of course.

In those days you did need a license and my dad's license was WM6934.. Harbor frequencies are Channel 6, 9, 12, 14... I live on the Delaware River in the Philadelphia PA area and channel 13 is required to be monitored at all times by ships going up and down river. This is for boat to boat navigation and communication with drawbridges.

Now what I listen to is 13, 16CG, 21CG, 22CG, 23CG, 81CG and we have 2 conventional digital channels net CG 121, and net CG 409. There is a lot more to listen to like the Chit Chat channels, tugboat companies, tow boat companies, private facility frequencies but... I don't listen to those LOL.

During my school years (60's/70's); our family vacationed along the Elk River in Cecil Co MD; the same freqs were used there too. Before VHF FM, HF was used: 2182KHz emerg/cllng - 2670KHz USCG - 2638/2738KHz boater/boater freqs using DSB.

 

[mshumeyk]

During my school years (60's/70's); our family vacationed along the Elk River in Cecil Co MD; the same freqs were used there too. Before VHF FM, HF was used: 2182KHz emerg/cllng - 2670KHz USCG - 2638/2738KHz boater/boater freqs using DSB.

During the 60's/70's our family spent summers on Nantucket Island. We had a multiband radio and with no TV my brother and I spent a lot of time monitoring the marine channels. Often we could receive not only the US Coast Guard (local station was Brant Point), but often we could pick up the Canadian Coast Guard stations (Yarmouth Radio). The US Coast Guard in the area used 2694. That is where my interest in monitoring began.

Fast forward to present day, in the Cape May NJ area the best channel for local marine chit-chat is 65A. There you will find the Charter Boats, day fishing boats, whale and dolphin watchers as well as the parasail boats. They all share information about the location of the best fishing and the dophin pods. 65A is also a good place there to pick up some local news.

 

[jgorman21]

I have always lived by the water and listened to marine radio even before it went to the VHF set up we have now. I can always remember with VHF marine radio when I first listened in the 60s the real loosey-goosey anything goes boat to boat channels are channel 68 and 69 and channel 71 and 72, Anything Goes boat to boat channels. Certainly nothing to do with Citizens Band of course.

In those days you did need a license and my dad's license was WM6934.. Harbor frequencies are Channel 6, 9, 12, 14... I live on the Delaware River in the Philadelphia PA area and channel 13 is required to be monitored at all times by ships going up and down river. This is for boat to boat navigation and communication with drawbridges.

Now what I listen to is 13, 16CG, 21CG, 22CG, 23CG, 81CG and we have 2 conventional digital channels net CG 121, and net CG 409. There is a lot more to listen to like the Chit Chat channels, tugboat companies, tow boat companies, private facility frequencies but... I don't listen to those LOL.

Hey Trentbob. Would you happen to know which sector might cover my area in Upstate NY. I’m near Albany. I do hear the local version and “Coast Guard NY” on VHF Marine. I’m wondering about the “CG 100” channels. I see the designated areas. But nothing too close. Unless it’s not listed? Thanks!

 

[trentbob]

Hey Trentbob. Would you happen to know which sector might cover my area in Upstate NY. I’m near Albany. I do hear the local version and “Coast Guard NY” on VHF Marine. I’m wondering about the “CG 100” channels. I see the designated areas. But nothing too close. Unless it’s not listed? Thanks!

Not familiar with the Albany area Coast Guard but it is part of sector New York. There is a coast guard office in Albany.

As far as the conventional digital channel, I see that 162.325 $293 CG111 is licensed out of Albany New York.

Maybe one of the locals up by you can chime in.

 

[AK_SAR]

16 is for distress calling. Usually you'll get chased off by the USCG if you show up on there without a good reason.
9 is calling. Call the other party and switch to an appropriate channel.

16 is for distress AND calling. 9 is an alternative calling channel. Provided you make contact on 16 and then move immediately to another appropriate channel the USCG won't give you any grief. However, if you engage in any chitchat on 16, the Coast Guard will immediately tell you to get off 16.

Channel 9 was designed primarily for recreational boaters to use as a calling frequency, to reduce congestion on 16. All vessels equipped with VHF are supposed to guard 16 (not all do). Not every recreational boats guard both 16 and 9, so if calling another noncommercial vessel, you might have to try 9 first, then if no contact try again on 16.

For a complete breakdown of US marine VHF channels, see: U.S. VHF Channel Information
See also: Radio Information For Boaters

Boater Calling Channel (VHF Channel 9)[/B]
The Federal Communications Commission established VHF-FM channel 9 as a supplementary calling channel for noncommercial vessels (recreational boaters) at the request of the Coast Guard. A ship or shore unit wishing to call a boater would do so on channel 9, and anyone (boaters included) wishing to call a commercial ship or shore activity would continue to do so on channel 16. Recreational boaters would continue to call the Coast Guard and any commercial facility on channel 16.

The purpose of the FCC regulation was to relieve congestion on VHF channel 16, the distress, safety and calling frequency. FCC regulations require boaters having VHF radios to maintain a watch on either VHF channel 9 or channel 16, whenever the radio is turned on and not communicating with another station.

Since the Coast Guard generally does not have the capability of announcing an urgent marine information broadcast or weather warning on channel 9, use of channel 9 is optional. We recommend boaters normally keep tuned to and use channel 16 in those waters unless otherwise notified by the Coast Guard.

 

[Tim-B]

Are the public correspondence marine operator channels like 24 through 28 and 84 through 88 still in use now that mobile phones are so prolific?

 

[Echo4Thirty]

The FCC granted a waiver for a VHF P25 Public safety system that uses the high side of the marine public correspondence channels:

161.8125c Between CH 24/84
161.850c Channel 25
161.900c Channel 26
161.950 Channel 27

Woodway Trunking System, Woodway, Hewitt, Lorena, Texas

Woodway Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

I am not sure why they didn't also let them just use the low side as well. As for actual phone patching near the water, I have not heard any and am not even sure if the mobile operators are still in place.

 

[Tim-B]

Thanks Dude

 

[mcjones2013]

I am not sure why they didn't also let them just use the low side as well.

The low side might be the input frequencies for those repeater pairs. We have a system in Northern California that does that.

 

[nd5y]

I am not sure why they didn't also let them just use the low side as well.

They did. Those are paired channels.

 

[Echo4Thirty]

They did. Those are paired channels.

I bet you are correct, inputs completely slipped my mind.

 

[chief21]

Now what I listen to is 13, 16CG, 21CG, 22CG, 23CG, 81CG and we have 2 conventional digital channels net CG 121, and net CG 409.

I'm not at all familiar with digital marine band channels, such as CG121 or CG409 (mentioned above) Can someone fill me in, please? What purpose? What type of digital modulation? Specific frequencies?

 

[trentbob]

I'm not at all familiar with digital marine band channels, such as CG121 or CG409 (mentioned above) Can someone fill me in, please? What purpose? What type of digital modulation? Specific frequencies?

Look up United States Coast Guard in database or Wiki.

 

[mmckenna]

I'm not at all familiar with digital marine band channels, such as CG121 or CG409 (mentioned above) Can someone fill me in, please? What purpose? What type of digital modulation? Specific frequencies?

Those are not standard VHF marine channels. They are frequencies assigned to the USCG by the NTIA for their own use.

 

[chief21]

Those are not standard VHF marine channels. They are frequencies assigned to the USCG by the NTIA for their own use.

Got it. Apparently, I misunderstood the earlier post. Thanks.