GETTING

STARTED

Maritime

Radio Services

Operation

Channels 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 84, 85, 86, 87: Marine Operator - Can be used by any vessel to place a telephone call to any place in the world or to a vessel outside their transmitting range. Used between vessels and public coast stations. You must contact a marine operator on the channel assigned to your navigating area.

Channels WX1, through WX10: Weather - Used by any vessel to receive continuous weather information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This is a one-way broadcast to any interested parties. You are not allowed to transmit on these frequencies. A list of weather broadcast stations for the U.S. is contained in the “Maritime Radio Users Handbook”. They provide continuous around-the-clock broadcasts of the latest weather information directly from the national Weather Service Offices. These channels are designated on Marine VHF equipment as WX1 through WX10, but are rarely used beyond WX7.

During severe weather, National Weather Service forecasters can interrupt routine weather broadcasts and substitute special warning messages. Specially designed warning receivers either sound an alarm indicating an emergency exits or tune into the weather frequency. The VHF 725 is equipped to sound the alarm tone and tune into the broadcast when the Weather Alert feature is activated.

Some channels will appear on the display with an “A” suffix. Hese are “Simplex Channels” receiving and transmitting on the same frequency. See “Selecting a Channel” on page 16 for a more detailed explanation. There are other regular channels in the list of channels on pages 28 and 29 that are not defined above. They have special uses that do not apply generally to regular maritime traffic and communi- cations.

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