Swimmer as "station"?

[kc9jmd]

I do long open water swims and have always carried my submersible and floating handheld marine radio with gps along with. I always swim in safe areas, and employ other various safety tactics - rarely swimming alone.
My question is in regards to the law. Is a lone swimmer transmitting legal? I might be communicating with a chase/support craft, or with officials in an emergency. What would an appropriate call sign be? I know there are a lot of experts regarding the FCC rules on this site, and am looking for input.

 

[W6KRU]

Callsign? Does anyone still do that? The boat name is usually used around here as well as personal names/nicknames.

 

[krokus]

I guess P/V would be a good descriptor, even without a hullname.

 

[DaveNF2G]

What makes a radio transmission "legal" is a license. Do you have any of those?

 

[W6KRU]

What makes a radio transmission "legal" is a license. Do you have any of those?

I might be wrong but I don't think a license is required for marine communications any longer unless you want a land based station.

 

[kc9jmd]

I was under the assumption that only shore stations require a license. It is legal for me to transmit from my boat, but what about as a lone swimmer? And what should I call myself?

 

[nd5y]

You should probably ask the Coast Guard instead of relying on advice from cluless hobbyists on this site or at least read the rules on the Coast Guard and FCC web sites.

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=maritimeTelecomms
http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/index.htm?job=service_home&id=maritime
http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/index.htm?job=licensing&id=ship_stations

 

[W8RMH]

USCG Boating Safety

Hours of operation: Monday through Friday
8:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST
Excluding government holidays
Infoline: 1-800-368-5647
For Text Telephone service: 1-800-689-0816

email at: uscginfoline@gcrm.com

 

[RadioDitch]

I actually have my FCC Marine Permit, so here's the expanded answer:

In the United States, a FCC fixed license is only required for a shore based station. A FCC Vessel License or Marine Operator Permit is only required for certain vessels that sail the Great Lakes, vessels of more than 300 gross tons, vessels operating for a commercial (for profit) purpose, and/or vessels which carry more than six passengers for hire in the open sea or any tidewater area of the United States. There are also certain requirements for air-to-marine usage.

Based on what you're talking about, no license would be required. Just make sure the chase boat follows proper procedure and identifies as "P/V (Pleasure Vessel)" or "M/Y (Motor Yacht)", whatever is applicable. They can just refer to you as swimmer or the like, since technically you'd be attached to the boat if anything happened.

 

[RohnsRadio]

yeah that would work. a handheld is not strong enough to really bother anyone. i assume you use low power if you have a chase boat.

 

[Rt169Radio]

What handheld do you have?

 

[cmpsa]

In the U.S., marine radios are now licensee free. So a vessell (boat, watercraft, etc) or an individual can use a marine radio (mobile or hand-held portable) as long as you are in the water (ocean, lake, pond, inland, etc). So yes you would be able to communicate to others via marine portable. There are certain channels for recreational use (i.e. non-commercial channels) as commercial channels are for fishing boats in a commercial-type operation.

We use a marine radio on our jetski (which is an attached mobile radio), and I carry a portable clipped to me as well, to communicate with our safety staff, and this is inland on local lakes & ponds. We also hold a seperate marine license for "marine utility (mobile)" - which is when you use a marine mobile or portable on land (where it is mandatory to have a license for this type of use). We use this when our mobile command emergency vehicle communicates to our jetski, on the water, as the motor vehicle transmitting is what that "marine utility (mobile)" license is for.

Hope this helps clarify further...